From Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 29 March 1805
To James Madison
Monticello Mar. 29. 05.
Dear Sir
Your packet came to hand yesterday with the letters of Monroe, Armstrong, Coburn, Zeigler & Baldwin. altho’ I presume the appointment of Baldwin would be proper, yet as Zeigler continues to act it may lie awhile. I inclose you a letter from a mr Thomas of Indiana inclosing a proclamation of Govr. Harrison and the names of 10. persons out of whom 5 are to be named as Counsellors. who he is I know not, nor does he say. whether he is in any office, & whether his communication is official or private, whether this is the formal communication on which I am to act, is the question. perhaps this may be found out at Washington. if it is official & requires immediate action, be so good as to consult with the other gentlemen & name the 5. who are to be commissioned. Armstrong’s stile of correspondence is satisfactory, but he is already forgetful of the temper of his country, & proves how readily we catch the hue of those around us. I have recieved a short letter from Fayette saying only that he had committed a long one to Livingston explaining his purposes & situation, & covering the power of Attorney which I now inclose. I had thought the 600. as. on the Canal of Carondelet too valuable to await this instrument & had desired Claiborne to have it located and surveyed immediately and to draw on me for the expence. what has passed shall be communicated to you on my return. Dupont writes me that he will be over in the spring & probably La fayette with him.
Accept affectionate salutations.
Th: Jefferson
RC (DLC: Madison Papers); at foot of text: “J. Madison.” PoC (DLC). Notation in SJL: “Monroe. Zeigler. Baldwin. Coburn. Thomas. Armstrong. Fayette.” Enclosures: (1) Jesse B. Thomas to TJ, 1 Mch., recorded in SJL as received from Lawrenceburg, Indiana Territory, on 28 Mch. but not found. (2) Copy of power of attorney authorizing Madison to locate lands and execute documents on Lafayette’s behalf (not found, but see , 8:148n).
Your packet: TJ did not record receiving a letter from the State Department on 28 Mch. In the package, he may have received James Monroe’s letter of 16 Dec. 1804 to Madison, in which Monroe detailed his efforts to gain the good offices of France and his difficult interactions with Robert R. Livingston (same, 386-402). A letter of 30 Dec. from John Armstrong was recorded in SJL as received from Paris on 28 Mch. but has not been found. It is possible TJ was recording Armstrong’s letter of 30 Dec. to Madison, in which Armstrong confirmed the French government’s denial that West Florida should be treated as part of Louisiana, pointed out that the French “left wholly unnoticed” other points of negotiation between the United States and Spain, and suggested that American goals might best be accomplished “by means, purely our own” (same, 428-31). The other cited enclosures in the packet involved potential appointments: John Coburn to Madison, 28 Feb. (RC in DNA: RG 59, LAR; endorsed by TJ: “Coburn John. Kentucky to mr Madison to be in Judiciary or land office in Western govmt speaks French”); David Zeigler to Madison, 4 Mch. (RC in same, 1:497-8; endorsed by TJ: “Zeigler David resigns as marshal Ohio Baldwin Michl. recomdd.”); and Michael Baldwin to Madison, 8 Mch. (RC in same; endorsed by TJ: “Baldwin Michl. to mr Madison to be Marshal Ohio”). See also , 9:76-7, 103-4, 121-2.
William Henry Harrison’s proclamation of 5 Dec. announced that Indiana had passed into the second grade of territorial governance and called for an election on 3 Jan. to choose nine members for the house of representatives. Those elected were to convene on 1 Feb. to choose candidates for the legislative council. The assembly, which counted Jesse B. Thomas among its members, selected the following council candidates, from whom TJ was to choose five: Benjamin Chambers of Dearborn County, Marston Green Clark and Samuel Gwathmey of Clark County, John Hay and Jean François Perrey of St. Clair County, John Rice Jones and Jacob Kuykendall of Knox County, James Henry and James May of Wayne County, and Pierre Menard of Randolph County (Logan Esarey, ed., Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison, 2 vols. [Indianapolis, 1922; repr., New York, 1975], 1:112-13, 126-8; William Wesley Woollen, Daniel Wait Howe, and Jacob Piatt Dunn, eds., Executive Journal of Indiana Territory, 1800-1816 [Indianapolis, 1900], 72-3; Thomas T. Davis to TJ, 20 Feb.).
short letter from Fayette: Lafayette to TJ, 1 Dec.
Dupont writes me: Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours to TJ, 1 Jan.