Notes on Appointments, [March 1805]
Notes on Appointments
[March 1805]
| ✓ | James Wilkinson of Maryland Governor of the territory of Louisiana from the 3d. day of July next for 3. years then next ensuing unless sooner &c. | ||||
| ✓ | Joseph Browne of New York Secretary for the Territory of Louisiana from the 3d. day of July &c. | ||||
| ✓ | Return Jonathan Meigs of Louisiana, |  |
to be judges of the court of the territory of Louisiana from & after the 3d. day of July next. | ||
| ✓ | John B. C. Lucas of Pensylvania | ||||
| ✓ | Rufus Easton of New York | ||||
| ✓ | James Brown late of Kentucky, now of Orleans to be Attorney of the US. for the district of Orleans.1 | ||||
| ✓ | George Duffield of Tennissee to be a judge of the Superior Court, of the territory of Orleans. he resides at Greeneville in Greene county Tennissee2 |
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| ✓ | John Thompson of Kentucky to be Register of the land office in the territory of Orleans on the red river or it’s waters | ||||
| ✓ or |
John W. Gurley of Orleans | |
to be Register of the land office in the Territory of Orleans on both sides of the Missisipi exclusive of the red river & it’s waters | ||
| ✓ or |
James Tremble of Tennissee | ||||
| Benjamin Sebastian of Kentucky | |
Recorder for the territory of Louisiana. | |||
| or | John Kennedy of Tennissee3 | ||||
| Hezekiah Huntington of Connecticut to be Attorney for the US. in the district of Connecticut. | |||||
| John B. Scott of Virginia to be a Colonel Commandant in the territory of Louisiana. | |||||
| Consuls. | ✓ | Henry Hill junr. of New York for the island of Cuba. |
| ✓ | Edward Carrington of Rhodeisland at Canton. | |
| qu. | ✓ | James M. Henry of Virginia to be Agent at Jamaica. v. Savage |
| 6. Commissioners for Louisiana, Red river & Misipi | ||||||
| J. Dawson of Virga | ||||||
| Benj. Sebastian of Kentucky | ||||||
| John Kennedy of Tennissee | ||||||
| Noah Lester | |
of Connecticut | ||||
| or Pomeroy | ||||||
| Richard Parrot. Columbia. to be a justice of peace | ||||||
MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 155:27139); undated, but see below; entirely in TJ’s hand.
Almost all of the names on this list had been recommended as candidates for appointment before or during March 1805. TJ forwarded the names with check marks next to them in a letter of 11 Mch. to Madison, which adopted some of the same phrasing as the notes above, as in the description of James Wilkinson’s appointment and in the discussion of the residence of George Duffield. At some point, Gideon Granger brought to TJ’s attention the possibility of nominating Hezekiah Huntington to succeed Pierpont Edwards as U.S. attorney for Connecticut. A letter of 25 Jan. from Robert Fairchild, Elijah Boardman, Epaphras W. Bull, and James Stevens assured Granger that Huntington’s appointment would meet with “universal approbation” from the state’s Republicans. On the verso of the letter, TJ wrote: “Huntington Hezekiah to be District Atty Connecticut v. Edwards. G: Granger says Huntington & Spalding stand on the most eminent ground of any republican lawyers in the state. Huntington. poor, a uniform & persecuted republicn. Spalding, rich. & not coming foward till after victory” (DNA: RG 59, LAR). TJ likely added the name of John B. Scott late in the month after William Branch Giles recommended Scott in a letter of 12 Mch. that is recorded in SJL as received 21 Mch. with the notation “John B. Scott to be Commdt.” but has not been found. That letter probably enclosed a recommendation of 10 Dec. 1804 from Abraham B. Venable to Giles (DNA: RG 59, AOC; endorsed by TJ: “Scott Genl. John B. to be Commandt. Louisiana v. Kennon”).
Under the provisions of an act passed on 2 Mch., Orleans Territory was to have two land offices and Louisiana District one, with each land office assigned two Commissioners. TJ appears to have been compiling a preliminary list of candidates for these commissions from individuals who had requested or been recommended for other positions. John Dawson, for example, had expressed interest in the governorship of Michigan Territory, and Noah Lester and Ralph Pomeroy had also applied for positions there. By the end of April, when TJ forwarded his selections for the land commissions to the State Department, candidates were at least partially based on deliberations that occurred in April (, 2:327-8; Lester to TJ, [before 9] Feb.; Pomeroy to TJ, 17 Feb.; Dawson to TJ, 12 Mch.; Gallatin to TJ, 18 Apr.; TJ to the State Department, 30 Apr.).
1. Entry interlined.
2. Sentence interlined.
3. Sebastian’s and Kennedy’s entries here have been marked through with a large “X.”