To Thomas Jefferson from George Tod, 2 June 1805
From George Tod
Youngstown, Trumbull County. Ohio. June 2d. AD 1805.
Sir.—
Herewith is sent you a letter from Samuel Huntington Esquire, the chief judge of this State. Should it make on your mind, an impression favorable to myself, it will give me pleasure; and should you think proper to confer on me the appointment, which he has found inconvenient to accept, I trust you will find your confidence not misplaced.—
With great sincerity and respect I am Sir your very humble Servant.
George Tod.
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR); at foot of text: “The President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 15 June, misreading the place as “Gannystown,” and “to be judge Michigan” and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Samuel Huntington to TJ, Cleveland, 18 May, not found (see Appendix IV).
George Tod (1773-1841) was an Ohio state senator. An attorney originally from Connecticut, he moved to the Northwest Territory in 1800 and quickly attained prominence, along with his friend and fellow Connecticut émigré, Samuel Huntington. Although Tod had served as secretary to Federalist governor Arthur St. Clair, he gravitated toward the Republicans. He served in the state senate from 1804 until 1806, when he was appointed to the state supreme court. Legislators failed in an attempt to impeach Tod in 1808, but succeeded in removing him from the bench in 1810. He subsequently served again in the state senate and then as an officer during the War of 1812 before receiving another state judiciary appointment (; Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History, 6 vols. [New York, 1885-1912], 5:170-2; Donald J. Ratcliffe, Party Spirit in a Frontier Republic: Democratic Politics in Ohio, 1793-1821 [Columbus, Ohio, 1998], 36; Vol. 40:429n).
Samuel Huntington declined his recent appointment as a judge of Michigan Territory (TJ to the Senate, 26 Feb.; TJ to Robert Smith, 9 June). Writing to Madison on 22 Aug., Huntington, William Sprigg, and Daniel Symmes recommended Tod to the president for the vacancy, believing he would conduct the office “with capacity and integrity” (DNA: RG 59, LAR; endorsed by TJ: “Tod George to be judge Michigan”).