From James Madison to Thomas Parker, 20 January 1807
To Thomas Parker
Department of State January 20th. 1807.
Sir.
General Wilkinson having, under a military order, sent to Charleston Dr. Bolman, charged with a conspiracy and other offences against the United States, it is probable that an effort will be made to liberate him under an habeas corpus, if indeed it has not been already made. In any case however it is proper that he should be detained under a legal commitment, and I therefore request you to take immediate steps for the purpose.1 It is expected that the affidavit of Genl. Wilkinson, which was sent with Dr. Bolman, and the supplemental affidavit of the Captain charged with conveying him to Charleston,2 will be sufficient to warrant his committment, or if he should have been liberated his re-apprehension & committment, which you will accordingly promote. The order of Genl. Wilkinson imported that Dr. Bolman should be delivered to the Commanding Officer at Charleston, who will probably communicate with you upon the subject. I am &c.
James Madison.
Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, DL, vol. 15).
1. Thomas Parker (ca. 1760–1820) served in the Charleston, South Carolina, militia during the Revolutionary War. He began practicing law in South Carolina in 1784 and in 1792 was appointed U.S. district attorney for the state. He retained the position until his death (O’Neall, Biographical Sketches of the Bench and Bar of South Carolina, 2:47).
2. A Lieutenant Wilson of the U.S. artillery conveyed Justus Erick Bollmann to Fort Johnston, South Carolina, delivering him on 14 January to the custody of Michael Kalteisen, commander of the fort (A Faithful Picture of the Political Situation of New Orleans, at the Close of the Last and the Beginning of the Present Year, 1807 [Boston, 1808; Shaw and Shoemaker 14981], 42; Helene M. Riley,“Michael Kalteisen and the Founding of the German Friendly Society in Charleston,” South Carolina Historical Magazine 100 [1999]: 45).