William Charles Cole ClaiborneOctober 1802 - December 1802The port of New Orleans has been closed to American commerce and deposit, threatening commerce all along the Mississippi River. Word of French troops sailing toward New Orleans. The small port now has taken on international significance and the interest of every American living near the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Note: The documents are sometimes out of chronological order because they may be enclosures with letters to Federal officials in Washington or are letters from the Federal government which take perhaps a month to be delivered. |
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| Date Written | From | To | Subjects |
Friday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Appointments | Lists appointments of the last three months. |
Saturday |
Wilkinson | Wm. C. C. C. | Wilkinson writes from Ft. St. Stephens, which was erected by the Spanish in 1789 on the Tombigbee River. Wilkinson is proceeding by water to Ft. Confederation, upriver from Ft. St. Stephens, to meet with the Choctaw Indians. By the tenth of next month (October) he will be at the mouth of the Yarsou (YAZOO) River to begin the resurvey of the old line of limits. He has the Choctaw annuity with him. He left Charleston a month ago and on the way met with Governor Tatinal (Gov. of S.C.) who is ill in bed and (Andrew) Jackson whose wound (from a duel) was closed before it was cleaned. |
Sunday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Wilkinson | Claiborne says Dinsmore will be missed, he has passed orders on to John Pitchlynn and hopes that the Indians have been advised of Wilkinson's approach. Claiborne wants to meet with Wilkinson at the mouth of the Yarsou, but has no secretary to leave watch the government. |
Sunday |
John McKee | Wm. C. C. C. | The settlement on Rocky Spring may be on the Indian side of the boundary line. |
Sunday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Col. Daniel Burnett | Passes on to the militia commander that the Choctaw are unhappy about the Rocky Spring Settlement. Claiborne orders them to move at least one mile west until the line is withdrawn. |
Monday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Dearborn | Encloses copies of letters written to Wilkinson, McKee and Burnett of the 4th Regiment of the Mississippi Militia. |
Monday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Sam Mitchell | Answers four letters that report progress with the Chickasaw Indians: agricultural pursuits, weaving, wheel making at the trading house at Chickasaw Bluffs (Memphis). Mitchell helped to establish between the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Osages in U. S. Territory, but there is still war with tribes in Spanish Territory. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Dearborn | Claiborne passes on letters from Sam Mitchell, agent for the Chickasaw Nations. Major George Colbert, half-breed chief of the Chickasaw, wants his son to be educated in the United States. Also, it appears that agent Dinsmore was not killed in the duel after all and is recovering. |
Tuesday |
Joshua Wingate | Wm. C. C. C. | The War Department acknowledges a draft to pay for the site of the new garrison. |
Sunday |
Silas Dinsmore | Wm. C. C. C. | Asks Claiborne for money and promises to see the governor in six weeks. |
Friday |
Doctors D. and W. Lattimore | Wm. C. C. C. | The Lattimores are doctors at a small pox camp erected in the Spring. Two men, Daniel Cameron and Peter McGachan, were inoculate for small pox at New Orleans and broke out after their arrival. Those people that had been inoculated have milder cases. There have been 15 total cases and two deaths. No cases now exist in the territory and the vaccine is also gone. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Doctors D. and W. Lattimore | Thanks the doctors for their service to the territory. |
Saturday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Israel Trask | Claiborne sends the militia major to Washington County to convene and assess the militia there. |
Wednesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | David Berry | Daniel Grafton reports that a party of Choctaw Indians have committed outrages on his plantation. Berry is to apprehend the offending Indians without abuse and bring them before the governor. |
Wednesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | David Berry | The Indians could not be persuaded to visit him so he sends a "talk" to them. They apparently killed a working steer and wounded another. The interpreter is to return with an answer. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Seth Lewis | Introduces Lewis Kerr, an attorney who Claiborne has licensed and who is to be examined by Supreme Court Justice Lewis. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | warrant | In favor of Phipps for $24 . Phipps worked as a marker for the Commissioners of the road from the natural boundary line to Natchez. |
Wednesday |
Wm. C. C. C. | Dearborn | Drafts for Silas Dinsmore and Samuel Postlethwait. |
Monday |
Hulings | Wm. C.C.C. | Announces that the port of New Orleans has been closed to American commerce and deposit. The Intendant has issued the order implying that it is of royal origin. |
Thursday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Hulings | Cites Article 22 of the Treaty with Spain which says that before withdrawing the Right of Deposit at New Orleans the Spanish governor must name another site for deposit. Encloses a letter to the Spanish governor and forwards Huling's letter to Madison. |
Thursday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Governor Salcedo | Cites Article 22 of the Treaty of Friendship, Limits and Navigation between the United States and the King of Spain which says that if the Right of Deposit is denied at New Orleans then an equivalent must be established elsewhere on the banks of the Mississippi River. He requests a quick answer. |
Friday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | Forwards copies of letters written to Hulings and Governor Salcedo. |
Friday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | The attempt to collect claims of land is not complete for various reasons. Estimates of area of land in Mississippi Territory at 1,6000,000 acres or 2,500 square miles on the river, comprehending counties of Jefferson, Adams, Wilkinson and Claiborne. On the Mobile River are 4,500 square miles, nearly 3 million acres composing the County of Washington. He encloses a simple map and three packets of claims categorized by the means and time of the original claim. 700 heads of families have settled on vacant land and made improvements subsequent to the treaty of 1795. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | The Spanish embargo continues but American produce can be landed in New Orleans if a duty of 6 percent is paid. Claiborne doubts that the crown is behind the stop order. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | Draws on the department of state $80 payable to Ferdinand L. Claiborne, a merchant of Natchez (and Claiborne's brother). He pays it to Samuel May for riding express from Natchez to Nashville. He needs express delivery because of interuption of mails between these points and because of news of late proceedings at New Orleans. |
Friday |
Dearborn | Wm. C.C.C. | Introduces Joseph Chambers who has been appointed factor for the Choctaws. |
Wednesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Dearborn | The goods for the factory are at Ft. Adams. He believes that despite the problems at New Orleans a factory on the Mobile may be risky. The Choctaw annuity for 1802 has arrived. The settlers at Rocky Spring have moved from Indian Territory. |
Thursday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Dinsmore | Claiborne requests that Dinsmore come to Natchez to confer and pick up the Choctaw Annuity. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Wilkinson |
Wilkinson wants to confer about factory to be established on the Mobile. If not at Natchez then at Grindstone Ford. A new post is to be established at the town of Washington and Wilkinson is to choose the captain to command there and Claiborne asks that Captain Sparks be assigned to the post. Claiborne notes that General Victor is expected soon at New Orleans with 3,000 French Troops and 8,000 to arrive later. |
Friday |
Dearborn | Wm. C.C.C. | Asks Claiborne to contact Governor Folch of West Florida, presuming no problems using the Mobile river to supply the posts and the factory. He is also to pass instructions on the the consul at New Orleans. Claiborne is also to accept Calvit's offer for the site of the post. |
Saturday |
Dearborn | Wm. C.C.C. | The factory location on the Tombigbee is good. A small detachment of troops from a fort should be posted there. Wilkinson will be in Natchez soon and will go to New Orleans to sound out the governor at New Orleans. |
Saturday |
Dearborn | Wm. C.C.C. | The chiefs of many Indian nations have asked for suppression of the sale of ardent spirits in their nations and Congress has authorized the President to comply with the request. |
Tuesday |
Dearborn | Wm. C.C.C. | Acknowledges the receipt of the above letters and informs
Dearborn of a letter from Wilkinson
who is at the Yazoo preparing to retrace the old boundary line. Goods
for the Choctaw factory have arrived at New Orleans shortly after the
deposit was discontinued and they have been immediately forwarded by Hulings
to Fort Adams. Chambers, the factor, wants action immediately to take
advantage of the fall hunts. From New Orleans, French general Victor is expected in three or four weeks with 3,000 men. This is communicated by Governor Salcedo to two or three ladies of his acquaintance who have communicated it to... Governor Salcedo has been ordered to deliver Louisiana to the French. Claiborne expected that the settlement of the French in Louisiana would be greatly regretted in the Mississippi Territory. |
Thursday |
Wilkinson | Wm. C.C.C. | Wilkinson is camped near the mouth of the Yazoo River, is extremely ill and barely able to write. He has the tools, hands and horses, all public, to complete his task. The mouth of the Yazoo, called for as the beginning of the old boundary, has, by a breach of the Mississippi River, deserted its old bed and shifted six miles. The Indians want the old boundary, so Wilkinson finds some marked trees near the Big Black River and backtracks to the Mississippi to recreate the beginning point. Complains about Col. Butler. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | Little change since the letter of the 5th. Has not received land claims from Washington County yet. |
Wednesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison | Encloses a letter received this morning, with translation,
dated 11/15/02 from the Governor-general of Louisiana.
Governor Salcedo assures Claiborne that the Spanish king has not issued
the order to stop deposit, but that the Intendant, whose department is
independent of the general government, at the same time in conformity
with the King's commands (peace having been published in Europe since
May 4) suspended the commerce of neutrals. Morales, the Intendant has
also determined the propriety of suspending the deposit to put a stop
to an infinitude of abuses which were generated by that right. "Particular
cases cannot operate against a general privilege granted by a solemn truth,
but ought not to include any vicious principle which if it is found that
a pernicious evil tendency has made necessary to annul it." Article 22 stipulated expiration after 3 years, so the Intendant will communicate to the king his proceedings. "We have hopes that his majesty will restore the deposit." |
Thursday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Address | In an address to the Mississippi Territorial Legislature, Claiborne gives the state of the territory. It mostly describes the peace and abundance , but presses the legislature to establish a college, perhaps to be paid by a fee on marriage licenses and petition Congress for land. Also needed is a law for the inspection of cotton, improve the state of courthouses and jails and review the idea of property taxes. He explains the situation with the loss of deposit in New Orleans. |
Saturday |
William Brooks | Wm. C.C.C. | The Adams County jail is very insecure. One prisoner has escaped, most are in on minor charges. The remaining ones will not be able to pay the fines. They suffer from inclemency of the season, there is no fire. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Pardons | Claiborne pardons some of the prisoners at the Adams County jail. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Dearborn | Draws $205 for Ferdinand Claiborne, expenses incurred by shipment of 33 boxes of rifles from New Orleans to Natchez. |
Monday |
Mississippi Legislature | Wm. C.C.C. | Answer to Claiborne's address at the opening of the session from Roger Dixon, Speaker of the House. |
Monday |
Mississippi Council | Wm. C.C.C. | Answer to Claiborne's address at the opening of the session from John Ellis, President of the Council. |
Friday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Judges | A special court is established to give speedy trial to the prisoners in Adams County Jail. Seth Lewis is the Chief Justice with Peter Bryan Bruin and David Ker. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Wm. Scott | Claiborne appoints Scott as a second Aide-de-camp after Captain Claiborne and asks Scott to accompany him to Jefferson County to dine with officers of the 1st Battalion, Second Regiment of the militia. |
Saturday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Abner Duncan | Alerts Duncan to act as the prosecutor at a special court session on the 21st in Adams County. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Dearborn | Settles an account on rifles. They were sold at $14 each, payable in cotton at the cash price before February of next year. |
Tuesday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Madison |
Encloses his recent address to the legislature and the commission of David Ker as a judge. New Orleans is still shut down, though American produce is permitted to be received by vessels laying in the stream. But the landing of the produce is unconditionally forbidden. Claiborne now believes that the Intendant's proclamation was directed by the Spanish Court. |
Friday |
Wm. C.C.C. | Wilkinson | Answers a letter from the 14th about the boundary line, and passes on the latest about the loss of deposit and French possession of Louisiana. He hopes to meet Wilkinson on the line for a few days on January 4. |
| Date Written | From | To | Subjects |
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