Rare 1821 Choctaw Indian

1. [INDIANS] Rare 1821 printed US Senate document related to Silas Dinsmoor and the Choctaw nation of Indians. Silas Dinsmoor (1766-1847) was an appointed U. S. Agent to the Cherokee (1794–1798) and to the Choctaw (1801–1813). He later served as a surveyor in Alabama before eventually retiring to Boone County, Kentucky. Born in Windham, New Hampshire, Silas Dinsmore was part of a large group of inter-related families who settled in southern New Hampshire in the early 1700s. Through his mother, Martha McKeen, he was related to Joseph McKeen, the first president of Bowdoin College in Maine. He was also a first cousin of Pennsylvania Governor Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Silas worked his way through Dartmouth College by teaching, a profession he continued to practice after his graduation. At nearby Atkinson Academy he taught a newly formed co-educational class of students, opening up the chance for young ladies to learn Logic, Greek, and Rhetoric - topics normally reserved for male students. In 1793, Silas traveled to Philadelphia to look for a position with the government. He was offered the appointment of United States Agent to the Cherokee by President George Washington, a job that would last the next four years. In that capacity, Dinsmoor was expected to keep peace between the Native Americans and white settlers, serve as treaty commissioner, and introduce "civilization" to the Indians. This last task meant that he was to attempt to coax the males of the tribe to take up farming which was traditionally the occupation of females, and to teach the women to plant cotton, spin, and weave textiles. He spent much of his time at Tellico Blockhouse (in present-day Tennessee). As the agent, Dinsmoor was a witness to the First Treaty of Tellico, signed in 1798 between the U. S. Government and tribal leaders, which signed away land in eastern Tennessee. At the time, Silas wrote to his brother, "the Cherokees know the worth of their land too well to sell it for a song or anything under the value." In 1799 he accepted the job of purser on the naval frigate, USS George Washington. In that capacity he sailed with the ship on a historic mission, it being the first U. S. warship to enter the Mediterranean Sea. Under the command of William Bainbridge, the frigate was sent to Algiers with trade items and tribute for the Barbary pirates. When they arrived in Algiers, the Dey ordered the Americans to carry (under the flag of Algiers) an ambassador, several slaves, and exotic animals to Constantinople for the Sultan of Turkey. Returning to the states, Dinsmoor was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as Agent to the Choctaw and he proceeded to the small outpost of Washington, Mississippi Territory, located at the southern end of the Natchez Trace. It was presumed he would carry out a similar set of tasks as before, with the added expectation of encouraging the Choctaw to cede large sections of their land to the government. Again, the Native Americans were less than willing to give up their most valuable lands. The Treaty of Mount Dexter, signed in 1805, which sold away more than four million acres of Choctaw land in southeastern Mississippi and parts of Alabama, angered President Jefferson because he had wanted the more valuable lands along the Mississippi River. Dinsmoor also witnessed the Treaty of Fort St. Stephens of 1816 and the Treaty of Doak's Stand of 1820. By this time, though, he was no longer serving as agent. In 1811 Dinsmoor found himself embroiled in a controversy with Andrew Jackson and by 1813 he was looking for a new government post. The controversy began with reports from the Natchez region that slaves were being encouraged to run away by traders from Tennessee. Dinsmoor was asked to protect the property of the local planters and he began instituting an often ignored requirement that anyone traveling the Natchez Trace carry papers with them proving their ownership of any enslaved people they claimed. Jackson refused to do so and became quite furious when he heard the rule was being vigorously enforced, at one point threatening to arm his slaves on his next time through, kill Dinsmoor, and burn the agency house to the ground. Though he never found the right moment to carry out his threat, his missives to the War Department may have had something to do with Dinsmoor being replaced in 1813. Fine condition...............200-300

2. [INDIANS] Chickasaw Indians - 2 printed gov. documents, 1906 & 1907, total 7 pp. VG........20-30

Son Killed in Duel

3. [MAINE] Jonathan Cushing (1743-1822) was a Revolutionary War veteran and state representative originally from Plymouth and Boston, Massachusetts, was one of South Berwick’s leading citizens at the turn of the 18th century. His wife, Olive Wallingford (c. 1758-1853), was a descendant of a leading shipbuilder of Rollinsford, NH. Their home, the Cushing Mansion, on the site that later became South Berwick Central School, was one of the town landmarks until its demolition in the 1920s, and well known to and described by Sarah Orne Jewett. Offered here is a ALS, 1800, 2 full pages to James Seever. Cushing talks about learning of the death of his son (Samuel W. Cushing 1779-1800) who was in the navy and killed in a duel in 1799. A naval record shows 1799 but his death was in 1800. Jonathan says he learned about his son's death from reading about it in the Portsmouth newspaper. Approx. 7-1/4 x 9-1/4 in. Minor edge faults................200-400

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4. [BRITISH] Pascoe Grenfell (1761-1838) was a British businessman and politician. Signed 1824 address panel, mounted................25-35

Portrait of Dr. Levi Bartlett (1763-1828)