PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
ELLICOTT, Andrew (1754-1820), Surveyor General of the United States. Autograph letter signed ("Andw. Ellicott"), TO THOMAS MIFFLIN, Governor of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, 5 June, 1794.
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ELLICOTT, Andrew (1754-1820), Surveyor General of the United States. Autograph letter signed ("Andw. Ellicott"), TO THOMAS MIFFLIN, Governor of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, 5 June, 1794.
2 pages, folio, integral address leaf with recipient's docket and labeled "private," discreetly silked.
THE SURVEYOR OF WASINGTON D.C. DEPLORES FEDERAL INDIAN POLICIES TOWARD THE "OUR FRIENDS AND ALLIES" THE IROQUOIS. A rare and quite vociferous, letter of Surveyor General Ellicott (1754-1820), who had recently completed his famous survey and mapping of the District of Columbia, new seat of the Federal government. Ellicott is about to tackle the survey and laying out of Presqu'Isle (present-day Erie, Pennsylvania) and to his friend Mifflin pens a lengthy, scathing indictment of the Indian policies of President Washington: "The interference of the general Government with the internal police of State appears to me highly improper, because the State establishments on French Creek, and at Presqu'Isle were intended to protect the frontiers against the depredations of the hostile Indians, a right recognized and acknowledged by the Constitution of the U.S. a right the relinquishment of which will not only materially affect the sovereignty of some states but...leave valuable portion of our citizens a prey to savage barbarity...." He dismisses "the fear as suggested by the executive of the U.S. [Washington] of offending our good friends and allies the six nations [Iroquois] by continuing, and protecting or settlements in a country to which they can have no possible claim, a carrying American fear to a frightful length indeed!..." He comments on news from Fort Le Boeuf, expresses skepticism that the Indians have called for a parley, predicts "the consequences must be unfavorable to this country," and predict that "our good friends and allies the six nations will presume upon their importance and become more insolent than ever...." He sniffs at General Wayne's move to protect the Ohio Valley, deplores recent Indian attacks on settlers and reports an imminent attack upon the fort at Venango. Provenance: Frank T. Siebert (sale, Sotheby's, 21 May 1999, lot 310A).
2 pages, folio, integral address leaf with recipient's docket and labeled "private," discreetly silked.
THE SURVEYOR OF WASINGTON D.C. DEPLORES FEDERAL INDIAN POLICIES TOWARD THE "OUR FRIENDS AND ALLIES" THE IROQUOIS. A rare and quite vociferous, letter of Surveyor General Ellicott (1754-1820), who had recently completed his famous survey and mapping of the District of Columbia, new seat of the Federal government. Ellicott is about to tackle the survey and laying out of Presqu'Isle (present-day Erie, Pennsylvania) and to his friend Mifflin pens a lengthy, scathing indictment of the Indian policies of President Washington: "The interference of the general Government with the internal police of State appears to me highly improper, because the State establishments on French Creek, and at Presqu'Isle were intended to protect the frontiers against the depredations of the hostile Indians, a right recognized and acknowledged by the Constitution of the U.S. a right the relinquishment of which will not only materially affect the sovereignty of some states but...leave valuable portion of our citizens a prey to savage barbarity...." He dismisses "the fear as suggested by the executive of the U.S. [Washington] of offending our good friends and allies the six nations [Iroquois] by continuing, and protecting or settlements in a country to which they can have no possible claim, a carrying American fear to a frightful length indeed!..." He comments on news from Fort Le Boeuf, expresses skepticism that the Indians have called for a parley, predicts "the consequences must be unfavorable to this country," and predict that "our good friends and allies the six nations will presume upon their importance and become more insolent than ever...." He sniffs at General Wayne's move to protect the Ohio Valley, deplores recent Indian attacks on settlers and reports an imminent attack upon the fort at Venango. Provenance: Frank T. Siebert (sale, Sotheby's, 21 May 1999, lot 310A).