[743] Various letters in the Indian Office letter books refer to this difficulty, particularly one from the War Department (unsigned) to William Davy, Superintendent of Indian Trade, May 17, 1805 (Letter Book B, 76). I have not been able to learn how the trouble was finally settled.
[744] Indian Office, Letter Book B, 104, War Department to William Davy, August 31, 1805.
[745] Ibid., 104, War Department to Davy, August 31, 1805; ibid., 136, War Department to Davy, November 22, 1805.
[746] Ibid., 104, War Department to Davy, September 26, 1805.
[747] Ibid., 136, War Department to Davy, November 22, 1805.
[748] Indian Office, Letter Book A, 94, John Mason to Davy, March 10, 1808.
[749] Indian Office, Letter Book B, 218, War Department to Davy, May 12, 1806.
Thomas Hayward continued in charge of the Chicago factory until the spring of 1807, when he resigned his appointment. No successor could be found at once, and accordingly Jouett, the Indian agent, was asked to take temporary charge of the factory,[750] A few weeks later the President of the United States "approbated" the appointment of Joseph B. Varnum, a clerk in the War Department, to the vacant position.[751] Varnum came highly recommended by his superiors, and his services as factor gave equal satisfaction to his new employer. "No young man possess[es] more purity of morals or integrity of Character," wrote his superior at the time he was appointed to his new position, and he further expressed the conviction that Varnum would perform his new duties with "perfect fidelity."[752]
[750] Ibid., 304, War Department to General John Shee, Superintendent of Indian Trade, May 12, 1807; ibid., 314, War Department to Jouett, May 19, 1807.
[751] Ibid., 318, War Department to Shee, June 6, 1807.