Various charges have been made against me for the interest I have in the Georgia grants—for my being an agent of the New England Company, and for my conduct as such agent. As these charges have not yet appeared in print, I cannot give that specific answer which may hereafter become necessary, and for which I pledge myself to the public, in case such necessity should exist.
I now take the liberty of stating how I became interested in the claims, how the agency was accepted, and what has been my conduct as agent.
First, as to my interest.
When the members of the New England Company formed their contract with William Williamson as agent for the Georgia Mississippi Company, in September, 1795, I had not the least interest in the concern. Upon the advice of my friends, and at their solicitation, between that period and the first of December, I agreed to become interested, and accepted of a certain share, which was procured for me by a voluntary relinquishment of a part by several gentlemen for that purpose. In January, 1796, the agents came on from Georgia to give the conveyance, and I was deputed as agent for many of the proprietors near Connecticut river; to discharge which trust I proceeded to Boston. Before the business was closed my principals arrived; a variety of considerations induced me to relinquish the adventure, such as the difference of climate, the distance of the property, the warlike habits of the natives, and the want of capital, and before the time of which I am about to speak, I relinquished my right to two friends from Connecticut. Thus my concern with the Georgia lands, as I thought, was closed for ever. But on the evening of the Sunday next preceding the second Tuesday of February, 1796, Ashbel Stanley, then of Coventry, in Connecticut, applied to Oliver Phelps, Esq., and myself, and requested us to become surety for him and Jeremiah Ripley, Esq., of said Coventry, (they being partners in trade,) to the Georgia agents, for the space of sixty days, to the amount of $75,000, and assigned for reason that the agents would not take notes signed in the name of the firm, and that he only wanted our names till he could have an opportunity to procure the name of Judge Ripley as an endorser to his notes. The great esteem I had for Judge Ripley, and a knowledge of his ability, induced me to give Mr. Phelps, as I was about to return to Connecticut, a written engagement to assume one-third of the risk, in case he should think it best to make the endorsement. Mr. Phelps made the endorsement for Stanley, and took into his hands, as security, Stanley’s conveyance of seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of Georgia Mississippi Company’s land, for which the endorsement was given; and, also, an assignment by Stanley of one hundred thousand acres more, which Seth Wetmore assigned to Stanley. Stanley failed. Judge Ripley denied the authority of Stanley to use his name in a land contract, and Mr. Phelps and myself, as endorsers, had to meet the $75,000. On the fourth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, we satisfied these obligations, and they were cancelled and delivered up. To acquire the means of satisfying these endorsements, we were compelled to dispose of 670,000 acres of his land, besides a vast deal of other property. When we called for the scrip on the two thousand acres, conveyed by Wetmore to Stanley, and by Stanley to Phelps, we found that Wetmore had conveyed the same land to Israel Munson, merchant in Boston. Here a new difficulty presented itself, which has been but lately removed. On the 30th of August, 1803, Mr. Phelps, to enable me to close this dispute, gave me a conveyance of these one hundred thousand acres; and on the 8th of September, in the same year, I effected a final settlement with Mr. Munson, of his claim for the joint benefit of Phelps and Granger. This explains the conveyances from Mr. Phelps and Mr. Munson to me, and these facts can be proved by these gentlemen, and by Judge Ripley, Amasa Jackson, Esq., of New York, Joseph Lyman, Esq., of Northampton, Massachusetts, Clerk of the Supreme Court, John Peck, &c.
On record will also be found a conveyance of one hundred thousand acres, of December 8th, 1803, from John Peck to me. In this property I have not the least interest. It is deposited in my hands in lieu of special bail, in two cases, in favor of Eli Williams, of Hagerstown, against John Peck, of Boston, now pending before the court in this district. John Thompson Mason, Esq., knows this fact.
Finally, I have never been a dealer in this property, nor otherwise than is herein stated, interested therein; excepting only that in one instance I have received some scrip of a gentleman, whose fortune was consumed by his adventuring in the property, for a demand which was subsisting before the 13th of February, 1796.
Secondly, As to my accepting the agency. On the 17th day of February, 1803, the Commissioners on the part of the United States reported to Congress in favor of a compromise of these claims and Congress afterwards, in the same session, made an appropriation of the 5,000,000 acres of land, to satisfy such demands as Congress might think best to provide for. Thus stood the business without a single objection within my knowledge to a compromise, when, in August, 1803, one of the directors of the New England Mississippi Company, solicited me to accept an agency in the business. Although I could not see any objection to it, as I was personally interested, and the duties of my office had not the least possible relation to the business, still I was not willing to accept the agency without advice. Accordingly I stated the case to the last Attorney-General, who suggested that he would not be understood to give any opinion on the subject, but for his part he could not perceive the least objection to my acceptance. After this the agency was accepted, and I can with the greatest truth aver, that I then had not the least idea of any objection on the part of Congress. The only difficulty contemplated was that of bringing the claimants and the Commissioners to an agreement.
Lastly. As to my conduct as agent. I acknowledge that I have, in an open, fair, and plain manner, vindicated the rights of the company I represent. But I deny my attempting to make use of any kind of influence.
Here I appeal to the Commissioners, whether I have ever attempted to press any thing in relation to the business. I make the same appeal to you, sir, and to every other member of the two Houses of Congress. If I have been guilty of what is charged upon me, there must be some one ready to rise up, and bear testimony against me. I trust I have virtue enough not to attempt improperly to influence any man. If not, I hold the members of Congress in too high respect to deem them capable of yielding to any improper influence.
For the truth of this statement, I appeal to the Author of my existence; and, in support of it, I pledge my character to you and to my country. I cannot close this letter without offering my ardent desire for an investigation of my conduct.