Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the ElephantHolt, Mathew Joseph
History
Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant
Holt, Mathew Joseph
Kentucky -- Fiction; Kentucky -- History
Colonel Burr’s engagements, social and otherwise, kept him three weeks
in New Orleans. He then returned to Nashville, traveling horseback
through the wilderness, where he arrived on August 6th. After a few
days’ rest he visited Louisville and other Kentucky towns, then went to
St. Louis to talk over matters with General Wilkinson.
In October he returned to Philadelphia, where he spent the greater part
of the winter soliciting funds to finance his designs.
In August, 1806, with plans matured and money to finance them, he came
to Pittsburgh, accompanied by his daughter and Colonel Dupiester. While
there he confided his plans to Colonel Morgan, of Washington County, who
as a patriot felt bound to give the information to President Jefferson.
This was probably the first notice the government had of Burr’s
conspiracy. Here he also met Comfort Taylor and arranged for recruiting
men and building and outfitting several barges for the expedition; and
as he voyaged down the Ohio made similar arrangements with
Blannerhassett, Floyd Smith, of Indiana Territory, and others.
Upon his arrival in Kentucky every thing seemed propitious. Recruits in
plenty offered their services and many prominent men, among them General
Adair, though not openly joining in, favored his scheme.
At Nashville he arranged with General Jackson to build and equip several
barges and gave him four thousand dollars to be applied to the purpose.
In October, The Western World, a Frankfort newspaper, made attacks on
Innes and Sebastian, the one United States Judge for the District of
Kentucky and the other a judge of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky,
charging their connection with the old Spanish Conspiracy and their
effort to renew it. In an uncertain and confused way they connected Burr
with the conspiracy and charged that the three, with others, were
traitors to the United States government. The articles created
considerable excitement and led Joseph H. Daviess, then the United
States District Attorney for Kentucky, to investigate Burr’s purpose and
the cause of his extensive and repeated visits to Kentucky.
Learning his intent, he sent warning to President Jefferson; and on
November 3rd, in the United States Court at Frankfort, made motion and
application for his apprehension supported by his affidavit charging him
with recruiting men with the design to attack the Spanish dominions and
thereby endanger the peace of the United States.
Judge Innes denied the motion as unprecedented and illegal.
In the papers of Fleming Campbell, a descendant of Rev. Calvin Campbell,
was found a letter written by him to his wife, Dorothy, giving a
detailed account of Burr’s trial at Frankfort; and as when possible, it
is always better to have an account from an eye witness the author has
seen fit to quote at length from that letter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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