Description:

Jefferson Thomas

 

Thomas Jefferson Handwritten Invitation, Louisiana Purchase Related

 

An invitation partially handwritten by President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). With an integral address leaf adjoining the bottom half comprised of the invitation. The recipient's name, "Mr. Joshua Lewis of Kentucky" was written in another hand. On cream paper, with remnants of a red wax seal in the upper right corner. Expected wear with folds, now silked overall. An isolated area of loss in the upper left corner, not affecting the text. 8" x 9.875". Provenance: Ex-Christie's -> Descendants of Alonzo J. Tullock, a noted Kansas autograph collector of Louisiana Purchase material -> Armand Hawkins, a New Orleans antique dealer -> Descendants of Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana Charles Auguste Delassus (more information below).

 

In part, with blanks in the pre-printed form filled out by President Jefferson:

 

[printed] "Th: Jefferson requests the favour of [handwritten] Mr. Lewis [printed] to dine with him [handwritten] to-day (Monday) [printed] at half after three,

 

[handwritten] Mar. 31. 1806.

 

[printed] The favour of an answer is asked."

 

Three years after the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson checked in with the new land commissioner of the Orleans Territory, Joshua Lewis (1772-1833). It's possible that Jefferson and Lewis discussed the latter's career prospects during that mid-afternoon appointment. Lewis had been land commissioner since 1805, but perhaps he was interested in exploring other job options. Indeed, he would be appointed a Superior Court judge in the Orleans Territory later that year (1806). Was this move discussed that day between the two men?

 

Lewis, who was born in Virginia, moved to Kentucky with his family in the 1780s. There, he served as a public prosecutor and state congressman. Lewis was originally believed to have been one of three commissioners--along with Edward Livingstone and James Brown--sent by Jefferson to New Orleans to take possession of Louisianan lands following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. It was not until 1805, however, that Lewis arrived, to fulfill his appointment as Louisiana land commissioner.

 

Between 1806 and his death in 1833, Lewis served as a state judge, first as one of three Superior Court judges in the Orleans Territory until 1812, and then as a district judge following Louisianan statehood. As a militia captain, Lewis fought in the Battle of New Orleans (1814-1815). He was narrowly defeated as state governor in 1816. Lewis's role in solidifying the terms of the historic Louisiana Purchase--as well as regulating its formative Americanized civil society--cannot be over-stated.

 

The Louisiana Purchase, initiated by an offer from Napoleon Bonaparte, doubled the territorial limits of the United States. In 1804, Congress designated the territory below the 33rd parallel (today the northern boundary of Louisiana) as the Territory of Orleans, while the lands northward became (temporarily) a district of the Indiana Territory then governed by a young William Henry Harrison. Correspondence between Harrison and Charles Auguste Delassus, then the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana, was once the centerpiece of Tullock's collection.

 

Provenance

 

Ex-Christie's, from the collection of Alonzo J. Tullock (1854-1904), a civil engineer from Leavenworth, Kansas. Tullock received his civil engineering degree from the University of Michigan in 1876 and oversaw the construction of some of the Midwest's most important bridges, railroad crossings, and wharves during the 1880s-90s. Later, as the owner of the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Works, Tullock supervised the construction of the wharf at Tampico, Mexico for use by the Mexican Central Railway.

 

Tullock devoted himself to self-improvement and philanthropy. He successfully solicited donations from industrialist Andrew Carnegie, leading to the erection of the Leavenworth Public Library (now Carnegie Arts Center) in 1900. In addition, Tullock loved autograph and rare book collecting. In a tribute published in the Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume 31, Issues 3-4 (March 1905), the editor wrote: "During a busy and studious life, Mr. Tullock accumulated a large and valuable library in which are many rare books, and especially many volumes relating to the Louisiana Purchase, within which territory was located the city chosen for his home." (p. 332-333). Another contemporary publication, the Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, Volume X (January-December 1905), described Tullock's "particular attention to the acquisition of books and papers relating to the Louisiana Purchase and his collection of these, diligently pursued for years, was unique." (p. 553).

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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