1788-1795 - CORRESPONDENCE WITH PATRICK HENRY
Henry and Wallace shared a relationship through the Christian family; Wallace’s second wife, Rosanna, the mother of all his known children, was the sister of William Christian, whose wife was Henry’s sister, Anne. The following are, with one exception, quoted from “Life and Times”, etc., appearing on pgs. 118-121; the first appears as well in Patrick Henry - Life, Correspondence and Speeches, pp. 385-6, Chapt. VIII, Henry, William Wirt, 1891, Charles Scribner’s & Sons, N.Y., giving further evidence of the universality of land speculation among the “Founding Fathers”. The exception, the letter from Wallace to Henry in Wallace’s hand, dated May 29, 1791, from Woodford County (see below) was found (March 2009) in the Bullitt family-Oxmoor collection in the special collections of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky; this letter, photocopies of which are now in our possession, will be summarized, rather than transcribed, herein. The exchanges generated in settlement of the Christian family estates became at times “politely” (?) acrimonious, emphasizing the difficulty of exchanging monies in the frontier environment.
" Caleb Wallace to Patrick Henry.
DANVILLE, November 10, 1788.
DEAR SIR: A mulatto slave brought from Maryland into this district having made application to the supreme court for his freedom, on account of his master's having neglected to make oath before a magistrate concerning the slaves brought into the state with him, is the occasion of troubling you with this line. I understood that many hundreds of slaves in the district are entitled to the same privilege by the nglect or rather ignorance of their masters. I am so happy as not to be anyhow personally interested in the decision, and therefore do not expect to be under any embarrassment as a judge, but am sorry that a law well intended should prove a trap to many adventurers of the best intentions. I believe very few of them ever heard of the law before, nor can it be expected that a man should or can make himself acquainted with all the laws of the state within 10 days after he comes to reside in it. I send this by the bearer of a petition to the assembly on the subject, and from what I have suggested you will see that I wish the assembly to take the case into consideration. And I am the more anxious that the legislature should interfere as otherwise I fear some confusion may ensue, at least I think it probable that many slaves in this predicament will be hurried off to the Natches and other foreign ports.
I would also take this opportunity to acknowledge receipt of your favour of the 15th of August. As the land you sold Penick lies ten or twelve miles out of the inhabitants, and in a quarter frequented by the Indians, neither he nor I have had it in our power as yet to make further progress in ascertaining the interference of the prior claims of which I informed you before. I have advised Mr. Penick to apply to the surveyor for a connected draught of the claims, and for copies of the entries on which they are founded, from which a state of the case might be better understood. But then it ill also be necessary to inquire whether the surveys have been made agreeable to the entries. Fear of the Indians and other avocations that press me make it uncertain when it will be in my power to go on the ground for the purpose, which makes me sorry that some other person was not thought of by you and Mr. Penick. But as the case is, I see it must depend on me to make an adjustment between you, which I shall endeavour to do as soon as the danger from the Indians subsides, if not before. I have only leisure to add that I am with much respect,
Your friend and servt,
CALEB WALLACE.
PATRICK HENRY, ESQ.,
Prince Edward.
N.B.-Please to forward the letter to Mrs. Christian by a safe hand.
"
Wallace's and Henry's brother-in-law, William Christian, was killed when he pursued a small party of Indian raiders across the Ohio river into Indiana (near the site of present Jeffersonville) on April 9th, 1786. Christian had executed his will the preceding month; an act rather unusual in one so young (he was then about forty-three years of age), except that he had the care of a very large estate in land, of a family of several young children and the responsibility for the several inhabitants of his"station". It has also been suggested that he might have felt some premonition of his death, which was likely not an unusual experience along the frontier, where sudden and violent death was a fact of life; Henry's sister, William's widow, died of tuberculosis while at sea in early 1791, leaving the care of their underage children in the hands of the Henry family and of Wallace; Henry was executor of his sister's estate and Wallace was appointed guardian of the Christian children. However, by 1793, Henry had surrendered his position as executor to Col. Alexander Bullitt, who was the husband of the oldest Christian daughter, Priscilla.
"DANVILLE, March 29, 1791.
Dear Sir: I expect Mr. Terrill will write to you fully concerning the circumstances of Mrs. Christian's Estate, so that it is only necessary for me to inform you, that on a reference by Col. Bullitt and me to the Supreme Court here, that for the first year, commencing from the time of Mrs. Christian's death, 50 are allowed for the support of Sally Christian, 50 for Betsey, ; 30 for Annie, and twenty for Dolly. As Dolly is living with you, I, as her guardian, request that you would forward to me such a statement of her expenses for the year as will enable me to settle with the Court, and I will transmit the money to reimburse you; or, what perhaps will be as convenient to us both, I will send you a receipt for so much paid on the account due from Mrs. Christian's Estate to me. And the urgency of my affairs obliges me to request that you would instruct Mr. Terrill to pay the balance to me without delay.
Last year I furnished Major Fontaine with a rough draft of my account, which I expect he has transmitted to you. From this you will see that near two years ago I furnished Mrs. Christian in her distress with orders on the Treasury, and which I now assure you I would not have done in favor of a Brother if I had not expected to have been repaid long before now.
With respect, I am, dear Sir, your most obt. servt.,
CALEB WALLACE."
Meanwhile, some apparent differences of opinion, accentuated by the lag in passage and receipt of frontier communication, appears to have produced some expressions of frustration between Wallace and Henry, as exemplified in Wallace’s letter of May 29, 1791, now in Wallace’s original hand in the Filson Historical Society special collections Bullitt family-Oxmoor Collection.
A summary of this item of correspondence follows here.
Wallace first acknowledges, with an expression of surprise at the "stile" of Henry’s language and in Henry’s own hand, recent receipt of a letter from Henry. The likelihood of mis-communication is conveyed in Wallace’s explanation that he had not received until the subsequent October a letter Henry had written in July of the previous year, to which Wallace then immediately replied, and then followed that December with another communication on the subject of the William and Anne (Henry) Christian estates; he summarized his earlier attempt to communicate his concerns for the welfare of the under-age children and the need to rely on his personal finances in providing monetary assistance. An interval must have followed, as Wallace then added that, following his own partial recovery from a severe illness, he solicited and demanded funds in a special message to Colo. Bullitt, which eventuated in an advance of 150 pounds for the three eldest daughters (William Christian, the only son of Israel and Elizabeth Starke Christian, himself fathered only one son, who died before marriageable age, thus leaving no direct male descent in the Israel Christian lineage). Wallace added that another 20 pounds had been allocated for the child Dorothea, but Bullitt did not have the cash available so bonds were accepted in lieu thereof, noting the risks involved in transmitting money in the wilderness. Wallace then, apparently alluding to previous communication from Henry, reiterated his opinion that, although it apparently wounded Henry’s feelings, Henry should continue as executor of the Anne Christian estate. Wallace emphasized that, though no further part of her fortune was in his possession, he would continue, as guardian of the children, to bear expenses to the amounts set aside for their support. Wallace then asks whether his claim (for these expenses) has no merit, and whether it constitutes not as much a debt of honor as ever contracted, adding that the reproaches in Henry’s letter had wounded his own feelings. Wallace concluded that, as the subject was as disagreeable to him as to Henry, and having nothing further to communicate, he closed as Henry’s most obt. svt. - Caleb Wallace.Later, returning to the letters quoted from "Life and Times" -
"DANVILLE, April 17, 1792.
Sir: On Mr. Terrill's arrival here as agent for the Executor of our common friend, Mrs. Christian, he informed me that you had referred him to me for advice, which I have given with the more freedom, as he has appeared on all occasions anxious to do for the best. In two cases he requests me to signify to you the advice which I gave. The one a matter of delicacy concerning a horse which he bought for Colo. Bullitt to ride into Washington County to meet the Miss Christians, and supposing that the horse would suit Miss Betsey for a riding horse. On trial the horse was found to be vicious, though otherwise valuable. Therefore, as Guardian to the Miss Christians, I agreed to pay him 5 as compensation for the use we had made of the horse, on condition he would pay the remainder of his price and take him off our hands, to which he has consented.
The other was a much more difficult case, arising on a contract made by Maj. Fontaine, as agent for Mrs. Christian, with Messrs. Woolfolk and Mosby for working Saltsburg in partnership. On this I advised and urged Mr. Terrill to an arbitration as the most expeditious and probable mode of coming to an equitable adjustment, and I would add that from the character of the arbitrators I am well persuaded that their award must be just.
I am, Sir, your most obt. humble serv.,
CALEB WALLACE."
The following letter to Col. Bullitt bears on the same topic.
"FAYETTE COUNTY, March 17, I795.
Dear Sir: Doctor Warfield informs me that you have taken my niece and ward, Dorothea Christian, to live in your family, with which I am well pleased; and as you still have to attend to her education and to make the provisions which may be necessary her support, I must request you, as executor to Col. Christian, to advance any sums of money for the above purposes not exceeding Twenty-five Pounds per annum, which you think proper; and, as my agent, to procure and transmit to me such vouchers as will enable me to settle with a Court as her Guardian.
I am, dear Sir, your most obd't Serv't,
CALEB WALLACE.
Col. Alexander S. Bullitt, Jefferson county."
Bullitt's duties as executor resulted in the following receipt:
"Received, December 17, 1793, of John Saunders, on account of Alexander Scott Bullitt, Executor of William Christian, deceased, One Hundred Pounds in cash, and also his Obligation to pay me Fifty Pounds, with interest from this date, on or before the first day of June next, provided the said Bullitt will give him a receipt for the said Fifty Pounds as well as the said Hundred Pounds, on a Replevy Bond, which the said Saunders with others are bound to pay unto the said Bullitt."
CALEB WALLACE.
Test: Thomas Maddux."
© 1998, Dennis Boyer
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