To Thomas Jefferson from Albert Gallatin, 28 February 1803
From Albert Gallatin
Tr. Dep. 28th Feby. 1803
Joel Burt Collector of customs for the district of Oswego and Inspector of the revenue for the port of entry in the said district
Thomas Dudley Surveyor of the port of Swansborough in the district of Newbern vice Alexander Carmalt dead.
The above seem to be the only nominations which it is necessary to make, although several other removals will be officially submitted in cases where the vacancy has not yet taken place: unless some mistake has been made in the Vermont nomination which does not yet appear very clear & on the subject of which, I have written to Mr Bradley.
The place of collector for the district of Oswego has never been filled. The enclosed recommendation from Governor Clinton may be depended upon, as he has not given it until he had consulted & enquired for near nine months. The port of entry is designated generally in the nomination of inspector, as it is not fixed by the law, & must be fixed by an act of the President. I think Sodus must be the place, but will make a report on the subject before the commission shall be transmitted.
The surveyorship of Swansborough became vacant during the session; it is difficult to obtain recommendations from that quarter; but upon the whole Dudley seems, in the opinion of the members of that State to be the most proper.
If it shall be necessary to do any thing in Vermont, it shall be transmitted this evening—
With respect
Albert Gallatin
Note—The President will not forget that the Secretaryship of the Mississipi territory must also be filled—and whether upon the whole Mr Triest is not better calculated for that than for the collectorship Must be determined
RC (DLC); with emendation by TJ supplied in italics; at foot of text: “The President of the United States”; endorsed by Gallatin: “Nominations to be made before the adjournment of the Senate”; endorsed by TJ as received from the Treasury Department on 28 Feb. and “Nomns” and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure not found.
joel burt: for the establishment of the Oswego collection district and the appointment of the first collector, see Gallatin to TJ, 17 July and 9 Sep. 1802.
On 18 Jan., Francis Hawks, collector at New Bern, North Carolina, informed Gallatin of the death of the surveyor at Swansboro and the interim appointment of thomas dudley to discharge the duties until the president appointed a replacement. When Dudley applied to Hawks for the surveyorship, Hawks requested recommendations. On 20 Nov. 1802, Dudley supplied a certificate signed by 12 people, who noted that Dudley was an honest man, possessing “property that would afford a Security to the United States,” with the capability of performing the duties of the office. Two others, who were better educated than Dudley, applied for the position, but they were strangers to Hawks. Swansboro had so little business that the collector did not personally have the opportunity to judge Dudley’s performance (RC in DNA: RG 59, LAR). On 18 Jan., Dudley applied to Gallatin directly for the surveyorship, noting that Hawks was writing the Treasury secretary on the subject (RC in same; endorsed by TJ: “Dudley Thos. to mr Gallatin. Surveyor of Swansboro’ Newbern”).
vermont nomination: probably that of Jabez Penniman in place of David Russell as collector at Alburg on Lake Champlain (see the first three enclosures at Gallatin to TJ, 18 Jan., and TJ to the Senate, 2 Feb.).