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A very good letter signed by "Thomas H. Benton" dated at "C Street, Jany. 24, 1846" (Washington) to the "Sec. of War" then William L. Marcy and which reads in full: "...I recommend the writer of the within, Mr. George H. Kennedy, for the place of Sutler at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, the case being stated by him which makes another appointment necessary under the Rules and Regulations of the army...." Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) born in North Carolina. As a young man, he studied to follow his fathers profession of law until called home by his widowed mother to manage the family estate. Like many other ambitious young Southerners of his day, Benton was attracted to the opportunities and excitement of the raw frontier state of Tennessee. In 1799, he moved his family to a 40,000 acre tract near Nashville, bequeathed him by his father, and set to work building a plantation, roads, mills, school and meeting houses, and other buildings necessary to the town he founded there. Meanwhile, he finished his studies, was admitted to the Tennessee bar, and was soon active in state politics and military affairs. He attracted the attention of Andrew Jackson, even then one of the most powerful men in Tennessee. At the outset of the War of 1812, General Jackson appointed Benton his aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The young colonel saw no military action, however. His political connections, sharp mind, and fluent speech made him more valuable to Jackson at the nation's capital, smoothing over the General's differences with the federal government. Already impatient at the lack of opportunity for military glory, Benton was enraged at the news of an insult offered his brother Jesse by Andrew Jackson himself. The two quarreled bitterly; Jackson publicly threatened to horsewhip Benton. The hot tempered Benton exploded, and the affair climaxed in a brawl in Nashville's City Hotel. Jackson was shot and Benton was pitched headlong downstairs. While Jackson was carried off for medical attention, Benton seized the General's sword and ceremoniously broke it over his knee. Shortly thereafter, the Benton brothers beat a hasty, but prudent, retreat to Missouri. By 1815, he was settled in St. Louis, active in law and politics, and editor of The Missouri Enquirer. The force, energy, and earnestness of his oratory won him a wide following in the territory. Upon the famous Missouri Compromise of 1820, admitting Missouri to the Union as a state, Benton was elected the first U.S. Senator. He would subsequently be re-elected to serve five consecutive terms, the first man to serve 30 years in the U.S. Senate. For most of those years, he virtually controlled Missouri, was one of the most powerful and influential men in the country, and "grand old man" of the Democratic Party. The development of the West was his greatest passion, and he worked unceasingly on all projects important to western interests. He championed the pony express, the telegraph, interior highways, the opening of the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, and transcontinental railroads. When Andrew Jackson became President, the two men forgot their old quarrel and joined together in a crusade against monopolies and eastern capitalists. Benton steadfastly supported hard currency and so acquired his popular nickname, "Old Bullion". Most importantly for the Pacific Northwest, Benton worked throughout his years in the Senate to realize his vision of a United States stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He favored the annexation of Texas, continually agitated for a settlement of the Canadian-U.S. border on the most favorable terms possible to the United States, and was the first to introduce in the Senate a bill demanding exclusive American control of the Oregon country, A treaty of 1818 allowed the U.S. and Great Britain equal rights and joint occupancy of the Pacific Northwest. From 1820 on, however, Benton repeatedly demanded the treaty be abrogated and a definite boundary be set - if not at the famous 54'40", at least at the 49th parallel. In 1846, his efforts met with success, and the United States laid claim to all of the Pacific Northwest south of the present boundary. Letter measures approximately 8" x 10", some light toning, normal and light horizontal folds, writing is bold. Anyone wishing additional scans please email us with request. Michael A. West a/k/a Timelion is a member of the UACC & The Manuscript Society. Buyer will receive a Bill of Sale with lifetime guaranty of authenticity to the value of the purchase. We only accept personal checks and money orders, no personal payment services or credit cards. NYS residents to add appropriate sales tax. We ship by Priority Mail w/o exception, buyer to add $6.00 to winning bid. Any purchase over $300.00 requires buyer to purchase insurance. International shipping and manner of payment to be quoted.
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