[AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM KENTUCKY PIONEER CHARLES WARD TO HIS BROTHER, FAMOUS FRONTIERSMAN WILLIAM WARD, DISCUSSING NEWS OF AARON BURR'S CONSPIRACY AND ITS IMPACT ON LOCAL AND NATIONAL LIFE AND POLITICS]

[Burr, Aaron]: Ward, Charles

Published by Mason County, Ky, 1807

[3]pp. autograph letter, signed, on a folded folio sheet. Addressed on the blank fourth page. Old folds. Moderate tanning, small holes in second leaf. Wax residue from original seals in margin. Very good. A fascinating letter written by Charles Ward, one of the earliest settlers of Mason County, Kentucky, to his brother, William Ward, the renowned frontiersman, free-wheeling businessman, and founder of Champaign County, Ohio. The letter, written one month before Aaron Burr's arrest on his way to New Orleans, is primarily concerned with the so- called "Burr Conspiracy," and more particularly with the mysterious expedition that Burr was leading down the Mississippi. Charles Ward begins his letter with news from a son of Simon Kenton, another frontier legend and long-time business partner of William. Ward tells his brother that "I feel much rejoiced that you are yet continued to be a guide to your family at a time when, if matters turn out as are expected, will perhaps be troublesome on the frontiers." The troublesome times he alludes to are the result of Burr's expedition, the ultimate purpose of which has never been verified beyond doubt. The common sentiment, which is shared by Charles Ward in his letter, is that the former Vice President's goal was "to revolutionize the western country," and thereby establish a new nation or else expand southwest into Mexico on his own. Ward continues: "The papers say that Genl. Wilkinson has taken the forces he has with him to Orleans and it is feared for the purpose of joining Burr, who report says has rendezvoused three thousand men at the mouth of the Ohio that came down the different rivers. He has swindled the Kentucky insurance Company out of thirty thousand dollars and a merchant in Lexington by the name of Saunders out of ten thousand. The means were, he passed to them a large draught note payable in New York in order to get their smaller notes to purchase provisions with, and it is supposed the Bank will be broke in consequence thereof, as the person that his draught was on has proved insolvent." General James Wilkinson had in fact promised Burr that he would do so, but he lost faith in the enterprise at the last moment, instead revealing all to Jefferson in a carefully crafted letter which proved both the most compelling piece of evidence against Burr, and (by virtue of his interference with its contents) one of the main reasons he was acquitted. Regardless, the uncertainty of the situation and unreliable nature of news on the frontier caused a certain amount of apprehension on the region. "Our adventurers down the river appear to be much alarmed," Ward writes, "supposing that if Burr should succeed, they may lose their cargoes." Ward continues on to discuss how the developing situation has impacted local affairs. Events had apparently occasioned a dispute between members of the Marshall family and certain other Kentuckians based on slanderous remarks made in the WESTERN WORLD. The Marshall family was accused of fabricating the entire charge against Burr out of spite or politics. They eventually cleared their name, but not before shots were fired in an ultimately bloodless duel. Ward also mentions a "Judge Sebastian," who apparently admitted to being on Burr's payroll as a member of the conspiracy before resigning and fleeing south along the river with repeat Wilkinson collaborator, Judge Innes. Charles Ward concludes his letter by stepping back and considering where the entire situation leaves the country politically. He declares it a grand coup for the Federalists, stating that "These things have given the Feds a great ascendancy as they suppose. They attribute the measures taken in Kentucky to suppress the tyrannical Adams Administration [i.e. Jefferson's Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions] wholly to a design to revolutionize the western country and because some who called themselves Republicans are found in their filth, are lumping the whole." Charles Ward was a soldier and fron. Seller Inventory # WRCAM57634

Bibliographic Details

Title: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM KENTUCKY ...
Publisher: Mason County, Ky
Publication Date: 1807