Dallas, Alexander J.:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT | 18 SEPT. 1816. | SIR. | YOU WILL BE PLEASED TO EXPLAIN, UPON WHICH AUTHORITY THE PAYMENT OF 4,491.27 DOLLARS WAS MADE INTO THE BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA, BY W. RICHARD AUFLUCK [?], FOR WHICH A RECEIPT HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY THE TREASURER, DATED THE 23 APRIL 1816. IF THE PAYMENT WAS MADE IN TREASURY NOTES, IT WILL, OF COURSE, BE ALLOWED; BUT INTEREST [?] ACCRUING AND PAYABLE IN YOUR DISTRICT, MUST EITHER BE PAID IN TREASURY NOTES, OR IN THE LOCAL CURRENCY. AS SOON AS YOUR ANSWER SHALL BE RECEIVED, YOU WILL BE FURTHER INSTRUCTED. | I AM, RESPECTFULLY, | SIR, | YR MO. OBED. SERVT | A.J. DALLAS | JER. O'BRIEN ESQ. | COLLECTOR. MACHIAS. MAINE.

Washington: 1816. Autograph letter signed by A.J. Dallas as Secretary of the Treasury, to the Collector of Machias, Maine. Single page, entirely in ink manuscript. Old folds, Very Good.

Dallas [1759-1817] was President Madison's Secretary of the Treasury from October 1814 to October 1816. He died the following year. He had previously been Madison's Secretary of War, Reporter of Decisions for the United States Supreme Court, Acting Secretary of State, and U.S. Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania.
For O'Brien's [1744-1818] "fascinating life," as a Revolutionary War maritime hero and Maine public figure, see Cohen, 'Captain Jeremiah O'Brien: Maine Mariner,' 50 Maine Political History 79-107 [2016]. His "final major appointment came in 1811 when President James Madison named him Collector of Customs for the port of Machias. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under President Madison, may have influenced this appointment." Item #37840

Price: $275.00