History In Ink®  Historical Autographs


1431407

William Henry Harrison

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Harrison directs the issuance of provisions for the Delaware Indians,

who would soon sign the Treaty of Greenville, opening Ohio and Indiana to white settlement

William Henry Harrison, 1773–1841.  9th President of the United States, 1841.  Autograph Document Signed, Wm H. Harrison, one page, 7½" x 2½", on plain stationery, [Fort] Greenville, [Ohio], July 29, 1795. 

This holograph document relates to one of the greatest territorial expansions of the United States short of the Louisiana Purchase.  As the aide-de-camp to General Anthony Wayne, Harrison orders the delivery of goods to the Delawares, one of the Native American tribes that, four days later, would formally sign Treaty of Greenville, which ended the Northwest Indian War and opened present-day Ohio and Indiana to white settlement.  Under the treaty, the United States agreed to deliver an annual allotment of goods to the tribes.  Here, whether out of good will or as an advance on payment, Harrison orders the commissary to provide the Delewares with flour and beef.  He writes, in full:  "/Wilson/  /  The commissary will issue for the Delawares one hundred & fifty pounds of floor & beef—  /  Wm. H. Harrison  /  a.d.c.”  

When Harrison entered the United States Army at age 18, he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment at Cincinnati, in the Northwest Territory, which was engaged in the war.  The United States battled a confederation of Native American tribes, which had minor support from the British, over control of the Northwest Territory, which covered all of the land of the United States west of Pennsylvania and northwest of the Ohio River and included present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and northeastern Minnesota.  Great Britain ceded control of the territory to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, but the Native American tribes occupied it, and Britain continued to maintain forts there and to support the Natives.

After a series of government losses, President George Washington appointed General Anthony Wayne—"Mad Anthony"—to train and lead a force into Native-occupied territory.  After Wayne assumed command, Harrision was promoted to lieutenant and later to serve as Wayne's aide-de-camp, the position that he held when he issued this order.

Wayne's force built Fort Recovery at the site of the defeat of Major General Arthur St. Clair, who had been governor of the Northwest Territory, and repelled a Native attack on the fort in June 1794.  Two months later, Wayne defeated the Native forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.  Harrison participated in Wayne's victory in that battle, which ended the war. 

The result was the Treaty of Greenville, which Wayne concluded with the 12 warring tribes, including the Delawares, on August 3, 1795.  Under the treaty, the Native Americans ceded most of Ohio and part of Indiana to the United States, while the United States relinquished its claim “to all other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the Great Lakes and the waters uniting them,” according to the boundary settled between the United States and Britain in the Treaty of Paris. The Native American tribes also recognized the United States, rather than Britain, as the ruling power and allowed the United States to hold ten of the Native chiefs hostage until all United States prisoners were returned.  The treaty thus opened the way for the United States to settle Ohio.

Under the treaty, the United States agreed to deliver to the Native tribes $20,000 worth of goods immediately and "henceforward every year forever" to deliver additional shipments of $9,500 worth of “like useful goods, suited to the circumstances of the Indians."  

Interestingly, this document predates the treaty by four days.  Likely, however, the United States sought to maintain relations with the tribes pending execution of the formal treaty, which Wayne signed with a host of tribal leaders, including 14 Delawares. 

It appears that Harrison decided to front fewer pounds of flour and beef than he originally intended.  On this document, where Harrison has scratched through the original text, it appears that Harrison originally wrote “Two,” then made the “o" the first letter in "one,” and then scratched out both and wrote “one hundred fifty."

This document is an excellent example of Harrison's holograph and signature.  Harrison has penned it in brown ink.  The piece is separated from another piece that was below it, from which a tiny bit of ink appears at the bottom edge of this one.  The words “No 439,” which appear to be in Harrison's hand, are written on the backside.  There is one flattened horizontal fold, which affects a few letters of the text but not Harrison's signature.  There are a couple of scattered stains, and, for the sake of picayunishness, we note that there is a small notch of paper loss just above the word "29th" in the date, affecting nothing.  Overall this piece is in fine to very fine condition.

Our research has disclosed the sale at auction of only a handful of these types of documents by Harrison ordering provisions for the Native American tribes.  This piece itself has not been offered on the autograph market for nearly 70 years.  It comes from a collection assembled in the 1940s. 

Unframed.  Please ask us about custom framing this piece.

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