Between the dates of September 30, 1817 and October 7, 1817, Archibald Austin of Buckingham County, Virginia was legally able to distill spirits according to the license issued by the Commissioner of the Revenue. This license enabled Mr. Austin to distill from domestic materials for one week only. The rules set forth by this license were issued by the United States, not the state of Virginia. Mr....
In explaining the treaty to the legislature, McMinn focused also on the relationship between Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as both of their relationships (and that of the United States) with the Cherokees. The Cherokees had occupied what McMinn estimated to be five to seven million acres of land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. He encouraged the Tennessee legislature to enact...
The Maryland, a steamboat in the Chesapeake Bay, commenced her regular route on April 12, 1820 between Easton, Annapolis, and Baltimore. The Maryland accommodated passengers, horses and carriages. The advertisement posted in The Maryland Gazette on April 6, 1820 targeted potential customers by stating that the Maryland is not surpassed in point of elegance or speed by...
Doctor Robertson had done it, and he had done it for western Virginia's Charlestown in 1817. He had discovered the most valuable medicine ever offered to the public (Farmer's Repository), a veritable cure all. Luckily, he was nice enough to share. The local Apothecary's Shop in Charlestown advertised that it would sell the phenomenal set of Doctor Robertson's Family Medicines. One...
D.B. Mitchill was the executive chair of Georgia in 1817, but in early March of that year, he resigned his post. In July of that year, he met with the leaders of the Creek Nation at Fort Hawkins. His goal of this meeting was to explain to the Indians their role in creating and maintaining a mutual peace between the Indians and the United States. He warned the Creeks that other Americans had approached...
The Zebulon M. Pike arrived in St. Louis, Missouri on August 2nd, 1817. It was the first steamboat to take the Mississippi River as far North as the Ohio River. For the people of St. Louis, and those aboard the steamboat, this was the sign of a new era in which steamboats made distant cities easily accessible, as more and more rivers became navigable. On Christmas morning 1817, the steamboat Charleston...
The American Star of Petersburg Virginia recognized George Schmidt, a Dutch missionary, for his outstanding missions in South Africa on July 23, 1817. He spread the Gospel to the South Africans as well as literacy. What was interesting about this remark in the newspaper was the interest in African education, literacy, and spirituality. Schmidt was praised for his efforts in sharing with Africans,...
One fatal wound elicited another as two blacks killed each other in a dispute. No one knew why the two black men were feuding; however, it was evident that they decided to settle their argument with the weapons on hand. Scythes were used to fight. Both inflicted a deadly gash on the other leaving them both dead. A Petersburg newspaper reported the homicides in 1817. It was not noted if these blacks...
Drought and famine struck most of the Western world in 1816, and continued throughout 1817. In 1817, grain prices were 154% of the price in 1815 in the United States. In the month of January, the price of grain was nearly twice the original 1815 price. This was partially due to a low grain harvest in America, but also reflected the large amount of grain exported to Europe, where the famine was...
After getting their constitution approved in August, Mississippi held its first election for governor and Representatives to Congress. Rumors abounded in other states that some of the polling places were occupied by soldiers with bayonets trying to control the voters. The Washington Republican & Natchez Intelligencer of Mississippi fiercely denied these allegations. To admit such lawlessness...