Page:Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison Vol. 1.djvu/58

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HARRISON: MESSAGES AND LETTERS

Give Mrs. Harrison's and my best regards to Mrs. Findlay and to Smith and all our mutual friends.

Yours truly,

William H. Harrison⁠

Commission of Peter Menard

August 1, 1800

Fergus Historical Series, 31, Early Illinois, 30

By John Gibson, Esq'r. Secretary and now acting as Governor and Commander in Chief of the Indiana Territory:

United States
Indiana Territory

To Peter Menard, Esq'r. of the County
of Randolph, Greeting:

You being Appointed a Major of a Regiment of the Militia in said County. By Virtue of the power Vested in me; I do by these presents, (reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty; Courage and Good Conduct) Commission you accordingly; You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of a Major in leading, ordering and exercising said Regiment in Arms, both inferior officers and Soldiers; and to keep them in good order and discipline; And they are hereby commanded to obey you as their Major. And you are yourself to observe and follow such orders and Instructions as you shall from time to time receive from me or your Superior Officers:

Given under my hand and the seal of said Territory, the (Seal) first day of August in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Eight hundred and of the Independence of the United States of America, the Twenty-fifth.

Jno. Gibson ⁠

(Endorsed:) Peter Menard, Esq'r, Major

Proclamation: Convening the First Session of the Territorial Legislature, January 10, 1801

Executive Journal of Indiana Territory, 2^[1]

The Governor Issued a proclamation for the meeting of the legislature, and requiring the attendance of the judges of the territory, on Monday the 12th of this instant at St. Vincennes for the purpose of adopting and publishing such laws, as the

↑ The references to the Executive Journal are to the printed version in Indiana Historical Society Publications. III, No. 3 (1900). The original pagination is cited as therein given. Although the act setting off Indiana Territory was approved May 7, 1800, and Governor Harrison was appointed May 13. he did not arrive in the new Territory until early in the next year. Meanwhile the necessary measures for the administration of the Territory were taken by Secretary John Gibson. The Executive Journal, kept by the secretary, begins with these words, under date of July 4, 1800: "This day the government of Indiana Territory commenced." The issuance of the proclamation of January 10, 1801, is the first evidence we have of Harrison's presence at Vincennes. The last preceding entry in the Executive Journal is dated November 5, 1800. The proclamation no doubt was read to the three judges who with the governor constituted the territorial legislature. The text of this proclamation has not been found.

[1] The references to the Executive Journal are to the printed version in Indiana Historical Society Publications. III, No. 3 (1900). The original pagination is cited as therein given. Although the act setting off Indiana Territory was approved May 7, 1800, and Governor Harrison was appointed May 13. he did not arrive in the new Territory until early in the next year. Meanwhile the necessary measures for the administration of the Territory were taken by Secretary John Gibson. The Executive Journal, kept by the secretary, begins with these words, under date of July 4, 1800: "This day the government of Indiana Territory commenced." The issuance of the proclamation of January 10, 1801, is the first evidence we have of Harrison's presence at Vincennes. The last preceding entry in the Executive Journal is dated November 5, 1800. The proclamation no doubt was read to the three judges who with the governor constituted the territorial legislature. The text of this proclamation has not been found.

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