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ALS signed "Z. Taylor," one page, 8 x 9.5, August 6, 1833. Addressed from Fort Crawford, a handwritten letter from Colonel Taylor to Major James J. Hook, in part: “I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 18th of June which has only this moment been rec'd, in relation to this officer I wished appointed Ass't C of Subsistence at this place. In a former commu'n addressed to the Comg. Genl of Sub't I recommended Lts. Harris, Garey & Burbank for the apt. in question, either of whom I had no doubt would perform the duties appertaining to the same to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. But as the first named officer relieved Lt. Kingsbury & has discharged the duties since he left here (& is the only one of the three now present) I have to request that the temporary apt. may be confirmed. Althou…had Lt. Burbank been here at this time Lt. K. was transferred to St. Louis, I should have asked the apt. for him.” In very good to fine condition, with a few edge chips, and ink erosion affecting a few words of text.
Fort Crawford stood guard over Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, from 1816 until 1856. In the spring of 1829, troops began building a new Fort Crawford on an elevated plain located on the mainland, safe from the floods that had plagued the first fort. The new structure was built primarily with quarried limestone, and work progressed slowly. Colonel (and future president of the United States) Zachary Taylor took command of the construction in the summer of 1829 and commanded the fort from then until 1837. Jefferson Davis (later president of the Confederate States of America) was a lieutenant at Fort Crawford and supervised work at a sawmill on the Yellow River that provided lumber for construction. Troops moved into the new barracks in December 1830. While at the fort, Davis met and fell in love with Taylor’s daughter, Sarah. They would marry in June 1835, making Zachary Taylor Jefferson Davis’s father-in-law. But tragedy awaited, as Sarah died three months into the marriage, of yellow fever, devastating Davis and causing ill will with Taylor, who blamed Davis for taking his daughter into an unhealthy climate.
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