Please note that this transcription preserves the original spelling, grammar, punctuation, and line breaks whenever possible.
Transcriptions
Letter Written by Daniel Webster to Antoine Charles Cazenove, February 1st, 1845
Washington
Feb. 1, 1845
Dear Sir
The bearer of this letter, is Mr.
Gardenier Esq. of Boston, a highly
respectable gentleman, & a friend of
mine. He has occasion to see you
in business, & I pray to commend
him to your regard.
Yours with much respect
Daniel Webster
Mr Cazenove
Notes:
This letter seems to be a simple letter of introduction of Mr H. Gardenier, by Daniel Webster, to Mr Anthony-Charles Cazenove. Mr Gardenier has not been identified.
The Cazenove family dates to the 15th century in southern of France. Family members were Huguenots who sought refuge in Geneva, Switzerland, after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre - 1572. Active in international commerce, branches of the family settled in England, Italy, Spain, and the United States
Anthony-Charles Cazenove, (1775-1852), merchant and banker, was the second son of Paul Cazenove and Jeanne Elizabeth Martin. He was born 1775 in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1790 he went to London to work for a time in the counting house of James Cazenove & Co. In 1794 he and his brother, John-Anthony emigrated to Philadelphia, to escape the French Revolution which had come to Geneva. He settled in Alexandria, Virginia. About 1795 he became a partner in the firm Albert Gallatin & Co. Gallatin, also from Geneva, was a prominent businessman, legislature, diplomat and US Secretary of the Treasury. Cazenove was one of the original subscribers to the stock of the first United States Bank. In 1797, Anthony married Anne Hogan in Alexandria. They had nine children. Cazenove’s granddaughters married into other prominent families, particularly the Lee’s and du Pont’s. As the Crittenden letter (M-25) indicates Cazenove served as consul for the Swiss Republic. In 1850 his son Louis-Anthony Cazenove (1807-1852) bought the Lee-Fendale House (built in 1785 and still existing) in Alexandria. Both Louis and Anthony died in 1852.
Letter to Daniel S. Dickinson, September 27, 1850
Washington September 27, 50
My Dear Sir
Our companionship in the Senate is
dissolved. After this long and most important
session, you are about to return to your
home; & I shall try to find leisure to
visit mine. I hope we may meet each other
again, two month hence, for the discharge
of our duties, in our respective stations in
the Government, But life is uncertain
& I have not felt willing to take leave of
you, without placing in your hands a
note, containing a few words which I
wish to say to you.
In the earlier part of our acquaintance
my Dear Sir, occurrences took place,
which I remember with constantly increasing
regret & pain; because the more I have
(Second page)
have known you, the greater have
been my esteem for your character, & my
respect for your talents. But it is your noble
able, manly & patriotic conduct, in support
of the great mission of this session, which has
entirely won my heart & secure my highest
regard. I hope you may live long, to serve
your country; but I do not think you are
ever likely to see a crisis in which
you may be able to do so much either for your own
distinction, or for the public good. You have
stood. where others have fallen; you have
advanced with firm & manly steps where others
have wavered, faltered, & fallen
back: & for one, I desire to thank you, &
commend your conduct, out of the feelings in
honest heart
This letter needs no reply
it
it is, I am _____?, of my little value: but I have
thought you might be willing to receive it
& perhaps, to have it where it would be seen
by those that come after you.
I pray you, when you reach your own
threshold, to remember me most kindly to
your wife & daughters; I remain,
my Dear Sir, with the truest esteem
your friend & Ob Serv
Danl Webster
Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson
U.S. Senate
Notes: This letter, written in September 1850, is timed with the final passage of the US Compromise of 1850 which temporarily resolved many issues relating to the growing controversy over slavery and its possible extension into new US western territories of Texas and those acquired from the Mexican war. The compromise effort in the Senate was led by Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas with major support from Webster. Deliberations were begun in January 1850 and ultimately passed in five separate bills by mid September 1850. Webster was bitterly attacked by abolitionists who felt betrayed by his compromises, especially with the Fugitive Slave Law portion of the Compromise. Webster decided to resign his senate seat to become Secretary of State, under President Fillmore, on July 22, 1850.
Daniel Stevens Dickinson (1800-1866) was a Democratic senator from New York
during the rancorous North-South Compromise debates. At this time Dickinson was one of the most prominent proponents of Southern states rights (but later was a staunch War Democrat during the war). On April 19th, 1850, Senator Thomas Hart Benton became so incensed with Senator Foote of Mississippi that he charged him, and Foote drew a pistol.
Senator Dickinson grabbed the pistol from Foote and locked it in his desk. He became a member of the US Senate Select Committee of Thirteen, formed to draft legislation based upon Clay's proposals to resolve sectional differences over slavery. His apparent support of the Compromise measures was greatly appreciated by Webster and was probably the source of the good feelings expressed by Webster in this warm letter to Dickinson. Prior to the Civil War, Dickinson was considered one of the most picturesque and popular stump speakers. When Lincoln decided to replace his Vice President in 1864 Dickinson was a strong candidate.
References
- Daniel Webster – Wikipedia
- Autobiographical Sketch of Anthony-Charles Cazenove, Political Refugee. Merchant and Banker, 1775-1852, John Askling and Anthony-Charles Cazenove, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul. 1970), pp. 295-307 Published by: Virginia Historical Society.
- Artisans and Merchants of Alexandria, Virginia, 1780-1820, Vol 1.
- Anthony Charles Cazenove (1775 - 1852) - Find A Grave Memorial
- Lee-Fendall House - Wikipedia
- Albert Gallatin - Wikipedia
- Compromise of 1850 - Wikipedia
- Daniel S. Dickinson – Wikipedia
- Henry Clay - Wikipedia
- Anthony Charles Cazenove of Alexandria, Virginia, (1775 - 1852), Dorothy Vandergrift Lee, 1969
- America’s Great Debate - Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas and the Compromise That Preserved the Union, Fergus M. Bordewich, Simon & Schuster, 2012
- Albert Gallatin, Jeffersonian Financier & Diplomat, Raymond Walters Jr., Macmillan Company, 1957
