1816 Record of Native American Trading in Alexandria

Ken Lopez
Posted by Ken Lopez on Dec 30, 2020 7:00:00 AM

Here's an interesting July 30, 1816 document recording trade between Alexandrians and Native Americans. It appears to be for fabric, but I am unsure what direction the trade went. Note the references to stripes, checks, and gingham patterns.

One might reasonably guess that Native Americans sold the fabric for cash, but that is not entirely clear from the document itself. A quick investigation of the participants in this transaction makes it only that much more confusing.

They include William Whann, presumably the former cashier to James Madison and then cashier for the Bank of Columbia, Thomas McKenney, Superintendent of Indian Trade, and A.C. Cazenove, a successful Alexandria business person. If I were guessing, and it's only a guess, I think what we see is a bill being sent to the Superintendent of Indian Trade for a purchase of goods by A.C. Cazenove and payment being made by the United States for those goods as part of an effort to encourage trade with the Native Americans. What do you think?

Bios for each are below:

A.C. Cazevove: "In 1799 Cazenove moved to Alexandria, Virginia. The following year he was hired as an agent by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and purchased several warehouses in the area on its behalf. He later founded A.C. Cazenove & Company and served as director of the Bank of Alexandria. By 1822, Cazenove had established himself as a successful wine and tobacco merchant in the city."

Thomas McKenney: "McKenny was born on March 21, 1785, in Hopewell, Maryland. He was the oldest of five boys, and was raised and received his education at Chestertown, Maryland. McKenney was a Quaker, which influenced his approach to interactions with Native Americans.

After the abolition of the U.S. Indian Trade program in 1822, then Secretary of War John C. Calhoun created a position without legislation within the War Department entitled Superintendent of Indian Affairs (this later became part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs). McKenney was appointed to this position, and held it from 1824-1830. McKenney was an advocate of the American Indian “civilization” program, becoming an avid promoter of Indian removal west of the Mississippi River. President Andrew Jackson dismissed McKenney from his position in 1830 when Jackson disagreed with his opinion that “the Indian was, in his intellectual and moral structure, our equal.”

He wrote the two volume work, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, With Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs.

McKenney died in New York City in February 1859."

William Whann: Cashier of the Bank of Columbia; former cashier to James Madison

Office of Indian Trade (1806–1822): "In 1789, the U.S. Congress placed Native American relations within the newly formed War Department. By 1806 the Congress had created a Superintendent of Indian Trade, or "Office of Indian Trade" within the War Department, who was charged with maintaining the factory trading network of the fur trade. The post was held by Thomas L. McKenney from 1816 until the abolition of the factory system in 1822.

The government licensed traders to have some control in Indian territories and gain a share of the lucrative trade.

I invite someone with more expertise in Native American history to comment further on the document.

IndianTrade-back

IndianTrade-front

 

Topics: Alexandria, VA, Native Americans, Antoine Charles Cazenove, Thomas McKenney, Bank of Columbia, William Whann, Sales Receipt, Georgetown, D.C., Bank of Alexandria, People, Places, Things

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