benj. wilson: that is, Benjamin Wilkinson (see Henry Dearborn to TJ, 19 Feb.).

On 24 Feb., William Eustis sent the secretary of state communications advocating the appointment of thomas lovell as consul or commercial agent at La Rochelle. The first, dated 12 Jan. 1803, was from James Lovell, naval officer at Boston and father of the applicant. He enclosed an unsigned, undated sketch by Benjamin Homans, a merchant sea captain familiar with the ports of France. Homans noted the commercial importance of La Rochelle and lamented that it and surrounding ports were under the jurisdiction of the consul at Bordeaux, who had appointed Frenchmen “who could speak more or less of our language, but whose private interests have often militated with the Duty, & in many instances to my knowledge they have been prejudicial to our Countrymen.” Homans advocated the appointment of an American and noted that Thomas Lovell’s “Education, abilities, information, judgement & good disposition” made him “inferior to no One already appointed to similar Offices in France.” His French connections by marriage would also be helpful in carrying out his duties. “Mr Lovell in obtaining this appointment,” Homans thought, “would have greater advantages than any other Man” (RC and enclosures in DNA: RG 59, LAR, endorsed by TJ: “Lovell Thos. to be Consul La Rochelle”; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962–, 33 vols. Sec. of State Ser., 1986–, 9 vols. Pres. Ser., 1984–, 6 vols. Ret. Ser., 2009–, 1 vol. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 4:346; Vol. 35:60n).

One of the leading advocates of Ohio statehood, michael baldwin served as the state’s first U.S. attorney until October 1804, when he resigned to run for a seat in the state assembly. Baldwin noted that he had received the appointment without any solicitation on his part. Senator Abraham Baldwin, his half-brother, supported the nomination (Andrew R. L. Cayton, The Frontier Republic: Ideology and Politics in the Ohio Country, 1780–1825 [Kent, Ohio, 1986], 83–8; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962–, 33 vols. Sec. of State Ser., 1986–, 9 vols. Pres. Ser., 1984–, 6 vols. Ret. Ser., 2009–, 1 vol. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 8:143; Vol. 36:458; Thomas Worthington to TJ, 18 Sep. 1804). Another statehood advocate, Cincinnati Republican david zeigler served as U.S. marshal until March 1805, when he resigned for health reasons (Donald J. Ratcliffe, Party Spirit in a Frontier Republic: Democratic Politics in Ohio, 1793–1821 [Columbus, Ohio, 1998], 26–7, 55–6; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962–, 33 vols. Sec. of State Ser., 1986–, 9 vols. Pres. Ser., 1984–, 6 vols. Ret. Ser., 2009–, 1 vol. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 9:103–4; Vol. 37:636n).

On 1 Mch., Meriwether Lewis delivered TJ’s message to the Senate, where it was immediately read and ordered to lie for consideration. The Senate consented to the appointments on 3 Mch. (JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States…to the Termination of the Nineteenth Congress, Washington, D.C., 1828, 3 vols. description ends , 1:446–7).