William Henry Harrison, Former Minister to Colombia, Writes His Legation Secretary on Efforts to Get the U.S. Government to Pay Their Expenses Getting to South America

“I was informed some time ago that the government has refused to allow Mr. Thornton credit for the $200 which was paid for our passage from Erie to Maracaibo. I have remonstrated against this and have gotten the promise of a reconsideration. I have just written a note to Mr. Van Buren [President Van Buren] on the subject. If you come here shortly, I wish you would attend to this business.”

 

A scarce ALS of Harrison relating to his time as a diplomat

In 1828, President John Quincy Adams appointed William Henry Harrison as the first U.S. Minister to Colombia. Edward Tayloe became Secretary to Harrison at the Colombian Legation. He had previously held a similar post in Mexico.

Before the party left for Bogota, President Adams was defeated by Andrew Jackson, and the patrician Virginians and New Englanders who had ruled America since its creation were out. Gen. Harrison and Edward Tayloe proceeded to Colombia, hoping the new administration would leave them in place. They ventured by ship through the Caribbean to Maracaibo in Venezuela. Eventually, they took a 10-day trip by mule to the Colombian capital of Bogotá. There Harrison met Colombian President Simon Bolivar. Bolivar, who had been the Great Liberator, was now bordering on becoming the Great Dictator. Harrison sent dispatches back to Washington, warning of Bolivar’s increasing paranoia and restrictions of personal liberties. After an attempted coup against Bolivar, Bolivar’s second in command blamed the affair on the meddling of Harrison and Tayloe. In 1829, Andrew Jackson appointed a new minister to Colombia. Harrison returned home to Ohio and Tayloe to Virginia.

Rensselaer Van Rensselaer was a friend of Harrison, who joined him in Colombia during Harrison’s service there. Sir Edward Thornton was a British diplomat who was Rensselaer’s godfather.

For several years after returning to Ohio, Harrison managed his estate, welcomed back veterans of his various campaigns, wrote books, and had books written about him. But based on his experience and expertise, he was still contacted about affairs in Colombia.

Autograph letter signed, Washington, March 7, 1831, to Edward Tayloe, on matters relating to Colombia, how they got there, and monies still owed Thornton for financing their trip in 1828. “Circumstances which Col. Van Rensselaer will explain to you prevented me from visiting you as I had constantly intended until just last week. I submitted all the evidence I had of Moore’s business to a friend who offered to bring it before the government for the purpose of getting Moore dismissed. He was of opinion, however, that although he was satisfied of his guilt, he approved of my determination not to bring the matter forward until some legal proof could be procured. I have spoken to VR [Van Rensselaer] further on this subject.

“I was informed some time ago that the government has refused to allow Mr. Thornton credit for the $200 which was paid for our passage from Erie to Maracaibo. I have remonstrated against this and have gotten the promise of a reconsideration. I have just written a note to Mr. Van Buren [President Van Buren] on the subject. If you come here shortly, I wish you would attend to this business. The grounds upon which I continue to have it allowed is that Turner was directed to landing at some part of Colombia which I should denigrate. That I would of course have preferred to be taken to the…in the Erie but to avoid putting her in any danger I proposed to encounter the dangers in a crazy vessel that the schooner was engaged to pilot in the Erie or take us where she left Curacao that it was not determined which until we got near the capes of the bay. If they ultimately decide against allowing it we must certainly not suffer our friend Turner to say it but decide it I having two thirds. Present me most respectfully to your better half…” This is a scarce ALS of Harrison relating to his time as a diplomat.

In 1836, the Whig Party decided on a unique strategy for the Presidential election. Instead of nominating one candidate, the Whigs would nominate several candidates, each of whom was supposed to be very popular in one part of the country. The hope was then to split the electoral vote and send the election to the House. This plan had several flaws. First, the Democrats controlled the House and would win any election there. Second, it is hard enough to find one good presidential nominee, let alone two or three. In 1836, the Whigs nominated four candidates: Daniel Webster, Hugh White, Willie Mangum, and Harrison. Harrison was chosen because of his military background and his popularity in the West. In the end, Martin Van Buren won the election. Harrison polled the second most votes of any of the Whigs and won 73 electoral votes. In 1840 Harrison would be nominated for president by the Whigs and would be elected.