From the first day Thomas Jefferson was president, he and his party leaders began to systematically undercut the Federalist party. He reduced the army, removed political opponents from their offices, made war on the independent judiciary, and pressured Congress to repeal laws enacted under his predecessors, including the Alien and Sedition Acts, whose victims he pardoned his first day in office.
One of those he exonerated was James Thomson Callender, the propaganda hound Jefferson had paid to maul Federalist leaders like Washington, Adams, and Hamilton during previous administrations. From jail on Sept. 13, 1800, Callender wrote his former patron of his plans to open a paper in Richmond, Va., to “give the aristocrats a cut and thrust volume per annum for some years to come [for] the federal viper will undoubtedly continue to hiss, but I make no doubt of living to trample him in the mire of universal detestation.” The following month, the Scottish-born journalist wrote again, remarking that “2 or 300 dollars would be quite enough to buy a press &c.” and complaining of having no reply from Jefferson after sending him several proofs from the second volume of The Prospect Before Us. It was for the first volume, in which he called Washington “a traitor, a robber, and a perjurer” and Adams “a hoary-headed incendiary,” that the Republican muckraker had been jailed for seditious libel in 1800. On Feb. 23, 1801, ten days before his release, Callender asked Jefferson to remit the $200 fine he must pay to obtain his freedom. Again, Jefferson ignored the entreaty and, on April 12, Callender wrote again, this time cataloging his service and sacrifices on behalf of the Republican Party. “For the cause, I have lost five years of labor; gained five thousand enemies; got my name inserted in five hundred libels. I mention these particulars as this is probably the close of my correspondence with you, that you may not suppose that I, at least, have anything by the victories of Republicanism.” When these arguments fell on deaf ears, Callender warned the president he “was in possession of things which he could and would make use of” and on July 1, 1801, in partnership with an editor named Henry Pace, he began publishing The Recorder, a Richmond-based newspaper “dedicated to the excoriation of the president.” On July 5, he made good on his threats by detailing the encouragement and financial support Jefferson had provided for his writing, particularly the publication of The Prospect Before Us. After receiving the first pages of Prospect, Callender reported, Jefferson “returned not merely a letter of thanks, but, to my great surprise, he said that he had directed Mr. George Jefferson of Richmond to pay me fifty dollars.” When the first part of the second volume of Prospect went to press, Jefferson sent Callender another $50. “These hundred dollars attest, beyond a thousand letters of compliment,” he wrote, “how seriously the president was satisfied with the contents of the book, and how anxiously he felt himself interested in its success.” Two days after the article appeared, James Monroe, then the Governor of Virginia, enclosed a copy of The Record in a letter to Jefferson. “It was whispered sometime since that the federalists knew he was possessed of some letters from you, and were endeavouring to bring them before the publick,” Monroe wrote. “In several of his preceding papers he glanced at the subject, but at length enters more directly on it. Perhaps it will be best that nothing shod [sic] be said in reply by any one. Of this you will be the best judge. It may be of use to state to me the periods when the sums he mentions were advanc’d, & the circumstances wh. lead to it. Any light you think proper to communicate relative to the affr., will be used without compromising anyone, in the mode you deem most eligible. If any reply is proper he may be drawn to state facts correctly, but a person knowing them, without it appearing that you gave a hint.” [Upon first read, it might appear that Monroe didn’t know the letters existed, but, subsequent exchanges suggest, he was in actuality asking Jefferson how he wanted to “spin” the story.] On July 15, Jefferson replied to Monroe in a lengthy letter explaining that the $100 he’d given Callender was motivated by charity, not patronage. He did not, however, explain all the other payments he’d made to Callender in 1797 and 1798, presumably to purchase his pamphlets and books, including the one insinuating that Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds was a cover-up for speculative ventures with her husband. “This was sensational stuff, the kind of thing that could hurt Jefferson politically,” wrote Thomas Fleming in Verdicts of History. “Washington was now in his grave two years and already the process of canonization was in full swing. Federalist printers rushed to their presses to discuss Jefferson’s rather lame explanation that he had sent Callender the $100 out of charity, and because he was a Sedition Act victim.” The Federalist press had a field day with the story. Few, however, equaled The Wasp of Hudson, New York, in vitriol: “He [Jefferson] read the book and from that book inferred that Callender was an object of charity,” wrote its editor, Harry Croswell, in response to Jefferson’s feeble excuse for funding Callender’s malicious endeavors. “Why! One who presented a face bloated with vices, a heart black as hell—one who could be guilty of such foul falsehoods, such vile aspirations of the best and greatest man the world has yet known—he an object of charity! No! He [Callender] is the very man, that an aspiring mean and hallow hypocrite [Jefferson] would press into the service of crime. He is precisely qualified to become a tool–to spit the venom and scatter the malicious, poisonous slanders of his employer. He, in short, is the very man that a dissembling patriot, pretended ‘man of the people’ would employ to plunge for him the dagger or administer the arsenic.” To battle the negative publicity, Jefferson sicced his yet-loyal hounds on their former pack-mate. From Philadelphia, the Aurora led the counteroffensive by publishing an article on Callender’s dead wife, painting a portrait of her being “overwhelmed by a created [i.e. sexually transmitted] disease, on a loathsome bed, with a number of children, all in a state next to famishing…while Callender was having his usual pint of brandy at breakfast.” Three days later, Callender retaliated by breaking the story of Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings, the quadroon half-sister of the Virginian’s late wife with whom he’d fathered several children. “It is well known that the man, whom it delighteth the public to honor, keeps, and for many years past has kept, as his concubine, one of his slaves,” he reported in The Recorder on Aug. 28. “Her name is SALLY. The name of her eldest son is TOM. His features are said to bear a striking although sable resemblance to the president himself…by this wench, Sally, our president had several children…THE AFRICAN VENUS is said to officiate, as housekeeper, at Monticello.” In signing off, Callender made it clear his exposé was the rotten fruit of the president’s betrayal. “When Mr. Jefferson has read this article, he will find leisure to estimate how much has been lost or gained by so many unprovoked attacks upon J. T. Callender.” On Jan. 11, 1803, Harry Croswell was indicted for seditious libel for repeating some of the slurs Jefferson paid Callender to publish in The Prospects Before Us. Whether or not this action was instigated by the president personally can’t be proved, but conclusive evidence does exist that Jefferson encouraged the prosecution of journalists on similar charges in Pennsylvania. The dual indictments, issued by a stacked jury of Columbia County Republicans, accused Croswell of “being a malicious and seditious man, of a depraved mind and wicked and diabolical disposition,” who had tried to malign and slander President Jefferson with intent to alienate the allegiance and obedience of the good people of the country from him.” “Several historians have wondered why this obscure editor was singled out rather than the prestigious William Coleman of the Evening Post, who had also reprinted Callender’s anti-Jefferson blasts,” Si Sheppard wrote in The Partisan Press. “But Croswell had taken on New York politicians to an extreme and was Attorney General Ambrose Spencer’s first choice.” Spencer had been a frequent target of The Wasp’s stings himself. In the same issue for which Croswell was indicted, the following doggerel appeared: Th’ Attorney-General chanc’d one day to meet A dirty, ragged fellow in the street A noisy swagg’ring beast With rum, half drunk, at least Th’ Attorney, too, was drunk—but not with grog-- Power and pride had set his head agog. Croswell wanted his party’s de-facto leader to handle his case, but finding Alexander Hamilton too busy, he hired Hudson attorney William W. Van Ness (not to be confused with William P. Van Ness, who later acted as Burr’s second in the duel with Hamilton) to head his legal team. Like a man with a vendetta, Spencer prosecuted the case himself, rather than assigning it to an underling. At Croswell’s arrest hearing, the defense requested a postponement in order to bring Callender from Richmond to attest to the truth of the libels repeated by their client. The prosecutor objected. The truth or falsehood of the libel was irrelevant, he told the court. All the law required him to prove was that Croswell published the statements cited in the indictment. [Spencer’s claims were accurate, btw. American law was based on English common law, which excluded truth as a defense in libel cases at that time.] The next evening, Croswell’s attorneys returned to court to enter a formal affidavit stating they intended to prove the truth of the facts as stated in The Wasp in regard to Callender and President Jefferson. Spencer responded by asking the judge to bind Croswell with $5,000 bail on each indictment “to keep the peace and be of good behavior.” The defense vehemently objected. Not only did the demand violate their client’s liberty, they insisted, it was an attack upon Freedom of the Press as well. Both sides debated the bail request most of the next day. In the end, Spencer’s request was denied. “Six months of legal jousting followed,” Fleming wrote. “The Croswell attorneys fought to get the case transferred to the circuit court…and Spencer argued to retain it in the lower court, where he would have a local Jeffersonian bench and jury.” Then, suddenly, he agreed to let both indictments be tried by the circuit court. His motives soon became clear. The Chief Justice making the next circuit through Columbia County was none-other-than Morgan Lewis, the son-in-law of Robert R. Livingston, a leading member of the Jefferson junto. On July 11, 1803, the defense again requested an adjournment so they could summon Callender as a witness. Justice Lewis denied the request on the same grounds cited six months earlier by Spencer: the truth was inadmissible as a defense in libel cases. Croswell’s lawyers contended that in the case of a libel against an official of the government, truth could be proved as a defense, but Lewis rejected their arguments and ordered the defendant to stand trial the next day. On July 12, a jury was assembled and the trial began. The lawyers argued their cases and, at sundown, the jury was dismissed to deliberate—but only on the question of fact, Justice Lewis instructed them. It was not their place to judge whether what Croswell had printed was factual, if his intentions were malicious, or if the law was unfair. Having no other choice, the jury returned a guilty verdict at eight o’clock the next morning. Immediately, the defense filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that Lewis misdirected the jury when he told them to disregard truth and intent when considering the verdict. Thus, the threat of Callender testifying against the president (and of Jefferson himself being called to testify under oath) still loomed--until Callender was found face down in the James River four days later (about the time it took for a letter to travel from Washington, D.C. to Richmond). Despite the suspicious nature and timing of the journalist’s demise, the coroner in Richmond ruled his death accidental. Callender, he reported, had drowned while intoxicated. But how did he know Callender was drunk when he drowned? Forensic testing of alcohol levels in blood, breath, and urine weren’t introduced until the 1930s. So, the conclusion that Callender had drowned due to drunkenness had to have been based entirely on the eyewitness reports of the journalist staggering around Richmond the day before his body was found. Were the witnesses telling the truth, if indeed such reports existed? Was the coroner also trustworthy? Was there even an inquisition, as was claimed at the time? If so, there is no record of such a proceeding in the archives of the Library of Virginia, where the county coroners’ files from that period are housed. Furthermore, if the death really was accidental, why did those in possession of the corpse rush the burial? Callender was found around three o’clock on the morning of July 18 and was interred later the same day. Did the body perhaps display evidence of foul play? It would be interesting to see what modern forensics might discover if Callender’s remains were exhumed. Consider also that Richmond was the center of the president’s power base in 1803. John Page, the governor, was Jefferson’s closest friend from his William and Mary days. The coroner and law-enforcement officials had all been appointed the previous year by Page’s predecessor, James Monroe--undoubtedly with Jefferson’s influence. It would have been very easy for all of them to conspire to cover up the murder of someone with no protectors or next of kin who’d been characterized as a drunk by the rival paper in town. So, if Callender was murdered to shut him up, who did the president “employ to plunge for him the dagger or administer the arsenic”? All signs point to George Hay, the Richmond attorney Jefferson hired to defend Callender against charges of seditious libel in 1800. Hay, a devout Jeffersonian who was known for having an explosive temper with a short fuse, had beaten Callender about the head with his walking stick on Dec. 20, 1802. Shortly after Callender was laid to rest, Jefferson, true to form, rewarded Hay for his efforts on behalf of the Republican cause by appointing him the U.S. Attorney for the District of Virginia. In that capacity, he prosecuted Aaron Burr for treason in 1807 according to Jefferson’s detailed legal instructions. The following year, Hay married James Monroe’s daughter, Eliza. He later became a U.S. district court judge for eastern Virginia and served as a chief adviser when his father-in-law became president. Did Jefferson order the murder of James T. Callender? There are far too many coincidences and suspicious circumstances surrounding the journalist's death for a rational person to conclude otherwise.
5 Comments
Julia
10/23/2020 06:25:27 pm
Hey! Just stumbled upon your blog and found it fascinating. I’ve always wondered why Burr was so determined to escalate the duel. Of course Jefferson was not a military man and wouldn’t have engaged in a duel himself. I know this post was a while ago so I’m not sure if your still going ahead with the book but I hope you are, would love to read it someday!
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Terry Smith
11/6/2020 07:57:37 pm
Nina, I have a murder mystery surrounding the duel of Alexander Hamilton. I wrote it in 2017 and I just stumbled across your research. It is fascinating as I came to the conclusion. How are you doing on your book?
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Jackie
11/6/2020 08:24:44 pm
Hey Nina. Just stumbled upon this site as I was researching Hamilton after reading Chernow's book. Ok, I admit, I'm also totally hooked on the musical. Did not know about the Callender aspect and the Jefferson connection and we have landed here in Richmond. So here I go down that path. Good luck with your book. Please let us know when you post more findings.
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2594013
3/12/2021 11:01:17 pm
'James Thomson Callender, the propaganda hound Jefferson had paid to maul Federalist leaders like Washington, Adams, and Hamilton during previous administrations.' it follows that ben franklin paid callender in scotland to maul the crown. with all due respect, you need to grow out of the hamilton cult mentality. he was a major thug. why not ask why none of the pamphlets callender wrote in 1790s exists anymore? sounds like somebody went after them pretty good, i.e., federalists. it's far more likely than the burr line of thought. lord knows, aaron had had quite enough of camillus dangling about his neck. readers won't understand but i'm sure you will, nina. are you related to senator mason who provided refuge for callender? best wishes and good research to be sure in any case...
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Timothy E. Kennelly
6/6/2023 02:21:11 am
I have long believe that Jefferson might have been responsible for Callender's death - although I have not found anyone else willing to discuss the topic. Jefferson was a thoroughly dishonest man who cared about nothing but power. His behavior as Sec. of State and VP boggles the mind. He was simply despicable.
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Hi, I'm Nina Mason, an author, investigative journalist, history buff, and self-professed Hamilton fan (not the musical, the historical figure). Herein, I will share interesting tidbits related to my investigation into my belief that the Reynolds Affair and duel with Aaron Burr were part of a larger conspiracy against Hamilton directed by Thomas Jefferson.
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