President Thomas Jefferson Appoints His Political Ally, Peter Muhlenberg, Supervisor of U.S. Customs in the Pennsylvania District, an Important and Powerful Position
Muhlenberg was a major general in the Revolution, and afterwards helped elect Jefferson president
We obtained this document from the Muhlenberg descendants and it has never before been offered for sale
Rev. John Petter Gabriel Muhlenberg, known generally as Peter Muhlenberg, was a member of Pennsylvania’s prominent Muhlenberg political dynasty. His brother Frederick was the first speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Peter...
We obtained this document from the Muhlenberg descendants and it has never before been offered for sale
Rev. John Petter Gabriel Muhlenberg, known generally as Peter Muhlenberg, was a member of Pennsylvania’s prominent Muhlenberg political dynasty. His brother Frederick was the first speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Peter became a respected figure in the newly independent United States. During the early years of the Revolution, he was a follower of patriot Patrick Henry. His contributions to the revolutionary cause included service as the chair of the Committee of Safety in Virginia’s House of Burgesses (1775) and as a member of Virginia’s provincial convention in 1776. From 1776 to 1783, he also served in the Continental Army, as colonel, brigadier-general, and finally as a major-general. Muhlenberg took part in the fighting at Charleston, Brandywine, Stony Point, and Yorktown, and spent the winter at Valley Forge with George Washington. Later, back in Pennsylvania in 1784, his German neighbors elected him as Montgomery County’s representative to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council, the state’s governing body under its first constitution. At the end of his three-year term, Muhlenberg served as vice president of this body. Shortly thereafter, Muhlenberg, as an anti-Federalist, was elected a Pennsylvania representative to the U.S. Congress, serving from 1789 to 1795 and again from 1799 to 1801. He was considered a key figure in the Democrat-Republican party of Pennsylvania, managing Thomas McKean’s successful campaign for governor and helping to elect Thomas Jefferson as U.S. president. In 1801 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but before taking his seat, he resigned to accept the position of supervisor of U.S. customs in the Pennsylvania District. In 1803 he became Collector of Customs of the Port of Philadelphia. He served in those posts concurrently until his death in 1807.
This is his appointment as supervisor of U.S. customs in the Pennsylvania District, a reward from President Jefferson. Document signed by Thomas Jefferson as President and James Madison as Secretary of State, Washington, January 26, 1802, naming Peter Muhlenberg Supervisor of the United States in the District of Pennsylvania, “and do authorize and empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of that office according to law…” We obtained this document from the Muhlenberg descendants and it has never before been offered for sale.
We obtained this document from the Muhlenberg descendants and it has never before been offered for sale.
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