signed
by JUSTUS POST
JUSTUS POST (1780-1846). Post served in the War of 1812 and was later a judge, politician, and surveyor in Missouri and Illinois.ALS. 3 pg. 8 x 10. March 29, 1825. Bonhomme. An autographed letter signed V Justus Post to Alex L. Jackson Esq: Having been disappointed by the Printer in getting our Canal report and charter printed agreeably to expectation, and being desirous to learn from you by the middle of June whether, in your opinion, anything worthy of notice can be done with it among your monied acquaintances, I have concluded to forward you a written copey [sic] of the law and a rough and imperfectimpression of the report on that subject With the report you will secure a rough sketch of the country through which the canal will pass, reduced from the large plan XX the statethe board of directors will meet, and should your ideas be favorable to making anything of it, I will then subscribe a majority of the stock. On examining the law you will see that whom shall at the commencement control the affairs of the company may continue to do so What the charter is outwardly perpetual, as the state at expiration of fifty years will not be able to redeem it by paying the cost & charges with compound interest completed semiannually at the rate of six per cent per annum, and that, considering it passes through a fertile country and is the grand link that connects the western world with New York and also opens for this region a market to the British Provinces, it must go on increasing in value to the latest posterity. I flatter myself you will agree with me, that for men of real capital this afford more flattering prospects for investments than any objects that has XX been presented. Put this canal in operation and I sincerely believe it will, in a very short time, be the most valuable stock in America. While not the Brooklyn Bridge or even the Eric Canal, Justus Posts Illinois and Michigan Canal was a major infrastructure project and economic driver in its own righteven if it took decades just to start. In 1823 and 1824, Justus Post, a graduate of West Point, War of 1812 veteran, landowner and surveyor, and Judge of the County Court of St. Louis, Missouri, was tasked with being the engineer for the survey of a canal through Illinois that would have connected the Great Lakes, and via the Erie Canal, the East Coast, to the Mississippi River. However, thanks to financial panics and a lack of national financial backing, it took until 1836 for construction to even begin and until 1848 for the canal to be completed, at a cost of $6,170,226. The canal not only played an integral role in moving people and materials, but its start in Chicago helped that city become a major commercial and transportation hub, and have the ability to quickly rebuild after its Great Fire. The canal peaked in its use in the 1880s, was partially replaced by the wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which still exists today, in 1900, and shut down completely in 1933. After this role, Post served as a member of the Missouri State Senate between 1826 and 1830, before becoming a prominent farmer, landowner, and businessman in Illinois. Jackson was most likely a wealthy lawyer Post was seeking to become an investor, though little appears online. Regardless, this letter is an excellent reminder of the economic importance of, and difficulties in constructing, Americas canals. The letter is in fragile condition, with tape covering several former tears. (Inventory #: 6103)