1817.107: Address of Benjamin Estill to Freeholders of Congressional District 6.
Published: 1817
Full Title: To the electors of the congressional district composed of the counties of Washington, Wythe, Grayson, Tazewell, Russell, Scott and Lee] : Fellow citizens, when I first determined ... Benjamin Estill. Abingdon, March 18, 1817.
Author: Estill, Benjamin (1780-1853).
Place Issued: Virginia
Issuing Press: Uncertain
Description: 6 pgs.
Notes
Estill was then a Federalist delegate in the Assembly from Washington County; he was about to face Alexander Smyth, the Republican delegate from Wythe County, for the congressional seat opened by the retirement of Federalist congressman Daniel Sheffey (1770-1830); herein Estill belittled Smyth's performance both in the Assembly and his prior service in the Virginia militia during the War of 1812, when he rose to the rank of brigadier general; Estill's efforts did not have the effect he desired, as he lost the ensuing election to Smyth by a 2-1 margin; his mark on Virginia history is thus a judicial one rather than legislative one, as Estill served as a justice of both the superior-court and chancery-court that served Washington County. Title lacks imprint; some authorities suggest an Abingdon origin, given the signature line here and Estill's known residence there; however, typography seems more consistent with a press in Richmond, where such letters were a common production, rather than that of Abingdon's solitary printer, John Gano Ustick, so the indeterminacy here.