204:, and by 1813, he was looking for a new government post. The controversy began with reports from the Natchez region that enslaved people were being encouraged to run away by traders from Tennessee. Dinsmoor was asked to protect the property of the local planters, and he began instituting an often-ignored requirement that anyone traveling the Natchez Trace carry papers with them proving their ownership of any enslaved people they claimed. Jackson refused to do so and became quite furious when he heard Dinsmoor was vigorously enforcing the rule, at one point threatening to arm the people he enslaved on his next time through, kill Dinsmoor, and burn the agency house to the ground. Though he never found the right moment to carry out his threat, his messages to the War Department may have had something to do with Dinsmoor being replaced in 1813.
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119:, a job that would last the next four years. In that capacity, Dinsmoor was expected to keep peace between the Cherokee and white settlers, serve as treaty commissioner, and introduce "civilization" to the Cherokee. This last task meant that Dinsmoor attempted to coax Cherokee men to take up farming, traditionally the occupation of Cherokee women, and to teach Cherokee women to plant cotton, spin, and weave textiles. Dinsmoor spent much of his time at
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The incident with
Jackson became a political issue during the 1828 presidential election, here a columnist called Querist is just asking questions about if Jackson threatened to cut off the ears of the Secretary of War ("Gen. Jackson and Silas Dinsmore"
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in 1826 to plead for money. While he was away from Mobile, he learned of the death of a son and the burning of the bank where he had stored his valuable surveying journals, business papers, and a silver sword
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descent. Dinsmoor was part of a large group of inter-related families who settled in southern New
Hampshire in the early 1700s. Through his mother, Martha McKeen, he was related to
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348:"Natchez trace parkway survey. Letter of the secretary of the interior transmitting in response to Senate resolution no. 222, a report of a survey of the old ..."
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In 1798, when his term expired, Dinsmoor again went to
Philadelphia in hopes of another post. Instead, in 1799, he accepted the job of
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to look for a position with the government. Dinsmoor was offered the appointment of United States Agent to the
Cherokee by President
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right of way) and an archeological investigation site at the location that from 1811 to 1823 housed a government agency to the
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Old
Natchez Trace and Choctaw Agency Site, in Ridgeland, Mississippi located at milepost 100.7. This is located between
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Old
Natchez Trace segments listed on the National Register of Historic Places § Old Natchez Trace and Choctaw Agency Site
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ordered the
Americans to carry (under the flag of Algiers) an ambassador, several enslaved people, and exotic animals to
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The
Reminiscences of George Strother Gaines: Pioneer and Statesman of Early Alabama and Mississippi, 1805-1843
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by teaching, a profession he continued practicing after graduation. At nearby
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337:, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, November 22, 1994
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Dinsmoor was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society in 1813.
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of 1820. By this time, though, he was no longer serving as an agent.
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in Maine. Dinsmoor was also a first cousin of Pennsylvania Governor
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Site of Choctaw Agency in Madison County Mississippi, photographed
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In 1811, Dinsmoor found himself embroiled in a controversy with
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Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767-1821
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Dinsmoor moved with his wife, Mary Gordon, and children to
393:. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.
386:. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1977.
373:. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.
309:Dinsmoor's gravestone at the Dinsmore Homestead
327:American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
127:). As the agent, Dinsmoor witnessed the First
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439:Members of the American Antiquarian Society
371:Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic
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173:Returning to the states, President
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38:(1801–1813). He later served as a
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403:The Papers of the Dinsmore Family
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16:American Indian agent (1766–1847)
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191:Treaty of Fort St. Stephens
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314:References
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285:Washington
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58:Early life
454:Surveyors
291:in 1798.
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