Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts - George Rogers Clark Papers, Western Expedition Quartermaster Records, 1778-1784

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Virginia. Auditor of Public Accounts (1776-1928). George Rogers Clark Papers, Western Expedition Quartermaster Records, 1778-1784. Accession APA 205. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
1.25 cu. ft. (3 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Creator:
Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Virginia. Auditor of Public Accounts (1776-1928). George Rogers Clark Papers, Western Expedition Quartermaster Records, 1778-1784. Accession APA 205. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Western Expedition Quartermaster Records, 1778-1784, contain account books, receipt books, and vouchers detailing the expenses of supplying George Rogers Clark's forces in the Illinois Campaign and the Northwest Territory during the American Revolution. The volumes contain names, dates, and items purchased or received from sellers and from the commissaries at Fort Clark, Fort Patrick Henry, Fort Jefferson, Fort Nelson, and Fort St. Vincent. The volumes often include the names of the Quartermaster and/or D.C. of Issues, namely, Bland Ballard, William Bingeman, Zephaniah Blackford, Isaac Bowman, Martin Carney, Henry Croucher, Patrick Kennedy, John Marney, Jacob Pyeatt, William Shannon, Thomas Vickroy, and George Walls. Items purchased include alcohol, ammunition, axes, beef, coffee, clothing, corn, flour, kettles, rope, salt, sugar, tobacco, and other sundry items.

This is an artificial collection of records concerning George Rogers Clark and the conquest of the Old Northwest during and after the revolutionary war. The records, which are now so intermingled they defy any attempt to separate them, were brought together from two distinct sets of records. The first set contained Clark's original accounts and vouchers, which had been submitted to the auditors of public accounts for settlement in 1779. These records were misplaced by the auditors and when the Board of Western Commissioners sought to settle his accounts in 1783, Clark produced a second set of records consisting of copies of the materials submitted in 1779, in addition to the records he had created since then. The Clark papers, then, consist of the misplaced records (since found) submitted to the auditor, as well as the vouchers submitted to the Board of Western Commissioners. The George Rogers Clark Papers consist of four accessions: APA 204, APA 205, APA 206, and APA 206a and all accessions should be consulted to get all pertinent information.

The collection is listed in chronological order in the finding aid, although the materials were arranged physically by size into different size boxes. Researchers should pay special attention to note the box and folder numbers.

Biographical / historical:

George Rogers Clark was born 19 November 1752 in Albemarle County, Virginia, to John Clark (1725-1799) and Ann Rogers Clark (1728-1798). Clark learned surveying from his grandfather in Caroline County, Virginia. He explored down the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers in what is now Kentucky and West Virginia and surveyed farms for settlers arriving in that territory. Clark served as a captain in the Virginia militia during Lord Dunmore's War in 1774, and the next year returned to Kentucky to survey lands for the Ohio Company. When the Revolution began, Clark encouraged Virginia to protect Kentucky from the British and Native Americans. He captured Kaskaskia, Illinois, from the British 4 July 1778 and won the allegiance of French settlers in Vincennes, Indiana. When the British took Vincennes in October 1778, Clark recaptured it 25 February 1779. He was responsible for the defense of the Northwest Territory during the rest of the American Revolution. After Kentucky troops were defeated at Blue Licks, Kentucky, by the Shawnee 19 August 1782, Clark retaliated with an attack on Chillicothe, Ohio, defeating the Shawnee 4 November 1782. After the American Revolution ended, Clark served on the Board of Commissioners which allotted the lands in Kentucky and the Northwest Territory granted by Virginia to its soldiers. He left Kentucky to live on the Indiana frontier but was never fully reimbursed by Virginia for his wartime expenditures. He spent the final decades of his life evading creditors and living in increasing poverty and obscurity. Clark lived the last few years of his life with his sister and her husband outside Louisville, Kentucky, where he died 13 February 1818.

Acquisition information:
Transferred from the Auditor of Public Accounts in 1913.
Arrangement:

This collection is arranged chronologically.