366 T. C. ELLIOTT
Of course there is still the realm of conjecture open to those who will prefer to believe in the authenticity of this book Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, which has had such a remarkable vogue in literature; and Jonathan Carver, like Marley in the famous and familiar Christmas classic of Dickens', is "dead as a door nail" and cannot be called to testify.
DOCUMENTS
Editor's Note The two documents which follow throw some light on the pitiful conditions surrounding the death of Jonathan Carver in London in the year 1780. Both are from the pen of Dr. John Coakley Lettsom, the benefactor of Carver on his death bed and of his family afterwards.
The first speaks for itself. The transcript has been made from the copy of the Memoirs in The Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
The second is a letter written fifteen years after Carver's death in response to inquiry connected with the search for the original of a deed from two Indian chiefs, conveying a large tract of land in the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The inquiry came to Dr. Lettsom from persons interested in obtaining, from the Congress of the United States, the confirmation of this reputed conveyance. The tract is known in Wisconsin history as the "Carver Grant", and committees from both the Senate and House of Representatives, after much investigation, refused to confirm the Indian deed. The transcript of the original letter is on file with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and this copy is certified to by the superintendent of that Society.
T. C. ELLIOTT. Extract from :
MEMOIRS
of John Fothergill, M. D. c.
by
John Coakley Lettsom The Fourth Edition
London Printed for C. Dilly
1786
(Read before the Medical Society of London, July 17 & Oct. 23, 1782)
