Description:

AMERICAN EVANGELIST'S ONE MILLION DOLLAR CLAIM AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF HAITI
An intriguing manuscript document, 7pp. 4to., [n.p., likely Washington, D.C.], May 24, 1878, a handwritten copy of an assessment produced by the Diplomatic Bureau of the U.S. Department of State by Third Assistant Secretary of State Charles Payson, titled ‘Subject: Claim of Phillip Bell against the Government of Hayti, for $1,000,000'. The report opens by explaining that the claim was first brought before the Department by Bell's attorney in January of 12865, and that Benjamin F. Whidden, the first U.S. Minister to Haiti, was instructed to investigate but found Bell's statement to be too vague to pursue. Another attorney hired by Bell then inquires about the claim in March of 1876, and is informed of the earlier outcome, prompting Bell to file another statement of his claim on August 26, 1876. The report continues, in part: ‘...From this statement it appears that he [Bell] emigrated from Philadelphia to Samana [in the modern Dominican Republic] in or about the year 1824, and was there given a tract of land to cultivate. He states he was driven thence for preaching the gospel and went to Port au Plate [modern Puerto Plata, also in the Dominican Republic] and afterwards to Cape Haytien, Port au Prince and other places and was finally obliged to leave the Island. He says, on several occasions he was mobbed, personally injured, imprisoned and driven from the lands which he had cultivated before he could derive any benefit from the crops… At Lachay (?) he states he was dragged from his home at night by a mob, beaten and his left hand nearly cut off…' Payson concludes, ‘...Owing to the extravagant amount of the claim and the failure of the claimant to produce any evidence during the long period it had been before the Department, the statement was filed without further action.' He signs ‘Chas. Payson' at the conclusion in black ink. The two sheets comprising the document are bound together at the upper left corner with a colored cord, and it shows folds with minor soiling and toning overall, else very good.

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November 14, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

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$100 $499 $20
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