Authorisations for Christian Frederick Post

Transcripts of two authorizations given to Christian Frederick Post by William Denny, 'Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware', originally written at Philadelphia, 1759.
1. Licence to Post, as a deacon in the church of the Unitas Fratrum, to pass into Indian country 'to preach the gospel amongst any of the Indian nations in alliance with His Majesty...to whom he is hereby heartily recommended for a kind reception and good treatment', 5 Nov 1759.
2. Letter of protection addressed to the governors and magistrates of the provinces through which Post may have occasion to pass, commending him as 'a person who has been of great service to his Majesty and these colonies', 4 Jun 1759.

Frederick Christian Post (fl 1710-1785) was a Moravian missionary, who spent the greater part if his life in preaching to the Indians of Pennyslvania and Ohio. He travelled extensively in that area, and was even used as an official government messenger to the hostile Indians, among whom he succeeded in securing a kind of neutrality. His other diplomatic adventures, undertaken during the struggle for colonial supremacy between the French and English in America, included a expedition into the area of Fort DuQuesne, whose French commandant offered a price upon his head, and a trip to carry news of the treaty of Easton (Oct 1758) and pave the way for General John Forbes's advance. Post kept several journals describing his journeys.

Access to the items in the collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the controlled environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Access to archive collections may be restricted under the Freedom of Information Act. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Enclosed in a Goldsmiths' Library volume lettered 'Indians alienated and recovered 1759', which also contains The second journal of Christian Frederick Post (1759, G.L. Cat. 9483) and An enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians (1759, G.L. Cat. 9484).

Collection level description.

7¾" x 4½"

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Further material relating to Christian Frederick Post may be found in the Moravian Archives, Pennsylvania State Archives, and the Friends Historical Library at Swartmore College, Pennsylvania.

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

The Goldsmith's Library contains The second journal of Christian Frederick Post (1759; G.L. Cat. 9483) and An enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians (1759; G.L. Cat. 9484), both of which are bound with these authorisations.

Charles Thomson, An enquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians from the British interest (London, 1759), which includes 'The journal of Christian Frederick Post, in his journey from Philadelphia to the Ohio, on a message from the government of Pennsylvania, to the Delaware, Shawanese and Mingo Indians [15 July-20 Sept. 1758]'.