Mr. Dering, What News of Politics?

Henry P. Dering, Sag Harbor’s postmaster, politician, and customs collector, carried on prolific correspondence with many of his relatives, including his cousin Charles Storer of Hingham, Mass. The letter seen here, from Storer to Dering and dated Dec. 5, 1821, is from a period when the two men wrote to each other once a week. Despite his weekly efforts, Storer realized that the mail service’s delays and interruptions would eventually result in multiple weeks’ worth of letters arriving all at once.

In their correspondence, Dering and Storer regularly discussed political news. As part of this, they shared letters from mutual friends, a common practice before more reliable access to news, and in his Dec. 5 letter Storer mentions one, referring to the “Sovereign People” and the still-new democracy, agreeing that they “may need a little more restraint — they are a many headed monster.”

Storer’s letter captures the period’s divisive and uncertain politics, which may feel familiar today. The phrase “sovereign people” speaks to the radical experiment of democracy and the doubts many Americans experienced as the Revolutionary War’s founding generation passed on. At this time, the Constitution was barely 30 years old, and the Industrial Revolution’s changes only added to the bitter divides and political rancor over issues like slavery and westward expansion.

Storer wraps up by asking after “your Canal,” meaning the Erie Canal, which was under construction at the time. The canal itself was part of the changes shaping the country at this point, and it would be important for industrialization, connecting western New York to the Eastern Seaboard. Storer reported hearing that the project was almost finished and asked whether it was funded by “Individual or State Speculation,” using what was then a term for investors.

The Erie Canal would finally be completed in 1825, although portions began to open in 1819.

—

Andrea Meyer is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.