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Sent Novr[November] 8th 1835.
1
No.
1703.$1798 / $449.50
This Contract, made thetwenty seventhday ofOctoberin the year one thousand eight hundred and thirtyfivebetweenWilliam R. Thompson of Ann Arbor and B. Woodworth of Detroit, M. T.contractor for carrying the mails of the United States, of one part, and the Postmaster General of the United States, of the other part, WITNESSETH: that the said parties mutually covenanted as follows:
viz. The said contractor
^s^
covenant with the Postmaster General;
1. To carry the mail of the United States, fromDetroit, M. T. by Bucklin Nankin, Plymouth, Borodino, Ann Arbour, Scipio, Dexter, Lima, Pierceville, Sylvan, Grass Lake, Jacksonopolis, Barry, Smithfield[,] Kalamazoo & Marengo to Marshall, and back, 3 times a week in 4 horse post Coaches.
The Contractors are permitted to supply Dexter 3 times a week in Stages from Ann Arbour and omit it with their post Coachesat the rate offour hundred & forty nine & 50/100 dollars for every quarter of a year, during the conti[nua]nce of this contract; to be paid by Postmasters on the route abovementioned, or otherwise, at the option of the Postmaster General, in the months of May, August, November, and February.
The Contractors are permitted to supply Dexter 3 times a week in Stages from Ann Arbour and omit it with their post Coachesat the rate offour hundred & forty nine & 50/100 dollars for every quarter of a year, during the conti[nua]nce of this contract; to be paid by Postmasters on the route abovementioned, or otherwise, at the option of the Postmaster General, in the months of May, August, November, and February.
2. That the mail shall be duly delivered at and taken from each post office now established,
or that may be established, on the route embraced in this contract; that it shall
be conveyed on this route in the time specified in the annexed schedule; and in a
secure and safe manner, free from wet or other injury, in a secure dry boot or box
under the driver’s seat, if the mail is carried by stage or coach; or under a sufficient
oil cloth or bear skin, when carried on horseback or sulky, as hereinbefore designated,
or hereafter directed by the Postmaster General; that it shall be duly delivered into the post office at the end of the route, and
into the post office at the place at which the carrier stops at night, if one is there
kept, and if no office is there kept it shall be locked up in some secure place, at
the contractor’s risk.
3. That if the contractor shall run a stage or other vehicle more rapidly or more frequently than he is required
by the contract to carry the mail, he shall give the same increased celerity and frequency
to the mail, and without increase of compensation.
4. That the contractor^s^
if on a stage or coach rote, shall, in the conveyance of passengers, give a preference
to those who are brought in the connecting mail lines, over those travelling in any other, so that connecting mail stage routes shall form continuous travelling lines.
5. That he shall not, by himself, or his agent, transmit, or be concerned in transmitting
commercial intelligence, by express, more rapidly than by mail.
6. That the contractor^s^
will, if required by the Postmaster General, collect quarterly of postmasters on said route, the balances due from them to the
General Post Office, and faithfully render an account thereof to the Postmaster General, in the settlement of quarterly accounts, and will pay over to the General Post Office all balances remaining intheirhands.
7. That in every case of failure to perform the trip, whatever may be the cause, there
shall be a forfeiture of the pay for the trip; and a failure to arrive at a post office
so long after the time set in the schedule as to lose the connexion with a depending mail, shall be considered as equal to a whole trip lots. Which
forfeiture may be increased into a penalty not exceedingtwentydollars, according to the circumstances under which the failure occurred.
8. That the contractor shall be subject, for failure to take or deliver a mail, or any part of a mail, for
suffering the mail to be wet or otherwise injured, or lost, or destroyed, to a penalty
of
fivedollars, which may be increased totwentydollars, according to the size and importance of the mail, and the circumstances under
which the failure occurred.
9. That a fine not less than the tenth part and not exceeding the half of the price
of a trip may be imposed for each ten minutes delay of the mail to arrive at the time
specified in the schedule.
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10. That the contractor^s^
shall be answerable for the persons to whomtheyshall commit the care and transportation of the mail, and accountable for any damages
which may be sustained through their unfaithfulness, or want of care; and that he
will discharge any driver or carrier of said mail whenever required to do so by the
Postmaster General.
11. That the schedules being arranged so as to allow seven minutes to each post office
for opening and closing the mails generally, and one hour to the distributing post
offices, the Postmaster General is to have, nevertheless, the power of extending the time, on allowing the like extension
to the contractor, if he shall claim it.
12. That the Postmaster General may increase the speed and alter the times of arrival and departure fixed by the
schedules; and alter the route, he making adequate compensation for any expense occasioned
thereby, not, however, “to exceed the exact proportion of the original amount to the
additional duties required.”
13. That the Postmaster General may curtail the service or dispense with it entirely, he allowing one month’s extra
pay upon the amount deducted; in case he wishes to place on the route a higher degree
of service than is contracted for, first offering the privilege to the contractor on the route, of performing such higher service, on the terms that can be obtained;
or whenever he shall deem it expedient to lessen the service or to leave such route,
or any part of it, out of operation, or to carry the mail by steamboat or rail-road
cars; provided that reduction of compensation, in consequence of reduction of service,
shall not exceed the exact proportion which the service dispensed with bears to the
whole service.
14. That the Postmaster General may annul the contract for repeated failures of the contractor to perform any of the stipulations of the contract; for violating the Post Office
law, or disobeying the instructions of the Department; or for assigning his contract without the previous consent of the Postmaster General first obtained.
15. The said Postmaster General covenants with the said contractor^s^
to pay as aforesaid, at the rate aforementioned, quarterly in the months of May, August, November, and February.
Provided always, That this contract shall be null and void, in case the contractor^s^
or any person that may become interested in this contract, directly or indirectly,
shall become a Postmaster or an Assistant Postmaster. No member of Congress shall
be admitted to any share or part of this contract or agreement, or to any benefit
to arrive thereupon; and this contract shall, in all its parts, be subject to the
terms and requisitions of an act of Congress, passed on the twenty-first day of April,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight, entitled “An act concerning
public contracts.”
And it is mutually covenanted and agreed by the said parties, that this contract shall
commence on thefirstday ofJanuary, 1836, and continue in force until the 31st day of December, inclusively, which will be
in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirtynine, unless the Postmaster General shall decide to terminate this contract on the 30th September, 1839, or the 30th
June, 1839, which he has the right to do on forwarding six months’ previous notice
of his intention to determine this contract on one of those days.
In witness whereof, They have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Amos Kendall
Signed, sealed, and delivered,
in the presence of
Wm R Thompsonin the presence of
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THIS SCHEDULE
Subject to alteration by the Postmaster General, agreeably to the provision contained in the twelfth section of the contract.
Leave Detroit, every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at 12 M.
Arrive at Marshall next days by 10. P.M.
Arrive at Marshall next days by 10. P.M.
Leave Marshall every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 5 A.M.
Arrive at Detroit next days by 8 P.M.
Arrive at Detroit next days by 8 P.M.
I,
being appointed a Mail Contractor, do swear
that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from every
thing forbidden by the law in relation to the establishment of Post Offices and Post
Roads within the United States. And I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States
Sworn before the subscriberfor theofthisday ofA.D.
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Mail Contract on Route No 1.703
Benj Woodworth Contractor
Benj Woodworth Contractor
Partially Printed Document Signed with a Representation, 4 page(s), RG 233, Entry 367: Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thirtieth Congress, 1847-1849, Records of Legislative Proceedings, Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to Committees, 1847-1849, NAB,