Broadside Issued by Tench Coxe, Purveyor of Public Supplies

Dateca. 1800-1809

Publisher Tench Coxe (1755-1824)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumLetterpress on laid paper

DimensionsOH: 6 1/2 in.; OW: 8 in.

Credit LineGift of Thomas Wood

Object number2019-30

DescriptionBroadside reads: "Black Walnut Gun Stocks, SUITABLE for the muskets of the United States, are purchased/ by this office. Proposals to supplly will be recieved by mail, containing the prices, and the number of stocks which will be certainly deliveredin one, two, or three months, for cash, after inspection at the arsenal of the United States, on Schuylkill./ TENCH COXE, Purveyor/ of Public Suppllies/ Purveyor's Office, United States/ Philadelphia"
Label TextTench Coxe was appointed to the position of Purveyor of Supplies during Jefferson’s term as President and served until 1812 when the Office of the Pruveyor was eliminated and the Quartermaster Department was formed. One of Coxe’s main responsibilities was arming the militia, particularly during the War of 1812. This is a broadside issued by Coxe soliciting black walnut gun stocks for the use of the United States Government. Coxe was instrumental in the adoption policy that relied on military contractors to support the federal arsenal. The government’s patronage of arms manufacture encouraged the production of interchangeable parts and the industrialization of weaponry in the Early Republic. The date, which is not filled in suggests that this particular broadside was never used.