Abstract
One of "Pennsylvania Farmer" John Dickinson's earliest public documents, recently processed by the John Dickinson Writings Project, is titled "Letter to the Inhabitants of the Frontiers on their intended Expedition ag[ains]t the Indians under the Protection of the Gov[ernmen]t." Dickinson wrote this seventeen-page draft to convince the Paxton Boys, who had recently slaughtered a group of peaceful Conestoga Indians, not to do the same to the Moravian Indians in protective custody in Philadelphia. Although "hidden" in plain view in the Delaware Public Archives, this document has not surfaced in past attempts to publish Dickinson's writings, nor is it included in John R. Dunbar's The Paxton Papers (1957). Though undated, the content of the missive indicates that it was written no earlier than January 6, 1764, and that it may have been a response to the Paxtonians' Declaration and Remonstrance, read in assembly on February 17. The letter does not appear to have been published.
