To James Madison from John B. C. Lucas, 27 February 1813
From John B. C. Lucas
City of Washington feby. 27 1813
Sir,
Being about leaving this city to morrow morning, and having lately been requested by several members of congress to inform you of the standing and Character which Colonel samuel hammond,1 formerly a representative in Congress, bears in the territory of missouri where he resides since about eight years, I feel it a duty and pleasure to state that he is much respected and confided in generally, by the inhabitants of the Territory as a civile and Military Character; that several of them have told me they did serve under him in south Carolina during the revolutionary war, they speak highly of him as a brave and usefull officer. I have observed in Colonel Hammond at all time the greatest zeal for the publick welfare, and when I was assailed all most on all hands whilst discharging the arduous duties of Lands Commissioner he allways tendered me the most friendly Countenance and support, he is remarkably discreet, prudent and Conciliating, far from being subject to any kind of excesses non can be more regular in his habits than he is, as to his constitution I believe it to be delicate. I have the honour to be Sir, with the greatest respect your Most humble & obedient servant
John B.C. Lucas
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Samuel Hammond (1757–1842), an officer in the Continental Army, achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1781 and served under Nathanael Greene for the remainder of the Revolutionary War. He then settled in Savannah, where he was elected to the Georgia legislature and, in 1802, to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1804 he was appointed colonel and commandant of the St. Louis district in Upper Louisiana, where he resided until 1824. As commandant, a position he filled until 1806, Hammond was responsible for ensuring that settlers had valid title to the land they occupied, and was involved in several disputes with territorial governor James Wilkinson. JM nominated Hammond to be a member of the Legislative Council of the Missouri Territory on 26 Jan. 1813, and the Senate confirmed the nomination on 16 Feb. 1813 (Stella Madeleine Drumm, Samuel Hammond, 1757–1842 [St. Louis, Mo., 1920], 1, 3, 7–17; , 2:318, 324).