From James Madison to George Graham, [ca. 28 August 1815]
To George Graham
[ca. 28 August 1815]
Mr. Crawford having left Montpelier before the arrival of the Packet for him, and a note of his post office, having been omitted, the Packet is sent back to Washington whence it may be directly forwarded. Mr. C. having made a circuit thro’ Albemarle to Richmond, little if any time will be lost.
I thought it proper to open the within letter which was expected to find Mr. C. with me. Mr. Grahams letter to Genl. J. does not notice that to him from Dr. Ker, which seemed to call for it.1 If not already done by Mr. G. it will be proper for him to take the best steps he can, & inform Mr. C. & Genl. Jackson of them. Has any answer been given to Comers. Sevier & Barnett.2
The foreign packets have not been opened. If Mr. G. shd. open them in pursuance of instructions, and any intelligence of a public & important nature be in them, he will ex⟨t⟩ract & send it to me.
Mr. G. will be good eno’ to send me a memorandum, of the address of Mr. C. whilst at his seat.
J. M.
RC (DNA: RG 107, LRUS, M-1815). Undated; conjectural date assigned based on comparison with JM to Graham, 30 Aug. 1815, and Graham to JM, 22 and 30 Aug. 1815.
1. JM evidently referred to Graham’s 25 Aug. 1815 letter to Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson (DNA: RG 107, LSMA), which acknowledged receipt of Jackson’s letter of 8 Aug. 1815 (DNA: RG 107, Registers of Letters Received) but did not mention the 28 July 1815 letter to Jackson from hospital surgeon’s mate David C. Ker that Jackson had forwarded. In that letter (DNA: RG 107, LRUS, J-1815), Ker lamented that the army hospital at New Orleans was destitute of funds, as were all army agents near the city, and that the patients would “actually die for want of necessaries” if supplies could not be obtained. Ker needed assistance as well as money, for he had “but one mate” who was often “indisposed & unfit for duty.” He added that his son William was displeased that his army appointment by Jackson had not been confirmed. Graham’s reply to Ker, dated 2 Sept. 1815 in the department’s letterbook, informed him that a warrant for the funds would be sent and that Alexander J. Dallas had written to his son (DNA: RG 107, LSMA). William Ker was commissioned a second lieutenant on 14 Aug. 1817 (, 1:593).
2. JM referred to a letter from William Barnett and John Sevier, commissioners for surveying the boundary line of the territory ceded by representatives of the Creek nation in the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The letter has not been found, but Graham’s 2 Sept. 1815 reply indicates that it was dated in August 1815, requested information on the Cherokee boundary line, and mentioned a $2,000 draft on the War Department (DNA: RG 107, LSIA). Graham’s recollection of the letter’s date may have been incorrect, however, because a 26 July 1815 letter from Sevier and Barnett to the secretary of war informed him that they had actually drawn for the $2,000, in accord with their intention as stated in a previous letter to him of the same date, which was probably the letter to which JM referred here (DNA: RG 107, LRUS, S-1815).