To James Madison from William Lattimore, 6 December 1814
From William Lattimore
House of Rep. Dec. 6th 1814
Sir,
William Crawford Esqr. of the town of Mobile, has requested me by letter to state, that he wishes to fill the vacancy of Attorney for the U. States in the Miss. Territory produced by the resignation of Mr. Anderson.1 I do not know Mr. C. personally; but his character & correspondence have given me a favorable opinion of his merits, and as I understand that he has acted as Attorney for the U.S. during his residence at Mobile, I should presume that he is worthy of the office he asks. He is at present one of the commissioners appointed under the act to ascertain the titles & claims to lands lying below the 31st degree of N. latitude, which business, he informs me, is nearly brought to a close.
A reluctance to call off the attention of the acting Secretary of State, for a moment, from a variety of important concerns, must be my apology for troubling you with a direct communication on this subject. I am Sir, with very great respect your most obt Servant
Wm Lattimore2
RC (DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1809–17, filed under “Crawford”).
1. JM nominated Crawford for the position on 8 Dec. 1814, and the Senate confirmed the appointment two days later ( 2:589–91).
2. William Lattimore (1774–1843), a physician from Norfolk, Virginia, moved to Mississippi Territory in 1801. There he served on the territorial council and was elected a delegate to Congress, serving from 1805 to 1809 and 1813 to 1817 (“Some Alabamaians of the Territorial Period,” Alabama Historical Quarterly 24 [1962]: 125).