James Madison Papers
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From James Madison to John Coffee, 28 August 1817

To John Coffee

Montpellier Aug. 28, 1817

Sir

Permit me to introduce to you Robert Taylor Esqr,1 lately Speaker of the Senate of Virginia. He is on a visit to the Country expected to be soon offered for public sale;2 and will be gratified by an opportunity of being acquainted with you. His worth is so well known to me, that I ask the favor of your civilities to him, without any apology but what is required by my own want of personal acquaintance with you. Be pleased Sir to accept My esteem and My friendly respects

James Madison

Typescript of RC (provided by James S. Leonardo, Des Moines, Iowa, 1990). John Coffee (1772–1833) was born in North Carolina and moved to Tennessee, where he conducted a series of small businesses and became a friend of Andrew Jackson. He served as commander of cavalry under Jackson in the War of 1812 and afterwards moved to Alabama (Sam B. Smith et al., eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson (6 vols. to date; Knoxville, Tenn., 1980—), 2:3).

1Robert Taylor (1763–1845) of Meadow Farm in Orange County, Virginia, was a lawyer and politician who served in the state Senate, 1804–15, and in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1825–27.

2In May 1817 James Monroe authorized the sale of land along the headwaters of the Alabama River to take place beginning 1 Aug. 1817. The following year further areas were opened up for sale in the Mississippi and Alabama territories (Thomas P. Abernethy, The South in the New Nation, 1789–1819 [Baton Rouge, La., 1961], 461–65).

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