To James Madison from John Lowrey, 19 February 1816
From John Lowrey
City Washington 19th. Febry 1816.
Father
We beg leave to state that1 a considerable number of our warriors fell and a larger number were wounded Some are utterly disabled from gaining a living by labour, Wives have lost their husbands, Mothers their Sons on whom they depended for Support and Orphans are multiplied. We beg leave to ask whether our people cannot be put on the Same footing as our White Brothers.2 We respectfully Suggest this for the consideration of Our Father.3
John Lowrey’s X mark
Speaker.
RC (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, L-58:9; FC (OkTG: John Ross Papers); Tr, two copies (DNA: RG 75, Records of the Cherokee Agency, East; and DNA: RG 107, LRRS, M-41:10). RC docketed as received in the War Department in May 1816. FC in chief John Ross’s hand. First and second Tr in Return Jonathan Meigs’s hand. For second Tr, see n. 3.
1. Here the first and second Tr add “in the late war.”
2. Here the first and second Tr add “for relief.”
3. The second Tr, marked “A true copy,” is enclosed in a 27 Jan. 1817 letter from Meigs to acting secretary of war George Graham (2 pp.; docketed as received in the War Department in February 1817), stating that “the Cherokees had sixteen of their warriors Killed at the battle of the Horse Shoe on Tallapoosee river the 27th. march 1814. … Some of them are so much disabled as to be unable to support themselves by labour or by hunting. The widows & Children of those who were Killed & those who were badly wounded are frequently enquiring of me, whether they are comprehended in the law making provision for our troops in such cases.” Meigs reminded Graham that the Cherokee had “rendered very great service in the Creek war under the orders of General Jackson, & they hope that the liberality of the United States will be extended to them.” He offered to obtain the services of a surgeon to testify to “the degrees of disability” suffered by the warriors, adding that the “expense of relieving these people cannot be great; and would be acknowledged with gratitude.”