From Charles Lee to John Adams, 26 April 1796
From Charles Lee
Philadelphia, April 26, 1796.
Sir,
I have the honor to transmit to Congress a report in pursuance of their resolution of the 3d of March, 1795, respecting the title to the land situate in the south western parts of the United States, claimed by certain companies in that resolution described under a law of the state of Georgia, passed the 7th day of January in the year 1794. It is accompanied with all the charters, treaties, and other documents relative to the subject which it has been in my power to procure except the most modern treaties to which I have taken leave to refer.1 However imperfect it may be deemed, I have yet supposed it better to obey without delay the order of Congress, in the best manner in my power, than to suffer the session to pass without a communication of some kind.
With the most perfect respect, / I am Sir, / Your most obedient servant.
Charles Lee,
Attorney General of the United States.
RC (DNA:RG 46, Records of the U.S. Senate); internal address: “The President of the Senate, / of the United States.”
1. JA forwarded Lee’s letter and supporting documents to the Senate on 29 April. Lee submitted various charters and agreements that upheld Georgia’s claim to land located between the Chattahoochee and Mississippi Rivers. The matter was referred to a committee, which recommended that the president treat with Georgia to ascertain its property and jurisdiction rights in that region, and in respect to South Carolina. The issue lay unresolved until the 7 April 1798 incorporation of the Mississippi Territory (, 4th Cong., 1st sess., p. 244, 267–268; , 5th Cong., 2d sess., p. 469).