1. Meigs enclosed Lewis Sewall’s 8 Mar. 1815 letter to him, recommending that lands in the district be offered for sale because speculators were diminishing their value by destroying the timber. Sewall advised that the sale take place in November, when purchasers unaccustomed to the climate would be less likely to fall prey to fever. This timing would also allow farmers to raise funds to pay for their lands and make preparations for the next year’s crop; moreover, it would provide an avenue whereby the substantial amount of money recently spent by soldiers in the territory could flow back into the U.S. Treasury (DNA: RG 49, Division D, Letters Received from Registers and Receivers of U.S. Land Offices, St. Stephens, Ala.; 2 pp.; printed in Carter, description begins Clarence Carter et al., eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States (28 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1934–75). description ends Territorial Papers, Mississippi, 6:513–14).

2. The enclosed proclamation has not been found, but its final version, signed by JM and dated 3 May 1815, directed that recently surveyed public lands in the district be offered for sale beginning 14 Nov. 1815 at St. Stephens (DNA: RG 49, Division D, Record Copies of Proclamations; 2 pp.; printed in Carter, description begins Clarence Carter et al., eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States (28 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1934–75). description ends Territorial Papers, Mississippi, 6:531).