it as I am going to do mine immediately. It may be urged that we are not ready on account of our people being scattered out— it is the case with my people, but the way to make them in a hurry to move is to commence the war as I am going to do, for if we wait six months all will not be ready-If the war party had come I had something to say to them which I will not mention now. I am your friend and brother, Genl Robinson and the Chickasaws TOOTE MASSATABBE (Mingo) delivered tro the subscriber as Interpreter for the Choctaws. Your kind and very much esteemed favor dated at Nashville November 20th 1799 in regard to the lands you surveyed for the late Matthew Ramsay was duly received. The tract on Stones river which was taken away by prior rights I have sometime past obtained warrants for and disposed of them, the other tract of 3300 acres on Obion river was surveyed by you for Mr. Ramsay assignee of John Gray and Thomas Blount September 28th 1785. Johnathan T. Robertson and William Bush Chain bearers; it is in respect to this last mentioned tract I am desirous of obtaining from you some information. In the letter you did me the favor to write you informed me that it was excellent land but lay in the Chickasaw country; now I shall be very much obliged if you will give me the information you possess relative to this tract; can the beginning or other corners be identified? will you or either of the chain bearers shew them on satisfaction being made for trouble? are the chain bearers living? have they families and in what part of the country do they reside? is the state of the Indians such as will with safety permit a view being had of the land? It is my intention to go or send a man as soon as it can be done with safety to, identifie this tract. You will in a particular manner oblige me by writing me an answer as soon as possible and direct your letter by mail at Fayetteville N. Carolina I would greatly prefer paying the postage than trust to a private conveyance. Your prompt and early attention to the above will add to the favors rendered. Your friend & most obt. servt. Dear Sir, (374) Fort Pickering Feb. 13, 1814. On my arrival at this place I found the situation of the Public store and the annuity left destitute of any protection. I have ordered a detachment of the 7th Regiment to take command of the Post, and also all the public property at the Post until further orders. You cannot conceive sir my astonishment on my arrival here of the disagreeable news of the Chickasaws killing some of the friendly Indians of the United States, in the neighborhood. I am fully convinced that such conduct will not meet your approbation and that you will use your influence to check such conduct in the future if possible. I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Allen Post master in the Chickasaw nation has wrote a letter to Mr. J. Fletcher in which he insinuates that Judge Fooy and the inhabitants of this place is hostile to the United States. I have got a copy of his letter which will be transmitted to the War department. During my acquaintance with Judge Fooy, which has been for a considerable length of time, I have always found him to be a man truly faithful to any government that he has lived under. We have just finished our fourth of July dinner and are just ready to drink a toast to the last retreat of Bonaparte. Col. McRee and myself are laughing at the coincidence of the fortune of Boney and myself about the time I superceded Col. Mc Boney was made or rather made himself Emperor of the French &cc. We Bourbons now received him and McRee precedes me. "How finely we apples swim." Will you be good enough to take the affidavit of John Gilchrist relative to a very white mare which he let Billy Hayes have. The mare strayed and is in the neighborhood of Washington. Hayes has seen her but cannot recover her without the testimony of a white man. Send the deposition to Col. McRee at Washington M. T. General James Robertson. Yours SILAS DINSMOOR. (376) Nashville July 11th, 1814. Dear Sir, In reply to yours of the 7th of June I have only time to say that I suppose if the rolls of the Chickasaws who guarded the ferry and road under your order are made out and certified by you to Genl. Flournoy and by him to the Sect'y of War together with copy of your order to them to raise guards for that service transmitted with the rolls to the war department there can be no doubt but that they will be paid. I am with much respect and sincerity Genl. James Robertson, your friend WILLIE BLOUNT. U. S. Genl. Chickasaw Nation. BOOK NOTICE. History of Tennessee, Its People and Its Institutions. By William Robertson Garrett, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of American History and Dean of the Peabody Normal College, and editor of the American Historical Magazine, and Albert Virgil Goodpasture, A.M., formerly Clerk of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn. Brandon Printing Company, 1900. This is the title of a book just issued from the press of the Brandon Printing Company. It is a work of 352 pages, and covers the entire history of the State. Beginning with the early Indian legends, it traces the settlement, the colonial and Federal relations, the political, social, and military history of Tennessee to the present time. In the preparation of this work the authors have had free access to the archives of the Tennessee Historical Society and of the library of the University of Nashville. They have, thus, been enabled to present many facts heretofore unpublished, and to correct some errors which have gained credence. A valuable feature of this work is the chapter which gives synopsis of the various treaties by which the title to every foot of land in Tennessee was acquired from the Indians. This chapter is illustrated by a colored map showing the iocation of all lands in the State acquired by these several Indian treaties. Another special chapter gives the history of the school lands, with a map showing their location. The history of internal improvement legislation, of education, of institutional legislation, etc., are treated in special chapters, in addition to the chronological treatment in the progress of the narration. The book contains valuable appendix matter-the Constitution annotated to show the changes of the several Constitutions--a carefully prepared bibliography of Tennessee history and biography, and a manual of famous Tennesseans. EDITORIAL NOTES. With this issue of the magazine terminates the series of papers called the Robertson letters. While some of them have no great importance or interest, it has been thought proper to publish all, lest the omission of a part might break the chain of current events which they record. So many of them are written by or addressed to men who occupied high official position or who were closely and actively identified with the early history of Tennessee, that the letters may be properly classed as state papers. Some others, owned by the Historical Society and not inIcluded in the two bound volumes so fortunately preserved by the late Prof. Nathaniel Cross, may be published hereafter. So many of the letters from public men contain expressions of confidence in the integrity of James Robertson and his ability to deal with the delicate questions which he had to solve, that they practically constitute a monument to the man. So far as the writer can recall, there were only two occasions in a life full of action where he was subjected to serious criticism. One was when some objections, possibly frivolous, were made to the manner in which he had constructed a public road for which he had contracted, and the other was for the under taking, without authority from the government, a campaign against the Indians, whose incessant cruelties had driven Robertson and the settlers to desperation. His campaign secured peace, the men who served in it were paid for their services, and Robertson held afterwards, practically as long as he lived, a responsible government office. Hon. A. S. Colyar, of Nashville, on the 23d of the past month celebrated his eighty-second birthday by a dinner, at which some twenty-five or thirty guests, the majority of them young men, were present. He stated in a short after-dinner speech that the principal object of the occasion was the formation of a Jackson League, whose purpose would be the vindication of Jackson's character from unjust criticism and defamation, and which would carry on the work he had begun should his hands grow too feeble to complete it. He said that Tennessee dare not longer neglect the obligation resting upon her of making a truthful record of the deeds of her greatest son. Those who have read Col. Colyar's articles on Jackson know their value. Notwithstanding his advanced years he has put into this work the same vigor of thought and language which has marked every period of his long professional and political life. It is understood these articles, when completed, will be issued in book form. The Jackson League was organized with Mr. Ed. A. Price, President, and Mr. Chas. C. Trabue, Secretary. The Scotch-Irish Society of America met at Knoxville, June 7--10. Among the more noted visitors present were Dr. John S. MacIntosh, of Philadelphia; Professor George McCloskie, of Princeton University; Mr. John McIlhenny, of Philadelphia; the Rev. Nevin Woodside, Mr. Rutherford, and Dr. Shaw, of Pittsburg. Judge Oliver P. Temple, the newly-elected President, conducted the meeting. Dr. MacIntosh and Dr. McCloskie made addresses on the deceased President, Robert Bonner. Dr. MacIntosh also spoke learnedly and delightfully on Ulster superstitions. Addresses were made by Dr. Woodside on Capt. John Nevin and certain other Scotch-Irish worthies; by Dr. James Park, on Rev. Hezekiah Balch, and by Joshua W. Caldwell, upon "Four ScotchIrishmen," viz.: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, John Bell, and Hugh Lawson White. This last address emphasized the importance of Tennessee as a political factor between 1830 and 1850, and outlined the parts played by the four men named. The meeting was in every way a successful one. The papers read will appear in the annual volume of the society. |