William Lovely, an Irish immigrant, had arrived in America just before the Revolutionary War and had lived for a time at Montpelier, the home of James Madison’s family, before moving on.1
(excerpt)
Cherokee Agency Arkansas River
Sept 1815
My Situation is I can assure you disagreable living at upward of three hundred miles from a post office no ways of procuring Information but that which are owing to chances & those Seldom happen. So I may Say with propriety that I am intirely Secluded from the land of the living Surrounded on all Side by Indians togather with the Worst of White Settlers living just below me betwixt whom there are daily disturbances arising & against whom there are No possible means in my power of enforcing any laws—for a more particular account of this I refer you to my communications of may & July last to the Secretairy of War.
On the 21st. Septr 1807 Your predecessor Ths Jefferson Esqre. granted permission to the Cherokees To Explore the Land On the White & Arkansas River Togather with leave that in Case in thier Excursion the[y] found land to Suit themselves & Sd. Land was not claimed by any Tribes in amity with the United States they might Settle upon it & that it Should be guaranteed to them. In consequence of which the[y] Established In 1808 a formidable Settlement & which Since has increased to between Three & four thousand thier Vilage Extending for nine Miles on each side of the river—this people thinking They were coming to a place which they could call thier as by So doing they relinquish thier Right to the old cherokee nation have been most Extraordinairy dealt with the Legislative Authority of this Territory having included all that tract of Country to Settle on by the Cherokees into the County of Arkansas & So far west & South of them that they Cannot get out of it without Excluding themselves from the protection of the United States by not keeping in view thier Contract the cherokees having Strictly comply’d. with every part of thier engagement complain to be thus Treated—which they have a right to do when it is recollected that this county was not layd. out untill six years after thier first Settlement. It appears to me Extraordinairy that the authority of this Territory should endeavour to cancel any measures which might have been adopted by a Superiour authority, as on the faith of governement Indians are daily mouving from the old nation from which on So doing they relinguish thier rights thinking they are placing themselves on Land for which they have paid for, but haw highly are they mistaken for when arrived thier country is daily infested with Constables Sheriffs &c: The Course of conduct to be pursued in this Case is not by me to be pointed out.
It appears to me as if this country was purchased for the Good of a few individual and for Misereable tenants of Thousands land Speculation, Missouri Company are the only thing that Sounds in our ears, my Opinion is that the Sooner commissioners come out to this country The better tho’ you upon Enquiry Will be the best Judge, Coll Meigs a man whose Known integrity is undoudted & whose Services to his Country has been Immence Would be a very fit character In an undertaking of this Kind.
At my time of life my Situation is lonesome having not the least oppertunity to See any persons—without Society four hundred miles From St Louis Sixty miles to the nearest Settlement of whites Excepting a few scatering Settlers who are worst than none—the cherokees Swallow’d up in the County of arkansas, If I could be once more transfered now rather in the decline of life So that I could pass the evening of my like with comfort, I should be contented—but if it Should prove So that my Country has at present no occupation in which I could be Serviceable & which would correspond to my wishes I wish it would take into consideration my Emoluments they being Such as by no means defray the Expences at which I have to be in this country having to pay from $25 to 30 pr. Barrell for flour often as high as two dollars pr. bushell for Corn & every thing Else in proportion the whites of this Country being in general a Sett of men destitute of every principle of honour, consequently Lazy depending upon the Labour of the Indians for Support of which, they plunder them. If nothing in the above mention Way Can be done for me perhaps I could get a licence for Exchanging Such goods as the Indians wishes for Such articles as necessity required.
The County of Arkansas is upward of 200 miles in lengh & Upward of 400 in width.
Excuse me, Sir, for having Troubled you So much at lengh on Subject which ought not to be communicated directly to you—but wishing to write to you I thought an account of this country would be gratifying, & which I hope may be received as such. Feeling all the weight of obligation I have the honour To be Sir With all the wishes for Yr. Happiness, & welfare yr most obedt & Hbl Serv.
Wm Ls Lovely
U. S. agent of Indian affairs
on th⟨e Arka⟩nsas
PS. Be So good as to remember me to yr. Kind Family.
WLSL
- William Lewis Lovely (1750–1817), a native of Dublin, Ireland, arrived in Virginia shortly before the Revolutionary War and lived briefly with JM’s family at Montpelier. Thereafter, he settled in Tennessee, where he attained the rank of major in the militia. In 1801 he became subagent to the Cherokee Indians under Return Jonathan Meigs Sr., and in 1813 he moved to the Arkansas River, near present-day Russellville, Arkansas, to serve the Cherokees who were migrating west. He there attempted with little success to mitigate the conflict between the Cherokee and Osage tribes, going so far in 1816 as to obtain what subsequently became known as “Lovely’s Purchase,” a cession of millions of acres of Osage land for Cherokee use, in exchange for the unauthorized promise that the U.S. government would pay all claims against the Osage. The government did not honor the agreement but renegotiated it in 1818 (Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives, s.v. “Lovely, William Lewis”; Ina Gabler, “Lovely’s Purchase and Lovely County,” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 19 [1960]: 31).
- “Founders Online: To James Madison from William L. Lovely, September 1815.” National Archives and Records Administration.Accessed January 7, 2022. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-09-02-0564.