Correspondence of James K. Polk
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Correspondence of James K. Polk VOLUME XII, JANUARY–JULY 1847 JAMES K. POLK Hand-colored lithograph on paper by E. B. & E. C. Kellogg Lithography Company, c. 1846–47, after a daguerreotype by John Plumbe, Jr. Cropped from original size. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, New York. Correspondence of JAMES K. POLK Volume XII January–July 1847 TOM CHAFFIN MICHAEL DAVID COHEN Editors 2013 The University of Tennessee Press Knoxville Copyright © 2013 by The University of Tennessee Press / Knoxville All Rights Reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. First Edition. Cloth: 1st printing, 2013. The paper in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standards Institute / National Information Standards Organization specification Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). It contains 30 percent post- consumer waste and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA (Revised) Polk, James Knox, Pres. U.S., 1795–1849. Correspondence of James K. Polk. Vol. 12 edited by T. Chaffin and M. Cohen CONTENTS: V. 1. 1817–1832.—v. 2. 1833–1834.—v. 3. 1835–1836.— v. 4. 1837–1838.—v. 5. 1839–1841.—v. 6. 1842–1843.—v. 7. 1844.— v. 8. 1844—v. 9. 1845—v. 10. 1845—v. 11. 1846.—v. 12. 1847. 1. Polk, James Knox, Pres. U.S., 1795–1849. 2. Tennessee—Politics and government—To 1865—Sources. 3. United States—Politics and government—1845–1849—Sources. 4. Presidents—United States— Correspondence. 5. Tennessee—Governors—Correspondence. I. Weaver, Herbert, ed. II. Cutler, Wayne, ed. III. Chaffin, Tom, and Michael David Cohen, eds. IV. Title E417.A4 1969 973.6’1’0924 75-84005 ISBN 978-1-57233-952-1 ISBN 1-57233-952-7 Sponsored by College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville National Historical Publications and Records Commission Office of the Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Tennessee Historical Commission To K. Jack Bauer, William Dusinberre, Eugene Irving McCormac, Milo Milton Quaife, Charles Sellers, and David J. Weber, pioneering scholars of Polk and his era CONTENTS Acknowledgments xix Introduction xxiii Editorial Practice liii Symbols lviii Chronology lxiii 1847 From Mary Barnes Tutt Throckmorton, 1847 or 1848 3 From Seth A. Elliot, between January 1 and February 26, 1847 5 From Anonymous, signed “Quaker Woman,” January 1, 1847 7 From Andrew Lane, January 1, 1847 9 From James Walker, January 1, 1847 23 From Robert Armstrong, January 4, 1847 25 From George Bancroft, January 4, 1847 28 To Robert Campbell, Jr., January 5, 1847 31 From Henry Horn, January 5, 1847 32 From Thomas Allen, January 8, 1847 33 From Robert Campbell, Jr., January 9, 1847 37 From Jeremiah George Harris, January 9, 1847 43 To James Walker, January 10, 1847 44 To Vernon K. Stevenson, January 11, 1847 45 From Charles E. Wortham et al., January 12, 1847 47 From Robert H. Morris, January 14, 1847 47 From Gouverneur Kemble, January 15, 1847 48 From Pickett, Perkins & Co., January 15, 1847 50 From James H. Thomas, January 16, 1847 51 From James Buchanan, c. January 18, 1847 52 From George Bancroft, January 19, 1847 53 ix x Contents From Elijah F. Purdy, January 21, 1847 55 From Cornelius P. Van Ness, January 22, 1847 56 To Robert Campbell, Jr., January 23, 1847 56 From James G. Read, January 26, 1847 57 To James H. Thomas, January 26, 1847 58 To Robert Campbell, Jr., January 27, 1847 59 To Pickett, Perkins & Co., January 27, 1847 59 To Mary Berkley Childress, January 29, 1847 60 From Daniel Graham, January 29, 1847 61 From James G. M. Ramsey, January 29, 1847 63 To George Bancroft, January 30, 1847 65 From Caleb Cushing, January 31, 1847 66 From Simon Cameron et al., c. February 1847 68 From Richard M. Young, February 1, 1847 69 From Ezekiel P. McNeal, February 2, 1847 70 From James Walker, February 2, 1847 71 From George Bancroft, February 3, 1847 71 From Alfred Balch, February 4, 1847 73 From Samuel H. Laughlin, February 5, 1847 74 From George Cadwalader, February 6, 1847 77 From William L. Helfenstein, February 6, 1847 77 From John A. Mairs, February 6, 1847 78 From Robert Campbell, Jr., February 8, 1847 79 From Jonathan R. Torbert, February 8, 1847 80 From Townsend N. Underhill, February 8, 1847 81 From Benjamin B. French, February 9, 1847 81 From Owen Connolly, February 10, 1847 82 From James Thompson, February 11, 1847 83 From John Y. Mason, February 13, 1847 84 From Charles J. Ingersoll, February 14, 1847 85 From Edward Harden, February 15, 1847 86 From James Thompson, February 15, 1847 88 From Jessie Benton Frémont, February 16, 1847 89 From William L. Helfenstein, February 16, 1847 90 From Andrew T. McReynolds, February 16, 1847 91 From Samuel R. Anderson, February 17, 1847 93 From James Pinckney Henderson, February 18, 1847 95 To Robert Campbell, Jr., February 19, 1847 96 From Robert Gray, February 22, 1847 96 To James H. Thomas, February 22, 1847 98 From Mary Berkley Childress, February 23, 1847 98 From John Y. Mason, February 25, 1847 99 Contents xi From William Anderson, February 26, 1847 100 From Uriah P. Levy, February 27, 1847 102 From Cornelius P. Van Ness, February 28, 1847 103 From Jacob Latting, March 1, 1847 105 From Henry Simpson, March 1, 1847 106 From John W. Tibbatts, March 1, 1847 107 From Samuel R. Curtis, March 2, 1847 108 From James Thompson, March 3, 1847 109 From Owen Connolly, March 4, 1847 109 From David S. Kaufman et al., March 4, 1847 110 From Thomas H. Benton, March 6, 1847 111 From Robert Campbell, Jr., March 6, 1847 113 From Robert C. Grier, March 6, 1847 114 From John Addison Thomas, March 8, 1847 115 To John Tyler, March 8, 1847 117 To Thomas H. Benton, March 9, 1847 118 From Thomas H. Benton, March 9, 1847 119 From Felix Grundy, Jr., March 10, 1847 119 From John P. Helfenstein, March 10, 1847 120 To William O. Butler, March 11, 1847 121 From Franklin Pierce, March 11, 1847 122 From Kenneth Rayner, March 12, 1847 123 To William M. Green, March 15, 1847 124 To John T. Leigh, March 15, 1847 125 To Charles E. Shober et al., March 15, 1847 127 From John Tyler, Jr., March 16, 1847 128 From Edmund Burke, March 17, 1847 129 From Charles Goodyear, March 17, 1847 129 To William S. Pickett, March 17, 1847 130 To Alfred Flournoy, March 20, 1847 130 From Frederick P. Stanton, March 20, 1847 132 From Daniel Graham, March 21, 1847 133 To Elias N. Conway, March 22, 1847 136 To West H. Humphreys, March 22, 1847 138 From Henry Horn, March 24, 1847 139 To James Buchanan, March 25, 1847 140 From Edmund P. Gaines, March 25, 1847 141 From Charles J. Ingersoll, March 25, 1847 142 From Joel Turrill, March 25, 1847 145 From Edmund P. Gaines, March 26, 1847 149 To Robert Campbell, Jr., March 29, 1847 152 From Thomas B. Childress, March 29, 1847 153 xii Contents To Charles Goodyear, March 29, 1847 154 From Jeremiah George Harris, March 29, 1847 154 To William H. Polk, March 29, 1847 155 From Lewis Sanders, Jr., March 29, 1847 156 From Edmund P. Gaines, March 30, 1847 158 From John M. Patton, c. March 30, 1847 161 From Robert J. Walker, March 31, 1847 162 From Daniel Graham, April 3, 1847 163 From John Y. Mason, April 3, 1847 165 From Archibald Atkinson, April 4, 1847 165 From John J. Crittenden, April 6, 1847 166 To Kenneth Rayner, April 6, 1847 167 From James S. Smith, April 7, 1847 167 From Ezekiel P. McNeal, April 8, 1847 169 To William D. Moseley, April 9, 1847 170 From Robert J. Walker, April 9, 1847 171 From John M. Bass, April 10, 1847 172 To Robert Campbell, Jr., April 12, 1847 173 To James Hamilton, Jr., April 12, 1847 174 From Alfred O. P. Nicholson, April 13, 1847 175 From Robert Campbell, Jr., April 14, 1847 176 To Gideon J. Pillow, April 14, 1847 176 To Caleb Cushing, April 15, 1847 179 To Ezekiel P. McNeal, April 15, 1847 180 To Gideon J. Pillow, April 15, 1847 181 From James K. Polk and James Buchanan to Nicholas P. Trist, April 15, 1847 182 From John D. Hawkins et al., April 17, 1847 182 From Anonymous, signed “The Devil,” c. April 19, 1847 183 To John M. Bass, April 19, 1847 184 From Frederick W. Horn, April 19, 1847 185 From Samuel Ingham, April 19, 1847 187 To William L. Marcy, April 19, 1847 188 From John H. Savage, April 19, 1847 189 To James Brown, April 20, 1847 192 To William H. Haywood, Jr., April 20, 1847 194 To Unknown, April 21, 1847 195 To Robert Campbell, Jr., April 22, 1847 196 To John T. Leigh, April 24, 1847 197 To John A. Mairs, April 24, 1847 198 From David L. Swain, April 24, 1847 198 From Benjamin B. French, April 26, 1847 199 To Daniel Graham, April 26, 1847 200 Contents xiii From George S. Houston, April 26, 1847 201 To Lawson Moore, April 27, 1847 202 To Robert Armstrong, April 28, 1847 204 To John D. Hawkins et al., April 28, 1847 206 To Charles J. Ingersoll, April 28, 1847 207 To Robert Armstrong, April 29, 1847 209 To William H. Haywood, Jr., April 29, 1847 211 From Charles J. Ingersoll, April 30, 1847 212 From Anonymous, May 1, 1847 214 To John D.