Louisiana Planter Seeks Appointment from President Andrew Jackson

With this letter, Louisiana planter Amos Webb applied to President Andrew Jackson for an appointment to succeed Donelson Caffery as a "live oak agent" for the Navy Department in Louisiana.

[ANDREW JACKSON.] Amos Webb, Autograph Letter Signed, to Andrew Jackson, October 17, 1835, Opelousas, Louisiana. 1 p., 8" x 10". Some toning; glued to scrapbook page; some staining from glue.

Complete Transcript
Opelousas 17th Oct. 1835
Genl Andrew Jackson
Dear Sir
I suppose ere this you have been informed of the death of your relation & my old friend Donelson Caffery it can be truly said he was the noblest work of God – in the death of Mr Caffery there will have to be an agent appointed by you for keeping & garding the Live oak Timber of this state. As I live in the neighbrohood & could pay the proper attention to it I must request he favr of you to give the appointment to me what I hope you never will have any reason to regret. As my friend Ray did not accept the appointment of Register of the Land Office I hope it will be in your power to give our friend John J. Taylor.
I am dear Genl as ever your friend
Amos Webb

Historical Background
Donelson Caffery (1786-1835) was a nephew of Rachel Donelson Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson, and a parish judge for St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. In February 1834, Caffery was appointed as a temporary agent of the Navy Department "to complete the survey and examination of Live Oak and other navy timber upon that part of the lands from the mouth of the Mississippi to the mouth of the River Sabine." Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury offered him an annual salary of $1,800 and allowed him to have on the "best possible terms," a "suitable boat for the object & hands." Caffery was to provide monthly reports of his progress and was to report "the number of Live Oak trees, their average size, location, & what on public or private lands & what are large enough for reservation &c." Woodbury hoped he could complete the survey in "a few months." On August 13, 1834, Caffery wrote to Jackson that he "can do nothing in the Live Oak business untill the approach of winter on account of muskittoes" and complained of poor health because of "derangement of the stomach." He received $755.82 for his work as "temporary live oak agent" in 1834, and an additional $1,135 in 1835. Caffery died on October 6, 1835, at age 49, apparently without completing the survey. With this letter, Webb sought to succeed Caffery, but there is no surviving evidence that he received the appointment.

Renowned for their resistance to disease and incredible density, live oak trees provided lumber for the construction of naval vessels, especially warships. Approximately one thousand trees were needed for the construction of one wooden vessel. Live oak lumber was used to form the main structural supports of ship hulls and decking. The USS Constitution's inner hull was built from live oak lumber from Georgia in 1795. During the War of 1812, its battle with HMS Guerriere led to its nickname of "Old Ironsides." In 1828, the U.S. Navy established the Naval Live Oak Reservation, the first national tree farm, between Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound in Pensacola, Florida. By 1831, the United States had a virtual monopoly on the supply of live oak trees.

After Valentine King (1796-1835) died in July 1835, Jackson appointed James Ray to be Register of the Land Office in Opelousas, Louisiana. However, Ray declined the position, and at the end of 1835, Jackson appointed John James Taylor to succeed King. At the same time, Jackson appointed John L. Daniel as Receiver of Public Moneys for the Land Office in Opelousas, to replace Benjamin R. Rogers, whom he removed from the office.

Amos Webb (1789-1854) was born in North Carolina. In 1811, he married Charlotte Adams, and they had at least six children. By 1820, they were living in Feliciana Parish in Louisiana. In 1829, he built the Arlington Plantation house on Bayou Cocodrie in Washington, Louisiana. In 1836, he purchased additional land on the north bank of Bayou Boeuf and built Macland Plantation for his son in 1842. By 1850, Webb owned $20,000 worth of real estate.

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