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lars, for four hundred arpents of land, being the other half of the tract of eight hundred arpents, mentioned in paper marked F.

H is a copy of a deed executed by R. K. Call and wife, on the 6th day of May, 1828, conveying to Joseph M. White, for a consideration of five hundred dollars, four hundred arpents of land, adjoining the land of H. M. Breckenridge, &c. These lands, four hundred arpents of which were purchased the day before Mr. White's contract was made, and four hundred more three months afterwards, make up the tract of twelve hundred arpents conveyed to the Secretary of the Navy on the 10th March, 1828. The deeds show that the four hundred purchased of Breckenridge, and the four hundred bought of Call, cost five hundred dollars each, and in the deed to the Secretary of the Navy the consideration named is fifteen hundred dollars.

Paper I is a copy of Mr. White's account as settled in the Fourth Auditor's office, showing that he did actually receive for these twelve hundred arpents of land two thousand seven hundred dollars, according to his original contract, marked J. There were, therefore, paid for these lands one thousand two hundred dollars more than the consideration named in the deed. Of the sum given, eight hundred dollars were paid on the 29th January, 1828, and one thousand nine hundred dollars on the 22d day of March following. Though, in approving this account, the Secretary of the Navy stated that a part of the money was paid for timber, the original contracts, and the account itself, represent that it was paid for the land.

J is a copy of articles of agreement between Samuel L. Southard and Joseph M. White, dated 22d March, 1828, by which the latter agrees with the former to procure and make to him title to two tracts of land, supposed to contain eighteen hundred arpents, for three thousand four hundred dollars, or at the same rate for a smaller quantity.

K is a copy of a deed from said White, dated 27th of May, 1828, conveying to the said Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy, twelve hundred and fifty arpents of land for two thousand three hundred and sixty-one dollars and eleven cents.

L is a copy of a deed from Henry Michilet to Joseph M. White, for six hundred and eighty-three acres, (say eight hundred arpents, more or less,) at a consideration of eight hundred dollars, dated 3d May, 1828.

M is a copy of a deed from Sebastian Caro to Joseph M. White for four hundred arpents of land, at a consideration of three hundred dollars, dated 15th May, 1828, which tract was conveyed to Caro by Henry Michilet. These two tracts of eight hundred arpents, purchased for one thousand one hundred dollars, are the twelve hundred and fifty arpents conveyed to the Secretary of the Navy on the 27th May, 1825, for two thousand three hundred and sixty-one dollars and eleven cents.

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The copy of Mr. White's account, marked I, shows that this sum was paid on the 27th of May, 1828; it does not appear that the other five hundred and fifty arpents mentioned in the contract of 22d March were ever purchased or conveyed.

N is a copy of articles of agreement between H. M. Breckenridge and Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy, dated 29th January, 1828, by which the former agreed to convey to the latter four hundred arpents of land, with the improvements, for a consideration of two thousand two hundred dollars, four hundred of which were to be then paid, and the Secretary was to be at liberty immediately to remove the live oak from the land The

four hundred dollars were paid on the same day out of the appropriation for the gradual improvement of the Navy.

O is a copy of a letter from H. M. Breckenridge to the Secretary of the Navy, from which it appears that he had offered to take a smaller sum than he was then inclined to ask,

P is a copy of a letter from the same to the same, offering the four hundred arpents at two thousand five hundred dollars, altered after it was written to two thousand two hundred dollars. Both these letters originally bore date 1st February, 1828; but the former was altered so as to bear date the 28th January, and the latter the 29th.

Qis a copy of a power of attorney from H. M. Breckenridge to Joseph M. White, dated 28th January, 1828, acknowledged on the 29th, authorizing the latter to sell and convey the same tract of land which on the latter day Mr. Breckenridge himself contracted to convey to the Secretary of the Navy.

V is a copy of a deed, dated the 10th day of March, 1828, from Joseph M. White, attorney in fact for H. M. Breckenridge, to Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy, conveying the same four hundred arpents of land for the consideration of one thousand eight hundred dollars.

The paper marked I, being a copy of Mr. White's account, as settled in the Fourth Auditor's office, shows that two thousand two hundred dollars were actually paid for this land; four hundred in advance on the 29th of January, 1828, and one thousand eight hundred on the 21st of March following. There were, therefore, paid for this land four hundred dollars more than the consideration named in the deed.

S is a copy of a deed, dated the 10th day of March, 1828, from Joseph M. White, attorney in fact for Francisco and Ferdinando Moreno, to Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy, for eight hundred arpents of land, for a consideration of three thousand dollars.

By paper marked I, it appears that the sum of three thousand dollars was paid to Mr. White on account of this land; the payment bears date March 21st, 1828.

T is a copy of a deed, dated 2d June, 1828, from Joseph M. White, on his own account and as attorney in fact for H. M. Breckenridge, conveying to Samuel L. Southard sixteen hundred arpents of land "for a valuable consideration;" which lands are the same conveyed in deeds marked E and V, at a consideration, as named in the deeds, of three thousand three hundred dollars, when the valuable consideration actually paid for them was four thousand nine hundred dollars, as appears by the contracts and accounts settled. Why the deeds do not show the precise sums paid for the several tracts of land purchased as above is unexplained by any documents in the Department.

W is another conveyance of the Morenos' eight hundred arpents of land for the same consideration as in paper marked S, dated 2d June, 1828.

These deeds from Mr. White to the Secretary of the Navy are all without warranty, without relinquishment of dower, vague and indefinite, and three of them have never been recorded.

X and Y are extracts from a report of surveyors appointed by the late Secretary of the Navy, dated October, 1828, and a report of Commodore Rodgers, dated October, 1829. From these papers it appears that on the four hundred arpents of land purchased from Mr. Breckenridge, there are about ten acres of live oak land, bearing one hundred and seventeen trees

fit for use, and many too small to be of any present value. It does not appear from these papers, or any other in the Department, that on the lands purchased of Mr. White and of the Morenos there is a single tree fit for

use.

Paper marked R contains extracts from a communication made to the Department by Mr. Cornell, late agent associated with Mr. Haire for the examination and survey of lands producing live oak, &c., dated 16th July, 1829. From these it appears that the quality of the lands purchased by the Government from Mr. White and Mr. Breckenridge is far inferior to many thousands of acres of land owned by the Government, which last will not command the minimum governmental price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and expressing the opinion that these lands, for which nine thousand dollars had been paid by the Government, "could not at this moment command nine thousand cents, except for the buildings erected by Judge Breckenridge, one of the former proprietors, and some other little improvements, of no use to the Government, put on one of the tracts by him previously to the sale of it to the Government.

Z is a copy of a letter from Samuel L. Southard to the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means in the House of Representatives, dated the 29th January, 1828, the date of his first agreements with Mr. White and Mr. Breckenridge, stating that it was desirable to purchase sixteen hundred arpents of live oak lands in Florida, which would cost about five thou sand dollars, as well as certain tracts in Georgia, which he did not think it prudent to mention. He requested merely authority to purchase the lands, the funds for which might be taken out of the appropriation for the gradual improvement of the Navy.

AA is a copy of the third section of the appropriation bill for the support of the Navy for 1828, granting ten thousand dollars out of the appropriation for gradual improvement of the Navy, to pay for such lands producing live oak as the President might think proper to purchase, to provide a supply of timber for the use of the Navy. This act passed on the 19th of March, 1828.

The Secretary had already, on the 29th of January, 1828, agreed to purchase twelve hundred arpents of Mr. White, and four hundred of Mr. Breckenridge, to whom he had advanced twelve hundred dollars; on the 10th of March deeds were executed for two thousand four hundred arpents, for which, including the advances, there were paid, on the 21st and 22d of March, 1828, seven thousand nine hundred dollars, leaving two thousand one hundred of the ten thousand in the Treasury, which, with two hundred and sixty-one dollars and eleven cents more, were paid over to Mr. White for twelve hundred and fifty additional arpents on the 27th May following. No lands were purchased in Georgia. The whole sum set apart for that object, and two hundred and sixty-one dollars more, were paid to Mr. White, and the Secretary of the Navy was still bound to pay him for five hundred and fifty arpents more, had he procured and conveyed them within the time stipulated.

BB is a copy of a letter from Mr. Breckenridge, advising the purchase of certain preemption rights.

CC is a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy to Mr. Breckenridge, giving authority to make the purchases.

DD is a copy of a letter from Mr. Breckenridge, announcing that four preemptions had been purchased at one hundred and fifty dollars each.

From the same source the Department has been informed that there are about ten preemptions which it is desirable to purchase. Those purchased have not been paid for, because it is not believed that the Department had any legal authority to purchase them, or any fund out of which they could be legally paid for.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy to the President, dated 1st December, 1827; the contracts made, and the money advanced on the 29th January, 1828; the deeds executed on the 10th of March, nine days before the special section became law; the authority given on the 22d of March to purchase lands to the amount of three thousand four hundred dollars, when there were only two thousand one hundred dollars of the ten thousand dollars left; the payment on the 27th of May of two hundred and sixty-one dollars and eleven cents beyond the ten thousand dollars; and, finally, the authority given on the 6th of December, 1828, to purchase the preemptions, all prove that, practically at least, the act for the gradual improvement of the Navy was construed to authorize the purchase of lands, and establishment of live oak plantations. Out of the appropriation for that object, not only all these lands have been paid for, but also all buildings and labor upon them, carts, oxen, utensils, and provisions, together with the salaries of the superintendent and overseer, without any special authority from Congress.

File marked EE contains papers giving much miscellaneous information relating to the various transactions detailed above, and which require no comment or explanation, but may tend to illustrate the subject under investigation.

Whether, in the course which has been pursued in relation to this whole business, the interest of the public has been consulted or promoted, and whether it is expedient at this time, under all the circumstances of the case, further to prosecute the propagation or culture of live oak, is respectfully submitted to your consideration.

Honorable ANDREW STEVENSON,

JOHN BRANCH.

Speaker of the House of Representatives U. S.

A.

Copies of the correspondence between the Navy Department and the Superintendent and Overseer of the live oak plantation near Pensa

cola.

No. 1.

PENSACOLA, March 21, 1828.

SIR: On my arrival here, I found my orange trees, together with a variety of exotic fruit trees from the West Indies, which I had not seen for a year, had grown beyond my most sanguine hopes, and are become exceedingly interesting and valuable, but, if removed, I fear will perish. Having reared them from the seed while a solitary hermit, it is not surprising that I should have an attachment to them: they are my children. The situation which they occupy first struck me as very peculiar; it is impossible for me to meet with one at all comparable, being protected on the north by a sheet of salt water of five miles wide, and a thicket of live oak and pine of a mile in depth,

with an exposure to the sea on the south. In fact, it is the only spot I can find suited to my trees, the culture of which has constituted my amusement for five years. Several of my orange trees and lemon are now in bearing, and others soon will be. The thought of being separated from them is distressing to me, and I blame myself for the inconsiderate act of disposing of them on the discouraging accounts I received from the person who formerly occupied the place, whose only object was to furnish an excuse for going away. But to what does all this lead? In a word, it is this-if it be not too late to reconsider our contract, and allow me to reserve the few acres which contain my house and favorite trees and shrubs, I will yield the rest of the land, with all the live oak, for the consideration already paid me; and I assure you that this is a very small compensation. I fear, sir, I may appear whimsical and ridiculous, but we are strange beings, fearfully made, and the happiness or misery of our lives is very differently compounded. There are associations connected with this spot which render it extremely painful for me to think of leaving it. What they are would be fitter for the story of romance.

The reservation of one little solitary orange grove can be no injury to the general plan of cultivating the live oak; my buildings and improvements would be of little or no value to the Government; they are not such as it would construct if it were necessary to construct any. The residence of one family here would be an advantage. It would be my interest to keep out the fires. In fact, it is owing to the extraordinary pains I have taken for the last five years to keep out the fires, that the thickets have grown up so much in my vicinity. If it be possible to gratify my feelings in permitting me to retain those trees, which are now so beautiful, and which I have reared with so much pains, it would be conferring a cheap happiness on a simple kind of being, who, instead of pursuing the road of avarice or ambition, has preferred the cultivation of an innocent and elegant taste.

Should it no longer be in your power to gratify my wish, at least it will be permitted me to retain possession until conveniently and safely removing trees and shrubs, and to look out for another place for them. To find one

equally suitable I despair.

The situation gives me a difference of nearly half a degree of latitude from Pensacola. There has been ice and frost at Pensacola this winter, but neither has been seen at my place. The peppers, which are very tender, are at this time in blossom, have green and ripe peppers on the same shrub, for it there grows to a shrub. Perhaps an agent may be wanted by the Government to superintend and direct the plantation of live oak, who has made the subject of the cultivation of trees his study; and, if I might speak of myself, I will venture to say that none has been more successful in this country. I have imported from England some of the works on plantations, as they are called, and the study and practice has, for several years, been my favorite amusement. Although I do not pretend to be equal to Solomon, for this would be vanity and vexation of spirit, yet I may say with truth that there is no tree or shrub in this country with whose history, properties, and habits I have not an acquaintance. If I could be permitted to remain in possession of my little Elysium as the agent, or an agent to superintend the noble experiment of preserving the live oak, I shall be content. I know nothing of speculation; I have no desire to sell to individuals; my only wish is the privilege of passing the few gliding years of a life already half accomplished amid the harmless creation of my own hands. The superintendence would

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