Existing comment:
Signed with an "X" and got a bill:
"the land clamed [by Polly Lemon] is wihin the reservation for Fort Jesup; that he [the President] has referred to the Department of War, and is advised by it, that so long as Fort Jesup be occupied by the troops of the United States, the tract of land referred to will be necessary for military purposes..."
-- from committee report investigating claim, 1838
Polly Lemon, a landowner in Louisiana, was one of several whose land was confiscated by the US Army. The owners did not receive payment or documentation of the land seizure.
In 1833, Lemon petitioned Congress for compensation. She signed the petition by marking an "x", meaning she could not read or write. After a determined five-year appeal to Congress, the committee recommended a bill by passing for Lemon. On January 4, 1838, Congress passed HR 294, "for the relief of Polly Lemon to select six hundred and forty acres, in lieu of the same quantity of land taken from her." |