Petition from Polly Lemon to Congress

“the land clamed [by Polly Lemon] is within 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 U.S. 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 be passed for Lemon. On January 4, 1838, Congress passed H.R. 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….”