[6] Many of this group were long-time allies of Tennessee planter and speculator Andrew Jackson, and connected to one another by a dense web of business and family ties.

[7] These men were all early buyers of lands in the vicinity of the Big Spring, shortly thereafter organized as the town Twickenham, Madison County, Mississippi Territory.

[9] In 1811, Brahan was also serving as the receiving officer for the Cherokee Indian Agency at Huntsville, and wrote to Return J. Meigs, "It is rumored that the Creeks are preparing for war against us, if true they must be a blind  people, and will no doubt prove their own destruction."

"[11] In March 1814, "from Fort Strother, Jackson subcontracted with the Huntsville firm of Pope and Brahan," ordering rations for 3,000 for 40 days.

[15] In January 1818, Brahan, John Read, three Popes (including LeRoy), Thomas Bibb, and others were named directors of Planters' and Merchants' Bank of Huntsville.

[18] The same year chronicler Anne Royall visited Huntsville and wrote in a letter, "General Brahan, of the late war, is a prince, in whatever light he may be viewed.

"[19] The Panic of 1819 hit Tennessee and Alabama Territory hard, and the usual cascade of financial failure following times of rampant speculation began.

[20] As hints of irregularities began to emerge, officials in Washington inquired with Brahan, but it was 17 months from start to finish before they received any kind of useful disclosure.

If there should exist any peculiarity in the situation of an officer which is calculated to excite suspicion, it is more imperiously to his interest and duty to exert more than ordinary diligence in the discharge of his official duties.As it happened, explained historian Ruth Ketring Nuermberger: "Brahan himself ended up with 44,677 acres and an indebtedness of $318,579.

[25] George Mason wrote Clement Comer Clay, "Brahan will be considerably injured if not ruined; and the fur will be jerked off old Pope and some of his ill-gotten gains will go into the pockets of others.

In October 1819 Judge John Overton wrote Jackson, who was heading out on a trip to Alabama, that Brahan owed him $792.50 and "The money wd suit me best, but will take one or two likely healthy boys of 12 or 13 years of age at such price as you may think they are worth in Cash, and as you would trade for yourself.

"[33] In 1827 the Pensacola Gazette and West Florida Advertiser credited Brahan with introducing to the state a grape variety known as the Bland Madeira, "which makes an excellent wine.

"[34] In June 1828, Congress passed a "private act" appropriating $6,964.99 to repay Brahan for expenses of "clerk hire" while he was receiver of public monies in Alabama.

[38] In 1829 the circuit court of Madison County, Alabama ruled on a business dispute involving the purchase of "sundry negroes," the buyer of which paid for in part with a note from John Brahan from 1819 for $6,662.

[42] Brahan's slaves started construction and brick making on Sweetwater Mansion in about 1834 but he did not live to see it completed and it ultimately came into possession of Robert and Jane Patton.