Wilkinson, Nolan And Hunt

Keep in mind when reading about the nefarious General James Wilkinson, he was "twice the Commanding General of the United States Army [and] appointed first Governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1805."

From another Detour Through History post:

"Philip Nolan's death, as the result of an order which came originally from *General Wilkinson's friend Gayoso, is still a mysterious affair. Wilkinson had not hesitated to try to hang the noose of treason about the neck of his friend Aaron Burr." [Devil's Backbone] Nolan was a business aide to General Wilkinson. Philip Nolan was a character in the novel by Rev. Edward Everett Hale in The Man Without A Country; Hale later wrote "The Real Philip Nolan" to differentiate between the character Philip Nolan and the authentic Philip Nolan.

Then there's this from The Real Philip Nolan that includes a transcript of a letter from *General James Wilkinson to Abijah Hunt that was a directive to pay Philip Nolan and Nolan's receipt same:

[As Rev. Hale explained] "Nolan's name for the name of my hero. In Wilkinson's Memoirs, he refers to Nolan once and again when it is convenient to him."

"We now know that Wilkinson was in the pay of the Spanish government... . This was suspected here, but he succeeded in covering his tracks so fully that he was never convicted of it in his life time.  But I do not know how far Philip Nolan had to do with these transactions. I have myself an autograph of Nolan's, which has an endorsement of a letter from Wilkinson. The whole note may be of interest to you. It bears the date, as you see, of September 22, 1796, and it begins with Wilkinson's own handwriting."

"Sir:
For the 12,000 acres of Land sold to your self, & messrs. Ralph & Jonas Phillips, as per indenture dated the 15th inst, please to pay Mr. Philip Nolan or order two thousand Dollars worth of Merchantdize, & his receipt shall be your discharge for so much.
JA WILKINSON.

Sept. 22nd, 1796.
Mr. Abijah Hunt.

Then comes Hunt's acceptance, "Accepted by A. Hunt."

And then in Nolan's rather fine handwriting:
"Received Two thousand Dollars worth of Merchandize on Account of the above order, Cincinnati 28th Sept. 1796.  PHIL NOLAN."

Abijah Hunt was the administrator of Philip Nolan's estate per the Library at Yale that holds the following documents:

Hunt, Abijah
17 documents concerning the estate of Philip Nolan
1801 Jun 5 - 1803 Mar 19. 

Source - Also from Rev. Hale