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Date Original
1861 February 16
Description
Letter from B.M. Colman of St. Louis, Missouri to David C. Williams about the political situation in the area. The letter includes his own political views, views on Lincoln's speech in Pittsburg, and promises of future developments.
Transcription
[Page 1] St. Louis Feb. 16th 1861
D.C. Williams Esq.
Dear Sir
Your favor of 9th Inst. came to hand
in due time, with 15 postage stamps enclosed
In regard to answering your telegraphic dispatch
(Proposed) I will do so cheerfully, and send you,
as near as in my power, a correct & truthful response
But in regard to political matters generally, I
do not meddle with them, although having at
this particular time, an anxiety, common to all of
our citizens, in the welfare of our Republic. I do not
belong to any party or political creed and although
a naturalized citizen (an Irishman by birth) I
have, with one exception, voted since qualified,
the American ticket - But in our city & county &
in fact in our state, I think that henceforth there
must be but two parties - Republican, and Anti-
Republican -- I think that in consequence of late
events, the question must be narrowed down to this.
I cannot, in justice, vote for what they call the
"Union" ticket, at our election for delegates, on Monday
next from the fact that, although there are good men
[Page 2] nominated, yet there is a sprinkling of Republicans
on it. In this writing, I know not what your political
views are, and of course do not intend any offence[sic] - should
any be taken - As the great question of the day now
stands, I do not see any sign of compromise on the part of
the Republicans, although from the late short speech of the
President elect at Pittsburg on yesterday morning, he does not
seem to regard the present state of affairs, as being so
very alarming - God grant he may be correct.
In regard to your last request, I cannot promise
to write you daily, but should any event worth of
special notice, as trending to either heal or widen
the breach already existing in our unhappy Country,
I will write you with pleasure the word "pleasure",
referring of course to
the act of writing you.
My office duties have become more onerous, of
late, so that I have barely time to glance at the
public prints, from which we all have to preserve
our information on political matters, although I
presume, that in our papers we have fuller reports
than with you. In the event of anything worthy of mention
occurring, you may depend upon having an epistle from
Yours very truly
B.M. Colman
1861
BM Colman
Feb. 16
Physical Description
Letter, 2 pages, 7.75" x 9.75"
Subjects
Correspondence; War; Political activity; Civil War; Presidents
Contributor
B.M. Colman
Geographical Area
St. Louis, St. Louis County (Mo.); Van Buren, Crawford County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000086
Resource Type
Image
Collection
Clara Bertha Eno collection, MS.000086
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Letter, B.M. Colman to David C. Williams, Clara Bertha Eno collection, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
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