Letter signed J. Gillespie, Edwardsville, to John F. Darby. Gillespie read with great pleasure Darby’s sketch of the life and character of Edward Bates. Gillespie had high regard for Bates, and supported him for President in 1860. Lincoln and Bates were the only two men who could have best conducted the country through its tribulations. Asks Darby where he can find the speech of Barton against Benton in the U.S. Senate sometime before 1830. Gillespie would travel 500 miles to read it again. After it the name of Little Red was upon every tongue. [filed in 1876 May-Dec], 1876 Aug 9

Item — Box: 4, Folder: 11

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection consists largely of the papers of John F. Darby and his wife Mary F. Darby, and relates mostly to the political, social, and business history of St. Louis. The papers also include family correspondence with relatives in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Missouri, and correspondence regarding legal and business matters. Of special note are the minute books of the Jefferson Society and the St. Louis Debating Club (1827-1828), both regional debating societies of which Darby was a member; letters of Mary F. Darby; correspondence with Montgomery Blair, William T. Sherman, and George Caleb Bingham; and fragments of a history of the Mormons by John Corrill, dated 1839.