Rough draft of letter signed John F. Darby, St. Louis, to Editors of the Missouri Republican. Criticizes article or editorial in Globe-Democrat on March 20 disparaging the celebration by North Carolina of the centennial of the battle of Guilford Court House. Darby feels called upon to defend his native state. Gives account of battle and various quotations about it. Darby’s grandfather fought in the battle under General Greene, and often described it to Darby as a child, making an everlasting impression. When Darby was laying out an addition to St. Louis on Compton Hill, he named one street “Guilford Street” in honor of the battle. Missouri has honored North Carolina with more consideration and respect than any other state. Bollinger, Barton, Benton, Polk, Jackson, and Macon counties are named after North Carolinians. [filed in 1881 Mar-May 11], 1881 Mar 24

Item — Box: 5, Folder: 4

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.