Letter signed L.W. Burris, Liberty, to Honorable H.R. Gamble, Jefferson City. I wish to suggest that a stop be made to the military authorities restricting steamboats on the Missouri River. The restrictions hinder the farmers from getting their salt, sugar, coffee and other necessities. I am fearful it will operate against the Union parts in the state. I am engaged in manufacturing ball rope and have considerable hands that I could draw the money for from Messrs. Alexander Newcomb & Co. in St. Louis if I could ship by the first of September. I am in hopes you may be able to restore peace in my native state. I was a member of the General Assembly from Clay County and was an eye witness to all the rascality of Fort Jackson and parts. I have been reading the history as given by Mr. Welch of Johnson County, of the passage of the obnoxious laws that the convention annulled and I can endorse every word Welch said. The course pursued by some of the Federal troops is making secessionists every day. The shooting of such men as James Lightner of Lexington and the searching of private homes, drawers and trunks, where there is no need for suspicion is causing uneasiness in the minds of loyal citizens. If this searching of Union men could be stopped it should be done. I hope you may be sustained in your efforts by an overwhelming majority the first Monday in November. While I am in favor of southern institutions I want to see this government sustained. Individuals mentioned include Alexander Newcomb & Co., Mr. Welch and James Lightner. Places mentioned include Missouri River, St. Louis, Clay County, Johnson County and Lexington. (3 pages), 1861 Aug 8

Item — Box: 9, Folder: 7

Staff Only

Letter signed L.W. Burris, Liberty, to Hon. H.R. Gamble, Jefferson City, Mo., August 8, 1861

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Hamilton Rowan Gamble Papers consist of deeds, early land grants, surveys, a St. Louis court docket book (1816-1833), bills of sale, legal papers regarding land ownership and business agreements, letters pertaining to causes of the Civil War, letters regarding the raising of a state militia, correspondence with political and military leaders, account books and receipts. Papers pertaining to land cases include deeds from French and Spanish ownership of this area, such as a deed between Pierre Chouteau and his wife who sold land for $248 to Meriwether Lewis (box 1/folder 2); a land grant to Andrew Bowen from President James Monroe with the presidential seal (box 1/folder 5); notes on Doit Delany’s land between Creve Coeur Lake and the Missouri River, part of a land grant to Antoine Reynal by the Spanish government (box 6/folder 1); a copy of the land paper from May 23, 1772, signed by Laclede Liguest, et al., designating land granted in the name of the king (box 5/folder 3). Papers regarding slave cases in the courts of Missouri include an 1805 freedom suit by Celeste, an Indian woman, versus Madame Chevalier (box 1/folder 2). An 1827 case of Margrite versus Pierre Chouteau, Sr., explains that the plaintiff’s grandmother, an Indian, was taken in war by the French and possibly sold as a slave in 1769 (box 2/folder 5). Subsequent papers in the collection show that the case was dismissed in 1838 for want of jurisdiction (box 6/folder 6). Letters to and from Gamble from the years before and during the Civil War illuminate the issue of slavery and emancipation in a border state. A copy of a letter from Gamble in 1861 states his view of abolitionists (box 9/folder 13). A copy of an address at an 1862 meeting of loyal states in support of President Lincoln and emancipation bears a notation that Governor Gamble refused to sign it as governor of Missouri (box 10/folder 3). The original draft and copy of Gamble’s 1863 message before a party convention concerns emancipation for the state of Missouri (box 10/folder 7). Critical papers and letters between Gamble and President Abraham Lincoln cover such issues as: raising and paying for a state militia (box 9/folder 3); the situation in Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War (box 9/folder 8); and disagreements between Gamble and Union generals over who should be in control of the state militia (box 10). Collection includes several letters signed by President Lincoln (box 9/folder 12, box 10/folder 9). The collection includes official papers with government seals from 1824 when Gamble was appointed secretary of state of Missouri (box 2/folder 2), and from 1849 on a certificate admitting Gamble as an attorney and counselor of the U.S. Supreme Court (box 8/folder 5). Miscellaneous letters consist of one against gambling and playing roulette from “The Friends of Morality” (box 4/folder 6); plans for a 2nd Presbyterian Church on 5th Street, including drawings of the church interior (box 7/folder 1); and a letter soliciting donations to establish Linden Wood Female College (box 8/folder 9). Other letters and journal entries discuss treatments of diseases, e.g., cholera and neuralgia (box 8/folder 5). Receipts and account books show costs of clothing, household items, food, building materials and bills of sale for slaves to and from Gamble (box 2/folder 6; box 3/folder 7; box 5/folder 1, 5; box 7/folder 5; box 8/folders 4, 6, 11; box 9/folder 2). Letters written near the end of the Civil War, shortly before Gamble’s death, discuss the status of the provisional government (box 10/folder 7).