Letter signed J.O. Davis, Fayette, to Governor Gamble. Comment on the action of the convention, the battle at Springfield in this portion of Missouri…if the rebellious army could be run out of the state before the November election it would likely cause reaction. The great error for Missouri was the failure of the administration to sustain General Lyon at Springfield. After the Boonville affair, and the rebellious faction were driven to the border of Arkansas, that ground should by all means have been held. What is my friend and your brother-in-law Mr. Bates, doing? He knows the geography and situation of that part of Missouri. It seems to me the President of the late convention should postpone the election till the first Monday of August, 1862, unless there is a cooling of the blood of the people. I can speak only for this portion of the state…but see the old conservative county of Boone! C.F. Jackson was declared a candidate for Governor before the members of your convention got home. We do not want to see another Middlesex election, Jackson being Wilkes. We do not see here how you are to decline what seems to be the universal desire of Union men, even if you resigned your place a month after election. W.P. Hall would do after the election was gained by you, and you, he and Oliver will have to be the ticket whenever the election does come off. Numbers are going from here and north of here to join the rebel army. Messrs. Jackson, Clark and Price have all resided and are well known and popular here. The firing on the Steamer White Cloud was in this county between Arrow Rock and Glasgow, mentioned in the Republican. Individuals mentioned include General Nathanial Lyons, Edward Bates, President, Claiborne F. Jackson, Wilkes, Clark, Price, Steamer White Cloud, Republican, W.P. Hall and Oliver. Places mentioned include Springfield, Boonville, Arrow Rock and Glasgow. (4 pages), 1861 Aug 22

Item — Box: 9, Folder: 8

Staff Only

Letter signed J. Davis, Fayette, to Gov. Gamble [Hamilton R. Gamble], August 22, 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).