Letter signed Edward Bates, Attorney General’s Office, to Honorable Governor Gamble of Missouri. I am sick at heart in view of the obstinate perversity and the minorities’ sloth and negligence of those who ought to know better and do better. Your letter of the 29th just received, and showed it to Secretary Chase. He seemed surprised you have not received the money as he ordered it some ago. He requested me to assure he will do whatever he can for he is in full sympathy with you. However you and I may have differed from Mr. Chase on party politics, etc., he is one of the best men here. Write to him and keep him advised on the true state of facts in Missouri. Regarding your telegram and letter to Gibson in the Fremont incident. The President was, at first, a little cross about not receiving a report from you. The President, poor man, is in great distress at the way things are going, without [as he supposes] power to change the current. He is an intelligent and virtuous man but immense mischief is caused by his lack of vim…he has no will, nobody is afraid of him. I don’t see how the Treasury can escape bankruptcy unless some of the conditions are changed. I am convinced that with will and authority at the head we might, in 30 days, scatter Beauregard’s army and dominate the whole coast from Chesapeake Bay to the Rio Grande. Fremont still sits like a nightmare upon the nation’s breast. Stringham is justly superseded because, after his smart little victory at Hattersby [?] instead of gathering the fruits and using his prestige, he came home to glorify. My wife is recovering from paralysis. Julian starts on his return home today. Individuals mentioned include Secretary Salmon P. Chase, Charles Gibson, General John C. Fremont, President Lincoln, G.T. Beauregard and Stringham. Places mentioned include Missouri, Chesapeake Bay and Rio Grande. (4 pages), 1861 Oct 3

Item — Box: 9, Folder: 11

Staff Only

Letter signed Edw. Bates [Edward Bates], Attorney General's Office, to Gov. Gamble of Mo. [Hamilton R. Gamble], October 3, 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).