The collection contains one autograph letter signed by Edward Bates to his private secretary, Edmund Clarence Stedman, in Washington, D.C., dated 19 July 1863. Bates was in St. Louis and at his country house visiting family. He wrote about the state of affairs in the St. Louis area, where the war had taken its toll on personal relationships: “Our society is shivered into splinters – all the active rebels are one, & many of them are dead; but their families and friends are still here, discontented & sulky…” Bates goes on to explain that “the general tone is however hopeful throughout – now that the river is open, trade will revive, tranquility be ere long restored.”