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SKETCH

EDWARD COLES,

SECOND GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS,

AND OF THB

SLAVERY STRUGGLE OF 1823-4.
PREPARED FOR THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
By E. B. WASHBURNE,
HONOBAkY MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY.

" The world knows nothing of Its greatest men."
—Philip Van Artevelde.

CHICAGO :
JANSEN, McCLURG & COMPANY.
1882.

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1881,
BY JANSEN, McCLURG & COMPANY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, O. C.

TO THE
HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE.
Oste of the connecting links between the earlier and
the later Illinois, and who in his career as a lawyer, a
magistrate and a citizen, has illustrated the history of
our State for more than half a century, this Paper is ded
icated, as a slight token of the profound respect and high
esteem in which he is held by
The Writer.

w

Chicago, May, 18, 1881.
Hon. E. B. Washburne:
Dear Sir: — I have the honor to inform you that at a stated
meeting of the Chicago Historical Society, held last evening
on motion of Hon. I. N. Arnold,' the following preamble
and resolution were unanimously adopted:
" Whereas, The late Edward Coles, second Governor of
Illinois, was one of the most interesting characters in Amer
ican history, and especially distinguished for the great and
important services he rendered in preventing the extension
of slavery into this State; and
Whereas, Many of the letters, papers and manuscripts of
Gov. Coles have been placed, by his family, in the hands of
our honored associate, the Hon. E. B. Washburne, with a
view of preparing a Sketch of his life and services ; and
knowing that such a Sketch would be a most valuable and
interesting contribution to the history of our State, and
that Mr. Washburne, from his familiar knowledge of the
history of Illinois, and his deep interest in the subject
would execute such work with fidelity, skill and ability:
Therefore, Resolved, That the Hon. E. B. Washburne, on behalf
of the Chicago Historical Society, and all students of
American History, is earnestly requested to prepare for this
society and publish a Paper on Governor Edward Coles."
I have the honor to be
Very respectfully, Albert D. Hager, Secretary.
Chicago, Illinois, May 26, 1881.
Albert D. Hager, Esq.,
Secretary of Chicago Historical Society.
Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the re
ceipt of your letter of the 18th instant, enclosing the
(5)

resolution of the Historical Society, requesting me to
prepare for the Society a Paper on Governor Edward
Coles. I have in my hands many of the papers, letters
manuscripts, &c, of Governor Coles, placed at my dis
position by his son, Edward Coles, Esq., of Philadelphia,
and I have spent some time in examining and looking
them over with a view to the publication of some notice
of that distinguished man. Whatever I may prepare,
I will cheerfully contribute to the Society, unworthy and
imperfect as the contribution may be.
Important and interesting as the papers and corres
pondence which I have, may be found, there is a great
deal lacking that is necessary for the full accomplishment
of such a purpose as I have in view. Many years ago Gov
ernor Coles presented to the Alton Historical Society a
large mass of books, papers, and documents, pertaining
to the history of the State during his administration.
He requested, however, that they might be lent to his
old friend, the Rev. J. M. Peck, to be used in a histor
ical collection he was then making.
Unfortunately, Mr. Peck's house was consumed by fire,
involving the destruction of all this invaluable material.
I have, however, made the best use I could of what I
have in hand, and my Paper, when finished, I will send
to you to go into the archives of your Society.
I have the honor to be,
Yery truly,
Your obedient servant,
E. B. Washburne.
(6)

"Not being aware of any consideration which should re
strain me, but on the contrary, believing that my present of
fice increases the obligation I am under, as a goocl citizen, to
exert myself to enlighten the minds of my fellow citizens,
and strenuously oppose every measure which I am con
vinced is unjust in principle, or injurious in its effects, and
believing slavery to be both injurious and impolitic, I
believe myself bound, both as a citizen and an officer, to do
all in my power to prevent its introduction into this State."
(Letter of Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux of Philadelphia, dated Ed-
wardsville, Illinois, June 27, 1823.)

" The part which thee has been called to act privately, as
well as publicly and officially, in regard to the rights of
mankind and for the upholding of the principles of justice
and mercy toward a degraded and oppressed portion of our
fellow beings, ought to be regarded as a manifestation of
Providential power, concerning which we must always believe
the same Divine interposition will be extended in every
emergency. I am altogether satisfied that it is reserved for
thee to witness the triumph of truth and beneficence in the
struggle to which thee has been exposed, and what is of in-
finately greater value, as it respects thyself, to reap a plen
teous harvest in the most precious of all rewards — the appro
bation of Heaven ! I feel a deep interest in thy character,
and a lively gratitude for thy services, and it will always be
among the purest consolations of my mind to be assured of
thy welfare and happiness."
(Letter of Roberts Vaux to Edward Coles, dated Philadelphia, 6 mo.,
U, 1824.)
(?)

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Paper Prepared for the Chicago Historical Society; The
Character of Governor Coles Revealed; Little Known of
him at the Present Day; His Relation to the Slavery
Struggle of 1823-4, ...... 13-15
CHAPTER II.
Edward Coles, born December 15, 1786, in Virginia;
Educated at Hampden, Sidney and William and Mary
College; His Class-mates; His Family; His Relations to
the Distinguished Men of His Day; Private Secretary to
Mr. Madison in 1809,  16-20
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Coles; Their Correspondence in 1814;
The Letter of Mr. Coles; The Celebrated Answer of Mr.
Jefferson; Correspondence Between Mr. Coles and
Nicholas Biddle  21-37
CHAPTER IV.
Mr. Coles Resolves to Sell his Plantation in Virginia and
Liberate his Slaves ; Resigns as Private Secretary to Mr.
Madison, in 1815; .Visits the North-western Territory;
Is Sent on a Mission to Russia; His Success, . 38-43
CHAPTER V.
Mr. Coles Removes to Illinois, with all his Negroes, in 1819;
Letter of Introduction from President Monroe to Gov.
Edwards; His Conduct in Regard to his Slaves; Diffi
culties in the Way of Freeing them; Journey to Illinois;
Frees his Slaves ; A Remarkable Scene, . 44-53
(9)

10 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.
Appointed Register of the Land Office at Edwardsville, by
Mr. Monroe, in 1819 ; Makes Acquaintance ofthe People ;
Personal Appearance ; Impression Made on the Pioneers
of the Country ; The Second Election for Governor in
1822.; A Stump Canvass ; Coles Elected by a Small Plu
rality, through Division of the Opposing Party ; Legisla
ture Pro-Slavery ; List of Members, . . 54-60
CHAPTER VII.
Inaugurated as Governor, December, 1822 ; Sound Views
on the Currency Question ; Letter in Regard to the Title
of his Office ; Bold Denunciation of Slavery; The Effect of
the Governor's Speech ; The Opening up -of the Great
Question of Making Illinois a Slave State ; Pro-slavery
Majority in both Branches of the Legislature ; Plan Con
ceived to Make a Slave Constitution, . . 61-66
CHAPTER VIII.
The Existence of Slavery in Illinois ; A Committee of the
Legislature report in Favor of a Convention to Alter the
Constitution ; The Early Inhabitants of the State ; Prej
udice against the "Yankees"; Judge Gillespie's State
ment of the Situation ; Manner of Amending the Con
stitution ; Difficulty of Getting the Requisite Vote in the
Lower House ; The Object to be Accomplished at all
Hazards; Resisted in the Legislature; Letter of W. P.
McKee ; Reminiscences of John Shaw, . 67-77
CHAPTER IX.
Contest Between Hansen and Shaw in the Legislature ; The
Cry of " The Convention or Death ;" All Debate Stifled ;
Hansen Votes Against the Resolution ; Determination to
Oust Him From His Seat ; Col. Alexander P. Field ; His
Resolution Admitting Hansen Reconsidered, and Shaw
Admitted ; His Vote Carries it ; Gov. Coles Appoints
Hansen Judge of Probate ; Hansen's Letter, . 78-97

CONTENTS. 11

CHAPTER X.
Triumph of thei Convention Men ; Their Indecent Joy ;
Stirring Address of the Anti-Convention Members of the
Legislature ; The Signers of the Address ; Judge Gilles
pie's Sketches ; Other Sketches; Alexander P. Field ;
His Checquered History, £» . . . 98-127
CHAPTER XI.
The Convention Men Issue an Address to the People ; The
Weakness ofthe "Address;" Notice of Col. Cox'; Early
Incidents in Iowa Territory ; The Battle of Bellevue ;
The First Constitution a Good One ; Discontent of the
People ; Emigration through the State, . 128-133
CHAPTER XII.
Convention Contest Commences ; Its Violence and Bitter
ness ; Description of it by Governors Ford and Reynolds
and Wm. H. Brown ; Hostility Towards Governor Coles ;
Insulting Demand upon him by the Senate ; His Digni
fied and Conclusive Response ; Letter to John G.
Lofton, ...... 134-141
CHAPTER XIII.
Governor Coles the Leader ofthe Anti-Convention Forces ;
Letter to Richard Flower ; Governor Coles and Nich
olas Biddle ; Correspondence between them ; Biddle In
troduces Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux, of Philadel
phia ; Correspondence between Coles and Vaux; Another
Letter of Mr. Biddle to Governor Coles, . 142-164
CHAPTER XIV.
Increasing Excitement on the Convention Question; News
papers in the State ; Leaders in the Contest on Both
Sides ; Labors and Activity of the Anti-Convention Men;
Morris Birkbeck ; Notice of Birkbeck ; His Services to the
Anti-Convention Cause ; Correspondence between Coles
and Birkbeck  165-189

12 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.
The Election Takes Place ; Convention Scheme Defeated
by More than Eighteen Hundred Majority ; Convention
Men Defeated, but they Rally under the Banner of Jack
son ; Get Control of the State ; Birkbeck's Appointment
as Secretary of State Rejected ; His Death, . 190-198
CHAPTER XVI.
Further Correspondence between Governor Coles and Rob
erts Vaux ; Important and Interesting Letter of the Gov
ernor on the Situation ; His Account of the Malicious
Law Suit Instituted Against Him for Freeing His Slayes ;
His Noble Words in the Deed of Emancipation ; The
Prejudice of the Judge ; Verdict against Him for Two
Thousand Dollars ; Judgment Reversed ; Beautiful
Tribute of Mr. Vaux, . . . 199-212
CHAPTER XVII.
Letter of Mr. Vaux to Governor Coles ; Lieutenant-Gov
ernor Hubbard Attempts to Usurp the Office of Governor ;
Letter of Governor Coles to Mr. Vaux ; Enforces his
Views on Slavery in a Letter to John Rutherford ; Views
on the Pardoning Power ; An extra Session of the Leg
islature called ; Visit of Lafayette to Illinois ; Letter
of Lafayette ; Governor Coles sends his Aid to meet
him ; Reception of Gen. Lafayette, . . 213-236
CHAPTER XVIII.
Valedictory Message of Governor Coles ; His Tribute to
Thomas Jefferson ; His Recommendations to the Legisla
ture ; The "Black Code"; The Character of Governor
Coles' Administration ; Becomes a Candidate for Con
gress in 1831 ; Beaten by Joseph Duncan ; Coles County
named after Him; Settles in Philadelphia in 1833 ;
Marries Miss Roberts ; His Private Life; His History
of the Ordinance of 1787 ; Death in 1868. . 237-248

GOVEEJYOE EDWAED COLES

SLAVERY STRUGGLE OF 1823-24.

CHAPTEK I.
Paper Prepared for the Chicago Historical Society ; The
Character op Governor Coles Revealed ; Little Known of
him at TnE Present Day; His Relation to the Slavery
Struggle of 1823-4; His Correspondence, Private Papers
and Manuscripts in the Hands op his son, Edward
Coles, of Philadelphia.
The Chicago Historical Society has done
me the honor to invite me to prepare a Paper on
Edwaed Coees, the second Governor of the State
of Illinois. No sketch of Governor Coles would
be complete without connecting with it a reference
to the struggle to make Illinois a slave State, which
occurred during his term of office, and in which
he took so prominent and effective a part ; I shall,
therefore, not only speak of Governor Coles, but
shall briefly trace the history of one of the most
(13)

14 SKETCH of governor coees.

remarkable contests, not only in the annals, of our
State, but in the nation.
What I shall make known to you of the charac
ter, the ability and the statesmanship of Edward
Coles, will reveal to you a man whose life will, I
am certain, challenge your admiration and respect,
and whose services to our State will entitle him to
the lasting gratitude of us all. In him is illus
trated the saying which Sir Henry Taylor puts into
the mouth of Philip Van Artevelde :*
" The world knows nothing of its greatest men."
That there is so little known to the people of
Illinois in relation to Governor Coles, is due to the
fact ofthe comparatively short time he resided in the
State (considering that he had been Governor), and
to the further fact of his complete retirement from
public life when yet a young man.
Though a resident of the State for more than
forty-one years, I must confess to have had only a
general knowledge of the character of Governor
Coles, and of the services he rendered to our com
monwealth. I knew that he was Governor of the
State at the most critical epoch of its history, and
*"He was one
Of many thousand, such as die betimes,
.Whose story is a fragment known to few."
— Philip Van Artevelde: A Dramatic Roman

HIS CHARACTER REVEALED. 15
that all his official and personal influeuce had been
wielded to save Illinois from that blighting curse
of human slavery which had been attempted to be
fastened upon a soil that was supposed to have been
consecrated to freedom by the ordinance of 1787.
What little knowledge I had, however, inspired in
me great respect for his character ; and desirous to
know more about him, I made my wishes and my
purposes known to his son, Edward Coles, Esq., a
well-known and highly respected citizen of Philadel
phia, who has been kind enough to place in my
hands much of the correspondence and many pri
vate papers and manuscripts of his father. A study
of these papers and of the contemporary history of
the State, enables me to contribute to the Society
much that may not be generally known in regard
to Governor Coles, and to aid, perhaps, in rescuing
from forgetfulness and oblivion the name of a man
whose memory should ever be cherished by the
people of our State with pride and affection.

16 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTEE II.
Ed-ward Coles, born December 15, 1786, in Albemarle County,
Virginia ; Educated at Hampden Sidney, and "William
and Mary College ; His Class-mates ; His Family; His Rela
tions to the Distinguished Men of His Day ; Made Pri
vate Secretary to Mr. Madison in 1809 ; Resolves to
Liberate his Slaves and Remove from Virginia.
Edward Coles was born December 15th, 1786,
in Albemarle County, Virginia, on the old family
estate called " Enniscorthy," on the Green Moun
tain. His father was John Coles, who had been
a colonel in the Eevolutionary war. Having been
fitted for college by private tutors, he was sent to
Hampden Sidney, where he remained till the au
tumn of 1805, and was then removed to. William
and Mary college, at Williamsburg. He remained
at William and Mary till the summer of 1807,
when he left the college a short time before the
final and graduating examination. Though Bishop
Madison, cousin of President Madison, then presi
dent of the college, was perfectly satisfied with the
progress young Coles had made in his studies
while under his supervision, it was impossible for
him to graduate on account of a severe fracture of
his leg, and which at one time threatened the loss

his family. 17

of the limb. This so interfered with his studies
that he got behind in his class. Among his class
mates who became distinguished in public life, were
Lieutenant-General Scott, President John Tyler,
William S. Archer, United States Senator from
Virginia, and Mr. Justice Baldwin, of the Supreme
Court of the United States. The familv of Coles
was at the time a prominent one in Virginia, and
allied to some of the most distinguished politicians
and statesmen of that ancient commonwealth.
The first two years after leaving college young
Coles spent at Enniscorthy in reading and study,
going over the whole range of history and politics.
Though the father, Colonel John Celes, was not in
public life, he had his most intimate friends among
the distinguished politicians and statesmen of the
day. The family mansion was the seat of the old-
fashioned Virginian hospitality. It was visited by
Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, the
Eandolphs, Tazwell, Wirt, and many others of the
leading men of that time. The following letter of
Patrick Henry to the father of Edward Coles,
with a, facsimile, may be found interesting :
Bed Hill, March 19th, 1797.
Dear Sir: — Your Favor, by couBin Walter,"! reca.
I am extremely obliged to you for the Attention you have
2

18 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
paid to sister "Woods' affair. Poor "Woman, I wished to
serve her, but am situated so far from her that I can
never think of riding so far as her place. As Mr. Peter
Johnston and his Family are to be here in a very little
Time, I shall wait 'til I see him; and I hope to settle
some plan with him which may answer.
I refer to the young gentle" for my opinion as to
Lyle's Matter. I congratulate you on the very promising
appearance of your two sons. They are fine Boys indeed.
Mrs. Henry joins me in affectionate Regards to Mrs.
Coles and the family, and I am, Dear sir,
Affectionately yours, P. Henet.
P. S. — When shall we see yon all here? I want you to
tell me how to manage my low grounds, and to make
crops, &c, &c.
The year 1809 found Edward Coles a young
man twenty-three years of age, the proprietor
of a plantation which his father had bequeathed
to him before his death, the previous year, and a
certain number of slaves. Of a polished education,
fine personal appearance, good manners, and irre
proachable character, President Madison tendered
him the appointment of his private secretary, a po
sition at that time of much dignity and importance.
It was made particularly pleasant for young Coles,
from the acquaintance of his family with Mr. Madi
son, and from the fact of his becoming a member
of the Presidential household.

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RESOLVES TO LIBERATE HIS SLAVES. 19

It was in his earlier college days that Mr. Coles
had first presented to his mind the abstract ques
tion whether or not man had a right of property
in his fellow man. He read everything on the
subject that came in his way, and listened to lectures
on the rights of man. The more he studied, the
more he reflected, the more impossible was it for
him to reconcile the immortal declaration " that
all men are born free and equal," with a state
of society which held human beings in bond
age. He resolved, therefore, in his own mind that
he would not only not hold slaves himself nor live
in a State which upheld the institution of slavery.
One reason which determined him to accept the
appointment as private secretary to Mr. Madison
was, because he believed that through acquaint
ances he could make at Washington, he could bet
ter determine in what part of the non-slaveholding
portion ofthe Union it would be most advantageous
for him to settle. Mr. Coles remained the private
secretary of Mr. Madison for six years, enjoying in
the fullest degree the confidence of that distinguish
ed man. He soon acquired much knowledge of
public affairs and of public men. His great intel
ligence and his suavity of manner made him very
useful to the President and very popular generally.

20 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
He also enjoyed the confidence and friendship of
Mr. Monroe, Mr. Jefferson and many noted men
of the day, to a remarkable degree.

MR. JEFFERSON AND MR. COLES. 21

CHAPTEE III.
Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Coles; Their Correspondence in
1814; The Letter of Mr. Coles ; The Celebrated Answer
of Mr. Jefferson; Correspondence Between Mr. Coles
and Nicholas Biddle.
The relations ' of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Coles
seem to have been of a very friendly character, and
arising from the similarity of their vieWs on the ques
tion of slavery, and their sympathy for each other
in holding doctrines so much at variance with the
prevailing sentiment in their own State. It was in
July, 1814, that Mr. Coles, still the private secre
tary of Mr. Madison, opened a correspondence with
Mr. Jefferson, which drew forth from the latter the
most pronounced views on the question of slavery
that had ever been put forth by so distinguished a
man residing in a slave-holding community. I
present here the correspondence. Nothing can
better illustrate the character and deep convictions
of Mr. Coles than his letter to Mr. Jefferson, dated
July 14, 1814, and which shows how deeply he
felt on the subject of slavery:
Edward Coles to Thomas Jefferson.
Washington, July 31, 1814
Dear Sir: — I never took up my pen with more hesi
tation, or felt more embarrassment than I now do in ad-

22 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
dressing you on the subject of this letter. Tho fear of
appearing presumptuous distresses me, and would deter
me from venturing thus to call your attention to a sub
ject of such magnitude, and so beset with difficulties as
that of a general emancipation of the slaves of Virginia,
had I not the highest opinion of your goodness and lib
erality, in not only excusing me for the liberty 1 take,
but in justly appreciating my motives in doing so.
I will not enter on the right which man has to enslave
his brother man, nor upon the moral and political effects
of slavery on individuals or on society; because these
j things are better understood by you than by me. My
object is to entreat and beseech yon to exert your knowl
edge and influence in devising and getting into opera
tion some plan for the gradual emancipation of slavery.
This difficult task could be- less exceptionally and more
successfully performed by the revered fathers of all our
political and social blessings than by any succeeding
statesmen ; and would seem to come with peculiar pro
priety and force from those whose valor, wisdom and
virtue have done so much in ameliorating the condition
of mankind. And it is a duty, as I conceive, that de
volves particularly on you, from your known philosophi
cal and enlarged view of subjects, and from the princi
ples you have professed and practiced through a long
and useful life, pre-eminently distinguished as well by
being foremost in establishing on the broadest basis the
rights of man, and the liberty and independence of your
country, as in being throughout honored with the
most important trusts by your fellow citizens, whose
confidence and love you have carried with you into the
shades of old age and retirement. In the calm of this
retirement you might, most beneficially to society, and
with much addition to your own fame, avail yourself of

LETTER OF MR. COLES. 23
that love and confidence to put into complete practice
those hallowed principles contained in that renowned
Declaration, of which you were the immortal author,
and on which we founded our right to resist oppression
and establish our freedom and independence.
I hope the fear of failing, at this time, will have no
influence in preventing you from employing your pen
to eradicate this most degrading feature of British Colon
ial policy, which is still permitted to exist, notwith
standing its repugnance as well to the principles of our
revolution as to our free institutions. For however prized
and influential your opinions may now be, they will still
be much more so when you shall have been taken from us
by the course of nature. If therefore your attempt should
now fail to rectify this unfortunate evil — an evil most in
jurious both to the oppressed and to the oppressor — at
some future day when your memory will be consecrated
by a grateful posterity, what influence, irresistible influ
ence will the opinions and writings of Thomas Jefferson
have in all questions connected with the rights of man,
and of that policy which will be the creed of your disci
ples. Permit me then, my dear Sir, again to entreat yonr
great powers of mind and influence, and to employ some
of your present leisure, in devising a mode to liberate
one-half of our fellow beings from an ignominious bond
age to the other, either by making an immediate attempt
to put in train a plan to commence this goodly work, or
to leave human nature the invaluable Testament — which
you are so capable of doing — how best to establish its
rights: so that the weight of your opinion may be on the
side of emancipation when that question shall be agita
ted, and that it will be sooner or later is most certain.
That it may be soon is my most ardent prayer — that it
will be, rests with you.

24 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
I will only add as an excuse for the liberty I take in
addressing you on this subject which is so particularly
interesting to me, that from the time I was capable of
reflecting on the nature of political society, and of the
rights appertaining to man, I have not only been princi
pled against slavery, but have had feelings so repugnant
to it as to decide me not to hold them; which decision
has forced me to leave my native State, and with it all
my relations and friends. This I hope will be deemed
by you some excuse for the liberty of this intrusion, of
which I gladly avail myself to assure you of the very
great respect and esteem with wliich I am, my dear Sir,
your very sincere aud devoted friend,
Edwaed Coles.
Thomas Jeffeeson.
The celebrated answer of Mr. Jefferson to this
letter, though before published, will bear to be re
printed: Montickli.o, Aug. 25, 1814.
Dear Sir: — Your favor of July 31 was duly re
ceived, and was read with peculiar pleasure; the senti
ments breathed through the whole do honor to both the
head and heart of the writer. Mine on the subject of
the slavery of negroes have long since been in pos
session of the public, and time has only served to give
them stronger root. The love of justice and the love of
country plead equally the cause of these people, and it is
a mortal reproach to us that they should have pleaded it
so long in vain, and should have produced not a single
effort, nay I fear not much serious willingness, to relieve
them and ourselves from our present condition of moral
aud political reprobation. From those of the former

LETTER OF MR. JEFFERSON. 25
. generation who were in the fullness of age when I came
into public life, which . was while our controversy with
England was on paper only, I soon saw that nothing
was to be hoped. Nursed and educated in the daily
habit of seeing the degraded condition, both bodily and
mental, of those unfortunate beings, not reflecting that
that degradation was very much the work of themselves
and their fathers, few minds had yet doubted but that
they were as legitimate subjects of property as their
horses or cattle. The quiet and monotonous course of
colonial life had been disturbed by no alarm, and little
reflection on the value of liberty; and when alarm was
taken at an enterprise of their own, it was not easy to
carry them the whole length of the principles which they
invoked for themselves. In the first or second session
of the legislature after I became a member, I drew to
this subject the attention of Colonel Bland, one of the
oldest, ablest, and most respected members, and he un
dertook to move for certain moderate extensions of the
protection of the laws to these people. I seconded his
motion, and, as a younger member, was more spared in.
the debate; but he was denounced as an enemy to his
country, and was treated with the grossest indecorum.
From an early stage of our revolution, other and more
distant duties were assigned to me, so that from that
time till my return from Europe in 1789, and I may say
till I returned to reside at home in 1809, I had little op
portunity of knowing the progress of public sentiment
here on this subject. I had always hoped that the
younger generation, receiving their early impressions
after the flame of liberty had been kindled in every
breast, and had become as it were the vital spirit of
every American; that the generous temperament of
vouth, analogous to the motion of their blood, and above

26 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the suggestions of avarice, would have sympathized with
oppression wherever found, and proved their love of lib
erty beyond their own share of it. But my intercourse
with them since my return, has not been sufficient to
ascertain that they had made towards this point the
progress 1 had hoped. Your solitary but welcome voice
is the first which has brought this sound to my ear,
and I have considered the general silence which prevails
on this subject as indicating- an apathy unfavorable to
every hope, yet the hour of emancipation is advancing
in the march of time. It "will come; and whether brought
on by the generous energy of our own minds, or by the
bloody process of St. Domingo, excited and conducted
by the power of our present enemy, if once stationed
permanently within our country, and offering asylum
and arms to the oppressed, is a leaf of our history not
yet turned over.
As to the method by which this difficult work is to be
effected, if permitted to be done by ourselves, I have
seen no proposition so expedient on the whole, as that
of emancipation of those born after a given day, and of
their education and expatriation at a proper age. This
would give time for a gradual extinction of that species
of labor and substitution of another, and lessen the se
verity of the shock which an operation so fundamental
cannot fail to produce. The idea of emancipating the
whole at once, the old as well as the young, and retain
ing them Jiere, is of those only who have not the guide
of either knowledge or experience of the subject; for
men probably of any color, but of this color we know,
brought up from their infancy without necessity for
thought or forecast, are by their habits rendered as in
capable as children of taking care of themselves, and are
extinguished promptly wherever industry is necessary for

LETTER OF MR. JEFFERSON. 27
raising the young. Iu the meantime they are pests in
society by their idleness, and the depredations to which
this leads them. Their amalgamation with the other
color produces a degradation to which no lover of his
country, no lover of excellence in the human character,
can innocently consent.
I am sensible of the partialities with which jou have
looked towards me as the person who should undertake
this salutary but arduous work ; but this, my dear Sir, is
like bidding old Priam to buckle the armor of Hector
" trementibus aevo humerls et inutile ferrum, ringi."
No, I have overlived the generation with which mutual
labors and perils begat mutual confidence and influence.
This enterprise is for the young, for those who can follow
it up and bear it through to its consummation. It shall
have all my prayers, and these are the only weapons of
an old man. But in the meantime, are you right in
abandoning this property, and your country with it? I
think not. My opinion has ever been, that until more
can be done for them, we should endeavor, with those
whom fortune has thrown on our hands, to feed and
clothe them well, protect them from ill usage, require
such reasonable labor only as is performed voluntarily by
freeman and be led by no repugnancies to abdicate them,
and our duties to them. The laws do not permit us to
turn them loose, if that were for their good; and to com
mute them for other property is to commit them to
those whose usage of them we cannot control. I hope
then, my dear sir, you will reconcile yourself to your
country, and its unfortunate condition; that you will not
lessen its stock of sound disposition by withdrawing your
portion from the mass, that, on the contrary you will
come forward in the public councils, become the mission
ary of this doctrine truly christian, insinuate and incul-

28 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

cate it softly but steadily thro' the medium of writing
and conversation, associate others in your labors, and
when the phalanx is formed, bring on and press the prop
osition perseveringly until its accomplishment. It is an
encouraging observation that no good measure was ever
proposed which, if duly pursued, failed to prevail in the
end; we have proof of this in the history of the endeav
ors in the British parliament to suppress that very trade
which brought this eyil on us, and you will be. supported
by the religious precept "be not wearied in welldoing."
That your success may be as speedy and complete, as it
will be of honorable and immortal consolation to yourself,
I shall as fervently and sincerely pray, as I assure you
of my great friendship and respect. Th. Jeffeeson.
P. S. Will you give to the enclosed letter the proper
address of place to find your brother?
Mr. Coles acknowledged the receipt of the letter
of Mr. Jefferson as follows :
This letter of Mr. Jefferson, one oi the most re
markable and one of the most honorable to his
character he ever wrote, is given, also, in fac simile.
Letter from Edward Coles to Thomas Jefferson.
Washington, Sep. 26 th, '14.
I must be permitted again to trouble you, my dear
Sir, to return my grateful thanks for the respectful and
friendly attention shown to my letter in your answer o;
the 25th ult. Your favorable reception of sentiments
not generally avowed, if felt, by our countrymen, but
which have ever been so inseparably interwoven with
my opinions and feelings as to become, as it were, the
rudder that shapes my course, even against a strong tide

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LETTER OF MR. COLES. 29
of interest and of local partialities, could not but be in
the highest degree gratifying to me. And your interest
ing and highly prized letter conveying them to me in
such flattering terms, would have called forth my acknowl
edgments before this but for its having been forwarded to
me to the Springs, and from thence it was again returned
here before I received it, which was only a few days since.
Your indulgent treatment encourages me to add that
I feel very sensibly the force of your remarks on the im
propriety of yielding to my repugnancies in abandon
ing my property in slaves and my native State. I cer
tainly should never have been inclined to yield to them
if I had supposed myself capable of being instrumental
in bringing about a liberation, or that L could by my ex
ample ameliorate the condition of these oppressed people.
If I could be convinced of being in the slightest degree
useful in doing either, it would afford me very great hap
piness, and the more so as it would enable me to gratify
many partialities by remaining in Virginia. But never
having flattered myself with the hope of being able to
contribute to either, I have long since determined, and
should but for my bad health ere this, have removed,
carrying along with me those who had been my slaves,
to the country northwest of the river Ohio.
Your prayers I trust will not only be heard with in
dulgence in Heaven, but with influence on Earth. But
I cannot agree with you that they are the only weapons
of one at your age; nor that the difficult work of cleansing
the escutcheon of Virginia of the foul stain of slavery
can best be done by the young. To expect so great and
difficult an object, great and extensive powers, both of
mind and influence, are required, which can never be
possessed in so great a degree by the young as by the
old. And among the few of the former who might unite
the disposition with the requisite capacity, they are too

30 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
often led by ambitious views to go with the current of
popular feeling rather than to mark out a course for
themselves, where they might be buffeted by the waves
of opposition ; and indeed it is feared that these waves
would in this case be too strong to be effectually resisted
by any but those who had gained by a previous course of
useful employment the firmest footing in the confidence
and attachment of their country. It is with them, there
fore, I am persuaded, that the subject of emancipation
must originate; for they are the only persons who have
it in their power effectually to arouse and enlighten the
public sentiment, which in matters of this kind oughl
not to be expected to lead, but to be led; nor ought it to
be wondered at that there should prevail a degree of
apathy with the general mass of mankind, where a mere
passive principle of right has to contend against the
weighty influence of habit and interest. On such a
question there will always exist in society a kind of vis
inertia, to arouse and overcome, which requires a strong
impulse, which can only be given by those who have
acquired a great weight of character, and on whom there
devolves in this case a most solemn obligation. It was
under these impressions that I looked to you, my dear
Sir, as the first of our aged worthies to awaken our fellow-
citizens from their infatuation to a proper sense of jus
tice, and to the true interest of their country; and by
proposing a system for the gradual emancipation of our
slaves, at once to form a rallying point for its friends,
who enlightened by your wisdom and experience, and
supported and encouraged by your sanction and patron
age, might look forward to a propitious and happy result.
Your time of life I had not considered as an obstacle to
the undertaking. Doctor Franklin, to whom, by the
way, Pennsylvania owes her early riddance of the evils
of slavery, was as actively and as usefully employed on

MR. COLES AND MR. BIDDLE. 31
as arduous duties after he had past your age as he had
ever been at any period of his life.
With apologizing for having given you so much
trouble on this subject, and again repeating my thanks
for the respectful and flattering attention you have been
pleased to pay to it, I renew the assurances of the great
respect and regard which makes me most sincerely yours
Edw ash Coles.
During the time that Mr. Coles was the private
secretary of Mr. Madison, an intimate friendship
seems to have sprung up between him and Nicholas
Biddle, afterward president of the Unitedi States
Bank, and whose name subsequently cut such a
figure in our history. Mr. Coles and Mr. Biddle
maintained for many years a friendly and volu
minous correspondence, I have a large number
of private letters of Mr. Biddle to Mr. Coles, the
first dated in 1813. They are a model of epistolary
correspondence. Mr. Biddle was a member of the Pennsylvania
State Senate in 1814 and '15, and letters written by
him at that time to Mr. Coles have a certain politi
cal interest, even at this day:
Letter of Mr. Biddle to Mr. Coles.
Haeeisbueg, Jan'y 17, 1815.
My Dear Coles: — Your last letter followed me to
Harrisburg, and I am both ashamed and sorry not to

32 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
have answered it sooner, as I might thus have had an
other letter from you.
I have been bearing my misfortunes here very philo
sophically and filling my time with all the grave, dull
matters wliich occupy us. Among other things, I pro
posed the other day a draft of 8 or 9 thousand men to
serve for a year — a measure which in six weeks would
have given us a fine army. By dint of hard speaking it
was carried thro' the Senate by a vote of 21 to 9, but in
the H. of K. the name of conscription is given to it;
and as that horrible name, which has frightened all the
old women, both in petticoats and pantaloons, is as fatal
as a mad dog, the bill will be lost. Such is the infatua
tion of party that my political friends are quite astonished
at my having any concern in such a diabolical affair; and
altho' the bill is almost a copy of an old act of Assembly
in 1781, with much milder provisions, still there are
many worthy persons who think that the bill is the work
of Bonaparte. We shall next resort to a project of rais
ing regular troops by voluntary enlistment, and if we
can first raise the money for bounties, then the men, in
some months from this, after the capture of Phila per
haps we shall be prepared with a most reasonable supply
of men.
But here, as in Congress, there seems to be a lament
able want of that energy which the crisis requires. Un
less your Congress acts with more propriety they will
be abandoned by those who have hitherto been their
warmest supporters. Only a short time ago, a leading
member of your party told me of his intention of sub
mitting resolutions censuring the tardiness of the hon
orable Congress — and I, so little of a promoter of misi
chief among you politicians, that I dissuaded him from
it, as exibiting an appearance of divisions which might be

LETTER OF MR. BIDDLE. 33

injurious, so let the Congressmen look to it. What is
this languid, miserable disease that afflicts Congress?
There seems to be neither energy, talent, nor anything
else among your majority. For God's sake, try to ani
mate them to something generous and energetic. Mr.
Monroe and Mr. Dallas must be provoked beyond meas
ure at the course of affairs. How does the latter come
on? I have heard that he is not very popular at Wash
ington. I have just heard from Mrs. Biddle, who is in good
health, and from Craig, who amuses himself as much as
ever. Will you not- visis us this winter? I have been
such a politician that I have not visited Phil* but once,
and for a few days, since first I came here.
God bless you,

Aff

Nicholas Biddle.

Letter from Mr. Biddle to Mr. Coles.
Philadelphia, Feb. 19, 1815.
My Dear Sir: — I give you joy most cordially of the
glorious pacification which I have just been reading.
We are in truth a most favored and happy nation. To
have carried on triumphantly a war so unequal and in
auspicious, and now when our forces began to fail and
our means were almost exhausted, to be thus blessed
with peace on honorable terms, is an abundance of good
fortune which we had no right to expect. I rejoice at it
with all my heart. God knows it was time for us to
make peace, for between the Yankees and the Congress
our affairs have been managed most sadly. If things
had gone on thus much longer, I should have begun to
pray for some Cromwell from the Navy Yard (that is
the Navy Yard that was,) to clear the Hall of the Kepre-
3

34 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
sentatives and send them home. But now these good
tidings put one in so pleasant a temper that we can for
get all that has passed and look forward to the peaceful
prosperity which awaits us.
I have come down rather unexpectedly, in consequence
of a slight indisposition of Mrs. Biddle. She is much
better. She is reading by my side, and desires to be re
membered very kindly to you. Craig has just left us to
go to Mr. Kentzow's. In a day or two I shall return to
my den and make speeches. Fortunately the States
have lost all their importance since the peace, and here
after we shall content ourselves with making roads and
fish-dams. This winter's campaign has not made me
exceedingly enamored of senatorial dignity. It is very
dull and stupid, and the only good thing I wished to do
in the military way has so astonished all my orthodox
political friends, that I run some risk of being damned
at least, if not burned, for a heretic. These things do
not affect me much. When a man takes the trouble of
passing the winter in a vile country town, he should at
least have the privilege of doing as he pleases. Shall
we not see you when Congress adjourns? Now you
have carried the treaties of England and of the Creeks,
and put us at peace with the world, you might find
leisure for a visit. We shall all be very glad to see you
again. Affect'y and Sincerely Y'rs,
N. Biddle.
Letter of Mr. Biddle to Mr. Coles. Feb'y 25, 1818.
Philadelphia.
My dear Coles: — I have had the pleasure of receiving
your letter of the 18th, and must beg you to receive my

LETTER OF MR. BIDDLE. 35
thanks for the friendly interest you have taken in what
concerns me.
With regard to the first subject of your letter, the
information, altho' such as I anticipated, is still of
some importance. Whilst the rumors in relation to my
self were so widely circulated, however destitute of foun
dation I knew them to be, I could not remain totally in
sensible to them in deciding upon my course of life for
the next few years. I am therefore glad to know dis
tinctly how that matter stands. No person in the coun
try would, I hope, be less disposed than myself to advance
anything like a pretension to any place whatever. I cer
tainly could not suppose that the President would suffer
his personal regard for me to outweigh the obvious con
siderations connected with appointments of that sort —
and the only anxiety I feel, is that in ascertaining the
matter of fact, there was no appearance of an expression
of a wish on my part. I rely very implicitly on your
judgment, that nothing of that sort could be conjectured
from the manner in which the subject was presented.
How great that reliance is you need not be told, since
you are the only person to whom the subject was or will
be mentiened.
I have not as yet decided on the course which I may
pursue for some time to come. With my habits the ca
reer of a public man is not without attractions. My ex
perience of the last few years however, has not, I confess,
strengthened my early predeliction for that mode of life.
Perhaps I begin to feel a decay of that vigorous ambition
which some years ago would have carried me thro'
every scene of public trouble, and given an animated in
terest to every public transaction. Perhaps I have lived
too easily and too happily. Whatever be the cause, it is
very certain that I feel no desire to resume a legislative sta-

36 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

tion — and if the question were now proposed, I think that
after balancing the hopes of usefulness to the country,
and of personal distinction against the disagreeable things
inseparable from that sort of life, I should decline an
election to Congress. It is not improbable from the
present situation of the District, that if I were disposed
to use any exertion, I should have a reasonable chance of
success. Whether, however, success be worth the at
tempt is the question at present. To go to Congress
would probably interfere moreover with a project about
which we have talked a great deal — of spending some
years in Europe. The time when we shall go must de
pend in a great degree on the situation of my family, but
I feel some reluctance in contracting an engagement
which might prevent that object. After all the decision
of these things must be left to the course of events.
We have no news worth communicating to one who is
drinking at the fountain-head.
The town is gay, and likely to continue so for some
time. Among my regrets at not being here when you
first came, one of the strongest is my not having had an
opportunity of making you see and know Joseph Bona
parte. I have lately seen a good deal of him, and really
he is by far the most interesting stranger I have seen in
this country. He is free and communicative, and talks
of all the great events and the great persons of his day with
a frankness which assures one of his good nature as well
as of his veracity. I am going to dine with him as soon
as I finish this letter.
Mrs. Biddle desires to be particularly remembered to
you, and bids me to warn you against the shepherdesses
ofthe Illinois. Write to me before you leave Washing
ton, and believe me always very aff't'yy'rs,
Nicholas Biddle.

LETTER OF MR. BIDDLE. 37
Letter from Mr. Biddle to Mr. Coles. .
Haeeisbtjeg, March 11, 1815.
My Dear Sir: — I thank you kindly for your note in
relation to my brother; I do not, however, perceive in
the papers that the nominations are confirmed.
I send you a report on subject of the Hartford amend
ments; I drew it up as well because I think those
amendments injudicious as because I was desirous of
preventing the adoption of another report abusing the
New England people. So many delusions have been
propagated on the subjectj that I thought it might be of
service to make a moderate and candid statement — and
this the more readily because we in Pennsylvania seem
to be the natural mediators between you Southern people
and the wise men of the East. I do not ask you to read
so long a story, unless on some rainy day when you are
in Albemarle and have nothing else to do.
This is the last evening we shall be in session, and I
write in the midst of the tumult of business which you
know is crowded into the few last hours of the existence
of a legislative body. I did not tell yon that Mrs. Bid
dle, tired of my absence, has come to stay with me, and
is now here. Shall we not see you this summer? Now
that war and all its troubles are over, you are entitled
to some recreation. Sincerely and aff'y y'rs,
N. Biddle.

38 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTEE IV.
Mr. Coles Resolves to Sell his Plantation in Virginia and
Liberate his Slaves ; Resigns as Private Secretary to
Mr. Madison, in 1815 ; Visits the North-western Territo
ry; Extends his Journey to Kaskaskia and St. Louis ; On
his Return, Mr. Madison Sends him on a Mission to Russia ;
His Removal to the North-west Delayed ; The Success of
his Mission ; Countries on the Continent and Great
Britain Visited.
In 1814, after the conclusion of peace with Great
Britain, Mr. Coles thought himself enabled to re
move the obstacles in his way to selling his planta
tion and to leave the State and liberate his slaves.
Accordingly in the following year, 1815, he resigned
his position as private secretary, and spent a por
tion of the following autumn in exploring the
North-western territory, for the purpose of finding
a location and purchasing land on which to settle
his negroes. This trip was made with a horse and
buggy, having with him also a servant and a sad
dle-horse. It was thus that he travelled through
many parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and then
crossed the Mississippi to Missouri. He reached
St. Louis, then a little French village, and now be
come so great and prosperous a city, in October of
that year (1815), by way of Shawneetown and

MISUNDERSTANDING WITH RUSSIA. 39
Kaskaskia, and which could then boast of but one
brick house. Sending his servant back with one
of his horses to Virginia, Mr. Coles descended the
Mississippi to New Orleans, and thence went by
sea to Savannah, Georgia. From thence he pushed
his way to Charleston, and from there to his home
at Enniscorthy. ¦
It was at this time that there arose a serious
misunderstanding between our government and
Eussia. The Emperor had considered himself
purposely insulted by our government, and had
threatened to expel or imprison our consul at St.
Petersburg, who was then acting as our Charge
d' Affaires in the absence of the Minister. William
Pinkney, of Maryland, had been appointed minister
to Eussia on the 7th of March, 1816, but he was
then at Naples, detained on public business. It
was feared that he would find difficulty in reach
ing St. Petersburg, if not prevented going there at
all. Mr. Pinkney, holding already the appoint
ment of Minister, another one could not be sent.
Mr. Madison, therefore, looked around for some
able and discreet person whom he could send to
Eussia to smooth over the difficulties. Mr. Coles
had lately been his private secretary, a member of
his own family, and who enjoyed his fullest confi-

40 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
dence. He therefore selected him for this very
delicate and important mission. Although Mr.
Coles' arrangements had already been made to set
tle in Illinois, he was so strongly urged by Mr.
Madison to undertake the mission, that he con
sented to do so. To emphasize it, Mr. Coles was
sent to Eussia on a man-of-war, the " Prometheus,"
Captain Wadsworth. She sailed from Boston in
the summer of 1816. The " Prometheus " was the
first vessel of our navy which had ever sailed up
the Baltic. Mr. Coles remained some three
months at St. Petersburg awaiting the return of
Emperor Alexander, who was then on a visit to
Moscow and Poland. On the return of the Em
peror the difficulties were, upon the explanations
of Mr. Coles, most happily adjusted. The troubles
grew out of matters connected with the Eussian
Minister at Washington, Dashkoff; and the Em
peror, to signify to the United States his disposi
tion, after a knowledge of all the facts, offered to
inflict any punishment on the offending Minister
which the President of the United States might
desire, and threatened to send him to Siberia.
Mr. Coles very properly replied that our govern
ment had no suggestion to make in regard to any
punishment of the offending Minister, but merely

FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO BERLIN. 41

wished to have him recalled, which was promptly
done. The " Prometheus " did not remain to bring Mr.
Coles back to the United States. After concluding
his diplomatic business, he made a journey in
his private carriage from St. Petersburg to Berlin.
The fact that he had been sent in a diplomatic ca
pacity to Eussia in an American man-of-war, and
the complete success of his mission, gave him the
entree into diplomatic and official circles wherever
he went in Europe. He was presented in his diplo
matic capacity to Louis XVIII, of France, by Mr.
Gallatin, United States Minister at that time. At
a dinner at Mr. Gallatin's on the same day, he met
for the first time General La Fayette. Their
mutual acquaintance with Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, and many other men of the revolutionary
times, procured for Mr. Coies an exceedingly cor*
dial reception, and led to his being much in the
company of La Fayette during his stay in Paris.
After three months sojourn in Paris, Mr. Coles
passed over to England, where he spent many
weeks in London, and then making a tour through
England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, he sailed
from Liverpool for New York.
The following is the letter offering this mission
to Mr. Coles. The facsimile is presented :

42 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
[ Confidential.] Montpehee, July 7, 1816.
Dear Sir: — Circumstances have arisen which make it
expedient to forward communications to St. Petersburg
by a special hand. Would the trip be agreeable to you ?
You probably know the allowance usual on such occa
sions. It is I believe $6 a day, the outward and return
passage provided by the public, the expenses on shore
borne by the party himself. Unless a direct opportuni
ty can be promptly found, it is probable that the course
will be via England. Should you think favorably of the
proposition, it may be well to ascertain by letter to Mr.
Monroe, who is still at Washington all the particulars,
which may be interesting to you, among others the pre
cise amount of the allowance, and the probable time
when your departure will be required. Whether your
« decision be in the affirmative or negative, be so good as
to let me know it as soon as you can.
Accept my cordial regards, James Madison.
E. Coles, Esq.
Mr. Monroe, who was at the time Secretary of
State, gave the following letter of introduction to
Mr. Coles to the consul of the United States to St.
Petersburg, it is also presented in facsimile:
Dep't of State,
Aug't 6, 1816.
Sir: — The bearer, Mr. Coles, is sent to Eussia on
business of importance with our minister there. He was
lately the private secretary of the President, and is a
very respectable and amiable young man. This is to in-

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CONFIDENTIAL. 43

troduce him to your acquaintance, and request your at
tention to him while at the post where you reside.
With great respect, I am, sir, y'r very ob't servant,
Jas. Moneoe,
To the Consul of the U. States at St. Petersburg, and
at other ports in Europe.

44 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTEB V.
Mr. Coles Removes prom Virginia to Edwardsville, Illinois,
with all his Negroes, in the Spring of 1819 ; Was at Kas
kaskia in 1818 ; Letter op Introduction prom President
Monroe to Gov. Edwards ; The Conduct op Mr. Coles in
Regard to his Slaves ; Difficulties in the Way op Free
ing Them ; Journey to Illinois ; Voyage down the Ohio
River. Mr. Coles Gives all his Slaves their Freedom ;
A Remarkable Scene.
In the spring of 1819, all his preparations hav
ing been completed, he made a final removal with
all his negroes from Virginia to Edwardsville, in
this State. The first appearance of Mr. Coles in
Illinois, except as he passed through the territory
from Shawneetown to St. Louis, in 1815, was in
in the summer of 1818, at Kaskaskia, then the
seat of government for the Territory of Illinois. A
convention was then in session to form a constitu
tion for the new State of Illinois. Mr. Coles had
before this time determined, and for reasons which
appear in this Paper, to remove from his native
State of Virginia to Illinois. It was for this reason
that he became much interested in the work of the
convention at Kaskaskia, where he tarried several
weeks to use what influence he might have to pre-

LETTER OF JAMES MONROE. 45

vent any recognition of slavery in the constitution
of the State which he desired to make his home.
Mr. Coles was the bearer of the following letter
of introduction to Hon. Ninian Edwards :
Washington, April 13, 1818.
Dear Sir: — Mr. Edward Coles, intending to pass
through Illinois, probab'y to remain some time there,
I take much pleasure in introducing him to your ac
quaintance and kind attention. I have long known and
highly respected him for his excellent qualities and good
understanding. He was, several years, private secretary
ofthe late President, and employed by him as a confiden
tial messenger to Russia, in which trusts he discovered
sound judgment, great industry and fidelity, and is gen
erally loved by those who know him best. Should he
settle with you, you will find him a very useful acquisi
tion — and I understand that is not an improbable event.
I hope that the arrangement made this winter will
avail our country of your services, in the proposed treaty
with the Indians, in a manner satisfactory to yourself;
for success, on just principles, is the object of my most
ardent wishes. With great respect and esteem,
I am, dear sir, very sincerely yours,
James Moneoe.
Hon. Ninian Edwaeds.
I know of nothing more creditable to the char
acter and action of Mr. Coles than his conduct in
relation to his slaves. That conduct will honor his
name and memory. Born amidst slavery and

46 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
among slaveholders, who had given the best features
possible to that dreadful institution, and amicl the
luxury and refinement of the highest type of Vir
ginia life, in silence and after long reflection, he
formed the most distinctive and radical ideas on
the subject of slavery. He then made the reso
lution in his own mind not to hold as slaves the
negroes left to him by his father. I quote from
his own language in this regard : " I could not
reconcile it to my conscience and sense of propriety
to participate in slavery ; and being unable to
screen myself under such a shelter, from the pelt-
ings and upbraidings of my own conscience, and
the just censure, as I conceived, of earth and heaven,
I could not consent to hold as property what I had
no right to, and which was not and could not be
property according to my understanding of the
rights and duties of man — and therefore I deter
mined that I would not and could not hold my
fellow man as a slave."
But when Mr. Coles came to the point, he was
met by great and almost insurmountable difficulties
in manumitting his slaves. All his relations and
friends were slaveholders and the example which
he proposed to set would not only be an injury to
them pecuniarily, but a reflection upon them as

liberates his slaves. 47
slaveholders, and would render him unpopular and
odious. Independent of these considerations, the
law of Virginia required, under penalty of forfeit
ing his freedom, that every negro should leave the
State within one year after he should be emanci
pated. Most men would have shrunk from what Mr.
Coles then had in contemplation. He had been
born and educated in wealth and luxury, and was
apparently surrounded by all that could make a
man happy and contented in life. But the hide
ous pall of slavery was over it all. He had been
for six years in the charming household of Mr.
Madison as his private secretary; had been sent
abroad under peculiar circumstances on a semi-
diplomatic mission ; had travelled in Europe, and
been associated with many of its most distinguished
men. Mr. Coles, however, was equal to what he
had proposed to himself. On the 1st of April,
1819, he started from his plantation ("Bockfish")
with all his negroes, and all their offspring, which
he had inherited, for Illinois, except two old wo
men, too old and infirm to support themselves, who
remained in Virginia, but were supported by him
during their lives. While the negroes knew that
they were leaving the land of their birth and going

48 SKETCH of governor coles.
to the North-western territory, they knew nothing
of the intentions which Mr. Coles had in regard to
them. But they followed with unfaltering faith
the man who had been so kind and indulgent a
master. The party of slaves were put in charge
of one of their number, a mulatto man named
Ealph Crawford, who had accompanied Mr. Coles
on one of his trips to Illinois. It was a long jour
ney in emigrant wagons over the Alleghanies to
Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Mr. Coles started a
few days afterwards on horseback, and overtook
them one day's journey from Brownsville. At
this place he bought two flat-bottomed boats, upon
which he embarked himself and his traveling com
panion, a Mr. Green, of Virginia, together with
all his negroes, horses, wagons, etc. The pilot that
he had employed proved so drunken and worth
less that he was obliged to discharge him at Pitts
burg. From thence, constituting himself captain
and pilot, they proceeded on their voyage down
the Ohio river for more than six hundred miles, to
a point below Louisville. There the boats were
sold, and Ealph Crawford again took charge of his
party, and continued the journey by land to Ed
wardsville, Illinois, where they arrived safe and
well.

tidings of freedom. 49
I will now let Mr. Coles himself describe a
scene which must awaken deepest emotions in every
generous heart. I copy from a manuscript in his
own handwriting, which I have had in my hands,
and which has never yet been published :
" The morning after we left Pittsburg, a mild, calm
and lovely April day, the sun shining bright, and the
heavens without a cloud, our boats floating gently down
the beautiful Ohio, the verdant foliage of Spring just
budding out on its picturesque banks, all around present
ing a scene both conducive to and in harmony with the
finest feelings of our nature, was selected as one well
suited to make known to my negroes the glad tidings of
their freedom. Being curious to see the effect of an in
stantaneous severing of the manacles of bondage, and let
ting loose on the buoyant wings of liberty the long pent
up spirit of man, I called on the deck of the boats, which
were lashed together, all the negroes, and made them a
short address, in which I commenced by saying it was
time for me to make known to them what I intended to
do with them, and concluded my remarks by so express
ing myself, that by a turn of a sentence, I proclaimed
in the shortest and fullest manner possible, that they
were no longer slaves, but free — free as I was, and were
at liberty to proceed with me, or to go ashore at their
pleasure. The effect on them was electrical. They stared at me
and at each other, as if doubting the accuracy or reality of
what they "heard. In breathless silence, they stood before
me, unable to utf er a word, but with countenances beaming
with expression which no words could convey, and which
no language can now describe. As they began to see the

50 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
truth of what they had heard, and to realize their situa
tion, there came on a kind of hysterical, giggling laugh.
After a pause of intense an unutterable emotion, bathed
in tears, and with tremulous voices, they gave vent to
their gratitude, and implored the blessings of God on me.
When they had in some degree recovered the command
of themselves, Ralph said he had long known I was op
posed to holding black people as slaves, and thought it
probable I would some time or other give my people their
freedom, but that he did not expect me to do it so soon ;
and moreover, he thought I ought not to do it till they
had repaid me the expense I had been at in removing
them from Virginia, and had improved my farm and
" gotten me well fixed in that new country." To this, all
simultaneously expressed their concurrence, and their
desire to remain with me, as my servants, until they had
comfortably fixed me at my new home.
I told them, no. I had made up my mind to give to
them immediate and unconditional freedom; that I had
long been anxious to do it, but had been prevented by the
delays, first in selling my property in Virginia, and then
in collecting the money, and by other circumstances.
That in consideration of this delay, and as a reward for
their past services, as well as a stimulant to their future
exertions, and with a hope it would add to their self
esteem and their standing in the estimation of others,
I should give to each head of a family a quarter section,
containing one hundred and sixty acres of land. To this
all objected, saying I had done enough for them in giv
ing them their freedom; and insisted on my keeping the
land to supply my own wants, and added, in " the kind
est manner, the expression of their solicitude that I
would not have the means of doing so after 1 had freed
them. I told them I had thought much of my duty and

DISPOSITION of his slaves. 51
of their rights, and that it was due alike to both that I
should do what I had said I should do; and accordinelv,
soon after reaching Edwardsville, I executed and deliv
ered to them deeds to the lands promised them.
I stated to them that the lands I intended to give
them were unimproved lands, and as they would not
have the means of making the necessary improvements, of
stocking their farms, and procuring the materials for at
once living on them, they would have to hire themselves
out till they could acquire by their labor the necessary
means to commence cultivating and residing on their
own lands. That I was willing to hire and employ on
my farm a certain number of them (designating the in
dividuals;) the others I advised to seek employment in
St. Louis, Edwardsville, and other places, where smart,
active young men and women could obtain much higher
wages than they could on farms. At this some of them
murmured, as it indicated a partiality they said, on my
part to those designated to live with me; and contended
they should all be equally dear to me, and that I ought
not to keep a part and turn the others out on the world,
to be badly treated, etc. I reminded them of what they
seemed to have lost sight of, that they were free; that no
one had a right to beat or ill use them; and if so treated,
they could at pleasure leave one place and seek a better;
that labor was much in demand in that new country, and
highly paid for; that there would be no difficulty in
their obtaining good places, and being kindly treated;
but if not, I should be at hand, and would see they were
well treated, and have justice done them.
I availed myself of the deck scene to give the negroes
some advice. I dwelt long and with much earnestness
on their future conduct and success, aud my great anxi
ety that they should behave themselves and do well, not

52 sketch of governor coles.
 —  ¦
only for their own sakes, but for the sake of the black
race held in bondage; many of whom were thus held,
because their masters believed they were incompetent to
take care of themselves, and that liberty would be to
them a curse rather than a blessing. My anxious wish
¦\va3 that they should so conduct themselves as to show
by their example that the descendants of Africa were
competent to take care of and govern themselves, and
enjoy all the blessings of liberty, and all the other birth
rights of man, and thus promote the universal emanci
pation of that unfortunate and outraged race of the hu
man family."
On board of the boat and before the party
landed, Mr. Coles gave to the negroes a general
certificate of freedom in which their names, ages,
etc., were stated. It appeared, however, that at
the last session of the Legislature of Illinois, a law
had been passed, but which had not then been pub
lished, requiring every free negro to have the evi
dence of his freedom ; and unless he possessed such
evidence and had it recorded, he was liable to be
imprisoned, and any one hiring him was subject to
a heavy fine for each day he should employ him.
In consequence of the passage of this law, he was
advised that it would be necessary for him to give
to each negro or family a certificate of freedom, in
which the individual or individuals should be
named and described, the same to be made a mat
ter of record, and that the shortest and best mode

INSTRUMENTS OF EMANCIPATION ISSUED. 53
would be for him to execute separate instruments
of emancipation. Mr. Coles at first objected to
this, for the reason that he had already given to
the negroes a general certificate of freedom before
they had come into the State. His lawyer, the
Hon. Daniel P. Cook, afterwards so distinguished
as a member of Congress, advised him that it
would be better for carrying out, in the shortest
and best form the provisions of the law, and pro
tecting the negroes, as well as those who should
employ them, he should give them separate papers.
In accordance with that advice, on the 4th of July,
1819, he executed instruments of emancipation to
all the negroes who were then residing in Illinois.
He prefaced the instrument by setting forth that
his father had bequeathed to him certain negro
slaves and adding these great words : " Not believ
ing that man can have of right a property in his
fellow man, but en the contrary, that all mankind
were endowed by nature with equal rights, I do
therefore, by these presents restore to (naming the
party) ll at inalienable liberty of which he has
been deprived." That certificate formed the basis
of a long and bitter law-suit, which will be alluded
to farther on.

54 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTEE VI.
Appointed Register op the Land Office at Edwardsville,
by Mr. Monroe, in 1819 ; the Advantages op that Position;
Makes Acquaintance op the People; Personal Appear
ance; Impression Made on the Pioneers op the Country;
Gov. Coles and Gov. Edwards, both the Highest Types of
Gentlemen; The Second Election for Governor in 1822 ;
A Stump Canvass ; Coles Elected by a Small Plurality
over Chief Justice Phillips ; Coles, Anti-Slavery, Suc
cessful only through Division of the Opposing Party;
Legislature Largely Pro-Slavery; List op Members.
Mr. Coles having made known his determina
tion to settle in Illinois, on March 5, 1819, Mr. Mon
roe conferred upon him the appointment of Eegis-
trar of the Land Office at Edwardsville, which was
at that time one of the principal land offices in the
State. This appointment was a most fortunate one
for Mr. Coles, as it enabled him to make acquaint
ances over a large part of the State then settled,
and to reach that position which made it possible
for him in so great a measure to shape its future
destiny. There were no positions in the new States
in which the public lands were situated, so favora
ble for forming acquaintances, and making political
capital as those of land officers. Settlers from ev
ery part of the land districts were obliged to go to

APPOINTED REGISTER OF THE LAND OFFICE. 55
the place where the land office was located, to enter
their lands and secure their homes. To enable
themselves to accomplish this purpose and acquire
the means to enter their lands, had cost the settler.-
great labor and many privations. It was the am
bition and hope of their lives to. get a title to the r
homes, and there Was no man who was not with
out anxiety that something might not turn up to
thwart his purpose, and many thought that the
land officers held their destinies, in some measure,
in their hands. When the settler reached Ed
wardsville, dressed in jeans and wearing moccasins,
with his money in his belt, having traveled on foot
or on horseback long distances, and first presented
himself to the Eegister of the Land Office, there
he found Edward Coles, who had recently emigrat
ed into the State from Virginia. It was known to
some of them that he had been the private secreta
ry for President Madison, and had been on an
important mission to Europe.
They found him a young man of handsome, but
somewhat awkward personal appearance, genteelly
dressed, and of kind and agreeable manners. The
anxious settler was at once put at ease by the suavity
of his address, the interest he appeared to feel in
aiding him, and the thoroughly intelligent manner

56 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
in which he discharged his duty. No man went
away who was not delighted with his intercourse
with the "Eegister." And herein is illustrated
the great mistake so often made by politicians and
candidates for popular favor. Too many candi
dates for the suffrage of the people in our early
political contests thought it necessary, in order to
make themselves popular, to affect slovenly and
unclean dress and vulgar manners in their cam
paigns. There was never a greater mistake. How
ever rough, ill clotl ed aid unintelligent the voter
might be, he always preferred to vote for the man
who was dressed and acted like a gentleman to the
one who dressed like and acted like himself. This
was particularly apparent in the case of Governor
Edwards, who was, perhaps, the most successful
political canvasser of his day in the State. In his
canvasses before the people he never descended to
the ordinary tricks and subterfuges of the lower
grade of politicians running for office. He showed
himself as the highest type of a well dressed and
polished gentleman. Always riding in his own
carriage and driven by his negro servant, the people
thought it an honor to vote for such a gentleman.
And as it was with Governor Edwards, so it was
with his immediate predecessor, Governor Coles.

THE SECOND ELECTION FOR GOVERNOR. 57
Such were his dignified manners and gentlemanly
deportment under all circumstances and upon all
occasions, that he was always respected.
The election for Governor of the State, to suc
ceed Governor Bond, took place in August, 1822.
There were no political conventions in those days
to nominate candidates, and the different aspirants
for elective offices went in on their own hook, or,
in the language of the day, " run stump." There
were no distinctive political parties at that time,
and no great national questions occupied the atten
tion of the people. Governor Bond being ineligi
ble for re-election was not a candidate. The most
prominent man brought out for Governor in this
contest was Joseph Phillips, then Chief Justice of
the State. His prominent supporters were among
the early settlers, particularly from the slave-hold
ing States, and though the matter was not particu
larly agitated, holding extreme views on the slav
ery question. Mr. Coles, who had only been three
years in the State, was brought forward by a class
of men who had no sympathy with the Phillips
party — men who had known Coles as Eegister of
the Land Office, and who admired and respected
his character. At the commencement of the con
test these were the principal candidates. As the

58 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
canvass advanced, Coles developed strength in the
south-eastern part of the State, along the Wabash,
which alarmed the Phillips men, and to take away
votes from Coles they brought out as a candidate,
Thomas C. Browne, then an Associate Justice ofthe
Supreme Court, who was supposed to have great
strength in that part of the State. Both Phillips
and Browne were pronounced pro-slavery men,
while Coles was known to be anti-slavery. There
were then three candidates — Phillips, Coles and
Browne. Afterwards there appeared a fourth, and
for what reason I have never seen explained, in the
person of Major General James B. Moore, of
the State Militia. This was a somewhat extraor
dinary contest, and Coles was elected by a plurality
of only fifty votes over Phillips. Coles had two
thousand eight hundred and ten votes; Phillips,
two thousand seven hundred and sixty votes;
Browne, two thousand five hundred and forty-
three; and Moore, five hundred and twenty-two
votes. While Browne was brought out to help
Phillips in the Wabash country, the result shows
that it was his candidacy that beat Phillips. A
large majority of the votes given to Browne would
undoubtedly have been given to Phillips had not
Browne been a candidate. Browne had only two

COLES ELECTED BY A SMALL PLURALITY. 59
hundred and seventeen votes less than Phillips.
The aggregate vote of Coles and General Moore
was three thousand three hundred and thirty-two.
That might be considered the vote of those opposed
to bringing slavery into the State, while Phillips
and Browne, in favor of introducing slavery into
the State, had a total vote of five thousand three
hundred and three. Personal considerations en
tered to some extent into this contest, but if this
vote would be considered a criterion on the slavery
question, it would show a majority of one thousand
nine hundred and seventy-one votes in favor of
introducing slavery into the State by virtue of an
amended constitution.
It will have been seen, therefore, that Mr. Coles
was elected Governor by a large minority of the
whole vote cast, and through the division of the
pro-slavery men. At this same election, and
where there was no such division, the pro-slavery
men elected their candidate for Lieutenant-Gov
ernor, Adolphus Frederick Hubbard, by a decided
majority, as well as a majority in both branches of
the Legislature, and strongly opposed to Governor
Coles. The following is the list of Senators and Mem-

60

SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

members of the House of Eepresentatives, com
posing the Legislature of 1822-3 :
*&S"Those marked with an asterisk voted against the Convention Resolution.
SENATORS.
ADOLPHUS P. HUBBARD, Lieut-Governor and Presiding Officer.
THOMAS LIPPINCOTT, Secretary.

Sangamon  Stephen Stillman.*
Madison. ..Theophilus W. Smith.
Washington. .Andrew Bankson.*
Union, and Alexander, John Grammar.
Crawford, Clark, and Edgar,
Daniel Parker.*
Hamilton, Jefferson, and Marion,
Thomas Sloo, Jr.
Bond, Fayette, and Montgomery,
Martin Jones.
Jackson  William Boon.

Randolph  Samuel Crozier.
Wayne and Lawrence, William Kinkade.*
Green, Morgan, eic.Geo.Cadwell.*
White  Leonard White.
Edwards  Robert Frazier.*
Johnson and Franklin, Milton Ladd.
St. Clair  William Kinney.
Monroe  Joseph A. Beaird.
Gallatin  Michael Jones.
Pope  Lewis Barker.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WILLIAM M. ALEXANDER, of Alexander, Speaker.
CHARLES DUNN, Clerk.

Monroe  William Alexander.
Pope  Samuel Alexander,
James A. Whiteside.
Madison  Curtiss Blakeman,*
George Churchill,*
Emanuel J. West.
Fayette and Montgomery, Wm. Berry.
Lawrence  Abraham Cairnes.*
Hamilton, Jefferson, and Marion,
Zadock Casey.
Franklin  Thomas Dorris.
Gallatin .... J. G. Daimwood,
James S. Davenport.
White  John Emmitt,
Alexander Phillips,
G. R. Logan.
Crawford  David McGahey,*
R. C. Ford.

Union  Alexander P. Field,
John Mcintosh.
Johnson  William McFatridge.
Pike and Fulton, Nicholas Hansen.!
Clark and Edgar, Wm. Lowrey.*
St. Clair  Risdon Moore,*
Jacob Ogle,*
James Trotier.
Randolph  Thomas Mather,*
Raphael Widen,*
John McFerron.
Bond  Jna. H. Pugh.*
Edwards  Gilbert T. Pell.*
Green and Morgan, Thos. Kattan.
Washington  James Turney.
Jackson  Conrad Will.
Sangamon  James Sims.*
Wayne  James Campbell.

t Shaw, substituted for Hansen, voted for the Convention Resolution.

INAUGURATED AS GOVERNOR. 61

CHAPTEE VII.
Inaugurated as Governor, December, 1822; His "Speech"
on the Occasion; Sound Views on the Currency Question ;
Bold Denunciation op Slavery, the Black Laws op the
State, and op Kidnapping; Letter in Regard to the
Title ophisOppice; The Eppect.op the Governor's Speech;
The Opening up op the Great Question op Making Illi
nois a Slave State ; Character op the Emigration from
the Slave States; Incensed at the Election op Governor,
Coles; Pro-slavery Majority in both Branches op the
Legislature; Plan Conceived to Make a Slave Consti
tution.
This Legislature convened at Vandalia on the
first Monday of December, 1822, and on the 5th day
of that month Governor Coles delivered in person
what is called a " Speech on his inauguration in the
presence of both houses of the General Assembly of
Illinois." No one who reads this " Speech," as it
was called at that day, can but be struck with its ele
vated tone and the wisdom of its recommendations.*
He spoke of the fluctuating and deranged state of
'Extract of a letter of Morris Birkbeck to Governor Coles, dated
Wansborough, Dec. 21, 1822: "I should write to you even were it
only for the pleasure of telling you that your speech has made a very
favorable impression m this quarter, and is highly commended, both
as to matter and composition. Judge Wattles, a New Yorker, a
man of talents, says it reminds him of Governor Clinton in good
sense and plainness. This, I believe, he considers the maximum of
praise."

62 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the circulating medium, and the mania for banking,
which had brought its train of evils inseparable
from its excesses. He said the State should profit by
the experience of others that had adopted delusive
measures in attempting to relieve the community
from pecuniary embarrassments, the effect of which
had been to increase the evils they were intended
to remove. He enunciated the sentiment which
now, after a lapse of more than fifty-eight years,
in view of the prolonged and heated discussions on
the theatre of national politics, must have a great
interest. He continued :
" It behooves Illinois, which has been tempted to fol
low the example of her neighbors, to profit by their ex
perience, and to restore, as soon as she can, the currency
of the State to the fixed and universal standard of gold
and silver, or what shall be equivalent to them ; believ
ing as she must that those are the great desiderata in a
sound currency. A currency changeable in value 'can
form no standard for the value of other things; and of
course fails in its object, inasmuch as it is always oper
ating injuriously and unjustly in the discharge of debts,
by a greater or less amount, intrinsically, than was con
tracted for."
It was but a few days after his inauguration that
Governor Coles wrote the following letter touching
the title of his office. It illustrates the character
of the man.

HIS SIMPLICITY. 63

Vandalia, Dec. 10, 1822.
Gentlemen: — Our State constitution gives to the per
son exercising the functions of the Executive, the appel
lation of Governor — a title which is specific, intelligible,
and republican, and amply sufficient to denote the dig
nity of the office. In your last paper you have noticed
me by the addition of " His Excellency," an aristocratic
and high-sounding adjunct, which I am sorry to say has
become too common among us, not only in newspaper
annunciations, but in the addressing of letters, and even
in familiar discourse. It is a practice disagreeable to
my feelings, and inconsistent, as I think, with the digni
fied simplicity of freemen, and to the nature of the vo
cation of those to whom it is applied. And having
made it a rule through life to address no one as His
Excellency, or the Honorable, or by any such unmeaning
title, I trust I shall be pardoned for asking it as a favor
of you, and my fellow-citizens generally, not to apply
them to me. I am, &c, &c, Edward Coles.
Messrs. Brown & Berry, Editors of the Illinois Intel
ligencer. Governor Coles called the attention of the Leg
islature to the agricultural society of the State, and
asked its consideration as to the propriety of af
fording it its countenance and support in effecting
the great and praiseworthy object for which it was
instituted. He dwelt on the advantages which
would result from connecting by navigable chan
nels the waters of the Mississippi with those of the

64 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

great northern lakes. He hoped that Illinois
would not be backward in performing her part in
that great national undertaking, which would con
nect the city of New York with New Orleans by
an interior communication through the Hudson,
the Lakes, and the Mississippi.
In this connection, the following letter to Gov
ernor Coles from DeWitt Clinton, the father of
the canal system in this country, cannot fail to at
tract attention. A facsimile is inserted.
Albany, 10 Oct. 1825.
Sir: — I regret that the rapidity of your progress
through this place prevented me from seeing you, when
I called at your lodgings the day after your arrival. Be
sides the pleasure which it would have afforded me, I
would have availed myself of the opportunity of explain
ing my views on the subject of the Michigan and Illinois
Canal. The report of your Canal Board (of which you were so
kind as to send me several copies) strikes me very favor
ably, and I think that it evinces much ability. You
have a superabundance of water, g&bj ground for excava
tion, and if, instead of stone, you make wooden locks
which will be found much cheaper, and, in some other
respects, much better, the estimate of the expense may
be reduced.
This communication between the lakes and the ocean
has long been contemplated, and its creation might be
profitable to enterprising capitalists. Owing to the pres
ent depression of the money market, it would not be a

¥

i j

^

\

\

THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY. 65
judicious time to operate, hut as soon as this pressure is
removed, and it cannot last long, I think that 'it would
be well to make the experiment. And it will, I assure
you, afford me high satisfaction to render all the aid in
my power in favor of this important channel of commu
nication. I am, very respectfully,
Your most obed. servant,
DeWitt Clinton.
Governor Coles.
But the emphatic part of the message of Gov
ernor Coles was that in relation to slavery, a sub
ject always nearest to his heart. He declared that
notwithstanding the ordinance of 1787, slavery still
existed in the State, and he earnestly invoked the
interposition of < the Legislature in the cause of
humanity. He strongly recommended that the
Legislature make just and equitable provisions for
the abrogation of slavery in the State. He de
clared that "justice and humanity required of us
a general revisal of the laws relative to negroes, in
order the better to adapt them to the character of
our institutions and the situation of the country."
He also recommended to the Legislature to enact
more effective laws to prevent the kidnapping of
free blacks, a crime which he was sorry to say was
too often committed with impunity in the State.
This " Speech " to the Legislature by Governor
5

66 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Coles, so far as regarded slavery, opened up a con
troversy of unheard of bitterness, and involving
consequences to the State and to the Union which
cannot be measured by human ken. A large ma
jority of the inhabitants of Illinois at this time were
from the slaveholding States. Many of them leav
ing their States because they were not able to hold
slaves, and hoping to accomplish a state of things
which would allow them to indulge in their cher
ished wish in the State in which they had made
their homes, they were more ultra pro-slavery
than the slave-holders ofthe States which they had
left. Governor Coles, an anti-slavery man, had
been elected by a minority vote, and by a division
of the pro-slavery men. They saw that if their
forces had been united, their candidate, Chief Jus
tice Phillips, would have been elected Governor by
a large majority. Notwithstanding they had lost
their Governor, they elected decided majorities in
both branches of the Legislature. Under these
circumstances, as may well be conceived, the pro-
slavery men now considered it their time to strike
for a change in the constitution ofthe State.

SLAVERY IN ILLINOIS. 67

CHAPTEK VIII.
The Existence of Slavery in Illinois ; The Ordinance of
1787 Contended not to be Binding ; A Committee op the
Legislature report in Favor of a Convention to Alter
the Constitution; The Early Inhabitants of the State;
Prejudice against the "Yankees"; Incident Related by
Capt. Gear ; Judge Gillespie's Statement of the Situa
tion in Illinois at this Time; Manner of Amending the
Constitution; Difficulty of Getting the Requisite Vote
in the Lower House ; The Object to be Accomplished at
all Hazards ; The Project Resisted in the Legislature ;
Loose Practices in that Day in the "Kingdom of Pike ; "
Letter of Wm. P. McKee; Reminiscences of john Shaw;
The Whig Celebration at Galena in 1840 j John S. Miller
and John Shaw; "TipandTy."
The first constitution prohibited slavery, and it
may well be asked how it was possible that a state
of slavery could exist in Illinois at the time of
which we are speaking. Illinois was slave territory
before it was ceded by Virginia to the United States.
The deed of cession from Virginia provided that
" the inhabitants of the Territory ceded, who pro
fessed themselves to have been citizens of Virginia
previous to the cession should have their posses
sions and titles confirmed to them, and be pro
tected in their rights and liberties." This deed
of cession was executed March 1st, 1784. It

68 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
was on the 13th of July, 1787, that Congress
passed the ordinance which provided that there
should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
etc., in the Northwestern Territory. It was stren
uously contended that this ordinance of 1787 was
in conflict with the deed of cession, and therefore
of no binding effect.
The first act of the Legislature was to appoint a
committee on that portion of Governor Coles' mes
sage which referred to slavery. That committee
reported in substance that at " the period when Il
linois was admitted into the Union upon an equal
footing with the original States in all respects
whatever ; and whatsoever causes of regret were ex
perienced by the restrictions imposed upon the first
convention, your committee are clearly of the opin
ion that the people of Illinois have now the same
right to alter their constitution as the people of the
State of Virginia, or any other of the original
State, and may make any disposition of negro
slaves they choose, without any breach of faith
or violation of compact, ordinances, or acts of
Congress; and if the reasoning employed be cor
rect, there is no course left by which to accom
plish the object of this portion of the Governor's
message than to call a convention to alter the
constitution." ,

THE EARLY SETTLERS OF ILLINOIS. 69
The history of the attempt to fasten slavery on
the State of Illinois is one of great interest to every
citizen of the State.
The earliest inhabitants of Illinois were French
Canadians and emigrants from Kentucky, Tennes
see, and North Carolina. The French Canadians
had been slaveholders from the earliest times in the
Territory, which afterwards was Illinois, and were
favorable to the institution. The emigration from
Kentucky was by far the best, Tennessee was be
low Kentucky and the North Carolina emigration
was mostly the "poor whites." There was much
ignorance and shiftlessness among many of them,
combined with an intense prejudice against all peo
ple from the free States, whom they called " Yan
kees." Captain Gear, a very early settler of
the southern part ofthe State, and who afterwards
located at Galena, once told me of an incident he
had witnessed in early times in Southern Illinois.
Some man from a free State had been addressing a
political meeting of these peopleon acertain occasion.
He made an able and eloquent speech, but after its
conclusion, its effect was entirely destroyed by some
" Sucker " who succeeded him, making three
jumps, and each time exclaiming, " I am a white
man," " I am a white man," " I am a white man."

70 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
The following is Judge Gillespie's statement of
the situation at the time
" It was conceded in those days that a State formed
out of the " North West Territory " could not be ad
mitted into the Union contrary to the provisions of the
ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery, but the
slavery propagandists contended that yon could, the
next day after being admitted under an anti-slavery
constitution, change the constitution so as to admit slav
ery, and in that way, "whip the devil around the
stump." It was likewise contended that slavery existed
in Illinois beyond Congressional interference, by virtue
of the treaty (of 1763) between France and England, and
that between England and the United States at the close
of the Bevolutionary "War, in both of which the rights
of the French inhabitants were guaranteed. One of
these rights was that of holding slaves, which, it was
contended, was protected by treaty stipulation, and was
equal in binding effect, to the Constitution (of the United
States) itself. Besides, it was maintained, that by the
conquest of George Bogers Clark, this country became a
part of Virginia, and that Congress had no more power
to abolish slavery in Illinois, than it had in Virginia.
The logic- of the times was that the French inhabitants
had the right to hold slaves, and that the other inhabi
tants had equal rights with the French — ergo: they
all had the right to hold slaves. This was the argument
of the celebrated constitutional expounder — John Gram
mar, of Union county — in the Legislature, in reply to
an intimation questioning the validity of the title of
slaves in Illinois. The old gentleman instantly arose
and remarked " that fittener men" than he was "mout
hev been found to defend the masters agin the sneakin'

judge gillespie's statement. 71
ways of the infernal abolitioners; but havin' rights on
my side, I don't fear, Sir. I will show that are proposi
tion is unconstitutionable, inlegal, and fornenst the com
pact. Don't every one know, or leastwise had ought to
know, that the Congress that sot at Post Vinsan,* gar-
nisheed to the old French inhabitants the right to their
niggers, and haint 1 got as much rights as any French
man in this State? Answer me that, Sir." Notwith
standing this seeming confidence, these men were ex
ceedingly desirous of reinforcing their rights. They re
sorted to the indenturing method, by which they got
their servant to go before some officer and bind himself
to serve the master, generally for ninety-nine years, for
which he was to receive a slight equivalent at the end
of each year.
As the "Yankees" increased in numbers, confidence
(on the part of the pro-slavery men) in the titles to their
negroes, diminished, and they finally concluded that
there was no assurance for them, except in changing the
constitution so as to sanction slave- holding; and thus
the contest commenced, which for fierceness and rancor
excelled anything ever before witnessed. The people ,
were at the point of going to war with each other. The
pro-slavery men were, as they have always been, ready
to resort to violence wherever they dared, unwilling to
listen to, or incapable of comprehending arguments.
Their method of overcoming opposition was by 'bull
dozing'; but on this occasion they had to encounter
men of invincible courage, who were eager and willing
to ' heard the lion in his den,' and defend their rights
at all hazards. Many of these men had removed to Il
linois to get rid of the curse of slavery."
?Vincennes was in early times called by the settlers of Indiana and
Illinois "Post Vinsan."

72 sketch of governor coles.
By a provision of the then existing constitution,
no change thereof could be made unless the ques
tion of a convention to form a new constitution
should be submitted to the people by a joint reso
lution of the Legislature, adopted, by a two-thirds
vote. While the pro-slavery men had precisely
two-thirds of the votes of the Senate, in the
House, they lacked one vote of the requisite num
ber. The pro-slavery men showed themselves in this
controversy, sprung unexpectedly upon the Legis
lature, vehement, determined, and unscrupulous.
They considered their great object would be ac
complished if they could only secure a call of the
convention, for they believed that a majority of
the people of the State were ripe for the introduc
tion of slavery. Influenced by great convictions,
loving freedom and hating slavery, the minority
fought the question of the convention with a
boldness and resolution worthy of the great cause
in which they were engaged, though one or two
men faltered in the struggle. There was a noisy,
demonstrative, and aggressive public opinion at
Vandalia at that time. Judges, prosecuting attor
neys, county officers, men seeking office and special
legislation at the hands of the pro-slavery Legis-

difficulty in getting a vote. 73
lature, were all howling for a "conventio >." De
nunciations and curses unlimited were visited upon
Governor Coles, and upon that little band in the
Legislature which had attempted to thwart the pro-
slavery party in passing the convention resolution.
But that object w^ to be accomplished at every
cost, and without regard to the means to be em
ployed. At almost the last moment, and when it
was found that neither influence, nor threats, nor
coaxing, would secure the requisite vote to pass the
resolution, it was determined in order to accomplish
the object that an anti-convention man should be
put out of the House, and a convention man put in
his place. Such a change would give the conven
tion party precisely the two-thirds vote required.
Nicholas Hansen had received the certificate of elec
tion as a member of the House from Pike county,
which then embraced the whole central and north
ern part of the State. Hansen's competitor was
John Shaw, one of the earliest settlers of Illinois,
and who it is said wras the very first settler on the
"military tract." And here a digression for a sin
gle moment. I am myself a citizen of Illinois, old
enough to have known John Shaw. The first time
I ever saw him was in Galena, in July, 1840, where
there was an immense political, meeting, held by the

74 . sketch of governor coles.
Whigs in the interest of " Tippecanoe and Tyler
too." Shaw, I think, then lived at Hamburg, in
Calhoun county, and owned. and navigated a steam
boat named the " John Shaw." This steamboat had
been chartered by the Rock Island county Whigs,
for the Whig gathering at Galena. The boat was
a little behind time in arriving on ' the day of the
meeting, and she was looked for with great anxiety
by the crowd that expected her to bring great ac
cessions to their numbers from Rock Island and the
various towns on the Mississippi river. Coming
slowly up Fever river, gaily dressed out with bunt
ing, having a band of music on board, her arrival
was hailed with the most intense enthusiasm by
±he Whigs on the levee; but the culmination of
this enthusiasm was reached when a canoe framed
" Tip and Ty," was seen suspended over the boiler
deck, in which was seated John Shaw and John S.
Miller, one of the very earliest settlers of the lead
mines, holding paddles in their hands, going
through the pantomime of paddling " Tip and Ty."
I never saw him afterwards until at Washington,
during the session of Congress, 1855-6. He was
there in the prosecution of some claim against the
Government, and had then become quite an old
man, and quite blind. He called to see me frequent-

shaw's characteristics. 75
ly. He was a short, spare man, of a quick and ner
vous movement, with a vivid recollection of the
early incidents of the country, full of anecdote and
reminiscence, and withal a quiet humor, which
made his visits always pleasant and agreeable.
The historian of Pike county is not very compli
mentary to Shaw. He says, in substance, that Shaw
was a very early settler at Coles' Grove, which was
the county seat of Pike before Calhoun was set off
from it, and was County Commissioner of Pike
county before Calhoun was constituted. He was a
noted man, ambitious, restless, unscrupulous and
engaged in all sorts of business, and particularly in
politics. At one time he had great sway over
the community, and was called the "Black Prince,"
the name being given him on account of the con
trol he had over a large number of "half breeds"
in the county. "He forged deeds, even by the quire,
doctored poll books, etc. So great was his influence,
but at the same time so injurious to the settlers,
that the public issue was gotten up -in politics, of
' Shaw ' and ' Anti-Shaw,' and it was not until a
great and united struggle, that Shaw lost his su
premacy." After this happened, Shaw left Pike
county and the State, and moved to Wisconsin and
became the first settler of " Shaw's Landing," now
the city of Berlin, Wisconsin.

76 sketch of governor coles.
The contest between Hansen and Shaw, for mem
bers ofthe Legislature for Pike county, seems to
have bean a very lively one. I have a curious let
ter on the subject of this election, written to Gover
nor Coles from Edwardsville, August 19th, 1822,
and a few days after the election, by William P.
McKee, who I believe, was a clerk in the Land
Office under Mr. Coles, the then Register. I set
the letter out herein, as an interesting item of that
contest which was destined to take such proportions
in the future. There seems to have been a warm
time in the "Kingdom of Pike," and practices were
resorted to at that early period, which have been
too much in vogue at a later day.
Edwardsville, Illinois, August 17, 1822.
Dear Sir: — Since your departure from this place, I
have learned the state of the polls in several counties.
Mr. Buckmaster returned from Kaskaskia, yesterday.
He says that Lockwood told him that he had heard from
all the counties but Crawford and White, exclusive of
which, you had a majority over Phillips (who is now
thought to have beaten Browne), of from two hundred
and fifty to threa hundred votes. There appears to ex
ist no doubt now, but that you are elected. Mr. "War
ren has given it up, as you will see by his paper of this
day, sentyou to Albsmirle. Mr. Cook, I presume, is
doubtless re-elected. It is generally thought, I believe,
that Hubbard is elected Lieutenant Governor. In our
calculations made of the votes given for Governor, I

LETTER FROM MC KEE TO COLES. 77
had not included your vote in Pike county, which was
eighty-nine, consequently in the counties we had heard
from before you left this, you had a majority over hi in
of five hundred and fifty votes. In the " Kingdom of
Pike," I presume, they had a warm time. Yesterday,
a gentleman was from there who brought dispatches
from Hansen and Smith to you and others of this place;
he told me the contents and desired ine to open it. I
did so and found a very warm letter from Hansen to you,
desiring those who have ever entertained a friendship
for hiin not to despair of his prospects, etc.; and in which
was a request that you should hand, for publication, a
letter from Smith to you, which says that Shaw had ob
tained a great many of his votes from Greene, Madison
and Missouri; and knowing the fidelity and correctness
of the Judges appointed by the Commissioner's Court, he
(Shaw) had thought fit to establish a mob poll, as he
styles it, at which Shaw had received most all his votes;
althongh Hansen was very anxious to have it appear in
the paper of to-day, I have laid it away in the pigeon-hole
and shall say nothing about it. He will be down Mon
day or Tuesday, he wrote you, when he can act for him
self. Since you left this place, we have lost two citizens
of our county, James Bobinson (neighbor to mother) and
General Hopkins, who will be buried to-day. Nothing
of consequence has transpired in the office since you left.
*********
Accept my wishes for your health and prosperity.
Tours with esteem,
Wm. P. McKee."

78 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTER IX.
Contest Between Hansen and Shaw in the Legislature;
Historians at Fault in Regard to one Reason for Un
seating Hansen; His vote for United States Senator
nothing to do with it ; Confirmed in his seat at the
Commencement of the Session; Shaw's Vote Necessary;
The Cry of "The Convention or Death;" All Debate
Stifled; Hansen Votes against the Resolution; Deter
mination to Oust Him from his Seat; Col. Alexander P.
Field ; His Resolution Admitting Hansen to his seat Re
considered, and Shaw Admitted; His Vote for the Res
olution Carries it; Gen. Nicholas Hansen; Letter of
Gov. Coles Notifying him of his Appointment as Judge
of Probate of Pike County; Hansen's Letter to Coles.
Hansen had the certificate of election, but when
the Legislature met the first Monday of December,
1822, Shaw came forward to contest his seat It
is said by Governor Ford and Governor Reynolds,
and others, that Hansen was permitted to occupy
his seat for the purpose of giving his vote for the
re-election of Jesse B. Thomas, as United States
Senator, who was a pro-slavery man, and after-
terwards turned out to put in Shaw who was
a convention man. That does not appear to
be the precise fact. The case of this con
tested election seems to have been decided on its
merits and outside of the influence of any party
feeling. It was at an early period of the session,

CONTEST BETWEEN HANSEN AND SHAW. 79
and before the question of a convention had been
much agitated. The contest for Senator was a per
sonal one, and the convention question was in no
wise involved in it. Both candidates were pro-
slavery men, and both became strong convention
men. Thomas had the most strength and was
elected over Judge John Reynolds. Hansen vo
ted for Thomas, as between him and the other prin
cipal candidate, Reynolds, equally pro-slavery. I
can find no sufficient evidence that Hansen was
confirmed in his seat in the first instance, for the
purpose of voting for Thomas. The only thing in
that regard, which appears in all the proceedings, is
a statement made in the debate in the house by
Mr. Lowrey, of Clark, that he had heard Ford, of
Crawford, a Thomas man, as well as a convention
man afterwards, say that " if Hansen were turned
out Thomas would lose a vote," which was undoubt
edly the case, but which proves nothing further
than that Hansen preferred Thomas to Reynolds,
both holding precisely the same views. This view
ofthe matter is supported by the fact that anti-slav
ery and anti-convention men voted both for and
against Hansen*in thecase of his contest with Shaw.

* The election for Senator was held January 9th, 1823. Jesse B.
Thomas received twenty-nine votes, John Reynolds, sixteen votes,

80 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
On the 2nd of December, 1822, the committee
of elections of the House, to whom the matter was
referred, reported unanimously in favor of Han
sen's right to a seat, and the report was adopted by
the House by a large majority. The fact of una
nimity of the committee is good evidence that it
was not a party question. Hansen having been
thus confirmed in his seat, Shaw took his saddle
bags, mounted his horse and made his way back to
Pike county, neither he nor any one else ever
dreaming that the matter could come up again.
It was not until after this contested election case
was settled that the convention question came to be
seriously considered. The members of the Legis
lature who had opposed the election of Governor
Coles became embittered against him, after he had
taken such radical ground in his message in re
gard to the abolition of the remnant of slavery
existing in the State, and also in relation to the in
human and disgraceful Black Code. This feeling
culminated in a determination to change the fun
damental law of the State. This purpose was the
more inexcusable, from the fact that the question
Leonard White, six votes, and Samuel D. Lockwood two votes. Thom
as received five majority over all. Hansen's vote was not therefore
necessary to elect Thomas. All the Candidates were Convention men
except Lockwood.

"THE CONVENTION OR DEATH." 81
had never been mooted in the election of members
to the Legislature. The leaders of the conspiracy
to change the Constitution entered actively on their
work. They commenced by cautiously sounding
the members. To those whose pro-slavery senti
ments were well known, the object to make Illi
nois a slave State was openly avowed ; but to those
who were not at first prepared to take such a step,
other reasons for the call of a convention were
urged as a pretext. The question was, could the
requisite two-thirds majority be had in both Houses
to pass a resolution to call a convention to " alter,.
revise and amend the Constitution." That was
the great work to be accomplished — " Hie labor r
hoc opus est." In the senate there was no doubt
that out of the eighteen members, twelve (two-
thirds) were solid for the convention and slavery.
But in the House the question was doubtful.
Counting McFatridge of Johnson, and Hansen of
Pike, as against a convention, two votes were to be
obtained in some way to make the requisite two^
thirds. As the session wore on, the excitement in
creased and the convention men became desperate
indeed. Their rallying cry was " The convention or
death." Everything in the Legislature was shaped
to effect final success. The convention question.
6

82 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
was paramount to all other business before the
Legislature. Local bills in which individual mem
bers were interested, and upon the passage of which
their political life depended, were unceremoniously
laid upon the table, or held iu the hands of com
mittees, until the refractory or doubtful member
yielded to the pressure. Officers in the gift of
that body were held in abeyance, and promises of
political preferment to those who sought distinction
were abundant. Those who opposed the favorite
measure were threatened and denounced, Legisla
tive despotism ruled supreme ; and the co-ordinate
branches of the government, for the time being,
were merged in the unlimited power exercised by
the Senate and House of Representatives.*
The action ofthe convention party in the Legisla
ture was to the last degree unfair, tyrannical and
insulting. Fearing discussion and the exposure of
their real purposes, they shut off all debate on the
most vital and important question that could ever
come before a Legislative body. In the Senate,
Mr. Kinkade, of Lawrence, declared that it was
due alike to the Senate and to the people, that the
objects for which a convention should be called
should be explained ; but in accord with a previous
* Hon. Wm. H. Brown's Paper before the Chicago Historical So
ciety.

CONVENTION resolution. 83
understanding, not a single word was vouchsafed
in reply; having the floor, he then proceeded to
state the reasons of his opposition to the Convention
Resolution, and openly charged that the object in
view was to make a slave constitution. He was at
this point violently interrupted, called to order and
compelled to take his seat. In the House, so far as
I am able to gather, no general discussion was al
lowed. How were the two necessary votes to be had in
the House ? In looking over the ground the idea
was conceived, that an advantage could be gained
by passing a Convention Resolution, by a joint vote
of the two Houses. The Senate, therefore, passed
a resolution declaring that if two-thirds of all the
members of both Houses should recommend to the
people to vote for or against a convention, it would
be in accordance with the requirements of the
Constitution. Colonel Alexander P. Field, of
Union county (who, in conjunction with Emanuel
J. West, of Madison county), had taken the lead
ership of the pro-slavery and convention men in
the House, introduced a . similar resolution in the
House, but from the fact, not so much that no con
struction of the Constitution could justify such a
method of voting, as from the fact that such method

84 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
would not give them any more votes, it was rejected
by a vote of twenty to sixteen.
The Senate then passed the convention resolution
by the required number of votes, but the House
prudently permitted it to lie upon the table until
the real strength of the convention men might be
tested in its own body. To that end, Mr. West,
of Madison, introduced a resolution, similar to that
of the Senate, into the House. This resolution
obtained twenty-two votes, Hansen voting for it,
and McFatridge against it. Rattan, of Greene, a
convention man, voted in the negative in order to
move a re-consideration if it should be necessary.
This affirmative vote would have made twenty-
three, one less than was necessary. But one vote
more, therefore, was necessary to accomplish the
great object for which such a stupendous effort had
been made. That one vital vote was wanting and
the resolution failed* In the meantime McFat
ridge,* who had been an anti-convention man,
*Mr. McFatridge was, I judge, of Scotch- Irish origin ; a man
about sixty years of age, of kind heart and generous disposition. He
had fallen into the very general evil of the times, and drank more
liquor than his legislative duties actually required. Late in an after
noon session a member moved an adjournment; Mr. McF., in his
chair, opposed it. It was carried by a large vote, and the speaker
declared the House adjourned. McFatridge, raising his voice above
the noise occasioned by the general movement, exclaimed: "Mr.
Speaker — Mr. Speaker, — you may adjourn the House, and be hanged,

THE RESOLUTION LOST. 85
through some unseen influence had changed front,
and his vote, together with that of Hansen, now
thought perfectly secure, would carry the measure
through. Everything was now ready, and certain
success seemed assured. On the 11th of February,
1823, the Senate resolution, which had been quiet
ly lying on tbe speaker's table, was taken up for
its final passage. The convention men were iu
great glee. They felt that their hopes were now
to be realized, after so much labor and effort, so
much coaxing and driving during the entire ses
sion. But " The best laid schemes o' mice and men,
Gang aft a-gley:"
At the very pinch of the game, what was the as
tonishment and fury to find Hansen changing front
and voting against the resolution . It is to be re
gretted that Hansen's course is neither very clear,
nor very satisfactory in this regard. It was, there
fore, lost; twenty-three votes only being in its favor,
instead of the necessary twenty-four. What was
now to be done? A member who had voted with
but old Billy McFatridge will remain in session until sundown, and
look after the interests of his constituents, while you are cavorting at
Copp's grocery and getting drunk on the hard earnings of the peo
ple." [W.H. Brown's Paper read bef ore the Chicago Historical
Society.]

86 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the losing side moved to reconsider, but the Speak
er of the House, William M. Alexander, a conven
tion man, decided, that according to all parliamen
tary rules and practices, it could not be done. An
appeal from that decision was taken, and the
Speaker was sustained by a vote of eighteen to six
teen, two members not voting. The resolution
was therefore, defeated and apparently beyond the
reach of resurrection ; but with men wrought up to
such a degree of excitement as the convention men
were, there was no such word as " fail," even in the
worst of causes. The " Convention or Death," was
still the cry.
The indignation against Hansen knew no bounds.
The members, who had become convention men,
and who had voted to confirm him in his seat, at the
commencement of the session, were the most furious
of all ; and now was conceived and carried out a
measure of revolutionary violence and madness,
happily without a parallel in our history — a blot
upon the fair escutcheon of our State, and the vil
lainy of which " returned to plague the inventors."
By the suffrages of his constituents, confirmed by a
vote of the House, Nicholas Hansen had held his
seat in the House of Representatives, from the very
first day ofthe session; aud after a contest, solemn-

ALEXANDER P. FIELD. 87
ly decided in his favor on the 9th day of Decem
ber, 1822, that seat was held unchallenged and un
questioned by anybody. The convention men in
the House, in this crisis of their affairs, proved
themselves equal to the emergency which confront
ed them. On the 12th, of February, 1823, and
nine weeks after the House had decided that
Hansen was duly and legally elected, and after he
had sat all that time without one question being
raised as to his right to a seat, Colonel Alexander
P. Field, of Union, made an extraordinary motiou.
It was no other than a motion to reconsider the
Resolution of the House, adopted December 9th,
1822, declaring Nicholas Hansen to be entitled to
his seat. He made a long speech in favor of this
motion, going over questions which had been fully
decided by the House when the contest wa3 up.
He did not state a single reason for the adoption
of his motion which was worthy a moment's con
sideration ; but it was simply the appeal of a des
perate faction made through him, to bring members
who might be supposed to have some ideas of con
science, up to a " sticking point." It seems that the
friends of Shaw had set up a bogus poll, one inde-
pendentofthe legal votin g place, where it was charged
that eighty or ninety men from Missouri and other

88 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
places had voted, and who had no qualification as
electors. The House rejected all such votes when it
came to decide the case. Field complained of this,
and contended that these men, who had voted at the
bogus poll, had only exercised a privilege — "A privi
lege," he exclaimed, " which when we cease to
enjoy / wish to cease to be a member of society."
Continuing, he said, " that it was with astonish
ment and surprise he had heard gentlemen pro
claim in the House that we, when adjudicating
on questions of this kind, cannot depart from the
strict letter of the law, but are bound to observe it
in all its niceties."" Farther on he dwelt upon
" the greatest privilege the Constitution con
ferred upon the people — the right to vote," and
concluded : " when a man approaches the polls,
and exercises his dearest right, he never stops to
make the inquiry, will my vote be rejected if I ex
ercise it here?'- No; on the contrary he feels proud
to think how far better his situation is over the
person who is forced to bow at the nod of an un
feeling despot and bear the chains of tyranny"
Mather, of Randolph, and Churchill, of Madison,
stated good reasons why the House should not dis
turb its former judgment, but the speech of Field
did the business. The resolution which the House

JOHN SHAW. 89

had adopted and which it was proposed to re-con
sider was at follows :
" Resolved, That Nicholas Hansen is entitled to
a seat in this House."
The motion to reconsider was carried and the
resolution was before the House for action. It
was thought necessary, however, to base the action
which the members of the House proposed to take
on some pretext and put the case on some different
ground from that on which it had been originally
decided. Here "Mr. Turney presented the affi
davit of Levi Roberts, dated January 28th, 1823,
who certified that, in his opinion, Mr. Shaw re
ceived a majority of 29 of all the qualified votes
of Pike county." This ex-parte affidavit, made by
a friend of Shaw, then at Vandalia, and without
notice and opportunity for cross-examination, stat
ing no fact, but merely expressing an opinion, was
deemed sufficient to answer a purpose which was to
be accomplished in any event. A motion was
made to strike out the words "Nicholas Hansen "
in the resolution and insert the words "John
Shaw," which motion was carried. In the interest
of history I give the names of those members who
voted that Hansen was entitled to the seat at the
commencement of the session, and that he was not

90 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
entitled to it at its close : Alexander, of Pope,
Campbell, of Wayne, Daimwood, of Gallatin,
Davenport, of Gallatin, Dorriss, of Franklin, Em
mitt, of White, Ford, of Crawford, Logan, of
White, McFerron, of Randolph, West, of Madison,
and Will, of Jackson.
When it was decided at the last moment that
Hansen was to be put out and Shaw put m, the
latter was at his home in Pike county, some one
hundred and thirty miles distant, over a sparsely
settled country. It was necessary to get Shaw to
Vandalia at the earliest moment. The journey,
going and coming would ordinarily occupy at
least five days, but by relays of horses and hard
driving it could be made in four. A special
messenger was therefore dispatched to find Shaw
and bring him to Vandalia in the shortest possible
time, and he arrived there in season to perform the
part allotted to him. After Shaw had taken his
seat, another outrage had to be committed before
the work in hand could be consummated. The
vote of the House sustaining the speaker in an ap
peal taken from his decision, that a member of the
constitutional minority could not move a, re-con-
sidera ion, was reconsidered. Then a member vot
ing on the losing side moved a reconsideration of

COLONEL NICHOLAS HANSEN. 91
the last convention resolution, which was carried.
All that was- then required was the vote of Shaw.
to make the requisite twenty-four votes. That
vote was given, and in that way the resolution was
passed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses, author
izing the people of the State to vote on the propo
sition to call a convention to amend the Constitu
tion at a general election to be held on the first
Monday of August, 1824.
As this outrage in unseating Hansen became a
great factor in the stupendous contest which fol
lowed on the question of the Convention, a brief
allusion to the man and his history may not prove
uninteresting. Nicholas Hansen (not Hanson, as
his name has gone into history and legislative rec
ords,) was a young lawyer, who settled at " Coles'
Grove" (sometimes written " Colsgrove ") , the
first county seat of Pike county, now *l Gilead," in
Calhoun county, in 1820, where he taught school.
He was commissioned Colonel of the 17th Regi
ment of the Illinois State Militia, August 11, 1821,
by Gov. Bond. The county seat of Pike county
was removed in 1823, from Coles' Grove to Atlas,
a town situated on the Mississippi bottom, twelve
miles west of Pittsfield, the present county seat of
Pike. Hansen was of Dutch descent ; a graduate

92 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
of Union College and had been admitted to the Bar
of New York before removing to Illinois. He was
County Judge of Pike county in 1821-2, and was
elected to the Legislature from Pike county in Au
gust, 1822, and at the same election that Edward
Coles was elected Govenor. After the removal of
the county seat of Pike from Coles' Grove to Atlas,
Hansen removed to the latter place. At a Fourth of'
July celebration at Coles' Grove, in 1823, Col. N.
Hansen was the orator of the day. The following
toast was drank, with " nine cheers :" " Col. Nich
olas Hansen, a member of our last Legislature, sac
rificed on the altar of Slavery ; may his services to
his country be duly appreciated by the Republi
cans of Illinois."
Hon. Wm. H. Brown, in his admirable Paper
on the convention struggle, read before the Chicago
Historical Society, says that the effect of Hansen's
equivocal position in the Legislature was such that
after he returned home he closed up his business
and left the State. In this he is mistaken. After
the adjournment of the Legislature he returned to
Atlas and became a Justice of the peace, and depu
ty clerk of Colonel William Ross, "who held
nearly all the offices of Pike county." He was
elected to the Legislature a second time from Pike

LETTER OF GOVERNOR COLES. 93
and Calhoun counties in 1824, but resigned his
seat. On the 28th of May, 1824, he was com
missioned by Governor Coles as Brigadier General
of the Third Brigade of the First Division of Illi
nois State Militia. July 5th, 1826, Governor Coles
appointed him Judge of Probate for Pike county,
as will be seen by the following letter. On the
5th of September, 1827, Governor Edwards issued
an official order to General Hansen to enroll in the
militia all persons subject to military duty at the
" Lead Mines on Fever River or in that vicinity."
Letter of Governor Coles to General Hansen.
_ Vandalia, July 5, 1826.
Dear Sir: Tour letter of May 23d, recommending
Wm. Eoss as a suitable person to be appointed Judge of
Probate of Pike, has been received; and I now address
yon, not so much for the purpose of acknowledging it,
as to make known to all whom it may concern, and es
pecially to remove any misconception as to your conduct,
that your letter is the only written or verbal communi
cation I have received in relation to the person who
should fill Mr. Hight's vacancy, and that I have not re
ceived a line or a word, or even a hint, from you or from
any person else, that you wanted the office, or would ac
cept it': but believing you better qualified than any
other person in the county, and that while you continue
to hold the office of Eecorder, that you could very con
veniently and with some little profit, discharge the
duties of Judge of Probate, I have determined to ap
point you to that office, and herewith inclose your com-

94 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
mission. I have been thus explicit in order that it should
be understood how you, who recommended another,
should yourself receive the appointment.
If it should not be agreeable to .you to accept the of
fice of Judge of Probate, you will be pleased to address
me a letter to Edwardsville, where I shall go in a few
days, and remain most of the warm and sickly season.
The death of my mother, which occurred last spring,
will render it necessary for me to be in Virginia in Jan
uary next, at which time her estate is to be divided, and
it is necessary for me, as one of the legatees, to be there.
This will compel me to set out in December, soon after
the meeting of the General Assembly, at which time, if
not before, I hope to have the pleasure of seeing yon.
I propose to return to this State in the. spring by way of
Philadelphia and New York.
With great respect and sincere regard I am your
friend,
Edwakd Coles.
Gen. N. Hansen,
Pike County.
Col. Benjamin Barney, of Barry, Illinois, who
was a cotempoary of Hansen, having become ac
quainted with him in October, 1825, at Atlas, says
that he came from near Albany, N. Y., and from a
place called " The Wain uts." Captain John Webb,
one of the oldest citizens of Pike county, says he
went to school to Hansen in 1820, and that he un
derstood that he came from Warren county, N. Y.
In the fall of 1829, a brother-in-law of Hansen's
came to visit him and he went back with him to the

GENERAL HANSEN. 95
State of New York, and he never returned to Illi
nois. Captain Webb says the last time he saw
Hansen was in 1865, and that he died in 1872, at
the age of ninety-one years. He was never mar
ried. Col. Barney describes him as a man six feet
high, well built and of fine appearance. " He was a
man of liberal education, of genial manners and well
liked by the pioneers of Pike county. His only
fault was a love of liquor."*
Gen. Hansen seems to have been a man of abil
ity and of polished education. Though bred a law
yer in the New York school, which at that day meant
something, he appears never to have practiced his
profession in this state to any extent. Neither does
he appear to have made the mark in life, which
might have been expected from a man of his endow
ments, but left the State making no sign. I made an
effort to find out something of his history after he
went back to New York, but was unsuccessful.f
*Judge William Thomas, of Jacksonville, who knew him well, says
he was "an habitual drinker, but not a drunkard — a man well in
formed in regard to the history of the country and the leading poli
ticians." The pro-slavery men of Edwardsville were so enraged with Hansen,
that after he was turned out of the House they burned him in < ffigy;
but Hansen was revenged. The ringleader in the ceremony was one
Swearingen, a Virginian, who was afterwards hanged in Mississippi.
1 1 am indebted to my esteemed friend, Judge Chauney L. Higbee,
of Pittsfield, Pike County, for much of the -information I have ob
tained in regard to Gen. Hansen.

96 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
I have also in my hands a letter from Hansen
to Governor Coles, dated Vandalia, December 23d,
1826, which was after Coles went out of office. It
is written in a very neat and scholarly hand, and I
give it herewith, as a letter not without a certain
historical interest. Vandalia, Dec. 23, 1826.
Dear Governor: — I have delayed a little while in
writing to you, waiting for something new and inter
esting, but, alas! I am where I begun, and can only say
that Illinois is Illinois. Our legislature is yet harmo
nious, and though bountifully supplied with the gift of
gab, has not yet brought forth anything sufficiently in
dicative of its character upon the future interets of our
State. The Circuit Courts will undoubtedly be abolished,
and in their stead we will have the Judges of the Su
preme Court, without an increase. O.. T  S
 means to make all Illinois for him, or else against
him, placing his redemption and resurrection on the vox
populi. No man refuses Edward Coles the character of
an honest man and consistent politician; and it pleases me
every day to hear men bear the strongest testimony to
your real merits. To be short, the want of you is felt.
On the subject of the agency at Peoria, I have got
Turney, Judge Browne, Mr. Forquer, and Judge Lock-
wood to write to Mr. Cook. Hamilton has got the pro
tein appointment from Gen'l Clark. I am indeed de
sirous of succeeding, as it would benefit me individually;
and enable me to serve my friends and punish myenemies.
I will write you again. Your friend,
Nicholas Hansen.
Goveenok Coles.

HANSEN SEEKING OFFICE. 97
Hansen it seems at this time was seeking an of
fice. Some of the pro-slavery men appear to have
forgiven him for his course in the Legislature for
two of them, Judge Browne and General Turney,
joined George Forquer and Judge Lockwood in
writing the congressman, at that day, Hon. Dan
iel P. Cook, in his behalf. It will be perceived
that there is a charming frankness in the closing
part of his letter, in which he says that the office he
desires would enable him " to serve his friends and
punish his enemies."
7

98 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTER X.
Triumph of the Convention Men; thetb Indecent Joy; Ac
count of their Mob Proceedings, by Governor Ford and
Governor John Reynolds; Anti-Convention Men appalled
at the Pro-Slavery Triumph, but immediately Organize
to Defeat the Resolution at the Polls; Stirring Address
ofthe Anti-Convention Members of the Legislature to
the People of Illinois; the Signers of the Address; Judge
Gillespie's Sketches ; other Sketches ; Alexander A.
Field; his checquered History.
The joy of the convention men over this triumph
outran all bounds. No consideration of decency
or discretion could restrain them. An impromptu
jollification was gotten up, not only to celebrate
their hard-earned victory, but to insult and de
grade their opponents. I will let Governor Ford
describe this affair :
" The night after this resolution passed, the con
vention party assembled to triumph in a great ca
rousal. They formed themselves into a noisy, dis
orderly and tumultuous procession, headed by
Judge Phillips, Judge Smith, Judge Thomas Rey
nolds, late Governor of Missouri, and Lieutenant
Governor Kinney, followed by the majority of the
Legislature, and the hangers-on and rabble about
the seat of government; and they marched with

TRIUMPH OF THE CONVENTION MEN. 99
the blowing of tin horns and the beating of drums
and tin pans, to the residence of Governor Coles,
and to the boarding houses of their principal op
ponents, towards whom they manifested their con
tempt and displeasure by a confused medley of
groans, wailings and lamentations. Their object
was to intimidate and crush all opposition at once." *
Governor John Reynolds, who was a pro-slav
ery, as well as a convention man at the time, in his
History, "My Own Times" thus speaks of the
action of the House in turning out Hansen and of
the conduct of the mob afterwards: "This pro
ceeding in the General Assembly looked revolu
tionary, and was condemned by all honest and re
flecting men. This outrage was a death blow to
the convention. The night after the passage of the
resolution there was at the seat of Government a
a wild and indecorous procession by torch-light
and liquor, and that was also unpopular."
The members of the Legislature who had heroic
ally, but unsuccessfully, resisted the passage of the
convention resolution, as well as Governor Coles
and the anti-convention men of the State, then at
Vandalia, were appalled at the pro-slavery tri
umph.
* Ford's History of Illinois, page 53.

100 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
The convention men, certain of the success of
their schemes at the polls, were arrogant, insulting
and defiant. Such was the apparent strength of
the pro-slavery and convention men that there was
scarcely a ray of light in the glotfm that enveloped
the cause of freedom. There were, however, some
courageous hearts who determined to accept the
gauntlet which had been thrown down. As soon as
the Legislature adjourned, Governor Coles invited
all the principal anti-convention men of the State,
who were then at Vandalia, to meet him at the
Governor's room to consult upon the course to be
adopted in view of the late action of the Legisla
ture. Fully appreciating the supreme importance
of the question which had been thrust upon them,
and animated by great impulses, they determined
upon an immediate organization, and to resist at
the very threshold the conspiracy to make Illinois
a slave State, and measures were taken to accom
plish their purposes. The first thing to be done
was to have the members of the Legislature, who
voted against the convention scheme, issue an
address to the people of Illinois. This address,
which was undoubtedly drawn up by Governor
Coles, unmasked the purposes of the conspirators
to make a slave constitution, and exposed all the

ADDRESS OF THE ANTI-CONVENTION MEN. 101
various devices and means that had been resorted
to to accomplish their purpose. It was an impas
sioned appeal to the people to rise up in their might
and save the State from the greatest shame and dis
aster that could ever be visited upon any people.
This address, now read after a period of nearly
sixty years, cannot but excite the most stirring
emotions. Speaking of slavery it says: "What a
strange spectacle would be presented to the civil
ized world, to see the people of Illinois, yet inno
cent of this great national sin, and in the full en
joyment of all the blessings of free government,
sitting down in solemn convention to deliberate and
determine whether they should introduce among
them a portion of their fellow beings, to be cut off
from those blessings, to be loaded with the chains
of bondage, and rendered unable to leave any other
legacy to their posterity than the inheritance of
their own servitude ! The wise and the good of
all nations would blush at our political depravity.
Our professions of republicanism and equal free
dom would incur the derision of despots and the
scorn and reproach of tyrants. We should write
the epitaph of free government upon its tomb
stone." After dwelling upon the moral aspects of slave-

102 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
ry, the address argues against its introduction
on account of its inexpediency, and closes with
the following eloquent appeal : " In the name
of unborn millions who will rise up after us, and
call us blessed or accursed, according to our deeds
— in the name of the injured sons of Africa, whose
claims to equal rights with their fellow men will
plead their own cause against their usurpers before
the tribunal of eternal justice, we -conjure you,
fellow citizens, to ponder upon these things."
There were fifteen members of the Legislature,
Senators and Representatives — brave, conscientious
and God-fearing men — who signed this noble and
timely Appeal to the people of Illinois. I give all
their names, for they deserve to be written in let
ters of gold on the tablets of the State's history.
The signers are :
Risdon Moore, William Lowery,
William Kinkade, James Sims,
George Cadwell, Daniel Parker,
Andrew Bankson, George Churchill,
Jacob Ogle, Gilbert T. Pell,
Curtiss Blakeman, David McGahey,
Abraham Cairnes, Stephen Stillman,
Thomas Mather.
There were three other members of the Legisla
ture who voted against the convention resolution but
who did not sign this appeal. They were Robert

THE signers of the address. 103
Frazier, a Senator from Edwards county, Raphael
Widen, a Representative from Randolph county,
and J. H., Pugh, a Representative from Bond county.
What influenced them not to join in this Appeal is
not now known, but it is probable that they might
have left Vandalia before the paper had been
drawn up.
I wish it were in my power to do something to
rescue from oblivion the names of these brave and
true men in the Legislature, who fought out the
battle against the introduction of slavery into the
State, and whose labors and influence contributed so
much to save our commonwealth from one of the
most appalling calamities ever visited upon, a peo
ple. They were men of no particular distinction
in their day and generation, and there was not a
man among them of any great prominence, or dis
tinguished by talent or eloquence. But they had
great convictions and true courage, and during all
the long and fearful conflict it could be said of
them,
" No dangers daunted and no labors tired."
Earnest as these men were, and devoted and pa
triotic as they were, yet it is evident that they
"builded better than they knew." It would have
seemed almost impossible in that day to comprehend

104 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the stupendous consequences which would have re
sulted from the success of the slave party.
Through the kindness of friends in different parts
of the State, I have been able to obtain some infor
mation in regard to these anti-convention men in
the Legislature. It is much to be regretted that it
is not more full.
The two members from St. Clair county, who
voted against the convention resolution, were Ris-
don Moore and Jacob Ogle. Mr. Moore was a
member of the House in the Territorial Legislature
in 1814 and 1815, of which he was the Speaker,
both sessions. Born in Delaware in 1760, he
served in the Navy for a short time toward the
close ofthe Revolution. His father, Charles Moore
also served in the Revolution. After the close of
the war, Risdon learned the trade of a blacksmith.
In 1789, he moved to Guilford Court House, N.
C. He there married a daughter of Col. Wm.
Dent, and in the following year moved to Hancock
county, Georgia, and settled near Sparta. He re
sided twenty-two years in Georgia and raised a
family of nine children. He was a member of the
Georgia Legislature from Hancock county, in 1795
and 1796, and also in the years 1808 and 1809.
He was brought up an Episcopalian, but left that

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. 105
church to join the Methodist, a denomination with
a more marked hostility to the institution of slave
ry, which he held in abhorrence. In 1812 he moved
from Georgia to St. Clair county. His own family
with his white servant, whom he brought with him,
numbered fifteen, and his colored people numbered
eighteen. He was distinguished for his great kind
ness to the colored people,and he frequently said that
he had never inflicted punishment on a slave. He
was a member of the lower house of the legislature
from St. Clair county, from the 1st to the 5th
General Assembly — 1818 to 1826. He was a most
vehement opponent of the Convention Resolution,
and he and George Churchill, the anti-convention
member from Madison county, were burned in
effigy in Troy, in that county.* Mr. Moore was a
* It is hard to believe at this day that two such men as George
Churchill and Risdon Moore were burned in effigy in what is now
the staid and sober county of Madison for resisting the introduction
of slavery into the State in 1823-4. Goveror Koener says such was
the fact, and Judge Gillespie confirms it. He says that the Rev.
Jesse Renfro now living at Troy, was present and saw the two men
burned in effigy. It was in this same county of Madison, at Alton, on
the night of the 7th of November 1837, that Elijah P. Lovejoy was
murdered by a mob for attempting to establish an anti-slavery news
paper in that city. Madison county became afterwards a strong anti-
slavery county, and her people one of the most law abiding in the State.
" Humanity sweeps onward,
Where to-day the Martyr stands,
On the morrow crouches Jjidas,
With the silver in his hands."

106 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
strong Adams man in 1824 and in 1828. He was
once or twice a member of the County Court, and
was called Judge "Moore, to distinguish him from
his cousin, Risdon Moore, a democrat, and a Sena
tor from St. Clair county from 1828 to 1830.
Judge Moore was a man highly respected in every
walk in life, and always a prominent number of
the Methodist Church. His numerous descendants
are all of the highest respectability. He settled
about four miles east of Belleville, at what was at
that time called the " Turkey Hill Settlement."
Jacob Ogle, born in Virginia, was the son of
Capt. Joseph Ogle, of Virginia, who was 'a soldier
of the Revolution. Both father and son came to
what is now Monroe county, in 1785 ; and they
moved to a point near where O'Fallen is now situ
ated, in St. Clair county, on a creek named after
him, Ogle's creek, in 1821. Jacob Ogle was a
" Ranger " in 1812. They were both lead-
ding members of the Methodist Church. In
addition to being a member of the " Convention
Legislature," in 1830 Jacob Ogle was elected to
the lower house of the General Assembly, from St.
Clair county. He seems to have held no other
position except Justice of the Peace. He was a

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. 107
well-to-do farmer, highly respected and intelligent.
He died in 1844, aged seventy-two years.
Raphael Widen, who, as 'a member of the
House from Randolph county, voted against the
Convention Resolution, was a native of Sweden, but
left there when but eight years old for France,
where he was educated for a Catholic priest. He
emigrated from France to the United States in
1815. He married Miss Frances Lalemier in Ca-
hokia, in 1818, and died of cholera, in Kaskaskia,
in 1833. His widow afterwards married Capt. E.
Walker, and she died in Chester, the present coun
ty seat of Randolph, in 1874. He has a son, Wm.
S. Widen, and a daughter, the wife of John L.
Edwards, both of whom live in Chester. Mr.
Widen was a member of the State Senate, from
Randolph county, from 1824 to 1828.
Andrew Bankson was first elected a Senator
from Washington county in 1822. He voted
against the Convention Resolution. He was re
elected to the Senate in 1824 and served till 1826.
He settled in St. Clair county, on Silver Creek, four
miles south of Lebanon, in 1808 or 1810, from
whence he must have removed to Washington
county. In 1812 he was Colonel of the Rangers.
He was a Captain in the Black Hawk war in 1832.

108 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Removing from Illinois he settled in Iowa Territory,
some distance west of Dubuque. He was a mem
ber of the Iowa Legislature and held other offices.
He was a native of Tennessee and died in Wis
consin, in 1853, while visiting a son-ia-law.
Abraham Cairnes was a member of the House
from Lawrence county, and voted against the con
vention resolution. He settled in Crawford coun
ty in 1816, and in that part of it afterwards em
braced in Lawrence county, which was organized
in 1821. He was a member of the House in the
previous General Assembly, in 1820-2, from Craw
ford county. He does not appear to have been a
member of the Legislature after 1822-4. I can
get but little information in regard to him, further
than that in the canvass he was an active and effi
cient opponent of the Convention Resolution. He
removed from Lawrence county to some point in
the Mississippi River, in 1826. He was a native
of Kentucky.
David McGahey was a member of the House
from Crawford county. He settled in that county
in 1817 and continued to reside there until his
death in 1851. He was re-elected to the House in
1824 from Crawford, and from Lawrence and
Crawford in 1832, and elected a Senator from the

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. 109
same counties in 1834. His son, James D. Mc
Gahey, was elected to the House from Crawford at
the same time, and died during his term of service. '
Though a Tennesseean, Mr. McGahey was a strong
opponent of slavery, and was one of the twelve
members of the House who voted against the Con
vention Resolution. From the number of times he
was elected to the Legislature it is evident he en
joyed the confidence of the people to a high de
gree. William Kinkade settled in what is now Law
rence county in 1817. He was a member of the
State Senate from Wayne and Lawrence from 1822
to 1824, and voted against the Convention Resolu
tion. When the question was up before the Senate,
he demanded of the friends of the resolution to de
fine their position, as the people had a right to know
whether or not their object in calling a convention
was to introduce slavery into the State. As the con
vention men had determined in caucus to permit
no discussion, they sat silent in their seats and
made no response. Mr. Kinkade then commenced
a bold and aggressive speech, and charged on the
convention party a purpose they dared not avow.
As he was treading on dangerous ground, he was
immediately called to order. Lt. Governor Hub-

110 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
bard, the presiding officer of the Senate, unhesita
tingly applied the gag, and he was not permitted to
proceed. He only served once in the Legislature.
Mr. Kinkade was appointed postmaster at Law-
renceville by John Quincy Adams and held the
office many years. He was a Tennesseean by birth.
He died in 1846, leaving two sons, one of whom,
A. G. Kinkade, now lives in Richland county; the
other son only survived his father for a few years.
Robert Frazier, the Senator from Edwards
county, who voted against the -Convention Resolu
tion, had been a Senator in the previous legislature
from the same county, and elected in 1820. Unfor
tunately I have not been able to find out much in
regard to him. He was a farmer, and lived in
that part of Edwards which was afterward set off
to Wabash. He afterward took up his residence
in Edwards county, about four miles east of Al
bion, and died on his farm. He was a Kentuckian
by birth. " Frazier's Prairie," in Edwards county,
was named after him.
Thomas Mather, of Randolph county, was the
most active and efficient opponent of the Conven
tion Resolution in the House of Representatives.
He was one of nine members of this House who
had been members of the House in the preceding

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. Ill
legislature. Thomas Mather and his colleague
Raphael Widen, Risdon Moore, of St. Clair, and
Abraham Cairnes, of Crawford, were the only mem
bers pf the House in the " Convention Legislature,"
who were opposed to the Convention Resolution,
who had been members of the previous House.
Mather was therefore an " old member," and from
his experience and ability he naturally became the
leader of the opposition. In the campaign which
followed the adoption of the Convention Resolution
Mr. Mather bore a conspicuous part in the public
discussion against the measure and rendered a great
and valuable service to the cause. A native of
Connecticut, he came to Illinois and settled in
Kaskaskia in 1818, and engaged in mercantile busi
ness. Becoming interested in political affairs, two
years later 1820, he was elected a member of the
House of Representatives ofthe General Assembly,
from Randolph county, in conjunction with Raph
ael Widen. He was again elected to the House
in 1822, and re-elected in 1824. Governor Coles
appointed him an aid-de-camp on his staff, and he
ever afterwards bore the title of Colonel. He was
elected Speaker of the House in the legislature
elected in 1824, and served during the first session.
He resigned the speakership at the end of this ses-

112 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
sion, and David Blaekwell, of St. Clair, was elected
in his place for the second session. He was again
elected to the House from Randolph in 1828, in
conjunction with Hypolite Menard. In 1832
he was elected Senator from Randolph and
Perry, and resigned in 1834. His legis
lative service was a long and honorable one
and useful to the State. Col. Mather held no polit
ical position after he resigned as Senator in 1834, but
became identified with many public enterprises. He
became widely known in the State as the President
of the State Bank of Illinois, and ever maintained"
the highest character for integrity, liberality, and
public spirit. He was the only member of the con
vention legislature lever knew, except John Shaw.
Though a resident of Springfield, he died in Phila
delphia, March 28, 1855. The last time I met him
was a little while before this date, at the Astor House,
New York City. He was then in very bad health.
His widow, nowover eighty years of age, still sur
vives him, and resides at Springfield.
Jonathan H. Pugh represented Bond county in
the Legislature, and voted against the call of the
Convention. He afterwards removed to Spring
field, where he figured in politics and at the Bar.
He was reputed to be a very fine lawyer, but died

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. 113
at an early age, universally respected. He ran
for Congress as a Whig in 1832.
Doctor George Cadwell, first physician of
Morgan county, was born the 21st February, 1773,
in Wethersfield, Connecticut. He received his
literary education at Hartford, his medical educa
tion at Rutland, Vermont. He was united in
marriage with Miss Pamelia Lyon, daughter of
Hon. Matthew Lyon, on the 12th February, 1797,
in Vergennes, Vermont.
Gov. Reynolds, in his history of Illinois, says :
"In the year 1799, sailed down the Ohio river
Matthew Lyon and family, with John Messenger
and Dr. George Cadwell and their respective
families. The last two named were the sons-in-
law of Lyon, and all settled in Kentucky, atEddy-
ville. Messenger and Dr. Cadwell left Eddy-
ville in 1802, and landed from a boat in the
American Bottom, not far from old Fort Chartres.
They remained in the Bottom for some time, and
Dr. Cadwell moved and settled on the Illinois
bank of the Mississippi, opposite the Gasharit
Island, and above St. Louis. He was quite a re
spectable citizen — practiced his profession, and
served the people in various public offices. He was
justice of the peace and county judge for many
8

114 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
years in St. Clair county, and in Madison also after
its formation. Since the establishment of the State
Government he served in the General Assembly
from Madison and Greene counties,, at different
times, and always aquitted himself with satisfaction
to the public. After a long life spent in useful
ness, he died in Morgan county quite an old man.
He was moral and correct in his public and private
life, and left a character much more to be admired
than condemned ; was a respectable physician, and
always maintained an unblemished character,"
The doctor was elected State Senator from the
county of Madison in 1818, and served the full
term of four years. In the fall of 1820 he removed
into the territory subsequently included in the
county of Morgan — still in his Senatorial district ;
he settled in the point of timber known as Swiner-
ton's Point, east of the Allison Mound, where he
remained with his family until he died. In 1822,
he was elected to the Senate from the county of
Greene, and attached territory, and voted against
the convention resolution. In dividing the Sena
tors elected from nine districts into two classes, the
seats of one to be vacated at the end of two years,
and the other at the end of four vears, the Doctor's
%i '
term was made to expire at the end of two years, su

THE SIGNERS OF THE ADDRESS. 115
that he served but one session. He died 1st of
August, 1826, from an attack of billious fever.*
Daniel Parker, who was the senator from
Crawford and Clark counties, was a Baptist minis
ter who emigrated from Tennessee. He resided at
Palestine, Crawford county. He removed from Il
linois to Palestine, Texas (date not known), and
for sometime had charge of a church at that place.
William Lowrey, representative from Clark
County, voted against the Convention Resolu
tion, and resided in what is now Edgar county,
a few miles north of Paris. He was from Ken
tucky and had been an associate judge of Green
up county. After the organization of Edgar
county he served for a time as circuit clerk of that
county. Sometime after the year 1830 he removed
to Dewitt county, Illinois, where he died.
James Sims was born in Virginia and was taken
by his parents to South Carolina, where he was
married. From thence he moved to Logan county,
Kentucky. Thence to St. Clair county, Illinois,
and from thence to Sangamon county in 1820. He
was the first Representative from Sangamon county
in the State Legislature, and elected in August,
1822. From Sangamon county he removed to
* Judge Wm. Thomas, in the Jacksonville Journal.

116 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Rock Creek, in what is now Menard county, and
from thence to Morgan county. He was a Metho
dist preacher and formed the first circuit ever
organized in Sangamon county.
Stephen Stillman, who was the first Senator
ever elected from Sangamon county, was born in
Massachusetts and emigrated with his mother, the
widow of Benjamin Stillman, to Sangamon county,
Illinois, in the spring of 1820. The family settled
near Williamsville. A post office was established
there and Mr. Stillman was made postmaster. It
was the first post office north of the Sangamon river.
Mr. Stillman died in Peoria between 1835 and 1840.
His brother Isaiah Stillman was in command of a
body of troops in the Black Hawk war in 1832, at a
point in Ogle county, which has ever since been
known as " Stillman's Run."
Gilbert T. Pell was a member of the House
of Representatives from Edwards county, in the
Convention Legislature. He was the son-in-law
of Morris Birkbeck, and very naturally was an anti-
slavery man, who voted against the convention
scheme. He continued to live in Edwards county
some time after the death of Mr. Birkbeck, and was
elected to the lower House ofthe legislature in 1828.
He afterwards left the State, and dying subse
quently, his widow removed to Australia.

captain blakeman. 117
My old and valued friend, Judge Joseph Gilles
pie, of Edwardsville, who still remains among us
in all his physical and intellectual vigor, honored,
respected and beloved, and who is a connecting-
link between the earlier and later Illinois, and
whose knowledge of all of our earlier public men
surpasses that of most men in the State, has been
kind enough to give me some sketches of the mem
bers of the " Convention Legislature," as it was
called. The members of the House from Madison
county who voted against the convention were Cur
tiss Blakeman and George Churchill. Of Captain
Blakeman he says:
" He emigrated from New York in 1817, and along
with several other sea captains made a settlement in
Madison county, to which they gave the name of " Ma
rine? They displayed great taste in the selection of a
location. It is my deliberate conviction that for beauty
of scenery and fertility of soil it has no equal. * *
*********** Captain Blakeman
was always an outspoken abolitionist and became a
member of a society that was formed in Edwardsville as
early as 1820, in aid of the anti-slavery cause. Opposi
tion to slavery was his ruling passion, and he felt it to
be his duty to strike at it whenever it showed its head.
He took no part in politics except for the purpose of
fighting slavery. He commanded the ship that took
General Moreau to Europe, who went to join the allied
armies against Napoleon in 1813. He said he took the

118 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
liberty to ask the General who he thought was the great
est Captain in Europe. Moreau unhesitatingly answered,
saying that Bonaparte was the greatest general who
ever lived." *
George Churchill was another member from Madi
son county, and opposed the call of the convention. He
was a thorough paced abolitionist all his life. By pro
fession he was a printer, and was connected with the
first paper published in St. Louis. He was from one of
the eastern States. Coming to Illinois, he carried on
farming during the rest of his life. He was frequently
elected to the Legislature, and was accounted the best
working member we ever had. He toiled like a dray-
horse, but never made a speech of more than five min
ute's length. That, however, contained all that ought
to be said. He entered into no rings or cliques, but
went right along with his work, and was never out of
*General Moreau was invited to return from the United States to
join the allied armies against Napoleon by the Emperor Alexander of
Russia. It was but a few months after his frank conversation with
the American sea captain that standing by the side of the Emperor
at the battle of Dresden he was mortally wounded by a French bullet
on the 27th of August, 1813. He died on the 2d of September fol
lowing. The star of the great Napoleon, whom he had so highly
complimented in his conversation with Captain Blakeman, and in
fighting against whom he fell, had now begun to pale. The dread
ful disasters to Bonaparte's armies at Dresden, at Leipzig and at
Ltitzen and Bautzen were only relieved a short time afterwards, when
the great soldier commanding in person fell upon and nearly de
stroyed the division of Wrede's Bavarians at Hannau. General Moreau
was in the United States from 1804 to 1813. He lived in great quiet
and it might almost be said in obscurity, cultivating his acres like
Cincinnatus. He was one of the great soldiers of France. Some of
the French writers say that as a tactician he was the equal, if not the
rmperior of Napoleon, but on the field of battle he was only in the
second rank.

SKETCH BY JUDGE GILLESPIE. 119
his seat when he ought to be in it. lie was never a
candidate and never wanted office. If elected, he would
serve, and that was all there was about it. He was a per
fect walking encyclopedia of political knowledge. It
was as dangerous to atlack him on a question of political
history as it was John Quincy Adams. He was never
married. In person he was badly formed, and unprepos
sessing in appearance; his complexion was sallow, his
eye lusterless and expression dull. But he possessed
great knowledge and sense.*
It is a melancholy reflection that after a period
of less than sixty years that so little is known of
these members of the legislature who fought the
battle of freedom and who rendered a service to
the State and to humanity which can never be
fully measured. I can appropriately repeat here
what I once said on a cognate subject. In the wild
aud rapid whirl of events in our country we are
too apt to neglect 'or forget history. ' Humanity
sweeps onward,' but the recollections of men and
the histories of peoples and nations are too often
buried in forgetfulness and oblivion. To rescue a
name worthy to be remembered and honored, to
recall great events, to look back upon the deeds of
* George Churchill was a member of the House of Representa
tives in the General Assembly from Madison county from 1822 to
1824, 1824 to 1826, 1826 to 1828, 1828 to 1830, 1830 to 1832. He was
a Senator from Madison County from 1838 to 1842, making a total ser
vice in the Legislature of fourteen years.

120 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
those gone before us, are objects worthy of all our
consideration. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, and in the
highest degree honorable to the parties, that out of
the eighteen members of the legislature who voted
against the Convention Resolution, at least ten of
them were from the slave-holding States.*
Their names are :
Risd en Moore, from Georgia.
Robert Frazier, from Kentucky.
"William Kinkade, from Tennessee.
Abraham Cairnes, from Kentucky.
David McGahey, from Tennessee.
Jacob Ogle, from Virginia.
"William Lowery, from Kentucky.
Daniel Parker, from Tennessee.
James Sims, from South Carolina.
Andrew Bankson, from Tennessee-.
In addition to the sketches which Judge Gilles
pie gave me of certain members of the legislature,
who voted against the call of the convention, he
has sketched some of the leading convention men.
They had the advantage of the anti-convention
* I am indebted not only to Judge Gillespie for much valuable infor
mation in respect of these anti-convention members of the Legisla
ture, but to Judge Wm. Thomas, of Jacksonville; Governor Koerner,
of Belleville; Hon. N. "W. Edwards, of Springfield; Hon. Henry
Dodge Dement, Secretary of State; Charles Churchill, Esq., of Albion;
Hon. George Hunt, of Paris; Hon. Wm. H. Snyder, of Belleville,
Hon. T. B. Needles, of Nashville, and my former colleagues in the
House of Representatives, Hon. Wm. R. Morrison, of Waterloo, and
Hon. James C. Allen, of Olney.

SKETCH BY JUDGE GILLESPIE. 121
men in the body, not only in the numbers, but in
ability and political experience. In the Senate
there was Theophilus W. Smith, afterwards Judge
of the Supreme Court; William Kinney, afterwards
Lieutenant Governor; Joseph A.Beaird and Thom
as Sloo, Jr. In the House were William M. Alex
ander, James A. Whiteside, Emanuel J. West,
Zadok Casey, formerly Lieutenant Governor and
member of Congress, Col. Alexander P. Field,
General James Turney, afterwards Attorney-Gen
eral of the State. I quote Judge Gillespie : " The
ophilus W. Smith was Senator from Madison, and
favored the call of a convention. He was an able
lawyer and soon obtained a seat upon the bench of
the Supreme Court of Illinois, where he would
have figured pre-eminently if he had kept aloof
from politics, but this he would not ; he was " up
to the eyes " iu every political intrigue of the day.
He was from the city of New York, and got his
political education in Tammany Hall, and must
have been an adept in the trickery for which that
institution was famed, even in that early day.
Everything done in our political affairs that was
rash, reckless and unprecedented, was laid to Judge
Smith's charge."

122 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Continuing his sketches, Judge Gillespie says :
" I was acquainted with "William Kinney from St. Clair
county. He was a pro-slavery man, and voted and
worked for the call of a convention. He was one of the
shrewdest men I ever knew, full of wit and sarcasm, and
could extricate himself from a dilemma admirably. His
educational advantages had been very limited, so much
so that he employed the little i as a personal pronoun,
and, when he was rallied about it, said that his reason
for doing so was that Governor Edwards had used up
all the big I's, and left nothing for him but the little
ones. He filled very creditably the office of Lieutenant
Governor and Internal Improvement Commissioner of
the State. He had great power over men. He was a
"hard shell" Baptist preacher, and had absolute dominion
over his flock, spiritually and politically. Kinney was
a very bold man, and would grapple with any foe. He
wrote and published a criticism on Dickens' notes on
America, in which, I think, he made the latter look very
small. Kinney and John Reynolds were political rivals,
and both lived in the same county, and were of the
Democratic faith. Reynold's got the better of Kinney,
although the latter was a man of the best natural parts.
It was impossible for Kinney to "trim? he had to he
an ultra. Reynolds, on the other hand, could shift his
sails to meet every changing breeze, and in that way he
retained a portion of the democracy, and got the whole
of the opposition, which gave him the ascendency.
Kinney was like a cat, he invariably fell upon his feet.
John M. Peck, a very talented New England preacher,
once thought he had Kinney down. The latter was in
the habit of abusing the Yankees, but, on visiting JSTew
England, became favorably impressed with its people,

SKETCH BY JUDGE GILLESPIE. 123
and on his return home extolled them in the highest
terms. Peck, hearing of this, thought he would triumph
over the Governor, and remarked that he understood
that his views about the Yankees had totally changed.
The Governor said that they had undergone a partial
change. He said he used to believe that the Yankees
were all mean, but now he was satisfied that they had
some good ones, but they kept the good ones at home,
and sent only the mean ones out West.
James Turney I knew but slightly. He represented
Washington county, and I think removed to Green
county. He was elected Attorney-General. He was a
lawyer, by profession, not supposed to be very deeply
read, but succeeded very well by the force of his native
abilities. I think he was from Tennessee, and died a
long time ago.
Emanuel J. West was something of a character. He
was a democrat,' and in favor of slavery. He was a
splendid conversationalist, and possessed of fine manners,
and to these qualities he owed his election at that time
when public opinion ran so strongly in opposition to his
political professions. West was born, I think, in Del
aware, but went to the Island of Tenerifl'e.
He reached Illinois about 1818, and settled on a beau
tiful farm, about seven miles northwest of Edwardsville,
which he christened " Glorietta." He was appointed
"Minister to Mexico by General Jackson, but died before
reaching his post.
He was passionately fond of politics, and was, conse
quently, not a success as a farmer.
Mr. West had few superiors in conversation. He was
absolutely charming in that line. If he had lived he
could have figured in public life. I think the depart
ment of diplomacy suited him.

124 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Alexander P. Eield, of Union county, was a native
of Kentucky, and was the nephew of Nathaniel Pope, who
was Secretary of the Territory of Illinois, afterwards del
egate in Congress from the Territory, and then Judge of
the United States District Court for the State of Illinois.
I was well acquainted with Field, and practiced law in
the same circuit with him for many years. He was a
very powerful and successful criminal lawyer. The first
time I ever saw him was when he was canvassing for
General Jackson. Breese was speaking in opposition to
him. Breese was an Adams man. They afterwards
changed places: Field depkryed as an Adams man and
Breese as a democrat. The debate was a very able one.
Field was afterwards appointed Secretary of State and
held the office for many years, though the State was dem
ocratic. He was legislated out of office on account of his
politics. He removed to New Orleans before the war,
where he distinguished himself as a criminal lawyer.
An outspoken opponent of secession, he fell under the
displeasure of the rabble of the city, and he was con
stantly in danger of losing his life. He told me, after
the war was over, that before the Union forces got pos
session of New Orleans, he seldom laid down at night
expecting to be alive in the morning. Infuriated crowds
would beset him at every turn whenever he left his house,
threatening him with death."
This is the first appearance in public life of
Alexander P. Field, who represented Union coun
ty, then one of the most important counties in
the State. He was a lawyer by profession. He
afterwards assumed a good deal of importance
in official positions in Illinois and elsewhere. He

ALEXANDER P. FIELD. 125
was a member of the Lower House in the Legisla
ture from Union county from 1822 to 1828. From
1828 to 1830 he represented Union, Johnson and
Alexander counties. He was Secretary of State of
Illinois from 1828 to 1840, when he was legislated
out of office, and finally removed by judicial pro
ceedings. After the election of General Harrison
he was appointed Secretary of Wisconsin Territory
in 1841, and it was then that I first knew him.
Some years afterwards he removed to St. Louis, and
then to New Orleans, and was in the latter city at
the breaking out of the war. He was regarded as
a Union man, though on the arrival of Farragut's
fleet in 1862, he seems to have been driven by the
threats of the mob into publishing a card intending
to convey a different impression. As soon as he
was safe from personal violence he published a
second card, repudiating the first one in bold and
defiant language and ever after that stood in the
front ranks of the Union men.
At the opening of the 38th Congress, December
7, 1863, Col. Field (in conjunction with his col
league, Thomas Cottman) was put on the roll of
the House as a member of Congress from Louisiana.
They both voted on preliminary questions and for
Speaker, but after the organization was perfected

126 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the House refused to swear them in as members,
and subsequently decided that they were not en
titled to seats. Col. Field made an able speech in
support of his claim. In answer to suggestions
touching his loyalty, he made an eloquent and in
dignant protest : " I have always been a loyal man.
I fought against secession to the utmost of my
power. I endangered my life for months and
months. I have never been anything else than a
loyal man, and I hope that I never will be. I
will stand by that flag wherever it floats, and when
I die I hope it will be in that country over which
it waves." It afforded me pleasure in this connec
tion to speak a few words in vindication of Col.
Field. I quote from the Congressional Globe :
"Mr. Washburne, of Illinois: The attention of the
House has been called to a card said to have been pub
lished in New Orleans by the gentleman from Louisiana
(Mr. Field), about the time of the surrender of the city.
1 have not seen that card, but I desire to bear a word of
testimony in regard to the gentleman who claims a seat
here, from Louisiana. He was formerly a respected and
influential citizen of Illinois, long' and well-known for
his patriotism and ability. I have known him for nearly
a quarter of a century, and it affords me pleasure to
speak from my personal knowledge in this regard. I
received a letter from a distinguished citizen of Illinois
who has been long in New' Orleans, in relation to this
claimant. He states that he was always one of the most

ALEXANDER P. FIELD. 127
loyal men, in that State, to the flag of the Union. He
commended him to me for devotion to the Union under
the most trying circumstances. That is all I desire to
say. I have made the statement in justice to the claim
ant for a seat upon this floor, and what I believe to be
due to truth and justice."
The resolution paying the claimants passed by a
large majority. The Illinois delegation (with one
exception) believing in its propriety, and out of
sympathy for an old Iilinoisan, voted for it. Hon.
J. C. Allen made a strong speech in favor of the
resolution. Col. Field was a man of striking personal ap
pearance, tall and well proportioned, of polished
manners, and possessed rare conversational powers.
As a lawyer he was particularly successful in crim
inal cases. After the war he became Attorney -
General for the State of Louisiana, and died in
1877 at New Orleans, after a long and painful ill
ness. From a " Convention man " he became a
" Jackson man," and then a prominent and influ
ential Whig, and dying at last as a loyal man, and,
as he expressed it, " where the flag of his country
waved." Many old settlers of Illinois, his cotem
poraries, forgetting and forgiving hisjcourse on the
Convention question, will always have a warm place
in their memories for the gifted "Aleck Field."

128 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTEE XI.
AcTTON OF THE CONVENTION MEN; THEY ISSUE AN ADDRESS TO
the People; Col. Thomas Cox, Chairman op their Meet
ing; The Weakness of the "Address;'' Notice of Col.
Cos; Early Incidents in Iowa Territory; The Battle
of Bellevue; Illinois Dough-Faces of that Day in
Contrast with Mr. Crawford; His Letter to* Governor
Coles; The First Constitution a Good One; Cause of the
Discontent of the People; Emigration Passing through
the State.
The convention men anticipated their opponents
in an address to the people of Illinois. At a " very
large and respectable meeting of citizens from all
parts of the State," which was held immediately
after the adjournment of the legislature (the day
before the "Appeal" of the other side was issued), to
express their views relative to the Convention Eeso-
lution, Colonel Thomas Cox, of Sangamon county,
was chairman of the meeting.* At this meeting sev-
* Col. Thomas Cox was one ofthe leading men of his day in Illinois.
He was not a member of the " Convention Legislature," but he was
at Vandalia during its session, and one of the most prominent and
influential ofthe great number of citizens ofthe State, who visited the
seat of Government, to aid in the passage of the Convention Resolution.
He resided at Kaskaskia before Illinois was constituted a territory,
and it was at his house in Kaskaskia, that the first Territorial Legis
lature met, on the 25th day of November, 1812. It did not take a
very large house to accommodate this body, for the Legislative Council

ADDRESS BY THE CONVENTION" MEN. 129
en of the most prominent convention men of the
State then at Vandalia, were appointed a commit
tee to draw up resolutions and an address on the
subject. This committee consisted of John Mc
Lean, afterwards United States Senator ; Senator
Theophilus W. Smith, Emanuel J. West, and
Thomas Reynolds, afterwards Governor of Missou
ri; William Kinney, afterwards Lieutenant Gov
ernor of Illinois ; Alexander P. Field and Joseph
A. Beaird. This committee reported resolutions
consisted only of five members, and the House of Representatives of
seven members. He afterwards removed to Union county, and was a
member of the Senate in the first State Legislature. . He was for a long
time the Register of the United States Land Office at Springfield, but
charges were made against him, which lost him his office. In 183S
he obtained a contract for the survey ofthe public lands in that part of
Wisconsin Territory which, in June, 1838, was constituted Iowa Ter
ritory. He settled on the Maquoketa River, in Jackson county, and in
1838 was elected a member of the House of Representatives to the first
Territorial Legislature. He was re-elected in 1839, and became Speak
er ofthe House. He was again elected in 1840. I met him in the
month of April of that year, at Bellevue, the county seat of Jackson
county, and a few days after the desperate and bloody fight which had
occurred at that place. A gang of murderers, horse thieves, counter
feiters and black-legs, had got practical control of that town, and had
become so powerful as to defy the legal authorities. A posse was
called out to make arrests, and Col. Cox assumed command of the
force that had assembled from all parts of the county. The outlaws
entrenched in the house of the ringleaders, determined on a des
perate resistance. Cox marshalled his force under the banks of the
Mississippi river, and with great courage he and his men charged up
on the house. In this desperate encounter seven men were killed out
right and some ten or fifteen wounded. The result was that this
gang of villains and desperadoes, one of the most dangerous, defi
ant and powerful, that ever infested the Northwest, was completely
9

130 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
and an Address to the people of Illinois, at a sub
sequent meeting, February 17, 1823. The resolu
tions endorsed the Convention Resolution, declared
that it was the right and duty of the people to
amend, alter or change their form of government
whenever it ceases to be productive of the objects
for which all governments are instituted, etc., and
recommended the people to vote for a convention.
The address is not what might have been expected
broken up. I attended court at Bellevue, a few days after this fight
took place, which was on April 1st, 1840. People had come to the
"seat of war " from all parts of the county, and the most intense ex
citement prevailed. Nearly every man was armed to the teeth j fresh
ly arrived from staid and sober New England, the sights I beheld were
to me strange and curious. I stopped at the tavern, which had been
kept by W. W. Brown, who was the leader of the gang, and who
had been killed. My room-mate was Judge James Grant, of Daven
port, who has been for nearly half a century one of the most distin
guished citizens and lawyers of Iowa; when we were about to retire,
what was my amazement to see my room-mate, whom I had never met
before, draw out from under the back of his coat an immense bowie-
knife and place it under his pillow. When abroad I wrote a letter to a
friend in regard to this incident, and described Judge Grant's bowie-
knife as being three feet long. This letter got into the newspapers. The
Judge wrote me a letter to Paris, denying my statement, and asserting
that the bowie-knife he had on that occasion was only two feet long.
Col. Cox was one of the most imposing looking men I ever saw. He
was six feet tall; weighed two hundred and forty pounds, and would
attract the attention of every one wherever he went. My friend, Col.
W. A. Warren, of Bellevue, who settled in Jackson county about the
same time as Col. Cox, speaks of him as an able and popular man,
with many excellent qualities, but whose usefulness was impaired by
his unfortunate habits. He died on his farm near the town of Maquo-
keta in 1843, and his family afterwards removed to Los Angelos.
California.

WEAKNESS OF THE ADDRESS. 131
¦ — •  4. —
from the able and distinguished men on the com
mittee to draw it up. They felt that policy dic
tated that the real question at issue — freedom or
slavery in Illinois — should be obscured, and hence
reasons for a change in the Constitution, which no
body cared anything about, were amplified and gen
eral principles stated in high-sounding and pom
pous phrase, while the real reason was studiously
concealed. This address could have had no great
effect, while the bold and manly "Appeal " of the
anti-slavery men was well calculated to awaken
public attention and arouse public feeling.*
The truth is, that the first constitution, which was
now sought to be changed, was, in its main features,
a good one, and the mass of the people were satis
fied with it. They had never manifested any par
ticular desire for a change until after the pro-slavery
* It is somewhat remarkable that while so large and influential a
portion of the people of Illinois, and some of them, the most promi
nent men from the free States, were laboring to make Illinois a slave
State, some distinguished Southern men were opposed to the whole
scheme. I find in an autograph letter of Wm. H. Crawford, who
was then so prominent as a candidate for President, written to Gov
ernor Coles June 14th, 1823, the following: " Is it possible that your
Convention is intended to introduce slavery into the State? I ac
knowledge if I were a citizen I should oppose it with great earnest
ness; where it has ever been introduced it is extremely difficult to get
rid of, and ought to be treated with great delicacy." This declara
tion so honorable to Mr. Crawford, a slave-holder, then Secretary of
war, and one ofthe most distinguished citizens of the South, should
have crimsoned the cheeks of the dough-faces of Illinois of that day.

132 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
demagogues in the Legislature had initiated the
project for a revision. It was then suddenly dis
covered that the fundamental law of the State was
an ill-digested jungle of faults, either containing
or lacking provisions necessary to the prosperity
of the State and the happiness of the people. Un
fortunately, at this time, there was a general dis
content among the people of the State. A scape
goat was wanted. It was the existing constitution
and it was necessary to change it. The times were
hard. The farmer could find no market for his
abundant crops. Manufactures languished, im
provements were at a standstill, and the mechanic
was without work. The country was cursed by a
fluctuating and irredeemable paper currency, which
had driven all real money out of circulation. The
flow of emigration to the State had in a great
measure ceased, but a great emigration passed
through the State to Missouri. Great numbers of
well-to-do emigrants from the slave States, taking
with them their slaves, were then leaving their
homes to find new ones west of the Mississippi.
When passing through Illinois to their destination,
with their well equipped emigrant wagons, drawn
by splendid horses, with their retinue of slaves, and
with all the lordly airs of that class of slaveholders,

DISCONTENT OF THE PEOPLE. 133
they avowed that their only reason for not settling
in Illinois was that they could not hold their
slaves. This fact had a very great influence, par
ticularly in that part of the State through which
the emigration passed, and people denounced the
unwise provision of the constitution prohibiting
slavery, and thus preventing a great influx of
population, to add to the wealth of the State.

134 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTER XII.
Convention Contest Commences ; The most Remarkable ever
in the State ; Its Violence and Bitterness ; Everybody
enters into it ; description of it by governors ford
and Reynolds and Wm. H. Brown ; Hostility Towards
Governor Coles ; Insulting Demand upon him by the
Senate ; His Dignified and Conclusive Response ; Re
jection of his Nominations ; Letter to John G. Lofton.
The Legislature had adjourned, and both parties
had issued their manifestoes. The members and
the great number of the prominent men of the
State who had been attracted to Vandalia during
the struggle, had gone to their homes. The two
parties were now to meet face to face to decide the
question before a tribunal from which there could
be no appeal. Fortunately there was ample time
for discussion, and voices could not be stifled as
they had been in the Legislature. Under the con
stitution the vote of the people on the Convention
Resolution could not take place until the next
election of members of General Assembly, which
would be on the first Monday of August, 1824, a
long period of eighteen months.
There now commenced one of the most remark
able contests that was ever fought out at the hust-

A BITTER CONTEST. 135
ings in this country. The pro-slavery men had
defiantly thrown down the gauntlet, and the anti-
slavery men took it up with equal defiance. The
conflict was long and bitter, and no quarter was
given on either side. There were not only the
strong men of both parties, orators, judges, lawyers,
but the rank and file of people entered into the
struggle with a violence, a zeal, and a determina
tion alike without limit and without example, in
the State. There was a perfect avalanche of per
sonalities, threats and denunciations, and Gov
ernor Ford well says that had not the people
made allowance for all the exaggerations and false
hoods, the reputations of all men would have been
overwhelmed and consumed. "Newspapers, hand
bills and pamphlets, were scattered broadcast.
These missive weapons of a fiery contest were
scattered everywhere, and everywhere they
scorched and scathed as they flew. Almost every
stump in every county had its bellowing, indignant
orator on one side or the other, and the whole peo
ple, for the space of months, did scarcely anything
but read newspapers, hand-bills and pamphlets,
quarrel, wrangle and argue with each other whenever
they met together to hear the violent harangues
of their orators." — (Ford's History of Illinois.)

136 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
The following is the account given of this cele
brated contest, by Governor Reynolds in his his
tory, " My Own Times : "
" The convention question gave rise to two years of
the most furious and boisterous excitement and contest
that ever was visited on Illinois. Men, women and
children entered the arena of party warfare and strife,
and the families and neighborhoods were so divided and
furious and bitter against one another, that it seemed a
regular civil war might be the result. Many personal
combats were indulged in on the question, and the
whole country seemed, at times, to be ready and willing
to resort to physical force to decide the contest. All the
means known to man to convey ideas to one another
were resorted to, and practised with energy. The press
teemed with publications on the subject. The stump-
orators were invoked, and the pulpit thundered anathe
mas against the introduction of slavery. The religious
community coupled freedom and Christianity together,
which was one of the most powerful levers used in the
contest. At one meeting of the friends of freedom in
St. Clair count}', more than thirty preachers of the gos
pel attended and opposed the introduction of slavery in
to the State."
The Hon. William H. Brown, a former president
ofthe Chicago Historical Society, in his admirable
sketch of the " Early Movement in Illinois for the
Legalization of Slavery," read before the Society
December 5, 1864, thus speaks of the great contest :
" The struggle which now commenced, and was con-

SKETCH BY HON. WM. H. BROWN. 137
tinued through the succeeding eighteen months, was one
4)f no ordinary character. Our previous elections had
been conducted with warmth and zeal; but into this
canvass was infused a bitterness and malignity which
the agitation of the Slavery question only engenders.
Why it always produces this result, is worthy of the in
vestigation of the moralist and philosopher. Otlier great
evils, political or moral, are discussed with freedom, and
measures for their amelioration or prevention meet with
no outward opposition; but call in question the right of
one man to enslave another, or even make an effort to
confine this gigantic sin to the territory in which it
exists, and the fiercest passions are aroused in the hearts
of its advocates, and the lack of power alone saves their
opponents from utter destruction.
In this spirit was the contest of 1823-4 waged. Old
friendships were sundered, families divided and neigh
borhoods arrayed in opposition to each other. Threats
of personal violence were frequent, and personal collisions
a common occurrence. As in times of warfare, every
man expected an attack, and was prepared to meet it
Pistols and dirks were in great demand, and formed a
part ofthe personal habiliments of all those conspicuous
for their opposition to the Convention measure. Even
the gentler sex came within the vortex of this whirlwind
of passion; and many were the angry disputations of
those whose cares and interests were usually confined to
their household duties."
The hostility of the pro-slavery men, both in
and out of the legislature, toward Governor Coles,
was intense during the winter of 1822-3. It cul
minated in mobbing his residence after the legis-

SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

lature adjourned. It was the high character of the
Governor, the great influence he began to exercise
over public opinion, and his intense anti-slavery
proclivities, which made him as much hated as
feared. No violence or abuse had any effect upon
him, but he pursued the even tenor of his way,
always maintaining the dignity of his position, but
never slackening his efforts nor abating his zeal.
It was in the height of the contest on the Con
vention Resolution in the Legislature that the Sen
ate made an impudent demand on the Governor.
It was not enough to respectfully request him, but
it showed its animus in passing a curt resolution
which "required " him to lay certain papers before
that body. This unwarranted, not to say insulting,
action of the Senate, was promptly met by the fol
lowing message from the Governor, which showed
how ridiculous was the assumption of the honor
able Senators :
Message of Governor Coles to the Senate.
To the Senate of the State of Illinois:
I have received a Resolution from the Senate, by which
" the Governor is required to lay before the Senate all
the recommendations of all the persons recommended for
the offices of Recorder of the counties of Morgan aud
Fulton." In consequence of the novel and unprece
dented nature of this Eesolution, I have given the sub-

MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR COLES. 139
ject great consideration, and with every disposition to
comply, not only with whatever the Senate lias a right
to require, but with every reasonable request it may ex
press, I ¦ feel myself constrained, under my impressions
of the relative constitutional powers of the Senate and
the Executive, to decline complying with the requisi
tion contained in the above resolution.
The Constitution of this State; the source from whence
the powers and duties as well of the Senate as of the
Governor are derived, declares that " the Governor
shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, appoint all officers whose offices are estab
lished by this Constitution, or shall be established by
law, and whose appointments are not herein otherwise
provided for." By a fair construction of this provision,
it seems that it is, the province of the Governor to nom
inate, and of the Senate to advise and consent, or not to
advise and consent to the nomination ; and a judicious
exercise of this power, on the part of the Senate, it is
conceived, is abundantly sufficient to guard the State -
against the appointment of persons whose character and
qualifications are not such as to render them good and
useful officers. The power of the Senate being thus ex
pressly confined to approving or rejecting nominations,
it is not known by what authority it derives the right to
require of the Governor all the recommendations ofthe
persons named, much less those of all the others who may
have been recommended; a precedent for which, it is be
lieved, cannot be found in the proceedings of the Federal
Government, or the Government of any of the States
whose Constitution contains a similar provision. In
deed, such an authority could not be exercised by the
Senate without greatly abridging the constitutional
powers of the Governor in making his selections.

140 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
If the Senate is to be governed, or its decisions influ
enced, by the written evidence which might be in the
hands of the Governor, it would very frequently act on
imperfect and very different data from that wliich prob
ably decided him in making the nomination, as it is well
known that most recommendations to office are made
verbally, and the Governor occasionally nominates or ap
points an individual from his own personal knowledge
of his character and qualifications. Edward Coles.
February 14, 1823.
The following letter of Governor Coles to John
G. Lofton, illustrates the vindictive feeling ofthe
Senate towards the Governor :
Yandalia, Feb. 16, 1823.
Dear Sir: — Being very sensible of the strong claims
you have on the State from your long residence, the
many valuable services yon have rendered it, and the
justly high character you have acquired from your hon
orable and manly conduct; in one word, believing there
was no man who had stronger claims or better qualifica
tions, I have been induced from these considerations, as
well as the pleasure I felt in giving you a proof of my
high respect and sincere regard, to nominate you to the
Senate as recorder for the county of Fulton. In these
times of party heat, when the worst feelings are enlisted
in the worst of causes; when the friends of freedom are
oppressed, denounced and proscribed by the friends of
Slavery — in such a time, I say, as this, I felicitated myself
in having been able to select an individual so perfectly
fitted in qualification, and so perfectly unexceptionable
in character, that I had not supposed that the blackest

LETTER TO JOHN G. LOFTON. 141
demon of faction could have raised his head against him,
but in this I was mistaken, for on yesterday the Senate,
to my inexpressible surprise, rejected your nomination.
I have done you the justice to state that you had not
applied for the office, but that I had been induced to
nominate you purely from my regard for you, and from
a conviction of your pre-eminent claims and qualifica
tions, and that I thought the emoluments of the office
would be such as to induce you to accept it; and that I
was the more confirmed in my belief of your acceptance,
from the circumstance of your not having jet purchased
the place on which you now reside. This statement of
the reasons for my nominating you is due to you as well
as to myself. The regret I feel at your rejection would
greatly be increased if I should find that you were mor
tified at it, and it would be especially painful to me if I
should have done what may prove displeasing to yon.
As I write in haste, I must conclude by assuring you of
my great respect and sincere regard.
Edward Coles.
J. G. Lofton, Esq.
P. S. Not having had an opportunity of forwarding
this letter, I have opened it to add that since your rejec
tion I have nominated to the Senate, Pascal P. Enos, who
has also been rejected — after which I nominated O. M.
Ross, of Fulton county, which nomination the Senate
neither rejected nor confirmed, but adjourned this even
ing precipitately without having given previous notice
of their intention, either to the House of Representatives
or to the Governor. 1 refer you to the gentleman who
will hand you this for an account of the late extraordi
nary proceeding here.
Feb. 18th. E. C.

142 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTER XIII.
Governor Coles the Leader of the Anti-Convention Forces ;
His intense earnestness ; Letter to Richard Flower ;
Relations between Governor Coles and Nicholas Biddle;
Correspondence between them ; Biddle Introduces Gov
ernor Coles to Roberts Vaux, of Philadelphia, Member
of the Society of Friends ; Notice of Roberts Vaux ; His
great Services to the Anti-Convention Cause ; Corre
spondence between Coles and Vaux ; Another Letter of
Mr. Biddle to Governor Coles.
After the adjournment of the Legislature, Gov
ernor Coles addressed himself with great earnest
ness to the task which confronted him, as the
acknowledged leader of the anti-convention forces.
There were a large number of able men all over
the State who devoted their time and talents to the
great cause, but the position of Governor Coles, his
residence at the seat of government, his prestige as
an anti-slavery man, and his ability as a writer,
placed him in the very front rank of the anti-
convention men. He took steps to get control of the
only newspaper published in Vandalia at the time,
and entered into correspondence with the leading
men in the State and elsewhere, opposed to the con
vention. The following letter of Governor Coles, to
Richard Flower, shows how intensely earnest he

GOVERNOR COLES TO RICHARD FLOWER. 143
was and with what a lofty spirit he was animated.
Mr. Flower was an Englishman and one of the
founders of the English colony cf Edwards county.*
* This letter of Governor Coles will naturally awaken an interest in
Edwards county, and some of its pioneers who fought with the Gov
ernor the great battle against slavery. Edwards county has an in
teresting history. It was organized while Illinois was yet a Territory,
and named Edwards county, after its Territorial Governor, Ninian
Edwards. It embraced all the country north of White county, on tbe
eastern side of the State. The English colony that settled in the
county prior to 1820, gave great character to it by reason of the
' distingaished mm who compose! it. Thay naiml the coanty
seat " Albion." Much is said in this Paper of Morris Birkbeck, who
with Richard and George Flower, was the founder ofthe "English
settlement." The Flowers were men of wealth and education, and
strongly Republican in sentiment, and intensely anti-slavery. The
btter of Governor Coles to Richard Flower shows the high estimate
he placed on his influence. Before coming to Illinoi he had spent a
year at Lexington, Kentucky, having been induced to settle there by
Mr. Clay. He would have made his home in the "Blue Grass
Region," but his hatred of slavery induced him to leave it and
emigrate to Illinois, where his son, George Flower, had preceded him.
George Flower was a man of mark and influence in his day and gen
eration, well known in Europe as well as in this country. He spent
one winter with Thomas Jefferson, at Monticello, and was for two or
three months the guest of Henry Clay, at Ashland. He was in cor
respondence of many distinguished literary and political men. In
1860, with a thoughtful liberality, he presented to the Chicago His
torical Society many original letters addressed to him by Lafayette,
Jefferson, Cobbett, the Abbe Gautier, the Count de Lasteyrie,.D.
Macdonald, then of New Harmony, Indiana (since Lord of the Isles ¦
and Earl of Skye), and other distinguished persons. All these valu
able letters were consumed by the fire which destroyed Chicago
in 1871.
Benjamin Flower, the brother of Richard, never came to this coun
try, but remained in England. He was a literary man and politician.
An ultra-republican, he was once sent to the tower of London for a
speech he made in advocacy of his doctrines. His daughter, Sarah
Flower Adams, was the auther of the popular hymn, "Nearer, my
God, to thee."

144 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

Letter of Governor Coles to Richard Flower.
Yandalia, April 12, 1823.
Dear Sir: — I would have made my acknowledgments
to you long since for your kind letter of 13th of Feb
ruary, but for my having been prevented from writing
by the bearer of it, from the haste with which he took
his departure hence, and for my being much harassed by
the business attendant on the approaching adjournment
ofthe Legislature; and for my having gone- soon after
the adjournment to Edwardsville, where I was detained
until a few days since by torrents of rain which have del
uged the country and rendered the streams and roads
impassable. The perusal of your letter afforded me par
ticular pleasure. It breathes the genuine sentiments of a
Republican and of a philanthropist; and produced an
emotion which was "pleasing though mournful to the
soul." Pleasing that an adopted citizen should possess
principles so entirely accordant with our free institutions;
and as it held out encouragement that the people would
not sanction the late conduct and measures of their Rep
resentatives — mournful, that if the slave faction should
succeed, how unpleasant and truly unfortunate the situa
tion of many of us, who have removed from a great distance
and invested our all in property which we shall be com
pelled to abandon or to sacrifice, to seek new homes we
know not where; or remain in a community whose prin
ciples and practice are not only entirely at variance
with our own, but of a character calculated daily to har
row up our feelings in the most painful way. I was born
in the very bosom of negro slavery; hav.e seen it in all its
bearings ; reflected well upon the nature of it, and hav
ing found it impossible to reconcile it either with my
political or religious creed, I abandoned my native State,

GOVERNOR COLES TO RICHARD FLOWER. 145
my aged parents and relations, to seek in this State a
community whose principles and practice I presumed
were in unison with my own. Judge, then, of my feel
ings at the efforts which have been made and are now
making to change this free community of ours into a
truly odious one, consisting of masters and slaves — and
you can judge the better as your situation and principles
are very similar with mine. The great inducement with
us both to emigrate to this State was the firm belief that
we should not be disturbed by the clanking of the fetters
of Slavery; that tyranny would not be given a legal
sanction, nor afforded the food on which it could prey.
But the majority of the people's representatives, having
by the most violent and unprecedented measure, taken
a step with the view of breaking down those barriers to
oppression, which had been erected by the wisdom and
virtue of those who framed the fundamental law of the
State, and which you and many of us considered, if
not sacred, at least to have been permanently settled, it
becomes us to be on the alert to defeat a measure, which
if it should succeed, will not only be ruinous, and in the
highest degree unjust to many of us who have emigrat
ed here under the most solemn assurance that " neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude" sliould exist; but it
will be of incalculable injury to the interest ofthe State,
of the Union, and of the extension and advancement of
freedom, and the amelioration of the human race.
You reside in a favorable situation to aid with effect
this great question. The county just below you forms
the dividing line between the sections of country in
which the free and slave parties predominate. It has oc
curred to me that the friends of freedom would give
ample support, and that the good cause would be great
ly promoted by establishing a printing press on the
10

146 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Eastern side of the State. And I know of no place where
it could be established to so much advantage, as at Al
bion. Besides the advantage it has in locality, there are
in Albion, and its vicinity, many persons who wield
chaste and powerful pens, and who have the means, and,
I trust, the disposition of patronizing an establishment
of the kind. Pardon me for asking it as a favor to me
personally, and as a sacrifice to the furtherance of the
best and most virtuous of causes, that all personal, sec
tional, national, county or town feelings, and all other
unkind feelings, let them originate from what cause they
may, shall be buried, at least while the great question is
, pending. I will write and ask the same favor of Mr.
Birkbeck. I have but little news. From all I can learn
a considerable majority ofthe people of the counties situ
ated in the north-west part of the State, as far south as
Monroe, St. Clair and Washington, are opposed to a call
of a convention, but great and extraordinay efforts are
already making to induce the people to vote for it.
Present my respectful compliments to Mrs. F. and
family, and to your son and his lady, and be assured of
my respect and esteem.
Edward Coles.
To Richard Flower, Esq.,
Albion, Edwards County, 111.
I have spoken of the relations existing between
Governor Coles and Nicholas Biddle. In view of
the struggle which the Governor had entered upon
in Illinois for the purpose of defeating the intro
duction of slavery into the State, and from the
necessity of obtaining help whenever it could be

GOVERNOR COLES TO NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 147
had in aid of the work, he addressed the following
letter to Mr. Biddle:
Governor Coles to Nicholas Biddle.
Yandalia, Illinois, April 22, 1823.
Dear Sir: — It has been a long time since I either
wrote to you or heard from yon. I made a visit last
summer to my relations in Yirginia, and intended to
have extended my tour as far as Philadelphia, which I
should certainly have done, for I am still more attached
to Philadelphia than any other city in the Union, but
for my trip having been delayed by a severe attack of
bilious fever, and having been prolonged in Yirginia be
yond the time I expected, and the necessity I was under
to be back here by the meeting of the Legislature, to
enter on the duties of the office to which I had been re
cently elected. I assure you, when about to leave Wash
ington (where I staid only four or five days) and to turn
my face to the west, there was a great struggle between
a sense of duty which dragged me here, and my inclina
tions and many strong attractions' which drew me to
your charming city. There has long existed in this
State a strong party in favor of altering the constitution
and making it a slave-holding State; while there is an
other party in favor of a convention to alter the consti
tution, but deny that Slavery is their object. These two
parties have finally, by the most unprecedented and un
warrantable proceedings (an account of which you have
no doubt seen in the newspapers), succeeded in passing a
resolution requiring the sense of the people to be taken
at the next general election (August, 1824,) on the pro
priety of calling a convention for the purpose of altering
the constitution. Knowing that this measure would be
streuuously urged during the late session of the Legisla-

148 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
ture, and that many who professed to be hostile to the
further introduction of Slavery, would advocate it, and
believing that it would have a salutary effect to furnish
them an opportunity of evincing the sincerity of their
professions; and being also urged by a strong sense of
the obligations imposed on me, by my principles and
feelings, to take notice ofthe subject, I called the atten
tion of the Legislature in a speech I delivered on being
sworn into office (a printed copy of which I sent you by
mail) to the existence of Slavery in the State, in violation
of the great fundamental principles of the ordinance, and
recommended that just and equitable provision be made
for its abrogation. As I anticipated, this part of my
speech created a considerable excitement with those who
were openly or secretly in favor of making Illinois a slave-
holding, rather than making it really as well as nomi
nally, a free State — who wished to fill it rather than
empty it of slaves. Never did I see or hear in America
of party spirit going to such lengths, as well officially as
privately, as it did here on this question. Indeed, it
seems to me that Slavery is so poisonous as to produce a
kind of delirium in those minds who are excited by it.
This question, and the manner of carrying it, is exciting
great interest throughout the State, and has already
kindled an extraordinary degree of excitement and
warmth of feeling, which will no doubt continue to in
crease until the question is decided I assure you, I never
before felt so deep an interest in any political quest-
tion. It preys upon me to such a degree, that I shall
not be happy or feel at ease until it is settled. It is im
possible to foresee the injurious effects resulting to this
State or the unhappy consequences which may arise to the
Union, from the success of the slave party in this State.
Many of us who immigrated to this State under the

GOVERNOR COLES TO NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 149
solemn assurance that there should exist here " neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude," will, if the slave
faction succeeds, be compelled to sacrifice or abandon
our property and seek new homes, we know not where,
or remain in a community whose principles we shall
disapprove of, and whose practice will be abhorrent to
our feelings. And already we hear disputed the binding
effect of the ordinance — the power of Congress to restrict
a State, etc., etc., from which I fear, if the introduction of
Slavery should be tolerated here, the discussions on the
expediency and unconstitutionality of the measure will
not in all probability be confined to the citizens of this
State. But this is a part of the question too painful for
me to dwell on. I trust the good sense and virtue of
the citizens of Illinois will never sanction a measure so
well calculated to disturb the harmony of the Union and
so injurious to its own prosperity and happiness, as well
as so directly opposite to the progress of those enlight
ened and liberal principles which do honor to the age.
But to insure this it is necessary that the public mind
should be enlightened on the moral and political effects
of Slavery. You will confer a particular favor on me
and promote the virtuous cause in which I am enlisted,
by giving me information, or referring me to the sources
from whence I can draw it, calculated to elucidate
the general character and effects of Slavery — its
moral, political and social effects — facts showing its
effects on the price of lands, and general improvement
and appearance of a country — of labor both as it re
spects agriculture and manufactures, etc., etc. The State
of Pennsylvania having been long distinguished for its
attachment to free principles, there is no doubt but what
you can procure in Philadelphia many valuable pamphlets
and publications which would throw light on this ques-

150 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
tion. Any which you may have it in your power to
procure and forward, will be most thankfully received,
and the amount of the expense repaid as soon as it is
known. Your old and truly sincere friend,
Edward Coles.
To Nicholas Biddle, Esq.,
President of the Bank of the United States,
Philadelphia. Mr. Biddle to Governor Coles.
Philadelphia, May 20, 1823.
Dear Sir : I have just received your friendly letter
of the 22nd ult., to which I shall take the first moment
of leisure to give a more detailed answer. In the mean
time I can only say that I feel most sincerely the em
barrassment of your situation, and hope that you may
be able to triumph in the good cause. That no effort
may be wanting, you shall have all the assistance which
I can give or procure. My occupations necessarily ab
sorb so much of my time that I can promise you little
on my part, personally, but I have already engaged two
of our most active gentlemen familiar with that subject,
who will cheerfully and zealously contribute to your
support. The first fruit of their labor is the pamphlet
accompanying this letter. I have not had time to read
it, as I am anxious to forward it without delay, but I
understand that it is the latest and best work on the
subject, and goes directly to the question of the superior
ity of free over slave labor. Mrs. B. and Mr. Craig
are glad to hear of your prosperity, and desire to be par
ticularly remembered to you.
With great sincerity of regard,
Edward Coles, Esq.,
Yandalia.

NICHOLAS BIDDLE TO GOVERNOR COLES. 151

Mr. Biddle to Governor Coles.
? Philadelphia, May 26, 1823.
My Dear Sir : My present occupations necessarily
engross so much of my time that I can scarcely contrib
ute more than my good wishes to the great cause which
so -naturally and deeply interests you. It gives me
peculiar satisfaction, therefore, to procure for you the
correspondence of my friend, Mr. Roberts Yanx, to
whom this note is intended to serve as an introduction.
Mr. Yaux is a gentleman of education, talents, fortune,
leisure and high standing in the community. He feels
sensibly all the embarrassments of yqnr situation ; he
perceives the deep importance of defeating this first
effort to extend to the north-western country the mis
fortunes of the slave population, and he is disposed to
co-operate warmly and zealously with you. I know of
no individual more calculated to render you the most
efficient service. He is worthy of all your confidence,
and I recommend to you to yield it to him implicitly, as
I am sure it will be repaid by every kindness and every
service in his power.
With great esteem and regard, yrs.,

Edward Coles, Esq.,
Yan d alia,
Illinois.

!N". BidDle.

This letter of Governor Coles to Mr. Biddle was
the means of bringing the Governor and Mr. Bob-
erts Vaux into communication, as will be seen by
the following letter :

152 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Mr. Biddle to Governor Coles.
Philadelphia, May 26, 1823.
My Dear Sir: I have put into the hands of my friend,
Mr. Yaux, a note for you which he will accompany with a
communication on the subject which now occupies you.
Mr. Yaux will be hearty and zealous in the cause, and I
really deem it a subject of congratulation to you, to pro
cure the assistance of one who is more able and willing
than any individual of my acquaintance to assist you.
There is one thing which I wish to add. The Abolition
Society of this city, has been the subject, whether justly
or not I am unable to determine, of much hostility at a
distance, and it would be rather injurious than benefi
cial to have it supposed that the society was active in the
cause which you are supporting. You will therefore
understand that neither the Abolition Society nor any
other society has the least concern in this matter. The
simple fact is that Mr. Yaux, and two or three of his
friends, have been so much pleased with your past con
duct in relation to Slavery, and have so deep a sense of
their duty to resist the extension of that system, that
they mean to volunteer in assisting you, without any
connections with any set of men, and without any mo
tives which the most honorable might not be proud to
avow. Yery sincerely, yrs->
N. Biddle.
Edward Coles, Esq.,
Yandalia,
Illinois.
Mr. Vaux having thus been introduced by Mr.

ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES. 153

Biddle, he addressed the following letter to Gover
nor Coles.* Philadelphia, 5 Mo. 27, 1823.
To Edward Coles, Esq. :
Esteemed Friend : — My friend, Nicholas Biddle has
kindly furnished me with a note of introduction to thy
correspondence, which is transmitted by the mail that
conveys this letter. I have been induced thus to solicit
access to thy notice, because thy conduct in relation to
the emancipation of thy slaves could not fail to beget
* The perusal ofthe letters of Roberts Vaux to Governor Coles, can
not fail to awaken a real interest among the people of Illinois. I am
glad to publish them, as showing the deep and unselfish interest this
remarkable man took in preserving the soil of Illinois to freedom.
He was the type of a class of men (" Friends ") in Philadelphia, whose
names and deeds have illustrated the history of that city. Roberts
Vaux was born in Philadelphia, January 21, 1786, and died January
7, 1836, and while holding the position of Associate Justice of the
Court of Common Pleas, for the city and county of Philadelphia.
Blessed with health and competence, he pursued a career marked by
honor, benevolence and usefulness. Mr. Thomas McKean Pettit in
his memoir, justly says of him, " The vigor of a fine intellect, with
stores of useful information, a knowledge of men and business, ob
tained by judicious observation and careful training, which combined,
could have been successfully exerted in the acquisition of wealth, or
the gratification of political ambition, were all employed for the ben
efit of the human race."
In reference to the great services rendered by Mr. Vaux, in a letter
of acknowledgment, Governor Coles thus writes to him: " Such noble,
generous and fervid benevolence as yours is highly honorable, even to a
Friend, and is a new and striking proof of that extended philanthropy,
and pure, and heaven-born spirit of Brotherly love, by which that de
nomination of Christians has ever been distinguished."
The part which Mr. Biddle took in this great controversy, and the
timely assistance he rendered, deserves to be remembered to his cred
it, and will soften the prejudice which was excited against him as
the President of the United States Bank.

154 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
greatrespectforanindividualwho.se noble, and gener-
ous example displayed so much practical wisdom, and
Christian benevolence. Nor has it been less gratifying
to be informed of thy official efforts to prevent the over
throw of those constitutional barriers, which were erect
ed to protect the State of Illinois, from the moral, and
political evils inseparable from domestic slavery.
It is really astonishing, that any part of the inhabi
tants of your State should wish to introduce a system
which is generally reprobated where its effects have
been longest known, and from the dominion of which,
such of our fellow citizens of the South as are disposed
to examine the subject with the gravity which it certain
ly merits, most anxiously desire to be redeemed.
Notwithstanding, however, the lessons which experi
ence has taught in this respect, it is likely that Illinois
will be agitated by the exertions of unreflecting men,
and possibly without timely and energetic efforts to
counteract their schemes, they may be enabled to per
suade a majority of her people to violate their early
vows on this subject, and pollute your soil with the
blood and tears of slaves.
Feeling as I do, a deep sympathy for thyself, thus
threatened with the most unhappy consequences, and
desirous that miseries and mischiefs, the amount of
which no mind can fully calculate, may be averted from
the extensive and fair region of which Illinois forms a
part, I would willingly contribute anything in my
power, and with these views I offer my own, and the
services of a few of my friends, in this interesting cause.
We have thought that benefit might result from
making judicious selections from writers whose purpose
is to show the iniquity, and impolicy of slavery — these
selections to be printed in the Tract form (at our own

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 155
expense) and forwarded to Illinois for gratuitous dis
tribution. If this plan should meet thy approbation, I
should be glad to receive an early intimation to that
effect, but should thy official station, or duties, render it
either improper or inconvenient for thee to take an active
part in this business, perhaps it will be in thy power to
select a few individuals who may be disposed to aid us,
and in that event, I shall be obliged by thy introduction
of such persons to my correspondence.
Accept the salutation of my respect,
Roberts Yaux.
The above letter of Mr. Vaux was answered by
Governor Coles, as follows:
Edwardsville, Illinois, June 27, 1823.
Esteemed Friend:
Your kind and highly interesting letter of the 27th
ult. was rec'd by the last mail, and has been perused with
very great pleasure. The benevolent sentiments you ex
press, and the correct views you take of the great ques
tion which is now unfortunately agitating this State, and
the deep interest you evince for the prosperity and hap
piness of Illinois, and the preservation of the rights and
liberty of its inhabitants, do credit alike to the native
benevolence of your heart and to those divine and polit
ical principles which distinguish the real Christian and
Republican, and cannot fail to present a contrast, which,
however mortifying it may be to me as an Illinoisan,
cannot but be highly gratifying to me as a man, to see
one so far removed from the scene, and without any
other interest except that which he feels in the general
happiness of his species, nobly and generously volun
teering his services to assist in promoting the cause of

156 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
humanity, whilst there are thousands here strenuously
advocating the giving a legal sanction to the oppression
and abject slavery of their fellow-creatures. Such noble,
generous, and fervid benevolence as yours, is highly hon
orable even to a Friend; and is a new and striking
proof of that extended philanthropy, and pure and
heaven-born spirit of Brotherly love, by which that de
nomination of Christians have ever been distinguished,
and cannot fail to excite the admiration and win the con
fidence and attachment of all — especially of those like
myself, who daily experience pain and mortification in
hearing doctrines advanced which are directly in oppo
sition to the great fundamental truths of our religious
and political creeds.
In behalf of the friends of freedom in this State, I
give you sincere and grateful thanks for the offer of your
services to assist us to enlighten the minds of our fellow
citizens, by publishing judicious selections and observa
tions on the iniquity and impolicy of Slavery, in tract
form, and distributing them gratuitously through the
State. It may be proper, however, to remark that dis
tant friends should be cautious in the manner of making
their benevolent exertions, as there is danger that design
ing partisans here may not only paralyze the effort, but
turn it against the cause it was intended to promote, by
representing it to be the interference of other States for
the purpose of influencing the opinion of the people of
this. An ingenious pen could dress up this subject in a
manner to give it great effect in this country. Would
it not, therefore, be best not to state on the face of the
publications where they were printed? They could be
printed in Philadelphia, and sent with the goods of some
merchant of St. Louis at a much less expense than by
mail.

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 157
Not being aware of any consideration which should
restrain me, but on the contrary believing that my pres
ent office increases the obligations I am under, as a good
citizen, to exert myself to enlighten the minds of my
fellow citizens, and strenuously to oppose every measure
which I am convinced is unjust in principle or injurious
in its effects, and believing Slavery to be both iniquitous
and impolitic, I conceive myself bound, both as a citi
zen and as an officer, to do all in my power to prevent
its introduction into this State. I will therefore cheer
fully render }rou assistance in distributing any publica
tions yon may forward, or give you any information you
may desire.
The friends of freedom here propose making publica
tion similar to those you suggest, but they will not have
the same means of doing justice to the subject that you
will have in Philadelphia. We are particularly anxious,
not only to present to the people proper views of the im
moral and anti-christian, unjust and anti-republican
character of Slavery, but also facts showing its impolicy
and injurious effects in retarding the settlement and
prosperity of the State, by checking emigration to it,
aud paralyzing the enterprise and activity of its citizens
—that it would impede the progress of manufactures, be
prejudicial to agriculture, and in one word, to the future
prosperity, as well as to the immediate interest of the
State. The great argument here in favor of the intro
duction and toleration of Slavery, is that it would have
the immediate effect of raising the price of lands, and
adding to the population and wealth of the country.
We want facts to disprove these assertions, and also to
show that Slavery would operate to the injury of the
poor or laboring classes of society. Strange as it may
appear, it is nevertheless true, that there are many per-

158 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
sons who are in principle opposed to Slavery who will
yet vote for making this a slave-holding State, under
the belief that by so doing they will be enabled to make
an immediate and advantageous sale of their lands, and
thus gratify that restless and rambling disposition which
is so common with frontier settlers.
Pardon this long and hasty letter. Give my regards
to our mutual friend Biddle, and be assured that your
generous benevolence has inspired me with great respect
and sincere regard for you.
Edward Coles.
.Roberts Yaux, Philadelphia.
Roberts Vaux to Governor Coles.
Birwood Lodge (near Phil'a), 7 Mo. 24, 1823.
Esteemed Friend: — I cannot delay an immediate ac
knowledgment of thy letter of the 27th ultimo, which
reached me at my summer residence to-day.
It affords me unfeigned satisfaction to learn from it
that thee approves the plan which I submitted for thy
consideration. Anticipating a favorable notice of the
suggestion, by a mind so devoted as thine to the promo
tion of the great ends of humanity, of justice, and of
National honor, three pamphlets were prepared, which
will be immediately printed, and transmitted to thy ad
dress at St. Louis. One of these tracts is designed to
show the impolicy and unprofitableness of Slave Labor,
etc., and some arguments are drawn from the published
opinions of several distinguished citizens of the slave-
holding States; among which Col. Taylor's are not the
least authoritative and cogent. Another essay exhibits
a succinct account of the cruelties ofthe Slave Trade, de
rived from authentic sources; and a third pamphlet is

, GOVERNOR COLES TO MR. BIDDLE. 159
intended to show that the interminable bondage of ap
portion of the human race is, on the part of the oppressors,
a flagrant violation of natural and Divine Justice, and
utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of our Holy Re
deemer. Aware ofthe unpopularity of Philadelphia, and es
pecially of Quaker sentiments on this particular topic,
with all those who attempt to justify slavery, it was
originally determined to avoid giving any complexion
whatever to these publications which might induce the
belief that they proceeded from this State, or that indi
viduals of the Society of Friends had any agency in the
preparation of them. The coincidence of our judgment
in regard to the manner of treating the subject is
worthy of remark.
If the least benefit results from this humble effort, it
will ad minister to my happiness, which will be augment
ed by the reflection, that it owes its origin to thy own
emphatic summons for aid, in a cause which demands the
exercise of every generous and patriotic feeling.
That indulgent Heaven may crown thy labors with
success, is the sincere desire of thy friend.
With great truth and respect,
Roberts Yaux.
To Edward Coles, Esquire,
Governor of Illinois,
Edwardsville, Illinois.
P. S. — On my next visit to the city, I intend to com
municate thy message to our friend Nicholas Biddle.
R. Y.
Governor Coles to Mr. Biddle.
Edwardsville, Sept. 18, 1823.
Dear Sir: — I have been long anxious to return you
my thanks for your kind letters of May 20th and 26th,

160 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
and also for the acceptable service you rendered me in
making me known to Mr. Yaux, from whom I have had
the pleasure of receiving two letters, and a promise of
his assistance in preventing our soil from being polluted
with the foul and disgraceful stain of slavery. The dis
interested and praiseworthy zeal he evinces is as honor
able to him, as it is gratifying to me, and is well calcu
lated not only to give me an exalted opinion of his
character, but to awaken the most lively feelings of re
gard and friendship for him. I wish, when you see him,
you would tender him my kind regards and thanks for
his letter of July 24, and say to him, I hope soon to re
ceive the packages promised. The propriety of calling a
convention, or more properly speaking, of making this a
slave-holding State, is still discussed with considerable
warmth, and continues to engage the undivided atten
tion of the people, being the constant theme of conver
sation in every circle, and every newspaper teems with
no other subject. Unfortunately for the friends of free
dom, four out of five of the newspapers printed in this
State are opposed to them ; and the only press whose
editor is in favor of freedom, although a pretty smart
editor, has rendered himself unpopular with many
bv his foolish and passionate attacks upon many of the
prominent men on his side of the question. If, how
ever, the advocates of Slavery have the advantage of us
in printing presses, we have greatly the advantage of
them in possessing men of the most talents, and most
able to wield the pen and use the press, with effect; and
as three out of four of their presses have professed a
willingness to admit well- written original essays on both
sides of the question, we shall have not only the best of
the argument, but be able, I trust, to present it in the
best dress to the public. I am happy in telling you

GOVERNOR COLES TO MR. BIDDLE. 161
that the advocates of a convention have been losing
ground ever since the adjournment of the Legislature;
and there is no doubt with me if the question were now
to be decided, that a majority of the people would be op
posed to it. But. what will be the state of the parties
next August is another question. Many of the people in
this State are very fickle and credulous, and much can be
done by designing and unprincipled partisans, and that
everything which can possibly be done will be done, we
cannot but infer from the extraordinary and unwarrant
able measures resorted to last winter in the Legislature
in getting up the question, and the great anxiety evinced,
and exertions which have been made and are still mak
ing to prevail on the people to sanction it. But as the
friends of freedom are aware of this, they will watch the
movements of their opponents, and be on the alert to
counteract their intrigues and machinations. The object
for which a convention is wanted is so justly odious, and
the conduct of the friends of the measure so disgraceful,
that I cannot bring myself to believe they will succeed.
But I regret to state that the advocates of Slavery
in this State are gaining strength, from the in
discretion of the advocates of freedom out of the
State. Certain leading newspapers in the Atlantic
cities have taken a stand, and held language which
is used here in a way calculated to do much mis
chief. Whether we have the constitutional right to
make this a slave-holding State, or not, or whether the
opponents of the extension of Slavery, here or elsewhere,
may think proper hereafter to call for the interposition
of the Federal Gov't to restrain the people of this
State, it is certainly bad policy at this time very strong
ly to urge it, and especially in what may be considered
dictatorial language ; as it is of d51 other questions the;
11

162 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
best calculated to arouse the feelings of State pride, and
State rights, and that natural love of unrestrained
liberty and independence which is common to our coun
trymen, and especially to our frontier settlers, who of
all men in the world have the strongest jealousy of au
thority and aversion to restraint.
I wish, my friend, you would use your influence to
prevail on the newspaper writers to let this question
alone for the present. If they are sincere in their oppo
sition to the further extension of Slavery, they will not
prematurely urge it, when they are assured that by( so
doing they can do no good, but much harm.
I shall go to St. Louis in a day or two, when I hope
to have the pleasure of seeing and congratulating your
brother on his late marriage, and becoming acquainted
with his lady. This has been the most cool and agree
able, and by far the most healthful summer I have ever
seen in this country. The spring was too wet and we
were apprehensive of an unfavorable season both for
health and vegetation, but we have been most agreeably
disappointed. My health was never better. I beg you
to present my kind regards to Mrs. B., and to Mr.
Craig, and to be assured of my sincere regard.
Edward Coles.
Nicholas Biddle, Esq.,
President ofthe bank ofthe U. S. — Philadelphia.
P. S. — Could j'ou or Mr. Yaux furnish me with an
assessment of lands in the different counties of Pennsyl
vania ? I want to show that lands are higher in price in
free than slave States.
Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux.
Yandalia, Illinois, December 11, 1823.
Esteemed Friend: — 1 received some time since your

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 163
letter of the 11th of Oct., and by the last mail yours of
the 4th ulto. An unusual press of public business pre
vented my sooner acknowledging the former, and will
now prevent my making as long an answer to the two as
I desire. For the last four weeks there has been a great
crowd of persons here, attending the Circuit and Supreme
Court of the State, and the IT. S. and District Court and
the sale at auction for taxes of about 7,000 tracts of land,
belonging to non-resident proprietors. This has neces
sarily given me much to do; but it has at the same time
afforded me an excellent opportunity of collecting the
sense of the people on the great question which is now
agitating the State. And I am happy in assuring you,
from the best information I have been able to collect
from all parts of the State, I am more confirmed in my
belief that a majority of the people will be opposed to
calling a convention for the purpose of altering the Con
stitution so as to make this a slave-holding State. But
the extraordinary efforts that have been made here dur
ing the last three or four weeks by the friends of Slavery,
in organizing their party, and enabling its leaders to act
with the most concert and effect, convince the friends of
freedom that their opponents are yet in the field, and that
they should be on the alert, for fear by some ruse de
guerre, at which their opponents are known from sad
experience to be great adepts, the advocates of oppres-
- sion should triumph. Nearly all the leading friends of
a convention have been assembled here, and held caucuses
for the purpose of deliberating upon the best means of
promoting the success of their favorite measure; have
adopted sundry resolutions, and made many arrange
ments; among others have appointed committees for
each county in the State, and requested that the county
committees appoint a committee in each township, for

164 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the purpose of corresponding, with each other, and of
influencing by every possible means the public opinion.
With respect to your inquiry whether there is not some
more expeditious and safe mode of sending out the
pamphlets than through a commercial house at St. Louis,
I can think of no other, except to forward them, as
pamphlets, by mail to me to this place, which is at this
season of the year slow and precarious.
The pamphlet you forwarded me by mail, along with
your last letter, I received safe; but have been so busy as
not yet to have had time to read it. Two thousand of each
kind, will, I presume, be enough, and as many as I shall
be able conveniently to distribute. There will be for the
next six months, so few persons visiting this place, that
I shall be compelled to rely chiefly on the mails, as the
means of distributing pamphlets, or other information to
the public. If possible, I' intend to have all the pam
phlets published in one or more of our weekly newspapers.
Accompanying this I send you a pamphlet, which has
been lately published by my old friend Birkbeck, which is
by far the best publication which has been yet given to
the public. After you have perused it, you will confer a
favor on me to loan it for the perusal of our mutual friend
Biddle, to whom I beg you to present my kind regards.
With great- respect and sincere regards, your friend,
Edward Coles.
To Roberts Yaux, Philadelphia.
We have had the misfortune (two days since) to lose
our State House by fire. This accident will operate in
favor of a convention. Many profess to be opposed to
Slavery but in favor of a convention to remove the seat
of Government. There is now of course less inducement
for keeping it here. I still, however, hope and believe
we shall have no convention.

INCREASING! EXCITEMENT. 165

CHAPTER XIY.
Increasing Excitement on the Convention Question ; Oppo
sition MORE INTENSE ; GENERAL WlLLIS HARGRAVE ; SECRET
Organization of the Convention Party ; Exposed by a
Hand-bill ; Newspapers in the State ; Rencontre be
tween Smith and Warren at Edwardsville ; Leaders in
the Contest on Both Sides ; Labors and Activity of the
Anti-Convention Men, Governor Coles, Rev. John A. Peck,
Morris Birkbeck ; Notice of Birkbeck ; His Ability as a
Writer ; His Services to the Anti-Convention Cause ;
Correspondence between Coles and Birkbeck.
With the advent of the year 1824, the excite
ment on the Convention question increased. The
more the question of making Illinois a slave State,
was discussed in all its various phases, the more in
tense the opposition became. As this opposition
increased, the efforts of the Convention party were
redoubled. On the 6th of December, 1823, the
" Friends of a Convention," from all parts of the
State, held a meeting at Vandalia, for the purpose
of instituting a more perfect organization, of which
General Willis Hargrave, the official Inspector of
the Gallatin Saline, was the chairman. General
Hargrave was a member of the House of Represen
tatives from White county, in the Territorial Legis
lature, in the sessions of 1817-18, and a member of

166 SKETCH of governor coles.
the first Senate of the State in 1818-22, and was
one of the boldest and most outspoken advocates for
a convention in the State; while others temporized
and hesitated, he openly advocated making Illi
nois a slave State. At this meeting committees
were appointed, composed of the most efficient pro-
Slavery men, for every county, but whose names
were not made public. These committees were to
appoint township committees for the purpose of a
more complete organization. This action of the
Convention men becoming known, was met by the
anti-Convention men by a hand-bill, circulated over
the State, in the early part of 1824, a copy of which
is given as showing a somewhat ludicrous side ofthe
contest :
"By Authority!
Whereas, certain evil disposed persons did, in the
month of December last, assemble at Yandalia, and enter
into a combination to control the freedom of election
enjoyed by right by the good people of this State, in
order to exclude from public service all citizens who are
not of the Convention party, however suitable and well
qualified they may be to promote the public interest;
and for that purpose did presume to appoint certain
secret committees of five of the said party in every
county, who were to appoint sub-committees of three for
every precinct, for carrying into effect the scheme as
above mentioned; and, whereas, the first Monday of
August next is set for the trial of the authors and abet-

NEWSPAPERS IN THE STATE. 167
tors of the said conspiracy against the sovereignty of the
people, all good citizens are hereby required for the
furtherance of political justice, to find out and detect, as
far as in them lies, these county and tovmship commit
tee men, and to publish their proceedings in such
manner as shall most effectually bring to light their
underhand transactions. All newspapers that are friendly
to freedom and independence are desired to give this
notice a conspicuous place.
January, 1824. Pro Bono Publico.
During this contest on the Convention question,
there were but five weekly papers published in the
State. Two of these were anti-Convention before
the close of the contest ; of them the " Illinois In
telligencer" published at Vandalia, the seat of
Government, might be considered the leading one.
It was at first a Convention paper, but was sub
sequently purchased by Governor Coles and other
anti-Convention men, and placed under the editorial
management of David Blaekwell, a prominent
lawyer of his time and Secretary of State under
Governor Coles. The second was " The Spectator,"
at Edwardsville, edited by Hooper Warren. The
first of these papers was not rallied to the
anti-Convention cause till the contest was some
what advanced. The Edwardsville Spectator was
anti-Convention from the beginning, though its edi
tor, Hooper Warren, was not friendly to Governor

1G8 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Coles, and had opposed him in his election. The
three papers advocating the Convention were the
"Republican Advocate," at Kaskaskia, managed
by Elias Kent Kane, afterwards U. S. Senator,
Thomas Reynolds, subsequently Governor of Mis
souri, ex-GovernorBond and others, the "Illinois
Gazette," at Shawneetown, and the Edwardsville
paper, " The Republican," under the direction
of Judge Theo. W. Smith, Emanuel J. West,
Judge Samuel McRoberts, afterwards U. S. Senator,
and others.
The controversy between the two papers in Ed
wardsville, representing Convention and anti-Con
vention, was waged with great violence. State
Senator, Theophilus W. Smith, afterwards Judge
of the Supreme Court, editor of the Convention pa
per, undertook to cowhide Hooper Warren, editor
of the anti-Convention paper. Failing in his pur
pose he drew a dirk on him. Warren then pulled
out his pistol, when the combatants were sepa
rated and "nobody hurt."
As before stated, the ablest, most prominent and
most influential men of the State were champions
of the Convention ; among them, were ex-Governor
Bond and six gentlemen who afterwards became
United States Senators : Jesse B. Thomas, John

LEADERS IN THE' CONTEST. 169
McLean, Elias Kent Kane, John M. Robinson,
Samuel McRoberts aud Richard M. Young; there
were also, Chief Justice Phillips, of the Supreme
Court, Wm. Kinney and Zadoc Casey, subse
quently Lieut. Governors of the State, Colonel
Alexander P. Field, Joseph A. Beaird, General
Willis Hargrave, Emanuel J. West, Lieutenant-
Governor Hubbard, John Reynolds, Justice of the
Supreme Court, Thomas Reynolds, and others.
On the anti-Convention side, a great cause pro
duced earnest and effective leaders. At their head
was Governor Coles, entering heart and soul into
the contest, carrying on an extensive correspond
ence with the anti-Convention men in all parts of
the State, organizing opposition everywhere and
wielding his facile and powerful pen in the news
papers. He not only expended his whole salary
in the cause but contributed largely from his pri
vate means. But the man who accomplished the
most against the Convention by personal exertion
and by untiring work was the Rev. John M. Peck,
of St. Clair county. Mr. Peck was a Baptist
minister who emigrated to the West from Connecti
cut in 1817, and located in St. Clair county in
1821. He was a man of excellent education, of a
strong and comprehensive mind and with an ener-

170 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
gy and perseverance rarely surpassed. The at
tempt to make the State of his adoption a slave
State awakened in him the most intense feeling of
opposition. Endowed with a strong constitution
and great physical strength, he entered into a per
sonal canvass against the Convention scheme and
labored assiduously, in season and out of season,
during the long campaign. He organized a socie
ty in St. Clair immediately after the passage of the
Convention Resolution which adopted a constitution
to resist the introduction of slavery into Illinois.
Establishing his headquarters in St. Clair county,
he extended his organization to fourteen other
counties, establishing societies in each to act in
unison with the parent society in St. Clair.* This
organization, perfected and kept up by the exertions
of Mr. Peck, was productive of great results to the
anti- Convention cause. It was with the religious
element of the community and with the clergy
that he mostly labored. Uniting the establish
ment of Sunday schools and temperance societies
with the distribution of the Bible, he preached a
crusade against slavery wherever he went. It may
be said to the eternal honor of the clergy of Illi
nois at that day, that they were almost without ex-
* "My Own Times," by John Reynolds.

MORRIS BIRKBECK. 171

ception, opposed to the Convention, and that they
exercised great influence in securing the rejection
of the Convention Resolution at the polls. The
prevailing denominations in the State afe that time
were the Methodists and Baptists, and most of the
' preachers were from the slave States.
Next to Governor Coles and the Rev. Mr. Peck,
the man who did the most in forming public opinion
against the convention was Morris Birkbeck, of
Edwards county. The active part which Mr.
Birkbeck took in the great struggle, and the in
estimable services he rendered to the State in that
vital epoch, are such as to entitle him to the grati
tude of the people of Illinois. To-day, little is
known of him or his works, and it is fitting that
his name should be rescued from oblivion, and
justice done to his memory. Edwards county could
not do a more appropriate act than to erect a monu
ment to his memory.
Morris Birkbeck was born in Wanborough,
England, in 1763. Receiving a most thorough
classical education, he devoted himself to the study
of agriculture. He soon came to enjoy a wide
spread celebrity as being one of the first practical
as well as theoretical farmers in the kingdom.*
* Mr. Birkbeck was made the first president of the Illinois State
Agricultural Society.

172 sketch of governor coles.
Making the acquaintance of many Americans in
England, and among them Mr. Coles, when he was
abroad in 1816, he came to the determination to
emigrate to the United States, to use his own
language, " in quest of a new settlement in the
western wilderness." This settlement was made in
the fall of 1817 in Edwards county, and it soon
became known as 'the "English settlement."*
Though Albion was the county seat, Mr. Birkbeck
located adjoining thereto, and built up a town
wliich he named Wanborough, after his native
town in England. It was here that he was living
when the Convention struggle broke out. Sur
rounded by his family, in companionship with his
large and valuable library which he had brought
with him from England, and overlooking the im
provement of his settlement, he enlisted heartily in
the anti-Convention cause as soon as the Conven
tion Resolution had passed the Legislature. His
son-in-law, Gilbert T. Pell, was a member of the
lower branch of this Legislature, and strongly
opposed the " call." Before this time, in his pub
lished " Letters from Illinois," Mr. Birkbeck had
made known his views on slavery. In a letter
* Governor Reynolds says that " Mr. Birkbeck was the first literary
man who settled in Illinois, and he had deservedly considerable repu
tation as a man of letters."

MORRIS BIRKBECK. 173
dated July 28, 1818, written to a friend iu France,
he says :
" In passing from theory to practice, I have ex
perienced no diminution of my love for freedom;
but I hate tyranny more cordially, and I want
language to express the loathing I feel for personal
slavery ; practiced by freemen it is most detestable.
It is the leprosy of the United States ; a foul blotch
which more or less contaminates the entire system,
in public and in private, from the President's chair
to the cabin of the hunter."*
The acquaintance of Governor Coles and Mr.
Birkbeck made in England in 1816, ripened into a
warm friendship after they both became citizens of
Illinois. They were in complete sympathy on the
slavery question generally, but the Convention
struggle brought them still nearer together. The
correspondence between them cannot fail to inter
est all who have followed the progress of the great
struggle of that day.
Morris Birkbeck to Governor Coles.
Wanborough, March 1, 1823.
My Dear Sir: — I have quite lost sight of St. Domingo.
Clouds and darkness seem to overhang our own State
too heavily to allow of my looking beyond it. Yery
* " Letters from Illinois by Morris Birkbeck," author of " Notes on
a Tour through France" and of " Notes on a Journey in America."

174 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
glad, indeed, should I be, could I hope to do anything,
however little, to dispel them. The poor remainder of
my life I would gladly devote to this cause. I am ex
ceedingly desirous of seeing you to confer with you
about our affairs. The disgusting scenes at Yandalia,
occasioned by the unprincipled intrigues of the Slave
party would afford a fine scope for the enemies of polit
ical freedom, to declaim against a representative Govern
ment; whereas, in truth, it is the only guard against the
tyranny of such persons. If the people are absolutely
corrupt and without principle, such men will gain their
object under any system. Nothing is so destructive of
moral character as Slavery; of this the transactions of
our Legislature are a fresh illustration. Day and night
this miserable subject is before me. I foresee that, if I
live till next year, I must attempt, with my pen, my only
weapon, to do something; aud have already written a
short address to be published, if you and our other friends
approve of it, a little before the election, or at the time
when you may think it best. Having done this I am
something more at ease. I wish I could prevail with
you to come here and stay. You can't live at Yandalia.
Edwardsville, I fancy, is not very healthy. I won't insure
you here; but I have a right to give you good hopes of
escaping the summer complaints at our place. I have
room plenty, in house and heart, to accommodate you in
a plain way. Your political influence would, I think,
be promoted by your spending a good part of the year
on this side of the State; and to extend and strengthen
that influence is, at this time, your imperious duty. You
shall have the library to yourself to retire to when yon
please, and be as independent and welcome as a sincere
friend can make you. It gives me great pleasure to find
that Mr. Pell was what I expected of him in his polit-

MORRIS BIRKBECK TO GOVERNOR COLES. 175
ical commencement. His being thrown so advanta
geously into the same berth with yourself will tend to
confirm his character. It is a consolation to me that one
so near me has so much good principle and discretion.
I shall expect a few lines from you soon and often (I
don't ask you for long elaborate epistles) until I may
hope for the pleasure of receiving you here. My plan
on that head is certainly a good one. I entreat you to
fall in with it without hesitation, Excuse this scrawl
from your sincere friend, M. Birkbeck.
Sunday Morning. Mr. Pell informs me that you will
be engaged this summer on the western side of the State,
reviewing militia, and that I must not hope to see much
of you. Perhaps yon may have time and inclination to
pay us a visit before you take the field. If a correspond
ence could be set on foot among the friends of freedom
scattered over the State, they might strengthen and in
form each other, and the influence of good feeling might
be increased. 1 would gladly bear a part in it. Is land
higher in Missouri than in this State, or more saleable?
or in Kentucky, cceteris paribus, than in Ohio? The
Missourians and Kentuckians have felt the adversity of
the times equally with ourselves, it may be presumed —
from their having played the same game of Legislation
about Currency and Stay laws. The supposed advance
in the price of land from the admission of Slavery, ap
pears to be the grand temptation with our people. If
this opinion be ill founded, as I believe it is, I wish the
case could be clearly and simply stated. I know that
very many respectable farmers in England are looking
to this State as a refuge when they can clear out of their
farms, but not one in a hundred would settle in a

176 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Slave State; and a great part of those from that country
who are now here would fly from it.
It is essential to impress on the minds of our citizens,
two things, in regard to the present crisis. One is the
infamy of the proceedings of the Slave faction at Yanda
lia; this I have attempted to point out, with its conse
quences, if sanctioned by the people, in the paper I have
alluded to above, and which I wish to submit to your in
spection ; that if you approve of it you may judge of the
best time and manner of giving it circulation among the
electors. The other is the impolicy of Slavery — for this
purpose, tho' the fact is demonstrable from the nature
of things, I want particular statements founded on ex
perience, derived from authentic sources. If you give
your attention to the subject you may direct my inqui
ries into a proper channel. Is there any enlightened
individual in the State of Ohio, or any where else, with
whom I could open a correspondence for this purpose?
Any publications by citizens ofthe United States? Has
not Mr. Jefferson written on Slavery?
To Governor Coles,
Edwardsville, Illinois.
Governor Coles to Morris Birkbeck.
Yandalia, April 12th, 1823.
Dear Sir: — Irec'd a few days since, via Edwardsville,
your kind and acceptable letter of the 1st ulto. I am
much gratified to find you have abandoned all idea of a
tour for the present; and that your feelings are warmly
enlisted in the great question on which hangs our des
tiny. Feeling as yon do on this subject, with a mind so
discriminating and so well stored with information, and
gifted with a peculiarly happy talent of expressing youi

GOVERNOR COLES TO MORRIS BIEKBECK. 177

ideas in a plain and forcible style, I know of no man in
the State who could be of more service than yourself in
enlightening the people and giving them correct views
of the moral and political character of the question, as
well as of its immediate bearing upon their present in
terests and future welfare. As the opposite party will
keep up an incessant effort through the press to make
converts to the convention, our side ofthe question will
have to follow their example, not only for the purpose of
correcting their misrepresentations and refuting their
arguments, but from time to time to present correct
views of the real objects, and injurious effects resulting
from a Convention. The great interest the people take,
the extraordinary anxiety they feel, either for or
against the Convention, forces its consideration on the
community, and already we find in every assemblage,
however small, it is a subject of discussion, and that the
people are daily making up their minds and committing
themselves by taking sides. Whilst this is going on we
ought not to lay on our arms, and let the enemy under
mine the feelings and judgment ofthe people, and thus
sap the foundations of our strength. Considerable ef
fort has been made by both parties to procure the sup
port of the different printing presses in the State. The
Slave party will have the support of the press of this
place, at Shawneetown, and one of the two presses estab
lished at Edwardsville; the other espouses the cause of
freedom. The editors here, however, thongh avowedly
and decidedly in favor of a Convention, declare their wil
lingness to admit pieces into their papers both for and
against it. It is not known positively what side the
press at Kaskaskia will take; but I am disposed to think
it will be on our side. The friends of freedom being thus
situated, is it not desirable, nay necessary, for the sue-
12

178 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
cess of their holy cause, to have a press established on the
eastern side of the State. It appears to me that Albion,
as well from its local situation, as from the means in
' and about it, both mental and pecuniary, would render
it the most eligible place for such an establishment. I
mentioned this subject last winter to Mr. Pell, to whom
I refer you for the reasons and views which induced me to
suggest the propriety of it. I have just written to Mr.
R. Elower, to whom I have also taken the liberty to
suggest it, and a still further liberty to ask it as a favor
to me, and as a sacrifice calculated to promote the success
of the great cause in which we, aud I trust, a great ma
jority of Edwards county, are also deeply interested, to
bury, at least during the pendency of the question, all
personal, national, local, and other unkind feelings, and
unite heart and hand to promote the good cause.
I am extremely sorry not to have it in my power to
answer satisfactorily your enquiries. Altho' the fact is
notorious, lands are always higher in price in non-slave-
holding-States than in slave-holding-States, yet I cannot
refer to any authentic statistical or other publication,
pointing out the fact in detail. I know the fact to be
so from my own personal observation and enquiries,
made while traveling through the different sections of
the Union, and especially along the Atlantic seaboard,
where the general face of the country brightens, and the
cultivation and value of the soil increases, with the ac
cession of free labor. This could at once be made satis
factorily to appear if we could lay our hands on the as
sessments of lands for taxation made in the several
States. In my native State (Ya.), if I mistake not,
the assessment of lands of the different counties, made
by the general board of assessors, go to establish the fact
in general that the lands bear the highest price in the

GOVERNOR COLES TO MORRIS BIRKBECK. 179
counties where there were fewest slaves in proportion to
the white population. It is true, in the year 1818 the
Gov't sold lands higher in Missouri than it has ever
done in this State ; but this arose from peculiar circum
stances, which circumstances I have no doubt would
have made similar lands sell as high in this State. As a
proof of it, lands are now no higher in that State than in
this — and the "hard times," as they are emphatically
called, have been as sensibly felt there as here. Ficti
tious banks, the political locusts which have devoured the
fruits of the land, have been more encouraged, and of
course the hard times have been much more detrimental
to Kentucky and Ohio than to Missouri and this State.
But in this Slavery has had no hand, but it has been the
chief and only cause why Ohio, with a colder climate
and much less fertile soil and many years the junior
of Kentucky, has far outstripped her in population and
in wealth. With respect to the relative value of land in
Ohio and Kentucky, since the currency of those States
has been so deranged, I have no particular informa
tion ; but I feel very certain that the land still contin
ues much higher generally in the former than in the
latter State.
With respect to your inquiry as to the best source of
information, founded on experience collected in this
country of the effects of Slavery, I can give you but lit
tle information, as, in truth, but little has been written
on the subject. I know of no one who has touched so
feelingly and forcibly on the moral and political charac
ter of Slavery as Mr. Jefferson in his " Notes on Ya."
If you could lay your hands on the debates on the " Mis
souri question " in Congress, you would be able to col
lect many interesting facts. I shall probably have it in
my power to send you one or two of the best of these

180 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
speeches. There is a newspaper printed monthly at
Greenville, in Green county, Tennessee, by a Quaker of
the name of Ben. Lundy, called the "Genius of Uni
versal Emancipation," the columns of which are exclu
sively devoted to the subject of African Slavery as it ex
ists in the U. S. I have seen but 2 or 3 numbers of this
paper, in each of which there was something more or
less valuable on this subject. I have determined to sub
scribe for it, and shall endeavor to prevail on the editor
to furnish me with a regular file of his paper since its
commencement, which I believe was about 2 or 3 years
ago. If this paper has been well edited it ought to con
tain the substance of everything interesting on this sub
ject. Soon after the adjournment of the Legislature, I
was compelled by business to go to Edwardsville and
Belleville, where happening to be during the sitting of
the Court, I had it in my power to see many of the peo
ple, and was much gratified to find the counties of Mad
ison and St. Clair as much opposed to the call of a Con
vention as I had imagined them to have been. The
people in those counties received and treated me with
great kindness, insisting upon my giving them an op
portunity of evincing publicly their approbation of my
public conduct, etc., etc., by inviting me to partake of a
public dinner, at which many attended, proving by
their conduct that they were not only the friends of
freedom but of order.
I owe you a thousand apologies, my dear friend, for
your very, very kind invitation to visit and spend some
time with you. You know what pleasure it would afford
me, and will therefore know if I should not visit you
soon that it will not be my fault. I do not now know
when it will be in my power to visit you, but I fear it

MORRIS BIRKBECK TO GOVERNOR COLES. 181
will not be very soon ; as soon, however, as it is in ray
power you may expect to see me.
I beg you to let Mr. Pell see this 'letter, for whom it is
intended in part. My respects to him and Lady, as well
as to all the members of your family, including Mr. and
Mrs. Hanks. You will pardon me for writing so long a
letter, to which I have been prompted by the deep in
terest I feel in the great question, and the pleasure I find
in holding converse with you.
Your friend,
Edward Coles.
To Morris Birkbeck,
Wanborough, Edwards County,
Illinois.
Morris Birkbeck to Governor Coles.
Wanborough, Dec. 6, 1823.
Dear Sir: *******
I take the liberty by this mail to send you half a dozen ;
and if, on reading a copy, you should think it may be useful
to any of the unconverted Conventionists, you may put
it in their way. I am glad you think favorably of the
course the question is taking. I believe the advocates
of a Convention are not so numerous as they have been
on this side of the State. The leaders do not seem to
be so sanguine. This may, however, be a ruse de guerre
preparatory to a grand push in the spring. I am re
joiced that you have escaped from sickness this summer.
My family has enjoyed excellent health, and the neigh
borhood — as heretofore. We should be glad to see you
amongst us; and a friendly visit from you would give
me peculiar pleasure. I have not seen Mr. Pell since
the morning, when I received your letter. I shall de-

182 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
liver your message to him, and I beg you to believe me
your sincere friend, M. Birkbeck.
To Governor Coles, Yandalia.
Governor Coles to Morris Birkbeck.
Yandalia, January 29, 1824.
My Dear Sir: — I had the pleasure to receive, in due
course of mail, your letter of the 6th ulto., together with
six of your pamphlets, which you were so good as to send
me, for which I return you my thanks. I had previously
seen republished in a newspaper your pamphlet, and had
read it with great pleasure. I could not but wish every
Conventionist in the State had it and was compelled to
read it with attention. Our society at Edwardsville in
tends having another and large edition of it reprinted for
the purpose of having it extensively circulated. I took
the liberty to send one or two of your pamphlets to some
distant and particular friends, who take a deep interest
in the Slave question in this State. By the by, should
not the review of your pamphlet, which appeared first in
the Illinois Gazette, and since republished in all the
Convention papers of the State, be noticed? It is very
ingeniously written, but what more particularly requires
correction is the fabrications and misrepresentations of
facts. One or two of these were hastily noticed and
sent to be inserted last week in the paper published
here; but no paper has since issued from the press.
During the setting of the Courts, and the sale of the
lands of non-residents for taxes, we had a considerable
number of persons assembled here from almost every
part of the State; and a pretty good opportunity was
afforded of collecting the public sentiment in relation to
the great question which is now convulsing the State.

GOVERNOR COLES TO MORRIS BIRKBECK. 183
The friends of a Convention pretended to be pleased; but
it was very apparent they were not; and the more honest
and liberal among them acknowledged that they thought
their prospects bad. Our friends on the other hand
were much pleased, and rendered much more sanguine
of success from the information they received. The
friends of Slavery, however, were caucusing nearly
every night, and made^, many arrangements for their
electioneering campaign. Among others, it is said, they
have appointed five persons in each county, with a request
that these five appoint three in each election precinct,
for the purpose of diffusing their doctrines, embodying
their forces, and acting with the greatest concert and
effect. This is well calculated to bring their strength
to bear in the best possible manner, and should, as far
as possible, be counteracted. When bad men conspire,
good men should be watchful.
The friends of a Convention appear to become more
and more bitter and virulent in their enmity to me, and
seem determined not only to injure my standing with
the people, but to break down my pecuniary resources.
A suit has been lately instituted at Edwardsville against
me for the recovery of the sum of $200 for each, negro
emancipated by me and brought to this State. The suit
has been brought under a law passed on the 30 th of
March, 1819, but which was not printed or promulgated
until the October following. In the meantime, that is
about the first week of May, my negroes emigrated to
and settled in this State. What is truly farcical in this
suit is, that a poor worthless fellow, who has no property,
and of course pays no tax, has been selected to institute
it, from the fear he has of being taxed to support the
negroes I emancipated, when they, who are all young
and healthy, are so prosperous as to possess comfortable

184 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
livings, and some of thein pay as much as four dollars a
year tax on their property. I should indeed, my friend,
be unfortunate were I now compelled to pay $200 for
each of my negroes, big and little, dead and living (for
the suit goes to this) after the sacrifices I have made, and
my efforts to befriend and enable them to live comfort
ably. For I not only emancipated all my negroes, which
amounted to one- third of all the property my father be
queathed me, but I removed them out here at an expense
of between five and six hundred dollars, and then gave
each head of a family, and all others who had passed the
age of 24, one hundred and sixty acres of land each, and
exerted myself to prevail on them to be honest, indus
trious and correct in their conduct. This they have
done in a remarkable degree, so much so, with all the
prejudice against free negroes, there never has been the
least ground for charge or censure against any one of
them. And now, for the first time in my life, to be sued
for what I thought was generous and praiseworthy con
duct, creates strange feelings, which, however, cease to
give me personal mortification, when I reflect on the
character and motives of those who have instituted it.
Just about the time this suit was instituted, I had
the misfortune to lose by fire two-thirds of all the build
ings and enclosures on my farm, together with about 200
apple trees and as many peach trees — several of each
kind large enough to bear fruit. And soon after, the
"State House" having been consumed bjr fire, a project
was set on foot to rebuild it by subscription. Not lik
ing the plan and arrangements, I declined subscribing,
and proposed others, which I thought would be more
for the interest of the State, of the county, and of the
town — and which by the way are now generally admit
ted would have been best. This however was immedi-

GOVERNOR COLES TO MORRIS BIRKBECK. 185
ately laid hold of by some of the factious Conventionists
who being aware that the loss ofthe State House would
operate to the injury of their favorite measure in this
county, and being anxious to display great solicitude for
the interest of the people here, and that, too, as much as
possible at the expense of the anti-Conventionists, they
busied themselves in misrepresenting to the multitude
my reasons and motives for not subscribing my name to
their paper, and with the aid of large potions of
whiskey, contrived to get up a real vandal mob, who
vented their spleen against me, in the most noisy and
riotous manner, nearly all night, for my opposition to a
convention and for my refusal, as they termed it, to re
build the State House. All this and other instances of
defamation and persecution, create in my bosom oppo
site feelings ; one of pain, the other of pleasure. Pain
to see my fellow man so ill-natured and vindictive mere
ly because I am the friend of my species, and am op
posed to one portion oppressing another — pleasure that I
should be in a situation which enables me to render ser
vices to the just and good cause in which we are engaged;
and so far from repining at these indignities and perse
cutions, I am thankful to Providence for placing me in
the van of this eventful contest, and giving me a tem
per, zeal, and resolution which I trust will enable me to
bear with proper fortitude the peltings which are in
separable from it. In conclusion, I pray you to do me
the justice to believe, that no dread of personal conse
quences willever abate my efforts to promote the good
of the public, much less to abandon the great fundamen
tal principles of civil and personal liberty — and to be as
sured of my sincere friendship.
Edward Coles.
Morris Birkbeck, Esq.,
Wanborough, Edwards County.

186 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

Mr. Birkbeck to Governor Coles.
Wanborough, Feb. 19, 1824.
My Dear Sir : — I have just received your letter of
January 29, and I assure you the receiving it has given
me unfeigned pleasure, although its contents, as far as
the unworthy conduct of the party is productive of vex
ation to you, I as sincerely lament. I am sorry that it
should be at your expense; but as it tends to expose the
badness of the cause and the iniquity of its supporters,
the friends of liberty and virtue can hardly regret that
they should have thus displayed their true character.
For myself, my private situation screens me in great
measure from persecution, though I presume, not from
the honor of their hatred. I am glad you approve my
little pamphlet ; if I could afford it I would spare the
society at Edwardsville the expense of republishing, &c.
I have the satisfaction of knowing that it has done
some good, by changing the sentiments of several, 'who
through want of reflection or knowledge, had been ad
vocates of Slavery. And as there are many up and
down in all parts of the State, who are in that situation,
I trust its general circulation will be useful. I am con
tinually plying the Slave party, through the Illinois Ga
zette, with popular discussions and sometimes with legal
arguments, under the signature of Jonathan Freeman,
and some others. You will see, if you read that paper,
an ironical proposal of a plan for raising a fund to colo
nize the negroes as an appendage to limited Slavery,
signed J., which I think may show the absurdity of that
plan of the Conventionists more effectually than serious
argument. The Edwardsville Spectator published about
a dozen of those short letters, and I suppose you will see a
few more of them shortly. As they present the question

MORRIS BIRKBECK TO GOVERNOR COLES. 187
in various lights, pointing out the wickedness and folly of
the slave scheme, dissected as it were into distinct por
tions, I imagine they make an impression on some read
ers more effectually than a continued course of argu
ment. I submit, with great deference, a thought that
some of these would be useful if re-published by way of
appendix to the Appeal. Perhaps you will Tevert to
them, and notice a few more which you will soon see;
then do as you see good.
As publication is essential to the binding power of a
law, in fact to its existence as law, you will of course
defeat your persecutors, and put them to shame, on the
principle of ex post facto. You could not infringe in
May a law promulgated in October following.
The fire at Yandalia is rather against the Convention-
ists in that quarter. The idea of re-building the State
House by subscription, you, as Governor, could hardly
countenance. What authority have individuals to act
in this case, even at their own expense? And what
claim have they on your private purse? I am only sorry
for your personal vexation under these attacks. They
discover the weakness and folly of the party, and 1 am
in hopes they are losing ground. They have great zeal
and activity and no delicacy about the means; there is
considerable zeal, too, and activity on our side; and set
ting the good principles of our cause against their total
want of principle, I trust we are a match for them, pro
vided we do not relax in our efforts. The attack on my
pamphlet by Americanus, (who is Mr. Webb, of Bon-
pas,) seems to be ridiculed and despised, even by their
own side. I have sent to the Illinois Gazette a short
reply to the personalities; further I thought needless,
and have just written another to the same effect, which
I shall send to the Yandalia paper. Not being pro-

188 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
sumed to know the author, some severity of retort seems
allowable. You have a circle at Yandalia chiefly, I fear, of the
wrong sort in regard to the vital question, which circum
stance must detract from your social enjoyment, where
at best it could ill be spared. The cause on which you
are engaged so heartily is so thoroughly good that it
will bear you up through many sacrifices and privations.
Your sentiments on the subject rejoice and encourage
me, and in return (pedantry as it may seem) I shall give
you a sentiment from Horace for your encouragement.*
Justum et tenacem propositi virum,
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis tyranni,
Mente quatit solida.
I remain, with great esteem, yours,
M. Birkbeck.
Of the many others who took an active part
against the Convention, there were David Blaekwell,
Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, Hooper Warren, Jon
athan H. Pugh, George Forquer, Daniel P. Cook,
Thomas Lippencott, George Churchill, Thomas
Mather and Henry Eddy.
Mr. Birkbeck wrote a series of letters during the
Convention canvass, over the nom de plume of
*The last paragraph of Mr. Birkbeck's letter cannot but excite ad
miration. The quotation from Horace applied with great force to
the case of Governor Coles:
" Neither the ardor of citizens ordering base things, nor the face
of the threatening tyrant shakes a man just and tenacious of princi
ple from his firm intentions."

MORRIS BIRKBECK. 189
"Jonathan Freeman," which were widely pub
lished and almost universally read. They were
written in a plain but captivating style, full of
facts and arguments, and embellished by homely but
apt illustrations. They proved a source of great
annoyance to the Convention party, and as he was
known to be the author, he was most bitterly as
sailed. He was denounced as a " foreign emissa
ry," and an " exile," sneered at as a " Quaker,"
and charged with being an "Infidel." But it was
all to no purpose. The more lie was attacked, the
more were his letters read. Speaking of these letters
in his manuscript history of Edwards county, Mr.
George Flower well says :
" Whatever may be thought of Mr. Birkbeck,
by those who would square every man's opinion by
their own, the inhabitants ofthe State Illinois, if
for nothing else, should hold his memory in re
spect and gratitude for the decided part he took
against the introduction of Slavery in his letters of
' Jonathan Freeman.' "

190 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

CHAPTER XV.
The Election Takes Place; Vote of Counties for and
against the Convention Resolution; Copy op a Conven
tion Ballot; Convention Scheme Defeated by Moke than
Eighteen Hundeed Majority; Convention Men Defeated,
but they Rally under the Banner op Jackson; Get Con
trol op the State; Pro-Slavery Men Elected United
States Senators; Birkbeck Appointed Secretary of State
vice Blackwell; Birkbeck Rejected by the Senate; Death
op Birkbeck.
The day had now arrived when the people of
Illinois, in their sovereign capacity, were to pass
on a question involving interests and consequences
of the most supreme importance to themselves and
their posterity. Should a convention be called,
there was no question that the then existing con
stitution prohibiting Slavery would be changed, and
a constitution authorizing Slavery would be adopted.
Whatever attempts had been made in the earlier
part of the campaign to make it appear that, should
a new constitution be made, it did not follow it
would authorize Slavery, yet, as the contest pro
gressed, the Convention men were driven to the
avowal that it was a Slave Constitution they intended
to adopt. So, in the end, the naked question was
presented, " Shall Illinois be a Free or Slave State ?"

vote on the resolution.

191

Ihe discussions on the stump, through the press,
in the churches, at the cross-roads and at the fire
side, had prepared the people to decide the question.
It was on the first Monday of August, 1824, that
the election was to take place. The hand-to-hand
struggle had continued eighteen months, and super
human exertions had been made on both sides.
Both parties welcomed the arrival of the moment
that was finally to end a struggle that had evoked
so much feeling and passion, involved so much
labor and absorbed such intense interest. The
following is the vote of counties for and against
the Convention Resolution:

Counties.

FOK.

Ag'nst.

Counties.

Pok.

Ag'nst.

Alexander, . .

75

51

Lawrence, .

158

261

Bond, . .

. 68

240

Madison, .

. 351

563

Clark, .

31

116

Marion,

45

52

Crawford, .

134

262

Montgomery

. 74

90

Edgar, .

3

234

Monroe,

141

196

Edwards, .

189

391

Morgan,

. 42

455

Fayette,

125

121

Pike,

23

261

Franklin, . .

170

113

Pope, .

. 273

124

Fulton,

5

60

Randolph,

357

284

Gallatin, .

596

133

Sangamon, .

. 153

722

Greene, . .

135 .

405

St. Clair, .

427

543

Hamilton, . .

173

85

Union, .

. 213

240

Jackson, . .

180

93

Washington,

112

173

Jefferson, .

99

43

Wayne, .

. 189

111

Johnson,

74

74

White,

355

326

Vote against Convention Resolutio

a, . .

6,822

Vote for Convention Resolution,

4,950

Being a majority of .

1,872
Out of a vote of
11,772
Judge Gillespie has sent me a ticket which he
192 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
says "came from the papers of a man named Sam
uel McKitrick, now deceased, and which was used
on election day on the Convention question. It
shows how artfully the tickets were gotten up to give
the Conventionists the benefit of accidents; the
figures on the back of the ticket — '1824' — are in
the hand-writing of Mr. McK. When you are
done with the ticket, please hand it to tbe His
torical Society, to be kept as a memento." The fol
lowing is the ticket :
people's ballot.
For new Constitution.
For article prohibiting banks.
For exclusion of negroes and mulattoes.
No right of suffrage or office to negroes or mulattoes.
For laws excluding negroes and mulattoes from com
ing into and voting in this State.
For Congressional apportionment.
The Convention scheme was overwhelmingly
defeated, and it would naturally be supposed that
the men who had thrust it upon the people would
have been driven from public life. Not so, howev
er. It was the year of the Presidential election.
While the anti-Convention party was united, har
monious and vehement in its opposition to the call
for a Convention, there were serious divisions in it
as to Presidential preferences. General Jackson

TRIUMPH OF THE CONVENTION MEN. 193

had been brought out as a candidate, and his name
evoked great enthusiasm. The Convention men
generally rallied under his banner, while the anti-
Convention party divided its vote between Adams,
Crawford and Clay * Fighting under the Jack
son flag, the Convention men achieved great advan
tages in the legislative elections, particularly in
view of the division of their opponents. The Con
vention question out of the way, the Jackson party
having been formed, became irresistible. The Con
vention men flocked to the standard of " Old Hick
ory," and though so badly beaten on the Convention
Resolution before the people, yet as Jackson men
they soon found themselves in the majority in the
State, controlling everything, while the anti-Con-
* The popular vote was as follows: Jackson one thousand nine hun
dred and one; Adams one thousand five hundred and forty-two:
Crawford two hundred and nineteen; Clay one thousand and forty-
seven. There was no choice of President by the people at this elec
tion, and the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams.
Hon. Daniel P. Cook, the only Representative in Congress from Illi
nois, cast the vote of the State for Mr. Adams. The vote of Mr.
Cook was severely denounced by the Jackson men, but it was entirely
justifiable. While Jackson had a majority of three hundred and fif
ty votes over Adams, the highest opposition candidate, yet he was in
a minority of six hundred and eighty-seven votes in the State. Cook
was elected to the nineteenth Congress in August, 1824, but he was
beaten for the twentieth Congress in 1826 by Joseph Duncan, the Jack
son candidate. In 1828 Jackson and Adams were the opposing can
didates for President, and out of eight thousand three hundred and
forty-four votes in Illinois, Jackson received six thousand seven hun
dred and sixty-three.
13

194 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
ven tion men, who had won so glorious a triumph for
liberty and preserved to the people the blessings of
our free constitution, politically went to the wall.
The Legislature of 1824-5, instead of electing
Governor Coles or some other prominent anti-Con
vention man Senator, to succeed Ninian Edwards,
elected Elias Kent Kane, a strong pro-Slavery and
Convention man, for the long term, and John Mc
Lean, equally Convention and pro-Slavery, for the
short term. Four judges of the Supreme Court were
elected by the same Legislature : William Wilson,
Chief Justice, Samuel D. Lockwood, Theophilus W-
Smith, and Thomas C. Browne, Justices. The two
latter had been Convention men, and Smith one of
the most violent and offensive, though one of the
ablest in the State. There is nothing stranger
than this in our political history.
David Blaekwell, having been elected a member
ofthe House of Representatives from St. Clair coun
ty, resigned his office as Secretary of State in Oct.,
1824. In the following letter Governor Coles of
fered the position to Mr. Birkbeck.
Governor Coles to Mr. Birkbeck.
Edwaedsville, Sep. 22, 1824.
Dear Sir: — Mr. Blaekwell, having been elected a
member of the Legislature, has notified me that he shall
resign the office of Secretary of State on the 2nd or 3d

GOVERNOR COLES TO MR. BIRKBECK. 195
of next month. The object of this letter is to offer that
situation to you. It is desirable that I should hear
from you on this subject as soon as possible, and if you
should think proper to accept, I wish you to meet me at
Yandalia during the first week of October. It has oc
curred to me that if the office of Secretary of State
should not be agreeable to you to hold permanently, it
would be so at least during the next winter. Be this,
however, as it may, it affords me pleasure to have it in
my power to give you so strong a proof of the high
estimation in which I hold your character, and to grat
ify the deep rooted attachment of your friend,
Edwaed Coles.
MoEEIS BlEKBECK, ESQ.,
Wanborough.
I had hoped after the great and decided majority
which was given at the late election against a Convention,
my political enemies would have ceased to persecute me.
But in this I was mistaken. It would seem I must be
sacrificed. Nothing short of my entire ruin will satisfy
my enemies, and they seem determined to effect it with
out regard to the means. Yesterday the suit which has
been instituted against me for freeing my negroes was
called up for trial. Judge Reynolds not only decided
several points of law against me, in opposition to the
opinion of several of the best lawyers in the State, but
he and Mr. Turney rejected all my testimony as illegal,
and would not permit a solitary word to be uttered by a
witness of mine. Under such circumstances the jury
found a verdict of $2,000 against me, which, with the
cost, will be a difficult sum for me to raise, these hard
times. I shall ask for a new trial. If this application
should share the fate of all the others I have made, it is

196 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
to be hoped he will not assume the power to prevent my
taking an appeal to the Supreme Court.
In haste, your friend, Ed. Coles.
In the following letter Mr. Birkbeck accepted
the office tendered: Mr. Birkbeck to Governor Coles.
Yandalia, Oct. 9, 1824.
Dear Sir : — I received your favor of Sept. 22, offering
me the situation of Secretary of State, and expressing
your wish, in case of my accepting the office, that I
would meet you at this place during the first week of
this month. Relying on your judgment rather than
my own in regard to my qualifications, and feeling great
pleasure in the prospect of its affording me the occasion
of more frequent friendly intercourse with you, I con
cluded to accept your proposal, and accordingly arrived
here last night. I am truly sorry to learn from Col.
Field that you are detained at Edwardsville by indispo
sition. Waiting for your instructions, I remain, Dear
Sir, Yours most truly, M. BlEKBECK.
Gov. Coles.
Though the call for a Convention had been
largely defeated, yet the pro-Slavery men at the
same election elected a majority of the Senate,
which had to pass on the Governor's nomination
for Secretary of State. They were but too well
pleased to be enabled to visit their wrath on Mr.

BIRKBECK REJECTED BY THE SENATE. 197
Birkbeck, who had wielded so potent an influence
in securing the rejection of their Convention project.
His nomination was therefore rejected, and he only
held the office for the period of three months, from
Oct. 15, 1824, to Jan. 15, 1825. The rejection of
Birkbeck by the Senate was utterly unjustifiable,
for a better appointment could not have been made.
The office at the time he went into it was in a state
of confusion and disorder, but during his brief
occupancy he reduced it to perfect order and ar
rangement. Sometime afterwards, speaking of Mr.
Birkbeck, Governor Duncan said to a gentleman :
" I came to Vandalia with every prejudice against
Mr. Birkbeck as Secretary of State, but when I
looked into the office and saw the order and man
agement, especially when contrasted with the
previous confusion, my opinion was completely
changed." This was the only office that Mr. Birk
beck ever held in the State. Though rejected by
a partisan and pro-Slavery Senate, and from mo
tives unworthy of such a body, Illinois was honored
by his holding the position even for so short a
time. But it was not permitted to Mr. Birkbeck
to live to see the development of that State which
he had labored so effectually to keep free. On the
4th of June, 1825, on his return to Wanborough

198 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
from a visit to New Harmony, Indiana, he was
drowned while crossing Fox river. His body,
taken two days afterwards to New Harmony, was
buried with every mark of respect and affection.
Thus perished at the age of sixty-two years, Morris
Birkbeck, one of the ablest and most cultivated
men of his time, in Illinois, whose influence wielded
in the cause of freedom and humanity should al
ways be gratefully remembered. None of his
descendants remained in the State after his death.
Two of his sons went to Mexico, some members of
Tiis family returned to England, and subsequently
removed to Australia.

FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE. 199

CHAPTER XVI.
Further Correspondence between Governor Coles and Rob
erts Vaux; Important and Interesting Letter op the Gov
ernor on the Situation; His Account of the Malicious
Law Suit Instituted Against Him for Freeing His Slaves;
His Noble Words in the Deed of Emancipation; the Pre
judice op the Judge; Verdict against Him for Two Thou
sand Dollars; Case Appealed to the Supreme Court, and
Judgment Reversed; His Unpleasant and Embarrassing
Position; Mobbed by a Rabble at Vandalia; The Spirit
which Sustained Him and the Faith which Upheld Him;
Beautiful Tribute op Mr. Vaux to Governor Coles.
The following letter of Governor Coles to Mr.
Vaux, has a great historic interest. It illustrates
the feeling in the State at the time it was written,
and shows the persecution which the Governor was
subjected to on account of the decided stand he
took on the Slavery question. The lawsuit which
he gives so full and interesting an account of, has
gone into the judicial annals of the State. The
manner in which the prosecution was abetted by
the judges, and the political character that was
given to it, will forever stain the history of our
judiciary. Governor Coles had freed his slaves
before entering the State, but after his arrival at
Edwardsville, for the better protection of the freed-
men, and on the advice of the Hon. Daniel P.

200 SKETCH of governor coles.
Cook, one of the most eminent lawyers of the State
in his time, he gave separate papers of manumis
sion to all his former slaves. At this time neither
Governor Coles nor Mr. Cook knew anything about
a law of the State that had been previously passed,
but which was not promulgated till several months
afterwards. This law prohibited any person from
bringing into the State any negroes for the pur
pose of emancipation, unless he should give bonds
in the penalty of one thousand dollars that the
negro would not become a county charge, and that
if the emancipator neglected to give this bond he
should forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred
dollars for every negro emancipated. Governor
Coles had executed papers of manumission to per
sons, who had been his slaves, after they had been
brought into the State, in technical violation ofthe
statute in such case made and provided, and the
pro-Slavery men were quick to avail themselves of
an opportunity to harass and punish him. A
suit was instituted, " The County of Madison versus
Edward Coles," and the writ was made returnable
at the March term of the Circuit Court at Ed
wardsville, 1824. John Reynolds was the presid
ing Judge. The defendant plead tbe Statute of
Limitations, and put in several sj>ec;al ¦ pleas to

PROCEEDINGS in the law suit. 201
plaintiff's declaration. A demurrer was filed by
plaintiff to the special pleas. The Court took time
to consider, and the case went over to the Sep
tember term. At this term of the Court John
Reynolds again presided. A demurrer to the plea
of the Statute of Limitations having been sus
tained, and the demurrer to the special pleas having
been upheld, the defendant pleaded nil debit.
Issue was joined, and the case was submitted to the
jury, who returned a verdict against defendant for
two thousand dollars. From a Bill of Exceptions
taken during the trial and spread upon the records
of the Court, it appears that the defendant, Coles,
offered to give in evidence and prove to the jury
that three of the negroes mentioned in the declar
ation of the plaintiff had departed this life before
the commencement of the suit; but the astute
Judge would not permit the testimony to be given,
thus practically deciding that it was necessary to
give a bond to hold the county harmless from the
support of dead men. The defendant then offered
to prove by Joseph Conway, the clerk of the
County Commissioner's Court, that the defendant
had never been notified or required to give bond,
but the Court would not permit such evidence to
be given. The defendant further offered to prove

202 sketch of governor coles.
by Daniel P. Cook, the attorney under whose ad
vice he acted, the conversation he had with him be
fore the date of certificate of manumission, and that
he, Cook, advised the giving of such certificate in
order to protect the negroes, and to "enable them
to live themselves;" and also to prove by said Cook
all the circumstances and conversation between
said witness and defendant, which induced and led
to the execution of said certificate, all of which
evidence was rejected — the record to state that the
plaintiff gave in evidence the following certificate:
" Whereas, my father, the late John Coles, of
Albemarle, in the State of Virginia, did in his last
will and testament give and bequeath to me cer
tain negro slaves, among others Robert Crawford
and his sister, Polly Crawford, the said Robert
Crawford being a mulatto man, about five feet sev
en inches high, and now about twenty-seven years
of age ; and the said Polly being a mulatto woman
about five feet one inch high, and now about six
teen or seventeen years of age. And whereas, I do
not believe that man can have a right of property
in his fellow man, but on the contrary, that all man-
hind are endowed by nature with equal rights, I do,
therefore, by these presents restore to the said
Robert and his sister Polly, that- inalienable liberty

DEED OF EMANCIPATION. 203
of which they have been deprived. And I do here
by renounce for myself and my heirs forever all
claim of every description whatever to them and
their services, and I do hereby emancipate and
make free the said Robert Crawford and his sister,
Polly Crawford. In testimony whereof, the said
Coles set his hand and seal, on the 19th day of
July, 1819."
This act of emancipation executed by Governor
Coles and spread upon the records of the Court,
stands out to his immortal honor, and makes more
conspicuous the infamy of his persecutors.
The motion for a new trial, which had been made
in the case at the September term, 1824, was not
decided at that term, and the case went over to the
March term, 1825. At this term of the court
Judge Samuel McRoberts presided. The motion
for a new trial in the case which he found undeci
ded, was promptly overruled. Between the term
of the court in September, 1824, and the March
term, 1825, the Legislature (in January, 1825) ,
passed an act releasing all penalties incurred un
der the act of 1819 (including those sued for), up
on which Coles was prosecuted. The law required
as conditions precedent to the release of the penal
ties, the execution of a bond that the negroes

204 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
should not become a charge upon any county in
the State, and that all the costs of the suit and
damages incurred should be paid. To enable the
defendant to take advantage of this act at the June
term, it was moved at the same term to set aside the
verdict and judgment to enable him to plead
puis darrien continuance. McRoberts proved
equal to this last phase of the case; he overruled the
motion for a new trial and rejected the plea, hold
ing that the Legislature could not make a law to
bar the recovery of the penalty in this case. The
judge, however, was not able to prevent the defend
ant from taking an appeal to the Supreme Court
of the State. This appeal was taken and heard at
the June term ofthe court at Vandalia, 1826. The
judgment of the Circuit Court was reversed and the
cause remanded, with directions to receive the de
fendant's plea. Chief Justice Wilson gave an
able and elaborate opinion. Coles, plaintiff in
error, versus the County of Madison, defendant in
error ; Breese' s Reports, page 115. The case was
argued before the Supreme Court by Henry Starr
for Coles, and Turney and Reynolds for the
county of Madison. Henry Starr was at this time
residing at Edwardsville, and one of the best law
yers in the State. He was a strong personal and

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 205
political friend of Governor Coles, and took a deep
interest in this case. After being several years at
Edwardsville, he returned to Cincinnati, where he
attained great eminence in his profession. He
died only a few years since.
Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux.
Yandalia, Jan'y 21, 1824.
My Friend: — While at Edwardsville a few days
since, I received a letter from D. B. Smith, notifying me
that he had forwarded to the care of I. I. Smith & Co.,
of St. Louis, certain pamphlets; previous to which, how
ever, I had been informed by one of that company that
he expected them, and had requested him to notify me
so soon as they should be received, and to forward
them to me to this place by the first safe oppor
tunity. I also had the pleasure to receive at Edwards
ville the pamphlet you were so good as to enclose me by
mail. The information contained in this pamphlet in
relation to the foreign slave trade, is highly interesting.
I must, however, be allowed to express my regret that
it does not bear more directly on the question, which is
now agitating us here, by showing the resemblance be
tween the foreign and domestic slave trade, and the
inevitable effect of the extension of Slavery into new
regions, to continue and increase this odious traffic. To
add to the circulation of this, as well as the pamphlet I
had previously the pleasure to receive from you, I shall,
if possible, prevail on some of the editors to publish
them in their newspapers. But unfortunately for our
cause, of the five newspapers printed in this State, four
are the avowed advocates of Slavery (in other words for

206 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
a Convention) and but one of Freedom, and that one not
friendly to me and other opponents of the Convention.
This division among us arises from factions, personal
and local feelings, and from the circumstance that we
have many avowed friends of freedom, who are them
selves the masters of slaves; and who, while they unite)
with us in opposing the means of the further introduction
of Slavery, are at the same time violently opposed to our
efforts to abolish the remnant of Slavery which is still
allowed to stain our soil. There is also another class
among us who profess to be opposed to Slavery, and who
rail much against it, but yet who are friendly to it, as is
fully evinced by their advocating every measure calcu
lated to introduce and tolerate it here. The character
and feelings of these several classes of our citizens were
strongly exemplified last winter, when, on entering into
office, I called the attention of the Legislature to the ex
istence of Slavery among us, and urged its abolition. As
it may be the means of throwing some light on the
slave question in this State, I will send you, accompany
ing this letter, a printed copy of my speech, and a report
made by a committee of the Legislature on a part of it.
My remarks and recommendation on the subject of
Slavery produced a great excitement among those who
held slaves, or were desirous of holding them, particular
ly among those advocates of a Convention who were pro
fessedly the opponents of Slavery, but secretly its friends,
and who hoped under the fair mask of freedom, to de
ceive the people, and to smuggle in the monster Slavery.
Bringing forward the measure of abolition at the same
time they brought forward the Convention question,
placed these professed friends to the rights of man in an
awkard situation, for it was apparent if they voted agree
able to their declarations, they, together with the real

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 207
and genuine friends of freedom, would constitute a ma
jority of the Legislature, and of course pass the aboli
tion Bill. This state of things had the effect of unmask
ing their true opinions and views, and of clearly exhibi
ting to the public the real object for which a convention
was to be called — that of making this a Slave-holding
State. For having been instrumental in effecting this,
and also for having acted up to my principles in restor
ing liberty to certain slaves given to me by my father,
it would seem I am never to be forgiven, but to be sub
ject to an unrelenting and cruel persecution, which
aims to destroy not only my political influerfce, but my
personal character and property. After having resorted
to various means to injure my standing with the people,
an effort is now made to cripple my pecuniary resources,
and thus to disable me from promoting the cause of
freedom, and of punishing me for what I have done in
this way. A suit has been recently instituted against
me to recover the penal sum of $200 for each negro
emancipated and brought by me to this State. This
suit has been brought under a law passed about the first
of April 1819, which prohibited any person from bring
ing into this State any negro for the purpose of eman
cipation, unless he would give bond under a penalty of
$1,000 that the negro should not become a county
charge, and that if the emancipator neglected to give
this bond he should forfeit and pay the sum of $200 for
each negro emancipated. My negroes emigrated to and
settled in this State about one month after the passage of
this act, but more than five months before it was print
ed or promulgated. To the peculiar hardship of my
case, from the impossibility of knowing of the existence
of the law, until after I had violated its provisions and
incurred its penalty, is to be added the fact of my not

208 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
being content with freeing the negroes in Yirginia, and
thus relinquishing more than one-third of the property
given me by my father, but from a desire to promote
their interest, removed them to this State, at an expense
of between five and six hundred dollars, and then gave
them as a remuneration for their past services, and a
stimuious to future exertion, one hundred and sixty
acres of land to each who had passed the age of 24.
They all behaved uniformly well, and are honest, indus
trious and prosperous. And what is truly farcical in
this suit is that it has been instituted at the instance of
a worthless fellow, the tool of a faction, who is destitute
of property, and pays no tax, and of course has no direct
interest whether the negroes become a county charge or
not, when they are all young and healthy, and so pros
perous that one of the families pay as much as four dol
lars as a tax to the county. Never having been sued be
fore, I feel the more mortified at being prosecuted for
violating the laws of a State over which the people have
called me to preside, but this mortification is considera
bly abated when I reflect on the nature of my offense,
and the character of the prosecutors.
About the time of instituting this suit I had the mis
fortune to lose by fire about two-thirds of all the build
ings and enclosures on my farm. Soon after which the
" State House" was also consumed by fire. The inhabi
tants of this place, feeling that they had an interest in its
being immediately rebuilt, proposed to do so by contribu
tion. After my recent loss by fire, and with this suit hang
ing over me, I did not feel myself in a situation to be very
liberal; and not liking some of the arrangements, pro
posed an alteration of them, and in the meantime de
clined subscribing. This was immediately seized hold
of by the friends of a Convention, who formed a mob,

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 209
and paraded the streets nearly the whole night, giving
vent to their spleen against me for my opposition to a
Convention, and refusal, as they termed it, to rebuild the
State House. In this way every little circumstance is
laid hold of to render me unpopular; but in this case
their passions led them too far, as their conduct has pro
duced on the community a reaction which has been of
service to me, and the cause I advocate. Discovering
this, they now deny having had anything to do with the
mob. Having had the good fortune, through every period of
my life, to live in great harmony with my fellow man,
the enmity and persecution I have lately had to encount
er, have created a new state of feeling, and caused me to
look into my own conduct to see whether it has been
correct. In this review I have been gratified to find I
have -not given just cause of offense to any one; but I
have been grieved to perceive with what virulence I have
been pelted, when the only complaint against me is, that
I am a friend to the equal rights of man, and am con
sidered a barrier to my opponents acquiring the power
of oppressing their fellow men. Under this view of my
situation, I am gratified that Providence has placed me
in the van of this great contest; and I am truly thankful
that my system is so organized as to leave no room for
doubt, fear or hesitation. My opinions have long since
been maturely formed, and my course deliberately taken,
and is not now to be changed by detraction, prosecutions}
or threats of " Convention or death?
I beg you excuse my troubling you with the perusal
of so long a letter, and that you will pardon me for hav
ing said so much of myself, in consideration of its con
nection with the great question now agitating this State,
14

210 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLE3.
by interesting yourself in which you have displayed so
signal and praiseworthy an instance of your benevolence
— for which I pray you to accept the grateful thanks of
your friend, Edwaed Coles.
To Robeets Yaux,
Philadelphia.
This letter of Governor Coles, written in the
confidence of private friendship, now made public
after a period of nearly sixty years, will show to
the people of Illinois at the present day the extent
of his persecution for " righteousness sake." Har
assed by malicious lawsuits, a victim of the
prejudices of unjust judges, mobbed by a rabble,
maligned and misrepresented in every possible way,
his position was one of the most unpleasant and
embarrassing in which a public man can find him
self. But armed with the panoply of truth and
justice, and battling in a great and holy cause, he
was never dismayed or discouraged. The spirit
which sustained him, and the faith which upheld
him, are manifested in the following extract from
the above letter to Mr. Vaux :
" Having had the good fortune through every period
of my life, to live in great harmony with my fellow
men, the enmity and persecution I have lately had to
encounter, have created a new state of feelings and caused
me to look into my own conduct, to see whether it has

TRIBUTE TO GOVERNOR COLES. 211
been correct. In this review I have been gratified to
find I have not given just cause of offense to any one;
but I have been grieved to perceive with what violence I
have been pelted, when the only complaint against me is
that I am a friend to the equal rights of man, and am
considered a barrier to my opponents acquiring the power'
of oppressing their fellow-men. Under this view of my
situation, I am gratified that Providence has placed me
in the van of this great contest, and I am truly thankful
that my system is so organized as to leave no room for
doubt, fear or hesitation. My opinions have long since
been maturely formed, and my course deliberately taken,
and is not now to be changed by detraction, persecution,
or threats of " Convention or death?
This letter of January 21, 1824, was answered
by Mr. Vaux July 14, 1824, by a letter contain
ing the following most beautiful and just tribute
to Governor Coles:
" The part which thee has been called to act, privately
as well as publicly and officially, in regard to the rights
of mankind, and for the upholding of the principles of
justice and mercy toward a degraded and oppressed por
tion of our fellow beings, ought to be regarded as a
manifestation of Providential power, concerning which
we must always believe the same Divine interposition
will be extended in every exigency. I am altogether
satisfied that it is reserved for thee to witness the tri
umph of truth and beneficence in the struggle to which
thee has been exposed ; and, what is of infinitely greater
value, as it respects thyself, to reap a plentiful harvest

212 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
in the most precious of all rewards, the approbation of
Heaven !
I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively
gratitude for thy service, and it will always be among
the purest consolations of my mind to be assured of thy
welfare and happiness."

ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES. 213

CHAPTER XVII.
Letter of Roberts Vaux to Governor Coles; Lieutenant-Gov
ernor Hubbard Attempts to Usurp the Office of Gov
ernor ; Defeated by the Supreme Court, and Fails in the
Legislature; Letter of Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux ;
Enforces his Views on Slavery in a Letter to John
Rutherford ; Views on the Pardoning Power in a Let
ter to Daniel Hay ; An extra Session of the Legisla
ture called ; Governor Coles' Message ; His Recommend
ations ; Visit op Lafayette to Illinois ; Letter of La
fayette to Governor Coles ; Governor Coles sends his
Aid, Col. Hamilton, to meet him ; Notice of Col. Hamil
ton ; Reception of Gen. Lafayette at Kaskaskia.
Roberts Vaux to Governor Coles.
Philadelphia, 6 Mo. 14, 1824.
Esteemed Friend: — My delay in the acknowledge
ment of the receipt of thy truly interesting letter of
Jan'y 21, last, will not, I trust, be attributed to any want
of respect and kindness, but to the real causes, wliich
were, first, an unusual press of business relative to sev
eral public institutions, which at the season of the re
ceipt of that communication demanded my attention;
and secondly, to the expectation subsequently enter
tained here, that thy presence might be expected at
Washington as successor in the Senate of the United
States to N. Edwards, appointed on a foreign mission.
The likelihood that the latter event might bring us to a
personal acquaintance in this city, when the session of
Congress should terminate, was contemplated with pleas
ure, since a direct interchange of opinion would be pre
ferred to epistolary correspondence. Time, however,

214 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
has served to show that this prospect, with many others
upon which we dwell with satisfaction, failed of realiza
tion, and I therefore avail myself of the only means
which are left to renew the assurance of my remem
brance, of my undissembled regard, and of my sincere
sympathy. The part which thee has been called to act
privately, as well as publicly, and officially, in regard to
the rights of mankind, and for the upholding of the
principles of justice, and mercy toward a degraded and
oppressed portion of our fellow beings, ought to be re
garded as a manifestation of Providential power, con
cerning which we must always believe the same Divine
interposition will be extended in every exigency. I am
altogether satisfied that it is reserved for thee to witness
the triumph of truth and beneficence in the struggle to
which thee has been exposed; and, what is of infinitely
greater value, as it respects thyself, to reap a plenteous
harvest in the most precious of all rewards, the appro
bation of Heaven!
I feel a deep interest in thy character, and a lively
gratitude for thy services, and it will always be among
the purest consolations of my mind to be assured of thy
welfare and happiness; with these impressions I salute
thee, and remain faithfully, Thy Friend,
Robeets Yaux.
To Edward Coles,
Governor of Illinois.
P. S. — I yesterday passed half an hour with our friend,
N. Biddle; he is well, but very much occupied with of
ficial duties at the bank.

ROBERTS VAUX TO GOVERNOR COLES. 215
Roberts Vaux to Governor Coles.
Biewood Lodge, 9 Mo. 1, 1824.
Dear Friend: The last intelligence from Philadel
phia is, that the great question which has so long agita
ted your State, and which had a bearing so important
upon the common interests of humanity and justice,
has been determined. Happy for your commonwealth.*
Creditable for our country ! Slavery will not be permit
ted to overrun Illinois ! The result of the conflict is
truly joyous ; you have said to the moral plague, "Thus
far, but no farther, shalt thou come."
My warmest congratulations are tendered on this
great event, though I know how inferior all exterior cir
cumstances must be in comparison with the heart-solac
ing reward which is reaped by thy devotedness in this
noble cause.
Since I have been at my summer residence, I have
received several numbers of an Illinois newspaper, and
a pamphlet from the same quarter, all which contained
highly interesting matter relative to the question then
undecided in your State ; I presume I am indebted to
thy kindness for those documents, for which I feel great
ly obliged. The letter of Thos. Jefferson addressed to
thyself, is very interesting, and I have it in contempla
tion to cause it to be printed in a tract form, for general
distribution, provided such use of it, may be altogether
agreeable to thee.
I have indulged myself with a hope that it may be
within the range of probability, that thee will make a
visit to Philadelphia ere long. Ebt anything would
cive me more pleasure than thy presence in our city, and
that gratification would be increased by thy making my
house thy home. I have much more to communicate

216 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
than I have leisure now to put on paper, as we are to
day preparing to return, on the morrow, to our house in
town. With sincere regard I remain thy friend,
Robeets Yaux.
To Edwaed Coles,
Governor of Illinois,
Edwardsville.
The following letter giving an account of the
absurd attempt of Lieutenant-Governor Hubbard,
to usurp the office of Governor, will revive the his
tory of a strange and ludicrous transaction. It
also alludes to the libel suits instituted against the
Governor for his just criticisms on the scandalous
conduct of the judge who tried the case against
him for freeing his slaves.
On the 22nd of June, 1825, Governor Coles
notified Lieutenant-Governor Hubbard that he
would be absent from the State after the 18th of
July, and that the duties of the Executive would
devolve on him during his absence, which would
not be longer than about three months. Coles re
turned to the State on the 31st of October, 1825,
and entered on the discharge of his duties, being
recognized as Governor by all the Executive offi
cers of the State. Hubbard having been the act
ing Governor for about ten weeks, and being
pleased with his position, concluded that it would

\ LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HUBBARD. 217

be a good thing to hold on to it. He therefore set
up the claim that Governor Coles, by absenting
himself from the State, had abdicated and forfeited
the office, and that he, as Lieutenant Governor,
was entitled lo it. On the 2nd of November, and
two days after Coles had assumed the duties of his
office, Hubbard issued a commission appointing Wm.
L. D. Ewing Paymaster General, aud requested
the Secretary of State to countersign and seal the
commission. This the Secretary, George Forquer,
refused to do. Then Ewing applied to the Su
preme Court for a mandamus to compel Forquei
to sign his commission, and the motion was heard
by the full court at Vandalia, at the December
term, 1825. The court assumed that its decision
would decide the question whether Coles or Hub
bard was Governor of the State. Able opinions
were given by justices Lockwood and Smith, and
the court unanimously decided that it would not
award the mandamus. Hubbard then went to the
Legislature, but with no better success than he had
before the Court. Not much is now known of
" Lieutenant Governor Hubbard."
In 1826 a new election for Governor took place,
and there were three candidates — Ninian Ed
wards, Thomas C. Sloo, and Adolphus Frederick

218 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
Hubbard. The latter gentleman having failed to
step into the shoes of Governor Coles, offered him
self as a candidate before the people. As a part of
a picture of the times and as illustrative of what a
candidate thought of himself and of the people^
Governor Ford, in his history of Illinois, gives one
of Hubbard's speeches in the canvass. "Fellow
citizens," said he, "I offer myself as a candidate
before you, for the office of Governor. I do not
pretend to be a man of extraordinary talents; nor
do I claim to be equal to Julius Caesar, or Napole
on Bonaparte, nor yet to be as great a man as my
opponent, Governor Edwards. Nevertheless, I
think I can govern you pretty well. I do not
think it will require a very extraordinary smart
man to govern you; for to tell you the truth, fel
low citizens, I do not believe you will be very hard
to govern no how."
Lieutenant-Governor Hubbard was at Washing
ton in the winter of 1824, and at the time that Ninian
Edwards resigned his seat in the Senate on being
appointed Minister to Mexico. He took it into his
head that he could advance his own fortunes by
this resignation, and he prevailed on the Senator
to entrust him with his letter of resignation to take
in person to Governor Coles. As to how he pro-

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 219
ceeded, I will let Governor Coles speak, in a let
ter to his brother-in-law, the Hon. Andrew Steven
son, afterwards Speaker ofthe United States House
of Representatives, and dated April 7th, 1824 :
" On the last day of March the Lieutenant-Governor
of this State (Hubbard) arrived here from Washington,
where he had been on a visit, bringing me the official
notice of the resignation of Ninian Edwards. He told
me Mr. Cook and Mr. Edwards had induced him to come
on, under the belief that I would either resign my office
and accept a seat in the Senate from him, or confer it on
him. It was with some difficulty that I could restrain
my indignation at the idea of thus sneaking into the
Senate, or of sending to it such a simpleton as my Lieu
tenant." From the speech of Hubbard above quoted, and
from what is generally known of him at the present
day, I think the verdict will be that Governor
Coles was right when he called him a " simpleton."
Governor Coles to Roberts Vaux.
Yandalia, Illinois, February 8, 1826.
My Dear Sir: — When I had the happiness to enjoy
your society last summer in Philadelphia, you were so
kind as to express a wish to hear from me on my return
to this State. I should long since have fulfilled the
promise then made you to comply with this request,
which I felt was as flattering to me, as it was kind in you;
but for a mass of business which had accumulated dur
ing my absence, the preparation for the meeting, and

220 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
the labor and interruption attendant on the session of
the Legislature, which adjourned a few days since ; and
the novel and extraordinary efforts made by some of my
old political opponents to supplant me in the office of
Governor, by thrusting in my place the Lieutenant-Gov
ernor, a zealous and thorough-going advocate of Slavery.
I had heard nothing of this intention (for although many
letters were written to me, it so happened not one ever
came to hand, or has since been heard of) until I reached
Louisville on my way home, when I was told by a friend
that he had been informed by a distinguished opponent
of mine that it had been determined that I should not
be permitted to resume the office of Governor. On
my arriving in the State, I found that there had been
v v v several caucuses held in different places, by what are
called the knowing ones, for the purpose of devising the
best mode of proceeding, and of organizing their forces
to act against me. All the Executive officers of the
State recognizing me as Governor, I found no difficulty
in entering at once on the duties of the office. The
Lientenant-Governor, however, still remained at the seat
of Gov't, contending that I had vacated the office by
my absence from the State, and that he was, under the
constitution, the acting Governor. On the meeting of
the Supreme Court he applied for a mandamus against
the Secretary of State. The court refused the man
damus on an incidental point, and got rid of the main
question without deciding it. Soon after this the Gen
eral Assembly met, and efforts were made to induce if
to recognize the Lieutenant as the acting Governor ; but
these efforts having failed, he made a communication to
both Houses, setting forth his claims to the office of
Governor, and asking to be heard by himself or counsel
in support of them. Nothing was done with this com-

GOVERNOR COLES TO ROBERTS VAUX. 221
munication, there being only one member in each House
openly in favor of the Lieutenant-Governor's pretensions.
There would doubtless have been more if there had been
any prospect of ousting me. I attribute the unexpected
unanimity to the circumstance of the question having
been stirred in time to afford the people an opportunity
of making known their opinions and feelings to their
Representatives, previous to their leaving home to take
their seats in the Legislature. The current of public
opinion on this question was too strong in my favor to be
resisted by any but a most desperate antagonist. This
effort of my opponents has recoiled very much to my
advantage, in weakening their popularity, and adding to
the strength of mine.
You will recollect my having shown you last summer
some strictures, which I had been induced to publish on
the judge's opinion in the malicious suit which had
been instituted against me for freeing my negroes, in
consequence of several extraordinary errors of fact, as
well as of law, which it contained, and the unusual pains
taken by the judge to publish and circulate these errors
to my injury. Two actions have been instituted against
me for this publication — one by the court — the other in
the name of the judge as an individual, in which he has
laid his damages at $5,000. The former is to be tried
at Edwardsville next month— the latter at this place in
April. The original suit, or mother of the judge's twin-
suits, is still pending in our Supreme Court, and is ex
pected will be decided at the June term. I trust I shall
get rid of all of these suits in the course of the spring
and summer. I feel the more anxious to do so as they
are the first suits that ever were instituted against me.
I have not heard anything of the pamphlets which
you were so good as to promise to send me. I shall go

222 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
to St. Louis in about a month, when I hope to receive
them. I see noticed in the public prints a new pamphlet,
published by G. and C. Carville, at New York, on the
emancipation and removal of the slaves of the U. S. If
you could conveniently lay your hands onTthis pamphlet,
you would confer a favor on me by sending it to mej
by mail. May I ask the favor of you to hand to Mr. Fry
the enclosed five dollar note, and request him to forward
the National Gazette to William Wilson (Chief Justice
of the State), Carmi, White county, Illinois.
I beg you to present my kind regards to Mrs. Yaux,
and to accept my grateful acknowledgments for your
very kind and truly friendly attentions to me while in
Philadelphia ; and permit me again to renew to you the
assurances of my obligations to you for the services ren
dered to humanity and to Illinois during the late vile
effort to prostitute their rights and character, and to re
peat that the virtuous and benevolent interest you
evinced on that occasion will ever endear you to
Edwaed Coles.
Robeets Yaux, Esq.,
Philadelphia.
The above letter of Governor Coles contains
further evidence of the judicial persecution to
which he was subjected. In a temperate article in
a newspaper he made a legitimate criticism on
some of the outrageous and indefensible rulings
of Judge McRoberts, in the case of Madison
county against him, for freeing his slaves in the
State, without giving bonds. Eagerly seizing
hold of this publication, the Judge had the gross

ACTION OF JUDGE MCROBERTS. 223
indelicacy to go before the Grand Jury of his own
Court, and by virtue of his official influence and
position he procured an indictment for libel against
Governor Coles. As that was not enough, he
commenced a civil suit against the Governor, lay
ing his damages at five thousand dollars. This
action of McRoberts was as malicious as was the
suit of Madison county, as the sequel proved. A
nolle prosequi was entered in the case of the in
dictment and the civil suit was never brought to
trial. The following letter of Governor Coles to
A. Cowles, the Circuit Attorney, shows that he
never consented to the dismissal of the indictment,
and that he was determined to probe McRobert's
conduct to the bottom. It is to be regretted that
the answer of the Circuit Attorney is not to be
found to publish with the letter of Governor Coles.
Edwardsville, Aug. 16, 1826.
Dear Sir: — Believing that I should have been able to
prove that I had not libeled Judge McRoberts, and ex
plain how the Grand Jury had been induced to pre
sent me for so doing, it was with great regret that I
heard you had thought proper to dismiss the prosecu
tion. Fearing that some malicious person may misrep
resent this transaction at some future day, when those
who now understand it may have forgotten many of the
details in relation to it, or perhaps be dead, or have re
moved from the country, I have determined to ask the

224 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
favor of you to give me a written answer to the follow
ing questions:
Did you summon or request Judge McRoberts to
appear before the Grand Jury, which presented me for
libeling him?
Did not Judge McRoberts request to see the indict
ment before it was delivered to the Grand Jury, and did
he not examine and alter it, and if so what were the al
terations made by him?
Did you ask Mr. Blaekwell to aid you in the prosecu
tion of me, and do you know whether he was employed
by Judge McRoberts to do so?
As you have expressed the opinion verbally to several
persons, that I had not libeled Judge McRoberts, I ask
the favor of you to give me your opinion in writing,
whether the matter contained in the indictment was a
libel? With great respect, I am &c, &c, Edwaed Coles.
A. Cowles, Esq.,
Circuit Attorney, Edwardsville.
P. S. — Why was not Judge McRoberts returned as a
witness, on the back of the indictment?
What will be remarked in regard to Governor
Coles, is that the subject of Slavery was always up
permost in his mind and that he lost no opportuni
ty in enforcing his views. The following letter to
his brother-in-law, John Rutherford, who had just
been elected to the Virginia Legislature, exhibits
the deep interest he felt in ameliorating the condi-

LETTER TO JOHN RUTHERFORD. 225
tions of Slavery in his native commonwealth of
Virginia. Extract from a letter from Governor Coles to John Rutherford.
Yandalia, July 5, 1826.
I give you many thanks, my dear Sir, for your long
and truly affectionate letter of February, and assure you,
I feel ereat contrition for having so long delaved the ex-
pression of them, and of saying how much gratified I
was at perusing your kind letter, and the glad tidings it
gave me of the health and happiness of our dear Emily
and her little ones; and also the pleasure I have since de
rived at finding from the newspapers in what a flattering
manner your fellow citizens have elected you to repre
sent them in the Legislature.
I am greatly gratified at your election, not only from
the regard I have for you as a man, &c, and the conse
quent interest I take in, and the pleasure I derive from
your success ; but I am particularly so in seeing men of
your principles in relation to negro Slavery in the Coun
cils of Yirginia, as it cheers me with the hope that
something will soon be done to repudiate the unnatural
connection which has there so long existed between the
freest of the free and the most slavish of slaves.
Even if it were feasible, from the extraordinary
apathy in the great mass of the people, and the zeal dis
played by many to perpetuate the evil, I could not hope
for speedy emancipation, but I do trust for the honor as
well as interest of the State that ameliorating laws will
be speedily passed, which will gradually have the effect
of reconciling and habituating the masters, and prepar
ing the slaves for a change which, as Mr. Jefferson says,
must sooner or later take place with or without the con-
15

226 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
sent of the masters. It behooves Yirginia to move in
this great question; and it is a solemn duty which her
politicians owe to their country, to themselves, and to
their posterity, to look ahead and make provision for the
future, and secure the peace, prosperity and glory of
their country.
The policy of Yirginia for some years past has been
most unfortunate. So far from acting as if Slavery were
an evil which ought to be gotten rid of, every measure
which could be taken has been taken to perpetuate it, as
if it were a blessing. Her political pilots have acted
like the inexperienced navigator, who, to get rid of the
slight inconvenience of the safety-valves have hermeti
cally sealed them, not foreseeing that the inevitable con
sequence will be the bursting of the boiler, and dread
ful havoc among all on board. No law has been passed
under the commonwealth to ameliorate the black code
of the colony of Yirginia ; on the contrary, new laws
have been passed, adding to the oppression of the unfor
tunate negroes, and which have not only abridged the
rights of humanity, but of the citizen. Such is the
character of the law which restricts, and to a great de
gree prohibits the master from manumitting his slave.
The idea should be ever present to the politicians of
Yirginia, that the state of Slavery is an unnatural state,
and cannot exist forever; it must come to an end by con
sent or by force; and if by consent, it must from all ex
perience, as from the nature of things, be preceded by
ameliorating laws, which will have the effect of gradu
ally and imperceptibly loosening the bonds of servitude.
Nothing is more erroneous than the idea which is
entertained by many, that ameliorating laws, and espec
ially manumissions, are productions of insurrections
among the slaves. The history of the British and

LETTER TO JOHN RUTHERFORD. 227
Spanish West Indies shows that in those Islands where
they have prevailed most, the slaves have behaved best,
and insurrections have occurred oftenest where the slaves
have been most oppressed and manumissions most
restricted. Indeed, we never hear of insurrections in the
Spanish Islands, where the slaves are most under the pro
tection of the law, and where there are no restrictions on
manumissions. Yirginia should repeal the law against
emancipation, prohibit the domestic slave trade — which
is nearly allied in all its odious features to the African
slave trade — restrict the power of the master in disposing
of his slaves, by preventing him from separating the
child from its parent, the husband from his wife, etc.,
and if possible, connect the slave under proper modifi
cations to the soil, or at least to the vicinity of his birth;
instruct the slaves especially in the duties of Religion ;
extend to them the protection of the laws, and punish
severity in the master, and when cruelly exercised by
him, it should vest the right in the slave to his freedom;
or to be sold at an assessed valuation. These and many
other provisions might be adopted which would have a
most salutary effect, and especially the Spanish provision,
which gives the right to the slave to buy a portion of
his time as soon as he can procure the meaUs, either by
his own labor or by the bounty of others ; thus, for
instance, suppose a negro worth $600, on his paying $100,
he is entitled to one day in each week, and so on. In
connection with the emancipation of slaves, I should
provide for the removal by bounty and otherwise, of free
negroes from the country, as the natural difference, and
unfortunate prejudice existing between the whites and
blacks would make it the interest of both to be separated.
This subject is too big for a letter, and I can only add,
that if I could see ameliorating laws adopted, if I did

228 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
not live to see .the emancipation, I should at least die
with the happy consolation of believing that measures
were in progress for the consummation of ultimate jus
tice to the descendants of the unfortunate African; and
that my country, and the descendants of my family, if
not my nephews and nieces, would lie down in peace
and safety, and would not have entailed on them an
unnatural and odious system, productive of strife, en
mity and war, between themselves and their domestics.
I was in hopes to have been able by this time to have
informed you and my other friends of the result of the
malicious suit instituted against me for freeing my
negroes, and which is pending in our Supreme Court.
The case was argued last week, but the court has adjourned
to the 1st Monday of January next, without deciding it.
I was much disappointed in not getting a decision; I
have however but little fear as to the result.
The views of Governor Coles on the pardoning
power, which we give in the following letter, are
worthy of the fullest consideration by all vested
with such authority. Governor Coles to Daniel Hay.
Yandalia, Sept. 17, 1824.
Dear Sir: — Your letter of the 11th inst., with the ac
companying documents, has just been received, and has
produced, as you may imagine, some embarrassment-
The power of pardoning is the most unpleasant duty
which devolves on the Executive. It is not proper that
he should so exercise this power as to arrest and defeat
the regular course and intent of the law ; but that it
should be only used as a shield to protect the unfortu-

GOVERNOR COLES TO DANIEL HAY. 229
nate in extraordinary cases of hardship, when the
law has an operation not intended or contemplated. I
do not feel myself sufficiently acquainted with the cir
cumstances of the case now presented to decide whether
it is one of that extraordinary character which would
justify the Executive in arresting the sentence pro
nounced upon it by the proper tribunal. To give time
for the receipt of further information, and more reflec
tion, and to afford an opportunity for further develop
ment of the guilt or innocence of the parties concerned,
in the trial of the other two Shipleys, which it is pre
sumed will take place in Nov. next, I have determined
to suspend the execution of the sentence of the court
until the loth of Dec, before which time it is hoped
every necessary information will be received to enable
me to act correctly on the subject. In the meantime,
those who take an interest in the case will have an op
portunity of making the facts and their wishes known ;
and I shall have it in my power of seeing and convers
ing on the subject with Judge Wilson, yourself and
other persons, who will assemble at Yandalia at the
meeting ofthe General Assembly.
Accompanying this letter I send a reprieve of Cotner,
as stated above, until Dec. 15.
In haste, I am, with much respect, your friend,
Edwaed Coles.
Daniel Hay, Esq.
Owing to a defect in the law for the election of
electors for President and Vice President of the
United States, Governor Coles was obliged to con
vene an extra session of the General Assembly, to
,meet prior to the time fixed for the regular session.

230 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.

This extra session was called for November 18,
1824, and its duty was to " legalize and render
effective the vote of the State in the election of a
President and Vice President of the United States,"
and to afford "an earlier opportunity of electing a
Senator to the Congress of the United States in the
place of Ninian Edwards."*
The message sent by Governor Coles to this ex
tra session of the General Assembly, is one of the
ablest and most statesman-like documents ever
transmitted by any Governor of the State. Admir
able in temper and style, it is marked by wise and
sagacious recommendations. He called attention
to "the remnant of African Slavery which still ex
isted in the State," and entreated the Assembly,
in view of the rejection ofthe people of the princi
ple and policy of personal Slavery, to make provis
ion for its speedy abolition. He adverted to the
infamous black laws then in existence, and the in
effective and inefficient laws against the unnatural
crime of kidnapping. "To put an end to that ne
farious traffic is the imperious duty of the Legisla
ture. There can come before you no subject with a
more direct appeal to the generous feelings of hu-
*Mr. Edwards liad resigned his seat in the Senate to accept the ap
pointment of Minister to Mexico. John McLean, a pro-Slavery and
Convention man, was elected to fill out his vacancy.

GOVERNOR COLES'S MESSAGE. 231
inanity,' or with stronger claims on your sense of
justice, than the exposed and defenseless condition
of free persons of color." The stay- laws were
strongly condemned, and the Assembly was urged
to repeal them. The interference ofthe Legislature
with contracts, he said, " had a tendency to destroy
punctuality, to impair confidence and injure the
character of a community. It is not less the duty
than the true policy of a Government strictly to
comply with all its own engagements, and to en
force punctuality upon its citizens. It should then
be borne in mind that character is capital, and that
a people desirous of increasing their resources and
promoting their prosperity, should preserve their
faith inviolate."
On the subject of education, the Governor says :
"There is no subject claiming the attention of the
Legislature of more vital importance to the welfare of
the State, and its future greatness and respectability,
than the provision which should be made for the educa
tion of the rising and succeeding generations. Intelli
gence and virtue are the main pillars in the temple of
liberty. A government founded on the sovereignty of
the people, and resting on, and controlled by them, can
not be respectable, or even long endure, unless they are
enlightened. To preserve and hand down to a continu
ous line of generations, that liberty which was obtained
by the valor and virtue of our forefathers, we must
make provision for the moral and intellectual improve-

232 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
ment of those who are to follow us, and who are to in
herit and have the disposal of the inestimable boon of
self-government." In this message the Governor renewed his rec
ommendation in regard to the Illinois and Mich
igan canal, and gave to the General Assembly
some excellent advice touching the selection of
judges. He said:
" It is one of the most important and responsible du
ties you will have to perform during the present session,
when it is recollected that the "judges are now to be ap
pointed during'good behavior — that they will occupy the
most important station in society, that our lives aud for
tunes may depend on their wisdom and virtue — it should
awaken in the members the most serious reflections on
the importance of their choice and their obligations to
lay aside personal prejudices and partialities, and assidi-
ously endeavor to select the best men — those distin
guished for their capacity, their acquirements, and their
moral character."
The great event during Governor Coles' adminis
tration was the visit of Lafayette to Illinois, in
May, 1825. In the month of December previous,
the Legislature of the State had extended to the
General a most cordial and pressing invitation to
visit Illinois. This invitation was forwarded by
Governor Coles, accompanied by an appropriate
letter. It is a singular fact, that Lafayette found

LAFAYETTE TO GOVERNOR COLES. 233
as Governor of Illinois, the young man whose ac
quaintance he had made in Paris only seven years
before. In answering the invitation of Governor
Coles, Lafayette expressed all- the happiness he felt
in finding the Chief Magistrate of Illinois a per
sonal friend, whom he requested to receive the as
surances of his affectionate regard.
General Lafayette from New Orleans wrote
the following letter, a facsimile of which is insert
ed: Lafmette to Edward Coles.
New Oeleans, April 12th, 1825.
My Dear Sir: — Notwithstanding many expostula
tions I have received on the impossibility to perform be
tween the 22nd of February, and the 15th of June, the
tour of visits which I would have been very unhappy to
relinquish, for we arrived thus far, my companions and
myself, and I don't doubt but that by rapid movements,
can gratify my ardent desire to see every one of the
Western States, and yet to fulfill a sacred duty as the
representative of the Revolutionary Army, on the half
secular jubilee of Bunker Hill. But to doit, my dear
Sir, I must avail myself of the kind indulgent proposal
made by several friends to meet me on some point near
the river, in the State of Illinois — I will say, could Kas
kaskia or Shawneetown suit you to pass one day with me?
I expect to leave St. Louis on the 29th of April, but
being engaged to aday's visit at Gen. Jackson's, I might
be at Shawneetown on the 8th of May, if you don't take
me directly from St. Louis to Kaskaskia or some other

234 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
place. Excuse the hurry of my writing, as the post is
going, and receive in this private letter, for indeed, to
the Governor I would not know how to apologize for so
polite proposals, receive, I say, my high and affectionate
regard. Lafayette.
Will you be pleased to forward the enclosed letter.
His Excellency, Goveenoe Coles, Illinois.
On the 28th of the same month Governor Coles
addressed the General the following letter, a fac
simile of which is also inserted :
Governor Coles to General Lafayette.
Edwaedsville, April 28, 1825.
Dear Sir: — -This will be handed to you by my friend
and aid-de-camp, Col. William Schuyler Hamilton,* who
* A word as to Wm. S. Hamilton may not be amiss, as he was one
of the earliest settlers of Illinois, and lived in the State during the
administration of Governor Coles. He was appointed by the Gov
ernor as his aid-de-camp, with the rank of Colonel, soon after his in
stallation into office. He was the son of Alexander Hamilton,
and his name was William Stephen, not William Schuyler Hamilton,
as written by Governor Coles. He was born in New York August 4,
1797, and was admitted to the West Point Military Academy in 1814,
and resigned in 1817. He left his home in New York and settled at
an early day in Sangamon county, Illinois. He was United States
Deputy Surveyor of the Public Lands, and in that capacity surveyed
the township in which Springfield now stands. In 1824 he was elect
ed a member of the House of Representatives from Sangamon county.
In 1827 he emigrated from this State to the "Fever River Lead
Mines." He commenced mining for lead ore at a point soon known
as " Hamilton's Diggins," now Wiota, in Lafayette county, Wiscon
sin. I knew Colonel Hamilton well from 1841 to 1849, when he emi
grated to California. He occupied a prominent position in South
western Wisconsin, and was a well-known Whig politician. He was

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GOVERNOR COLES TO LAFAYETTE. - 235
I take particular pleasure in introducing to you, as the
son of your old and particular friend, Gen. Alexander
Hamilton. As it is not known when you will arrive at
St. Louis, or what will be your intended route from
thence, Col. Hamilton is posted there for the pur
pose of waiting on you as soon as you shall arrive, and
ascertaining from you, and making known to me, by
what route you propose to return to the eastward, and
a member of the House of Representatives in the Territorial Legisla
ture of Wisconsin in 1842-3. He died in Sacramento, California,
October 9, 1850. For nineteen years neither stone nor slab marked
the spot where reposed his. ashes. When the careless grave-digger
threw his shovelfuls of earth on his coffin, little could he have thought
he was covering the remains of a son of Alexander Hamilton, in my
judgment the greatest of all American statesmen. Colonel Hamilton
was brave, generous, hospitable and humane; and unusually quick in
perception and decided in action. In 1879, Cyrus Woodman, Esq^,
of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was long a resident of Mineral
Point, Wisconsin, and a devoted friend of Co'onel Hamilton, pur
chased a lot in the cemetery of Sacramento, and marked the grave
with granite head and foot-stones. On the polished surface of the
head-stone he placed the following inscription:
COL. WM. S. HAMILTON",
SON OF
general alexander hamilton,
was born in new york.,
aug. 4, 1797.
he was an early settler and prominent
citizen op wisconsin.
coming to california in 1849,
he died here oct. 9,
1850.
IN SIZE AND FEATURE,
IN TALENT AND CHARACTER,
HE MUCH RESEMBLED HIS ILLUSTRIOUS
FATHER.

A FRIEND ERECTS THIS STONE.

236 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
when and where it will be most agreeable for you to af
ford me the happiness of seeing you and welcoming you
to Illinois.
I am, with the greatest respect and esteem, your de
voted friend,
Edward Coles.
Gen. Lafayette.
At the reception of Lafayette in Kaskaskia,
Governor Coles made the address of welcome. It
was admirable in style and expression, and the
Governor on the occasion gave utterance to the
ruling sentiment of his life. He spoke of the
progress of our country's greatness, and the arrival
of the period when the philanthropist might look
with confidence to the universal restoration of man
to his long lost rights, and to that station in the
Creator's work, and that moral elevation to which
he was destined." Though the seat of government
had been removed from Kaskaskia. and the scep
tre of empire which had been wielded there for
almost a century and a half was about passing
away, there yet resided in the town many men
whose names have gone into the history of the
State. Among those who participated in the re
ception ceremonies were General Edgar, Gov. Bond,
Judge Nathaniel Pope, Elias Kent Kane, Lt. Gov.
Menard, Col. Thomas Mather and Sidney Breese.

?

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\

VALEDICTORY MESSAGE. 237

CHAPTER XVII.
Valedictory Message of Governor Coles ; His Tribute to
Thomas Jefferson ; His Recommendations to the Legisla
ture; The " Black Code " ; Strength of Pro-slavery Sen
timent in the State ; Overwhelmed in 1854 ; The Charac
ter of Governor Coles' Administration ; Affairs of the
State Ably, Carefully and Conscientiously Administered ;
Extract of his Letter to Colonel Hamilton ; Becomes a
Candidate for Congress in 1831 ; His Address to the Peo
ple; Beaten by Joseph Duncan, the Jackson Candidate;
Appreciation of Governor Coles by Judge Gillespie and
Judge Caton ; Coles County Named after Him ; Removes
from the State and Settles in Philadelphia in 1833; Mar
ries Miss Roberts; The Charm and Happiness of his Pri
vate Life; His Gracious Hospitality ; Interest in Good
Works ; His History of the Ordinance of 1787; Death in
1868.The valedictory message of Governor Coles was
sent to the Legislature on the 5th of December,
1826. It is mainly devoted to the affairs of the
State. He made however, a touching allusion to
the deaths of Thomas Jefferson aud John Adams
on the 4th of July preceding, "thus sanctioning by
their deaths, a day rendered glorious by the most
important event of their lives, and in the history
of their country." To Mr. Jefferson, to whom he
was allied by so many ties of sympathy and of
friendship, he paid a just and eloquent tribute, de-

238 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
scribing him as a " sage and a philanthropist, as a
Statesman and a patriot, the author of the Declar
ation of Independence, the great political reform
er to whose strong, bold and original genius, we
are in a great degree Indebted for our civil and re
ligious freedom and for our correct understanding
of the rights of men and of nations." Mr. Jeffer
son's bold and outspoken sentiments on the subject
of Slavery had challenged the profoundest respect
and admiration of Governor Cole?. He again ear
nestly appealed to the Legislature to put an end to
the remnant of Slavery in the State and to "make
the laws in relation to that unfortunate class of
our fellow beings, the descendants of Africa, less
repugnant to our political institutions and local
situation." * * " It is also requisite that provision
should be made not only for loosening the fetters
of servitude, but for the security and protection of
free persons of color." * * " To effect which, it is
indispensable that the law should be altered, and
so far from considering every colored person a
Slave, unless he can procure written evidence of
his freedom in Illinois, every man should be pre
sumed free, until the contrary is made to appear."
The "Black Code" of Illinois, the repeal of which
Governor Coles urged so strongly and so repeat-

GOVERNOR COLES'S ADMINISTRATION. 239
edly was one of the most infamous and barbarous
enactments that ever disgraced a civilized State.
All his appeals were disregarded, and it can be
scarcely credited at this day that these disgraceful
laws were not completely repealed until after the
political revolution in this country which followed
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854.
The truth of the matter is, that a pro-Slavery sen
timent found a lodgment among a portion of the
people of that day in this State, and that sentiment
was vastly stronger from 1825 to 1854 than it was
in 1824, when the people so emphatically voted
down the atrocious proposition to call a convention
to make a constitution authorizing the introduction
into the State ofthe hideous institution of human
Slavery. The administration of Governor Coles, so far as
it is known by the record, and from other sources,
was one of the ablest, the purest and most success
ful the State has ever had. He fully understood
all the interests of the commonwealth, and admin
istered its affairs carefully, intelligently and con
scientiously. He gave his own personal attention
to all the details of his office, and all his official
correspondence is in his own handwriting. The
copies of his letters were made by himself, and

240 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
are as neatly and handsomely written as the origi
nals themselves. The facsimile of the letter to
Gen. Lafayette is a copy of the original found
among his papers, and it is a fair specimen of the
copies of all his letters, both official and personal,
which he retained. Nothing can better show how
carefully he watched over the interests of the State,
nor more fully illustrate his ideas of official duty,
than an extract of a letter, a copy of which I have
before me, to Col. ,William S. Hamilton, dated
July 26, 1826.
In the summer of 1826 a matter came up in re
lation to an exchange of certain lands selected as
Seminary lands. Some of these lands had been
settled on before their selection, and valuable im
provements made. The question was, whether the
State could not select otlier lands of equal value
and leave the settlers on the lands they had im
proved. Governor Coles appointed Colonel Ham
ilton to examine the lands settled upon and those
proposed to be substituted. In this letter of in
structions the Governor says :
" And now I must say to you, if you undertake this
business it will be expected of you that you will go in
person and inspect the tracts which it is wished shonld
be relinquished, as well as those to be substituted, and
that you will take great pains to inform yourself of their

CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS. 241
relative value, and that yon will not permit your sym
pathy for individuals to go too far, or to induce you to
lose sight of, or be inattentive to the great interest the
State has in having valuable selections made, to augment
as far as possible the invaluable fund which is destined
to contribute so much to the character of the State, and
to the knowledge and character of its citizens."
In the winter and spring of 1831, Governor
Coles was invited by a large number of his friends to
become acandidate forCongress at theelection to take
place in the following August. In a short "Address
to the People of Illinois," dated Edwardsville, May
12, 1831, he accepted the invitation. He did not
offer himself as the candidate of any party, and
said if elected he should be faithful to the trust re
posed in him, and should vote and act on all ques
tions agreeably to the known wishes of the people,
and what he believed to be their true interests — that
he would not be the creature of party, nor the hum
ble follower of any man, but, guided by republi
can principles, he would endeavor to promote the
interest of the country-; in fine, that he would not
be the follower of party or of man, but of prin
ciple. He stated what particular objects he would
be in favor of, and one of which was " the sub
division and sale of lands in forty-acre tracts," a
most admirable proposition, which was afterwards
16

242 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
enacted into a law, which proved of immense bene
fit to the actual settler. He would also be in favor
of a reduction of the price of the public lands, and
of liberal grants and appropriations of them for the
promotion of internal improvements, education, and
all such objects as would benefit the frontier settlers,
increase the population and advance the prosperity
of the State.
While the Governor announced himself as the
candidate of no party, yet he was known to be an
anti-Jackson man, and his candidacy drifted into
an opposition to Joseph Duncan, the candidate of
the Jackson party. The late Judge Breese also
came out as a national republican candidate. Noth
ing, however, could withstand the prestige of the
candidate who was running as a friend of the Jack
son administration. Both Breese and Coles were
overwhelmingly beaten by Duncan. The vote
stood, thirteen thousand and thirty-two for Dun
can, four thousand six hundred and fifty-nine for
Breese, and three thousand three hundred and
ninety-seven for Coles.
The number of personsnow living in the State who
were residents during the time that Governor Coles
was a citizen, is very small. It is certain, however,
that those who did know him personally, and those

ENDORSED BY JUDGE GILLESPIE. 243
who knew most in regard to him, entertained
the highest degree of respect for his character,
and gratitude for his services. Among those still
living who were acquainted with Governor Coles
during his residence in Illinois, is Judge Gillespie,
to whom I have had occasion to refer more than once
in this Paper. In a letter addressed to me, dated
Edwardsville, February 28th, 1881, the Judge says :
"I am pleased to find that you are employed in
rescuing from oblivion the life and character of one so
deserving of fame as our second Governor, Edward
Coles. I knew the Governor well. He lived in this
place while he was a citizen of Illinois. He was a re
markable man, and devoted himself to the propagation
of the sentiments of freedom. He was the most unre
lenting foe to Slavery I ever knew. His time, money,
everything belonging to him, was expended in the cause
so dear to his heart. He brought his slaves here from
Yirginia, and liberated them, and gave to each head of
a family, a tract of land within four miles of this place,
where they settled and lived for many years. * * *
* * * He was unmarried while he lived in
Illinois, and when in Edwardsville, boarded in the family
of James Mason. His character was without spot or
blemish in all the walks of life."
The Hon. John Dean Caton, who was Judge
of the Circuit and Supreme Courts of the State,
and who by his long and honored service on the
Bench has illustrated and adorned our judicial an-

244 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
nals, did not come to the State until after Governor
Coles had removed from it. In answer to a letter
from me inquiring if he had any reminiscences in
regard to the Governor, he writes under date of
May 10, 1881 :
" I was never personally acquainted with Governor
Coles, but when I came to the State forty-eight years
ago, his praises were sounded by all who had opposed,
with him, the Constitutional Amendment to admit Slav
ery. He was recognized as the great leader in that
fight, and for that I learned to revere his memory."
Judge Caton has recently made a very able ar
gument before the United States District Court at
Chicago. It was in a case brought against the city
of his residence, Ottawa, on certain bonds issued
by the city. An attempt having been made to re
pudiate the bonds, the city was sued, and Judge
Caton appeared for the plaintiff to uphold the va
lidity of the bonds and the honor of his city. The
Judge dwelt largely on the disgrace and impolicy
of repudiation, however specious the guise might
be, and referred particularly to the case of our
State, which had upheld its faith under the most
adverse circumstances, and paid every dollar of
its indebtedness. I quote from his printed' argu
ment, in which he refers to the three great men of
Illinois, one of whom was Governor Coles:

JUDGE CATON. 245

" In closing this reference to the past of our State, al
low me to say that Illinois has produced three great men,
whose conspicuous services will render their names im
mortal, and which should be commemorated by endur
ing monuments, and to whom we owe a debt of grati
tude that can never be repaid. The first was Edward
Coles, who was Governor of the State in 1824, aud who
saved the State from the black curse of African Slavery,
then and forever. The second was Thomas Ford, who
was Governor in 1842, and who saved the State from the
scarcely less blighting curse of repudiation ; and the third
was Abraham Lincoln, who saved the Union from dismem
berment, and the Nation from destruction. Not alone
either of them, for all were assisted and supported by
other great men whose names should be scarcely less hon
ored, but they were the great leaders in these great
labors, whose talents and whose integrity lead the people
to these great accomplishments. In all time to come
posterity should bow its head in gratitude whenever
either of these names should be spoken."
After the expiration of Governor Coles' term of
service, he continued to have his residence in Ed
wardsville and attending to the cultivation of his
farm in the neighborhood. He was very fond of agri
culture, and was the founder of the first agricultural
society in the State. Without a family, having no
business to tie him down, and suffering from ill-
health, he spent much time at his old home in Vir
ginia, and in Washington, Philadelphia, New
York and Saratoga. At what particular time he

246 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
finally removed from the State I am not aware,
but probably in the fall of 1832. I have in my
hands a letter addressed to him at Edwardsville,
written by General Scott, from " Fort Armstrong,
Bock Island," and dated August 11th, 1832. The
General had just successfully closed his campaign
against Black Hawk, and had arrived at Bock
Island from Prairie du Chien. As he expected to
remain at Fort Armstrong for some fifteen days,
and as at the expiration of that time he might have
to move west against some hostile Indians, who
were not captured with the other Indians of Black
Hawk, he invited the Governor to make him a visit,
and to bring with him a pair of blankets, saddle
and bridle, and saddle-bags.
It is no part of my purpose to continue my sketch
of Governor Coles subsequent to his leaving the
State. After quitting Illinois he took up his resi
dence in Philadelphia, where he had made " troops
of friends," among the most distinguished and cul
tivated people. On the 28th of November, 1833,
he was married by Bishop De Lancey to Miss Sally
Logan Boberts, a daughter of Hugh Boberts, a
descendant of Hugh Boberts, of Peullyn, Wales,
who came to this country with William Penn, in
1682. Possessed of an ample fortune, his private

THE CHARM OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE. 247
life seems to have brought to him every charm, and
surrounded him with every happiness. Of a very
happy, bright and cheerful disposition, he entered
sympathetically into the pleasures of all, and pro
moted in every possible way the happiness of all.
He was an affectionate husband, a devoted father
and a kind friend. Governor Coles was a very little
less than six feet in height; of a slender build, and
strongly-marked features. His eyes were brilliant,
and his countenance — particularly when lighted up
by a smile — was one of rare beauty. The splendid
steel engraving, by Sartain, which will illustrate
this Paper, when printed, cannot but be admired.
He always took much interest in public affairs,
and was in correspondence with many of the most
distinguished men of the time. His "History of
the Ordinance of 1787," which was read as a Paper
before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
•June 9, 1856, is one of the most elaborate reviews
of that celebrated legislation which has ever ap
peared. As Illinois was within the Territory cov
ered by that ordinance, the Governor very nat
urally alluded to the attempt to make it a Slave
State at the time he occupied the gubernatorial
chair. He said :
" I think that I shall meet with indulgence from the

248 SKETCH OF GOVERNOR COLES.
zeal I have always felt in the cause, for adding that it
has ever since afforded me the most delightful and con
soling reflections that the abuse I endured, the labor I
performed, the anxiety I felt, were not without their re
ward; and to have it conceded by opponents as well as
supporters, that I was chiefly instrumental in prevent
ing a call of a Convention, and in making Illinois a
Slave-holding State."
In view of the services of Governor Coles, it was
fitting and proper that Illinois should honor his
name by giving it to a large and important county
— Coles County — organized Dec. 25, 1830, out
of Clark and Edgar counties.
GovernorColes died at his residence in Phila
delphia, July 7th, 1868, at the ripe old age of eighty
two, and after many years of much suffering, debility
and general feebleness. His widow, his oldest son,
Edward Coles, and a daughter, survive him. His
youngest son died in February, 1862.
Governor Coles is buried at " Woodland," near
Philadelphia. Though his ashes do not lie min
gled with the soil of the State he served so faith
fully, and to which he rendered such an inestima
ble service in saving it to freedom, yet his name
and his memory shall live in Illinois so long as the
State shall have. a place in history.

INDEX.

Adams, John, 237.
Adams, John Quincy, 193.
Alexander, William M., 60, 86,
121.
Alexander, Samuel, 60.
Allen, James C, 120, 127.
Appeal to the People, 102, 131.
Archer, Wm. S., 17.
B.
Baldwin, Mr. Justice, 17.
Bankson, Andrew, 60, 102, 107,
120.
Barker, Lewis, 60.
Barney, Col. Benjamin, 94.
Berry, William, 60.
Biddle, Nicholas, letters to Ed
ward Coles, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36,
37, 150, 151, 152.
Birkbeck, Morris, one of the
founders of the English Colony
in Edwards County, 172; servi
ces to the State, 171; letters to
Governor Coles, 61, 173, 181,
186, 196; Secretary of State,
197; Death, 198.
"Black Code," denounced by

Governor Coles, 80, 238.
Blackwell, David, 167, 194.
Blakeman, Curtis, 60, 102, 116.
Bond, Governor Shadrach 57,
91, 168.
Brown, William H., Paper read
before Chicago Historical Soci
ety, 85, 92, 136.
Browne, Thomas C, 58, 97, 194.
C.
Cadwell, George, 60, 102, 113.
Cairnes, Abraham, 60, 102, 108.
Campbell, James, 60, 90.
Casey, Zadock, 60, 121.
Caton, John Dean, letter to E.
B. Washburne 244 ; tribute to
Governor Coles, 245.
Churchill, Capt. Charles, 120.
Churchill, George, 60, 88, 102 ;
burned in effigy, 105, 116, 117,
119, 188.
Clinton, DeWitt, letter to Gov
ernor Coles, and fac simile, 64.
Coles, John, father of Edward, 17.
Coles, Edward, sketch of, 13, 14;
at William and Mary College,
16; Private Secretary to Mr.
Madison, 19; letter to Thomas

(249)

250

INDEX.

Jefferson, 21, 28, 41; travels in
the West, 38; goes on a mission to
Russia, 39; letter of introduction
of Mr. Monroe, 43; at St. Peters
burg, 40; in Paris, 41; goes to
England 41 ; fac simile of a let
ter of Mr. Madison to, 42 ; letter
of introduction of Mr. Monroe
to Ninian Edwards, 45 ; address
to his slaves, 49 ; their emanci
pation, 53 ; appointed Register
of the Edwardsville Land Office,
54 ; candidate for Governor, 58 ;
speech of, to the Legislature, 61,
62 ; letter to Berry and Brown,
63 ; letter from DeWitt Clinton
to, 64, fac simile, denunciations
of, 73 ; Legislature embittered
against him, 80 ; letter to Nich
olas Hansen, 93 ; mobbed by a
rabble, 99 ; consultation with
anti-slavery men, 100 ; author of
the appeal to the people of Illi
nois, 100 ; message to the Leg
islature, 138 ; letter to John G.
Lofton, 140 ; letter to Eichard
Flower, 141 ; letter to Nicholas
Biddle, 147 ; letter to Roberts
Vaux, 155, 158, 159, 162, 205,
211, 219; letter to Morris Birk
beck, 176, 182, 196 ; letter to
Gen'l Lafayette, 234 ; fac simile
of same, 236 ; Coles County
named after him, 248 ; candi
date for Congress, 241 ; letter
to John Rutherford, 225 ; letter
to Daniel Hay, 228 ; letter to
A. Cowles, 223; marries Miss
Roberts, 246; paper on the or
dinance of 1787, 247 ; dies July
7, 1868, 246.

Constitution, change of, 72.
Convention Contest, 81.
" Convention or Death," 81.
Contest, violence of, 82, 84, 134,
135.
Convention Ballot, 192.
Convention Defeated, 191.
Conway, Joseph, 201,
Cook, Daniel P., 53, 97, 188, 199,
202.
Cottman, Thomas, 125.
Cowles, A., 223.
Cox, Col. Thomas, 128.
Crawford, Wm. H., 131, 193.
Crozier, Samuel, 60.
D.
Daimwood, J. G., 60, 90.
Dashkoff, Russian Minister at
Washington, 40.
Dement, Henry Dodge, 120.
Dorris, Thomas, 60
Duncan, Joseph, 197, 241.
E.
Eddy, Henry, 188.
Edgar, General, 236.
Edwards, Ninian, 93, 194.
Edwards, Ninian W., 120.
Election takes place, 191.
Emigration to Missouri, 132.
Emmitt, John, 60, 90.
Enos, Paschal P., 141.
Ewing, Wm. L. D. 217.

INDEX.

251

F.
Field, Alexander P., 60, 83 ;
motion of, 87 ; speech of, 88,
121, 124, 125, 126.
Flower, Richard, 142.
Flower, George, 143.
Ford, R. C, 60, 90.
Ford, Governor, 78, 135.
Forquer, George, 97, 188.
Frazier, Robert, 60, 103, 120.
French Canadians, 69.
G.
Gallatin, Albert, Minister to
France, 41.
Gear, Capt., 69.
Gillespie, Joseph, 70, 192; let
ter to E. B. Washburne, 243.
Grammar, John, 60, speech of, 70.
Grant, Judge James, 130.
H.
Hamilton, William S., 234 ; no
tice of, 235, 240.
Hansen, Nicholas, 60, elected to
the Legislature, 73 ; seat con
tested by John Shaw, 73 ; con
test at his election, 76 ; his vote
for U. S. Senator, 79 ; proceed
ings in contested election case,
80, 81, 84, 85, 86; turned out
of his seat, 89 ; notice of, 91,
92 ; letter to Governor Coles,
96 ; appointed Brigadier-Gen
eral, 93 ; appointed Judge of
Probate for Pike County, 93 ;
leaves the State in 1829, 95.

Hargrave, Willis, 165, 169.
Henry, Patrick, letter to John
Coles, 17, fac simile, 18.
Hubbard, Lieut. Governor, 169,
217.
Hunt, George, 120.
I.
Illinois slave territory before
cession by Virginia, 67 ; attempt
to fasten slavery on, 69.

Jackson, General, 192, 193.
Jefferson, Thomas, letter to Ed
ward Coles, 24, fac simile, 28 ;
tribute of Governor Coles to, 238.
Jones, Michael, 60.
Jones, Martin, 60.
K.
Kane, Elias Kent, 168, 169 ;
elected U. S. Senator, 194, 236.
Kentucky Emigrants, 69.
Kinkade, William, 60 ; speech
of, 82, 102, 120, 129.
Kinney, William, 60, 98, 121.
L.
Ladd, Milton, 60.
Lafayette, General, 41, 233,
fac simile letter, 234, 236.
Legislature convenkd, 61 ; pro
ceedings of, 73.
Lippencott, Thomas, 188.
Lockwood, Judge, 97, 188, 194.
Lofton, John G., 140.

252

INDEX.

Logan, G. R., 60, 90.
Lowery, William, 60, 79, 102,
115, 120. M.
Madison, James, 21, 81, 39; fac
simile letter, 42 .
Mather, Thomas, 60, 88, 102,
109, 188, 236.
McFatridge, William, 60, 81, 84.
McFerron, John, 60, 90.
McGahey, 60, 102, 108, 120.
McIntosii, John, 60.
McKee, Wm. P., letter to Govern
or Coles, 76, 77.
MoKitrick, Samuel, 192.
McLean, John, 129, 169, 194.
McRoberts, Samuel, 168, 169,
203, 204, 223.
Menard, Lt. Governor, 236.
Monroe, James, 17 ; letter to
Edward Coles and fac simile, 42 ;
letter to Ninian Edwards, 45.
Moore, General James B., 58.
Moore, Risdon, 60, 102, 104;
burned in effigy, 105, 120.
Moreau, General, 118.
Morrison, William R., 120.
N.
Needles, T. B., 120.
North Carolina Emigrants, 69.
o.
Ogle, Jacob, 60, 102, 104, 106,
120.
Ordinance of 1787, 237.

Parker, Daniel, 60, 102, 115,
120.
Peck, Rev. John M., 169.
Pell, Gilbert T., 60, 102, 115,
172.
Phillips, Chief Justice, 57, 6g,
169.
Phillips, Alexander, 60.
Pinkney, William, Minister to
Russia, 39.
Pope, Nathaniel. 236.
"Post Vinsan," 71.
Pugh, Jonathan H., 60, 103, 112,
188. E.
Rattan, Thomas, 60, 84.
Reynolds, John, 78, 99 ; " My
Own Times," 136, 164, 201.
Reynolds, Thomas, 98, 129, 168,
169.
Roberts, Levi, affidavit of, 89.
Robinson, John M , 169.
Ross, William, 92.
s.
Scott, General Winfield, 17,
246.
Shaw, John, contests Hansen's
seat in Legislature, 73, 78 ; at
Whig mass, meeting at Galena
in 1840, 74 ; his career in Pike
County, 75 ; contest at his elec
tion, 76; given Hansen's seat,
89 ; brought to Vandalia, 90.

INDEX.

253

Sims, James, 60, 102, 115, 120.

V.

Slavery, existence of, in Illinois,
67.

Vandalia, riotous proceedings at,
72.

Sloo, Thomas Jr., 60.

Vaux, Roberts, letters to Governor

Sloo, Thomas C, 217.

Coles, 153, 158, 211.

Smith, Theophilus W., 60, 98,

w.

121, 129; fight with Hooper
, Warren, 168; 194.
Snyder, Wm. H., 120.
Starr, Henry, 204.
Stillman, Stephen, 60, 102, 115.

Wadsworth, Captain, 40.
Warren, W. A., 130.
Warren, Hooper, 167 ; fight with
Smith, 168; 188.
Washburne, Mr., 126.

T.

Webb, Captain, 95.
West, Emanuel J., 60, 83, 84, 90,

Tennessee Emigrants, 67.
Tezwell, Littleton W., 17.
Thomas, Jesse B., elected U. S.
Senator over John Reynolds,
79, 168.

121, 123, 129, 168, 169.
White, Leonard, 60.
Whiteside, Jam-es A., 60, 121.
Will, Conrad, 60, 90.
Wilson, Chief Justice, 194, 204.

Thomas, Judge William, 95.

Wirt, William, 17.

Trotier, James, 60.

Y.

Turney, James, 60, 97, 121, 122,

"Yankees," 69, 71.

123.,

Young, Richard M., 169.

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Half a Century. By Mrs- Jane Grey Swisshelm. Price, $1.50.
" There can never be anything more interesting than an autobiography, if there
be literary ability about it; and Mrs. Swisshelm s life, as written by herself, is so
cleverly done that one is impressed at once with its reality. * * * Certain
pages— chapters of the book— glow with that romantic warmth which novelists
attempt and make such miserable failures over ; truth is so much stronger than
fiction."— New York Times.
Life of Benedict Arnold ; His Patriotism and His
Treason. By Hon. I. N. Arnold. With Portrait Price, $2.50.
"The author has evidently made a diligent study of his sources of informa
tion, compared their evidence with impartiality and good judgment, and pre
sented the fruits of his research in a compact and attractive narrative."  New
York Tribune.
Sold by booJcsellers, or mailed, on receipt of price, by the publishers,
JANSEN, McCLURG & Co., 117 & 119 State St., CHICAGO.