Unknown to Richard Yates

Fredericktown MO

May 3 61

Hon Richard Yates

Gov Ill.

Sir

It seems that as Governor of your State you have ordered to Cairo some 1500 or 2000 state troops for the purpose of protecting your Interest & keeping out invasion Now Sir I want to know where is the time or place that you have been threatened by any of the people of the Slave States to Interfere with your affairs in any way Now here let me say to you that I believe that you have good & honest men towards the South in in your State but they are in the minority & you know it, who has brought about this unholy war Mr Lincoln & his [cortery?] of Abolitionists & Negro thieves did not he tell us that these States could not exist 1/2 free 1/2 Slave this was taken by Mo as a declaration of war on the south and it is now showing it self to be so In your message last winter you threatened vengeance to any Slave State that attempted to Interfere with the commerce of the Mississippi or Ohio River & we find by real practice that you are the first man to do it & drive Mo in to secession for self defence

Not only so but by order of Master Abe you was kind enough to send down a boat from Alton in a clandestine manner & Take away the arms from the Arsenal by stratagem as though Mos were not capable of not takeing care of them Now my worthy friend I wish to say one kind word to you & you can think of It as you please Now if you don't bring back those arms to the arsenal & cause those troops to be removed to some other part of your State so as not to medle with our commerce you & your people north of the Ohio & Missippi Rail Road will be mad to pay for all this we are satisfied that we have as many friends south of the Road as you have and further we have a large bill of charges for fugitives taken from Mo in 1859 particularly from the South East of Mo the writer of this was an Eye witness to 9 from Madison County besides 10 more from from different counties adjoining part of those same slaves were caught by Law abiding men & put in jail for safe keeping but your Abolition friends saw proper to turn them out before the owner could get to them this is where you free state people

have violated the Constitution and its terms and now want to say the South is guilty of all offences of tearing asunder once the best government the world ever seen by your higher Law doctrine which will bring you as low as it ever raised you in time to come your correspondint through Mo Republican (now known as a wolf in sheeps clothing through its neutrality principle) tells us not to be scared that you was not going to hurt us or our commerce but see the effect all ready by placeing troops at Cairo you have got every town an army for self defence for the protection of our home trade you claim the privilege of searching all Boats what its cargo is made of bread Bacon lard munitions of war or any other article that you think should be declared Contraband (your men proceed to lift and apply to whatever purpose you see proper to do take our armes, and give them to your men to shoot the people of the Slave State with & put the rest away for safekeeping at (Springfield Ill) a State whose majority bides no good for Missourians Our people are in an uncommon excitement at this writing & your caper at the arsenal is the cause of it if our people should

do any thing that you would think improper you must tell your people that Governor Yates & Abram Lincoln are the cause of it - you will See before this Reaches you what the citizens of Helena, Ark, did to a Cincinnati Boat a few days Since who took out its contents, sugar & Molasses principaly delivers the Boat back to its officers and men & if their friends wanted the [illegible] to come and get it now when you sett such example as at Cairo you must take what follows Now Sir the more you keep those troops at Cairo the worse you will make things in this quarter I dont write this letter to give any Insult or Menace whatever but do so to show you the practical opperation of things just as they are now going on in South east Mo brought about by your self & Mr Lincoln the writer of this has been a citizen of Mo forty five years & has many relatives in the free states who is near & dear to him Hence I loathe this unholy war Yours with the hope that peace & prosperity may once more reign in our land

Iron Mountain

an answer will be thankfuly Recieved directed to the care of I M Gholson Fredericktown Mo