Title
Publisher
Date
Language
Identifier
Transcription
Valley Forge Ill. April 25th 1861
Hon. L Trumbull
Dear Sir. My apology for addressing you is this. I am a minister of the gospel and desire an apointment in the army as chaplain. I should be very grateful for your assistance in procuring the same. The most that I can say of myself is, that I am tolerably obscure, and am perhaps as unpopular as any poor minister would wish to be. This arises I think from the fact that I have not been a sympathiser with the dominant party in politics in this region. I am not a politician never having cast but two votes for president (and I am over forty years of age) but because I have been known to be
a Republican, I have had to endure an amount of prejudice you can scarcely conceive of. My desire is to do good but I feel that I can accomplish nothing here. I desire now to try what I can do in the army.
Although I have not been so fortunate as to make your acquaintance, yet I have had the pleasure of hearing you speak. I heard you make a speech in Chester in this State in 1854, and had the pleasure of casting my vote for you for a seat in Congress at the ensuing election. I was at that time pastor of the Baptist church in that place.
I refer you to our mutual friend Dr. D. Arter of this place. And to D L Philips of Anna. Yours truly. M.B Kelly