Letter from James A. Lyons to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; February 10, 1865
Title
Letter from James A. Lyons to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; February 10, 1865
Subject
Clark, Charles, 1811-1877; Mississippi. Governor; Slavery.
Description
From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Letter from James A. Lyons to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark making recommendations as to changes that should be made to the system of slavery in the state.
Creator
Lyons, James A.
Publisher
Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version)
Date
1865-02-10
Contributor
Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation
Rights
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Language
English
Identifier
mdah_768-950-05-11
Coverage
1865
Text
Page 1:
Columbus Miss
Feb; 10. 1865;
To His Excellency
Govr Clark,
My dear sir,
your reply of the 21st ult came duly to hand. In it you state that my pamph-let On "Slavery & the Duties growing out of the [relation?]," had not yet come to hand, Lest it should fail to reach you, I herewith send you another copy—as I am very anxious that you should read it, From what you say in your letter of the 21st ult, I am encouraged to hope that you will favor a reform on that subject,
Page 2:
I am clearly satisfied that Reformation, and not Emancipation is the duty of the South—A judicious reform of the [?] of slavery is due alike, for ourselves, the slave, and the world,
I propose to procure the preparation of a Bill on that subject, with the aid of the Hon, [Gen?] R, Clayton & others, and would be very much encouraged in the under-taking if it showed accord with your judgement to in-troduce this subject in yr [?] to the Legislature. I propose that the Bill should embrace four items, viz 1st. A repeal of all preceding
Page 3:
its truth is made manifest by other corroberating evidence, this would subject the [slaver?] or a slave to a trial at least, if not conviction—and then, [offerd?] some safe guard to the life of the slave,
With these reforms, together with religious [restriction?], which must be enforced bymoral, not legal measures—Slavery would be what the Bible recongnizes—and would be divested of its obnoxious features,
I should consider it a great honor for Mississippi to lead off in this reformation, And in my opinion, it would be the greatest of all peace measures.
I am very respectfully yr ob't ser't. James A. Lyon
Page 4:
enactments prohibiting the owner or slave from teaching his [servants?] to read—(please note what I say on this sub. just in my "Report")
2d. The legalizing the marriage of slaves,
3. The legal recognition of the parental relation so that children shall not be sep arated from their mother, short of 12 yrs of age,
4, The better guarding the life of the slave against the wanton of assaults or law, vicious, white men, by rendering slave testimony, in courrts of law or equivi-olent to circumstantial evidence—that is it shall be void testimony when
Columbus Miss
Feb; 10. 1865;
To His Excellency
Govr Clark,
My dear sir,
your reply of the 21st ult came duly to hand. In it you state that my pamph-let On "Slavery & the Duties growing out of the [relation?]," had not yet come to hand, Lest it should fail to reach you, I herewith send you another copy—as I am very anxious that you should read it, From what you say in your letter of the 21st ult, I am encouraged to hope that you will favor a reform on that subject,
Page 2:
I am clearly satisfied that Reformation, and not Emancipation is the duty of the South—A judicious reform of the [?] of slavery is due alike, for ourselves, the slave, and the world,
I propose to procure the preparation of a Bill on that subject, with the aid of the Hon, [Gen?] R, Clayton & others, and would be very much encouraged in the under-taking if it showed accord with your judgement to in-troduce this subject in yr [?] to the Legislature. I propose that the Bill should embrace four items, viz 1st. A repeal of all preceding
Page 3:
its truth is made manifest by other corroberating evidence, this would subject the [slaver?] or a slave to a trial at least, if not conviction—and then, [offerd?] some safe guard to the life of the slave,
With these reforms, together with religious [restriction?], which must be enforced bymoral, not legal measures—Slavery would be what the Bible recongnizes—and would be divested of its obnoxious features,
I should consider it a great honor for Mississippi to lead off in this reformation, And in my opinion, it would be the greatest of all peace measures.
I am very respectfully yr ob't ser't. James A. Lyon
Page 4:
enactments prohibiting the owner or slave from teaching his [servants?] to read—(please note what I say on this sub. just in my "Report")
2d. The legalizing the marriage of slaves,
3. The legal recognition of the parental relation so that children shall not be sep arated from their mother, short of 12 yrs of age,
4, The better guarding the life of the slave against the wanton of assaults or law, vicious, white men, by rendering slave testimony, in courrts of law or equivi-olent to circumstantial evidence—that is it shall be void testimony when