VII. STATEMENT REGARDING JOSEPH B. LEMEN

"Joseph B. Lemen has written editorially for The New York Sun, The New York Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, and The Belleville Advocate.

"During the McKinley campaign of 1896 he wrote editorials from the farmers' standpoint for a number of the metropolitan newspapers of the country at the personal request of Mark Hanna.

"He also wrote editorials for the metropolitan newspapers during the first Lincoln campaign."

—Editor, Belleville Advocate. December, 1912.

VIII. HISTORIC LETTER OF REV. J. M. PECK ON THE OLD LEMEN FAMILY NOTES

(From Belleville Advocate, January, 1908) (Clipping in I.B.H.C., K11)

To the Editor of the Belleville Advocate:

We herewith send the Advocate a copy of a letter of the eminent historian and great Baptist divine, the late Rev. J. M. Peck, to his old ministerial associate, the late Rev. James Lemen, concerning the anti-slavery labors of his father, Rev. James Lemen, Sr., and also his views as to the old Lemen family notes, which will perhaps interest your readers. It seems quite appropriate for the Advocate to print these old pioneer matters, as it is one of the old pioneer landmarks. Rev. James Lemen took the paper when it started, under its first name, and it has come to his family or family members at his old home ever since.

By order of the Family. [Joseph B. Lemen.]

REV. JAMES LEMEN, SR., AND HIS ANTI-SLAVERY LABORS

Rev. James Lemen, Ridge Prairie, Illinois

Dear Brother: At my recent very enjoyable visit at your house you made two important requests, which I will now answer. The first was as to my estimate or judgment of your father's anti-slavery labors, and the second was as to what disposition you had better make of your vast stock of old family notes and papers. Considering your questions in the order named, I will write this letter, or more properly, article, under the above heading of "Rev. James Lemen, Sr., and His Anti-Slavery Labors," as the first question is the most important, and then in conclusion I will notice the second.

In considering your father's anti-slavery labors, I will proceed upon the facts and evidence obtained outside your old family notes, as it might be presumed that the trend of the notes on that matter would be partial. Not that the facts I would use are not found in your family notes, for they appear to cover about every event in our early state and church history; but that I would look for the facts elsewhere to prove the matter, and indeed I can draw largely from my own knowledge of the facts upon which your father's success as an anti-slavery leader rested. Not only from my own personal observation, but scores of the old pioneers, your father's followers and helpers, have given me facts that fully establish the claim that he was the chief leader that saved Illinois to freedom. Not only the state, but on a wider basis the evidence is very strong that Rev. James Lemen, Sr., largely shared in saving the Northwestern Territory for free states. This was the estimate that General [Governor] William Henry Harrison placed on his labors in his letter to Captain Joseph Ogle after his term of the governorship had expired. [17]In his letter to Captain Ogle he said that, though he and Mr. Lemen were ardent friends, he [Lemen] set his iron will against slavery here and indirectly made his influence felt so strongly at Washington and before Congress, that all efforts to suspend the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787 failed.

But James Lemen was not only a factor which saved the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787, but there is no doubt, after putting all the facts together, ... that his anti-slavery mission to the Northwestern Territory was inspired by the same cause which finally placed the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance, and that Lemen's mission and that clause were closely connected. Douglas, Trumbull, and Lincoln thought so, and every other capable person who had [been] or has been made familiar with the facts.

Many of the old pioneers to whom the facts were known have informed me that all the statements as to Rev. James Lemen's anti-slavery teaching and preaching and forming his anti-slavery churches, and conducting the anti-slavery contest, and sending a paid agent to Indiana to assist the anti-slavery cause, were all true in every particular; and so the evidence outside and independently of that in the Lemen family notes is conclusive that Mr. Lemen created and organized the forces which finally confirmed Illinois, if not the Northwestern Territory, to freedom. But there was just one fact that made it possible for the old pioneer leader practically single handed and alone to accomplish such results; and that was because President Jefferson's great power was behind him, and through his secret influence Congress worked for the very purpose that Jefferson, more than twenty years before, had sent Lemen to Illinois, or the Northwestern Territory, to secure, namely, the freedom of the new country. The claim that Mr. Lemen encompassed these great results would, of course, be ridiculous were it not known that the power of the government through Jefferson stood behind him. Hence Douglas, Trumbull, and others are correct, and I quite agree with them, that when you publish the old family notes on the matter, if, for reasons you state, you do not wish to publish Jefferson's letters to your father which concern the subject, it will be sufficient just to say he acted by and under his advice and aid, and people will accept it, as it is self-evident, because it is preposterous to hold that Mr. Lemen could have accomplished such results without some great power behind him. In conclusion, it is my judgment that your father's anti-slavery labors were the chief factor leading up to the free state constitution for Illinois.

Now as to your old family notes. They are valuable. In their respective fields, they embrace by far the most trustworthy history in our state. They ought to be preserved, but your generous nature will not permit you to say no; and your friends, as you say, are carrying them off, and they will all be lost, and presently the vast and priceless collection will have disappeared, which will be an unspeakable loss. Like your friends, Dr. B. F. Edwards and J. M. Smith, I would advise you to make copies of all to keep for use, and then give Smith the old collection to keep and hold in St. Louis in his safe, and leave them there for good. This will save you an infinite amount of worry, as people will not trouble you to see the mere copies. It would be a good disposition to make of them, and thus bury that dangerous element in many of the old letters bearing on the anti-slavery contest of 1818. With some of those interested in that contest, in fifty years from this time, the publication of these letters would create trouble between the descendants of many of our old pioneer families.

There is a danger lurking in many of these old collections where you would not suspect it. In 1851, when I wrote the first or preliminary part of the Bethel church history from your old family notes, now generally referred to as the history of the "Jefferson-Lemen Anti-Slavery Pact," and part second as the history proper of the church in the letter which was simply the history from its organization in 1809 to my pastorate of 1851, I carefully omitted all mention of the anti-slavery contest which gave the church its origin. I did this so that that part of its history could then be recorded in the church book, which could not have been done had I mentioned the anti-slavery contest; because the bitterness of that period had not yet fully disappeared; and the full history of the church, with the causes creating, and the results flowing from its organization, if recorded or published then, would have aroused considerable ill feeling against the church in some parts of the state. So part second, or the history proper, was only recorded at that time. But having lately completed part third of the Bethel church history, showing the results of its organization, I sent it with a copy of part first, or the history of the Jefferson Lemen Anti-Slavery Pact, to our worthy and noble Christian brother, the Bethel church clerk, James H. Lemen, and the other brother whose name you suggested, and they can place them in safe keeping somewhere until after your old family notes are published, and then they should be recorded in the church book with the church history proper and all the papers be placed with the other church papers. I shall also send them a copy of this letter to be finally placed with the church papers, as it is in part the history of the founder of that church, all parties agreeing that your father created, though of course he did not formally constitute, it. The old church, when all the facts become known, will become noted in history, as it stands as the monument of the contest which began by putting the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787, and which concluded by making Illinois and her neighboring sisters free states.

As to the more valuable letters in your family notes and collections, I have kept them securely for you. Douglas' and Lincoln's letters take very correct views as to your father's anti-slavery labors, and Jefferson's two letters to your father disclose his great friendship for him, and show that he placed the greatest confidence and trust in him. Poor Lovejoy's letter reads as if he had a presentment of his coming doom. There is no more interesting feature in all your old family notes than Lincoln's views at your many meetings with him, and your copy of his prayer is beautiful. Some of his views on Bible themes are very profound; but then he is a very profound thinker. It now looks as if he would become a national leader. Would not he and your father have enjoyed a meeting on the slavery question? I put all the letters with the other papers you gave me in a safe in St. Louis, in a friend's care, where I sometimes put my papers. Your son, Moses, was with me and the check is given in his name. This will enable you to tell your friends that the papers are not now in your custody, and they will not bother you to see them. Hoping to see you soon, I remain as ever.

Fraternally yours, Rock Spring, Ill. July 17, 1857. J. M. Peck.

PIONEER LETTERS

IX. SENATOR DOUGLAS'S LETTER

(From Belleville Advocate, April 10, 1908. Clipping, I.B.H.C.,—K11)

Springfield, Illinois. Mar. 10, 1857 Rev. James Lemen, Collinsville, Illinois,

Dear Sir:—In a former letter I wrote you fully as to my views as to the "Jefferson-Lemen Anti-Slavery Pact," and that there is no doubt but that the anti-slavery contest of your father, Rev. James Lemen, Sr., and the organizing of Bethel church as one of the results, eventually led to our free state constitution. I also thank you again for the privilege of reading Jefferson's letters to your father, and other papers in connection with the matter, but desire to add a thought or two, or more properly expound [expand] some points in my recent letter.

The anti-slavery pact or agreement between the two men and its far reaching results comprise one of the most intensely interesting chapters in our national and state histories. Its profound secrecy and the splendid loyalty of Jefferson's friends which preserved it, were alike necessary to the success of the scheme as well as for his future preferment; for had it been known that Jefferson had sent Lemen as his special agent on an anti-slavery mission to shape matters in the territories to his own ends, it would have wrecked his popularity in the South and rendered Lemen's mission worse than useless.

It has always been a mystery why the pressing demands of Governor Harrison and his Council for the repeal of the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787 which excluded slavery from the Northwest Territory, could make no headway before a encession [?] of pro-slavery Congress; but the matter is now clear. The great Jefferson, through his confidential leaders in Congress [held that body back, until Mr. Lemen, under his orders], had rallied his friends and sent in anti-slavery petitions demanding the maintenance of the clause, when the Senate, where Harrison's demands were then pending, denied them. So a part of the honor of saving that grand clause which dedicated the territory to freedom, belongs to your father. Indeed, considering Jefferson's ardent friendship for him and his admiration and approval of his early anti-slavery labors in Virginia, which antedated the Ordinance of 1787 by several years, there is but little doubt but that your father's labors were a factor of influence which quickened if it did not suggest to Jefferson the original purpose which finally resulted in putting the original clause in the Ordinance.

This matter assumes a phase of personal interest with me, and I find myself, politically, in the good company of Jefferson and your father. With them, everything turned on whether the people of the territory wanted slavery or not. Harrison and his council had informed Congress that the people desired it; but Jefferson and Lemen doubted it, and when the latter assisted in sending in great anti-slavery petitions, Jefferson's friends in Congress granted the people their wish, and denied Harrison's pro-slavery demands. That is, the voice and wishes of the people in the territory were heard and respected, and that appears to me to be the correct doctrine.

Should you or your family approve it, I would suggest that the facts of the "Jefferson-Lemen Anti-Slavery Pact" be fully written up and arranged for publication, since they embrace some exceedingly important state and national history, and, in fact, will necessitate a new or larger personal history of Jefferson, as these facts will add another splendid chapter to the great story of his marvellous career. If you think the publication of Jefferson's letters and suggestions to your father would rather tend to dwarf the legitimate importance of his great religious movement in the formation of our early churches, on account of the wonderful political results of the "anti-slavery pact" it would be sufficient to command belief everywhere just to simply state that in his anti-slavery mission and contest he acted under Jefferson's advice and help; because the consequences were so important and far reaching that it is self-evident he must have had some great and all-prevailing power behind him.

I was greatly pained to learn of your illness, in your last letter, but hope this will find you comfortable.

Yours in confidence, S. A. Douglas.

I wrote this letter in Springfield, but by an over-sight neglected to mail it there. But if you write me in a fortnight, direct to Springfield, as I expect to be there then.

Yours Secv. [sic] D.

X. ANNOUNCEMENT BY J. B. LEMEN

(From Belleville Advocate, April 17, 1908. Clipping, I.B.H.C.,—K11)

It was our purpose in this letter [communication] to send the Advocate a copy of one of Abraham Lincoln's letters, and some other matter from him and Douglas, from the old family notes of Rev. James Lemen never yet published; but increased illness, and their greater length, prevented making the copy. In their place, however, we send a copy each of Governor Edward's and Congressman Snyder's letters. The prophetic utterances in this letter as to what would fall on Mexico's treachery and slavery's insolence, were so literally fulfilled that they emphasized anew Congressman Snyder's wonderful capabilities in sizing up public questions correctly and reading the coming events of the future, and prove him to have been a statesman of wonderful powers. The next, which will be the concluding article in this series, will contain the copy of Lincoln's letter and the other matter above referred to.

The typos made one or two slight errors in Senator Douglas's letter in last week's issue. For "expound" the reader should have read "expand," and at another point the letter should read that "Jefferson, through his confidential leaders in Congress, held that body back until Mr. Lemen, under his orders, had rallied his friends and sent in anti-slavery petitions, etc,"

[Joseph B. Lemen.]

XI. GOV. NINIAN EDWARDS TO REV. JAMES LEMEN.

(From Belleville Advocate, April 17, 1908. Clipping, I.B.H.C.,—K11)

Vandalia, Ill., Dec. 24, 1826. Rev. James Lemen, Collinsville, Illinois,

Dear Sir:—Having great respect for your influence and reposing perfect confidence in your capable judgment on public affairs, I would be very much pleased to have you call as soon as you arrive here, as I desire to have your views and advice on some important matters. It is my hope, as it will be my pride, that the term upon which I enter shall be marked with a degree of educational interest and progress not hitherto attained in our young commonwealth; and I wish to ask for your counsel and aid in assisting to impress upon the General Assembly the importance of such subjects, and the necessity of some further and better legislation on our school matters; and I also wish to consult with you in regard to the matter of the proposed Illinois and Michigan Canal.

Sincerely your friend, Ninian Edwards.

XII. HON. ADAM W. SNYDER TO REV. JAMES LEMEN.

(From Belleville Advocate, April 17, 1908. Clipping, I.B.H.C.,—K11)

City of Washington, Jan. 5, 1838. Rev. James Lemen, [Collinsville, Illinois]

My Dear Friend:—To the letter which I wrote you a few days since I wish to add that the members of the Illinois delegation in Congress have read the letter you recently wrote me, and they are all willing and ready to assist in pressing the cause of the class of claimants whom you mentioned upon the attention of the government for a more liberal and generous allowance of lands. I have no further news to communicate, except that I believe Mexico's treachery and insolence will sooner or later call down upon her a severe chastisement from this country; and that our Southern friends in Congress are growing exasperatingly and needlessly sensitive on the slavery question, claiming that Jefferson's views would sustain their positions, not knowing the splendid secret of your father's (Rev. James Lemen, Sr.) anti-slavery mission under Jefferson's orders and advice, which saved Illinois and we might say the Northwest Territory, to freedom. In fact, the demands of slavery, if not controlled by its friends, will eventually put the country into a mood that will no longer brook its insolence and greed.

Yours in esteem and confidence, A. W. Snyder.

XIII. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LETTER

Belleville Weekly Advocate, April 24, 1908

The following letter and remarks from Abraham Lincoln, hitherto unpublished, comprise the fifth letter of the series of old "Pioneer Letters" which Mr. J. B. Lemen of O'Fallon is sending to the Advocate.—Ed.

Springfield, Illinois. March 2, 1857. Rev. James Lemen, [O'Fallon, Illinois,]

Friend Lemen: Thanking you for your warm appreciation of my views in a former letter as to the importance in many features of your collection of old family notes and papers, I will add a few words more as to Elijah P. Lovejoy's case. His letters among your old family notes were of more interest to me than even those of Thomas Jefferson, written to your father. Of course they [the latter] were exceedingly important as a part of the history of the "Jefferson-Lemen Anti-Slavery Pact," under which your father, Rev. James Lemen, Sr., as Jefferson's anti-slavery agent in Illinois, founded his anti-slavery churches, among which was the present Bethel church, which set in motion the forces which finally made Illinois a free state, all of which was splendid; but Lovejoy's tragic death for freedom in every sense marked his sad ending as the most important single event that ever happened in the new world.

Both your father and Lovejoy were pioneer leaders in the cause of freedom, and it has always been difficult for me to see why your father, who was a resolute, uncompromising, and aggressive leader, who boldly proclaimed his purpose to make both the territory and the state free, never aroused nor encountered any of that mob violence which both in St. Louis and Alton confronted or pursued Lovejoy, and which finally doomed him to a felon's death and a martyr's crown. Perhaps the two cases are a little parallel with those of John and Peter. John was bold and fearless at the scene of the Crucifixion, standing near the cross receiving the Savior's request to care for his mother, but was not annoyed; while Peter, whose disposition to shrink from public view, seemed to catch the attention of members of the mob on every hand, until finally to throw public attention off, he denied his master with an oath; though later the grand old apostle redeemed himself grandly, and like Lovejoy, died a martyr to his faith. Of course, there was no similarity between Peter's treachery at the Temple and Lovejoy's splendid courage when the pitiless mob were closing around him. But in the cases of the two apostles at the scene mentioned, John was more prominent or loyal in his presence and attention to the Great Master than Peter was, but the latter seemed to catch the attention of the mob; and as Lovejoy, one of the most inoffensive of men, for merely printing a small paper, devoted to the freedom of the body and mind of man, was pursued to his death; while his older comrade in the cause of freedom, Rev. James Lemen, Sr., who boldly and aggressively proclaimed his purpose to make both the territory and the state free, was never molested a moment by the minions of violence. The madness and pitiless determination with which the mob steadily pursued Lovejoy to his doom, marks it as one of the most unreasoning and unreasonable in all time, except that which doomed the Savior to the cross.

If ever you should come to Springfield again, do not fail to call. The memory of our many "evening sittings" here and elsewhere, as we called them, suggests many a pleasant hour, both pleasant and helpful.

Truly yours, A. Lincoln.