Methodist Minister Compliments Unionist For Significant Civil War Missouri Speech: Southern Traitors Plunged America Into Horrors Of War

Item Details

Very Good.

One page, 7 ½ x 9 ½, Shelbyville, IL, March 12th, 1861, ALS, from Reverend TOBIAS FINKBINE of the Methodist Protestant Church and President of its Illinois Conference, sending strident Unionist JAMES PECKHAM of Missouri an admiring letter for his notable speech delivered in the Missouri Legislature and reported in the Missouri Democrat on March 9th, 1861. In that speech [not included], Peckham defended the Union “denying that the Republican Party” wished “to carry fire and the sword into the Southern States. On the other hand, it was the object of Southern traitors to plunge the country into all the horrors of the civil war...” 

Finkbine wrote, “In looking over the Missouri Democrat of March 9th I find your speech reported in opposition to the recepton of the Georgian commissioner, to address the Legislature of your state; Permit me, Sir, altho an entire stranger to you, and in all probability shall never have the honor of an introduction to you to congratulate you on the very happy, eloquent and withering [lecture?] you gave that commissioner and all who affiliate with him, in your noble manly and dignified defense of the institutions of our common country, the will of your constituents, and the solemnity of your oath; I am happy to know we have men among us who have nerve and moral honesty enough left with them to Beard and Lyon in his den. Altho I live in the state of Ill, I feel a great anxiety that the state of Missouri may be preserved in the Union, and the Republican principles which had been heretofore enjoyed by your state and had been fostered by the general Government, may be continued; and the merciful interposition of the Providence of God for good, may still favour your, and my, State, until we shall be willing to live under the folds of the Stars and Stripes in the union, and our depressed, and downtrodden brethren of Europe may still look to us as presenting them a Beacon, to come and shelter themselves in the land of the free, and the home of the Brave. Allow me, my dear Sir, to wish you long life, and much usefulness in your Public avocations in defending the Principles of the Republican Party, and your constituents, which I fully believe to be the Principles of the Bible of God. Most truly and respectfully I am your {obedient servant] T. Finkbine, President of the Illinois Annual Con. Methodist Protestant Church.

“The above is only intended for your personal perusal.”

Peckham delivered his speech in response to a resolution by George G. Vest that condemned the use of force against secessionist states. His speech directly countered the idea that the Republican Party sought to initiate the Civil War, instead placing the blame on Southern secessionist states. He argued against coercion but also emphasized the importance of preserving the Union and upholding Republican principles. 

The context of Peckham's speech was the escalating tension between the North and South in the lead-up to the Civil War. The Missouri legislature was grappling with how to respond to Southern states seceding and Northern states offering aid to the federal government. Vest's resolution, which Peckham opposed, reflected the strong pro-Confederate sentiment in Missouri at the time. 

Peckham's speech was notable for its forceful tone and its clear articulation of the Unionist position. The speech was met with resistance from pro-Confederate members of the legislature, who resorted to disruptive tactics like spitting, indicating the intensity of the debate. Despite the opposition, according to the www.infantry8thmo.org, Peckham's speech was a significant contribution to the pro-Union sentiment in Missouri and helped to frame the debate leading up to the Civil War. 

Peckham left the legislature and organized the 8th Missouri Regiment. He served as the regiment’s Lt. Col. and led the regiment at Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing, TN, and at Jackson, MS. He later led the 29thth Missouri. After the war, he published a book on the history of the war in Missouri. 

Letter has a small stain that effects several words.  Otherwise very readable and a wonderful commentary on sentiments during the early days of the Civil War.

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