Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843, John Frierson Copy
Source Note
[JS and others], Memorial, , Hancock Co., IL, to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, , 28 Nov. 1843; handwriting of ; docket in handwriting of ; six pages; JS Office Papers, CHL.
They were finally Compelled to fly from those Counties, and on the 11th. of October 1838, they sought safety by that means, with their families, leaving many of their effects behind; that they had previously applied to the Constituted authorities of for for protection but in vain. The Society were pursued by the mob, Conflicts ensued, deaths occured on each side, and finally a force was organized under the authority of the State of of the State of , with orders to drive us from the , orexterminateus. Abandoned and attacked by those to whom they <we> had looked for protection, theSociety <we> determined to make no further resistance, but submit to the authorities of the , & yield to their <our> fate however hard it might be. Several Members of the Society were arrested and imprisoned on a charge of treason against the ; and the rest amounting to above 14,000 Souls, fled into the other States, principally into , where they now reside.
Your Memorialists would further State, that they have heretofore petitioned your honorable body praying redress for the injuries set forth in this Memorial but the Committee to whom our petition was referred, reported, in substance, that the general government had no power in the Case; and that we must look for relief to the Courts and the Legislature of . In reply, Your Memorialists would beg leave the to State, <that they have repeatedly appealed to the authorities of in vain> that though they are American Citizens, at all times ready to obey the laws and support the institutions of the , none of us would dare enter , for [p. [5]]
TEXT: Damage to this page obscures some of the words on this and the following two lines. At a later time, the obscured letters were retraced in a darker ink.