Minutes and Testimonies, 12–29 November 1838 [State of Missouri v. Gates et al. for Treason]
Source Note
Minutes and Testimonies, , Ray Co., MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of MO v. Gates et al. for Treason (Fifth Judicial Circuit of MO 1838); unidentified handwriting; 126 pages; Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.
thousand dollars, against a principal man of in this church, when it is a fact, that it was a palpable falshood, and he had no such thing and he did it for the purpose of injuring his character— Shortly after and left for they were followed by , on whose arrival a general system of slander and abuse was commenced by you all, for the purpose of destroying the characters of certain individuals, whose influence, & strict regard for righteousness you dreaded, and not only yourselves but your wives and children led by yourselves were busily engaged in it
Neither were you contented with slandering and villifying here but you kept up continual correspondence with your gang of marauders in , encouraging them to <go> on with their iniquity, which they did to perfection by swearing false, to injure the characters and property of innocent men, stealing, cheating, lying, instituting vexatious law suits, selling bogus money, and also stones and sand for bogus money in which nefarious business , and were engaged while you were there.—
Since your arrival here you have commenced a general system of that same kind of conduct in this place. You set up a nasty dirty, pettefoggers office, pretending to be judges of the law, when it is a notorious fact that you are profoundly ignorant of it, and of every other thing [p. [19]]