NOTES
229
PRE-CIVIL WAR
SENTIMENT FROM BELMONT COUNTY:
CORRESPONDENCE OF
HUGH ANDERSON
1. The Hugh Anderson letters are used
with the permission of Mrs. James
Chamberlin and Powell Williams, Jr., who
live in Mobile, Alabama, and are the
great-great-grandchildren of Anderson.
2. Mrs. Homer X. White, "Williams
and Brewer Family History and Geneology,"
unpublished pamphlet; Mrs. White is
Anderson's granddaughter. See also St. Clairs-
ville Gazette and Citizen, May 10, 1855, June 7, 1866.
3. In 1839 Anderson was a member of the Belmont County Democratic Central
Committee; in 1840 he was a member of
the Democratic Vigilance Committee; in
1841 he chaired the county Democratic
nominating committee; and in 1853 he was
a judge on the committee of fine arts. Gazette,
June 29, 1839, February 15, 1840, June
11, June 18, 1841, December 1, 1853.
4. All of the letters in this collection
were written by Hugh Anderson with the
exception of the last, which was written
by his son Parker and his daughter-in-law,
Martha. This letter, written in February
1861, is included because it better exemplifies
the pro-southern attitudes in Belmont
County in more racist, vituperative phraseology.
Belmont County voters cast 1289 votes,
or 11.3 percent of Ohio's total for
Breckenridge, in the 1860 election. This
was almost twice as many as the second
largest vote in Stark County, which was
6.8 percent. It might be reasonable to assume
that the Ohio counties which bordered
the slave states of Virginia and Kentucky
would manifest a greater degree of
pro-southern political bias than others. However,
Breckenridge support was substantial
only in the upper Ohio River counties. For
example, Belmont County voters cast 19.7
percent of their votes for Breckenridge,
and voters in Jefferson and Columbiana
counties, north of Belmont, cast 15.2 and
4.8 percent, respectively. In the
remaining eleven Ohio River counties Breckenridge
received no more than 2.4 percent,
including populous Hamilton County. Or, to state
it in another way, there were 473 fewer
votes cast for Breckenridge in these eleven
counties than were cast in Belmont. W. Dean Burnham, Presidential
Ballots: 1836-1892
(Baltimore, 1955), 678, 680, 682, 686,
688, 690, 694, 696.
5. The editor has chosen to follow the spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation of
the manuscript letters very closely,
with the exception of the addition of commas
for clarity of thought, and to inject
interpolations into the text only when absolutely
necessary. Most of Anderson's letters
also contained personal advice for young Wil-
liams, comments concerning the Williams
family in Iowa, technical aspects of his
craft, particularly his experiments, as
well as lengthy theological discussions. such as
that found in August 18, 1858; "I
feel impressed with the belief that the Deity
has sta[mped?] the principal of
progression on all his works, and that man that makes
progress here in love of God and good
will to men will go on progressing in the world
beyond the grave. Then why should we
fear death--it can do us no harm--" This excerpt
reflects Anderson's belief in
Swedenborgian philosophy. Emanuel Swedenborg, eigh-
teenth century philosopher, taught that
the progression of man's spirit was through
selflessness, that "Love is the
life of man," and that death is only a transition toward
the "spiritual universe." The
Living Thoughts of Sweedenborg, edited by Eric A. Sutton
(London, 1947), 14-15.
6. The depression was having a
devastating effect upon local business. Earlier,
Anderson wrote: "As to money--it is
scarce here, everyone has these words on their
mouths. Hard times--" Anderson
to Williams, Oct. 3l[?], 1858.
7. In January, Anderson commented:
"I am getting better of a cold that was pretty
severe . . . so severe that sometimes I
thought it was the messenger to take me from
this world and (as I fondly hope)
place me in a better one . . . . I view it [death]
as merely a change from a lower to a
higher state--" Anderson to Williams, January
10, 1859.
8. Williams' "northern
proclivities" did change radically. When the war began, he
soon enlisted in the Confederate
infantry and served throughout the conflict. John
Kent Folmar, "Lt. Col. James M. Williams
and the Ft. Powell Incident," Alabama
Review, XVII (April 1964), 123-136.
9. In June, Anderson reported: "The
town property is rented . . . this year [for]
$150 all together. I lived alone in town
for 9 months. I took ill and was brought
out here [to the farm]. Anderson to Williams, June
4[?], 1860.