TO THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY OF HUNTERDON.<\/p>\n
The lovers of the Union and the Constitution, and of the rights of the States and of the people under this hallowed charter, all who entertain feelings of fraternal regard to our brethern [sic] of Virginia, in this, their day of darkness and peril, and to all our brethen [sic] of the South, all who are opposed to the ceaseless agitation of Slavery and Sectionalism, the fruits of which have been only evil, and that continually, till the dissolution of the ties that unite and bind us together as one people in these United States, is seriously threatened, all who are willing to leave the rights and duties of the Master and the Slave where our forefathers left them under the guarantees of the Constitution, and all who love the peace, union, and harmony of the great American family, are hereby respectfully and earnestly requested to meet in the COURT HOUSE IN FLEMINGTON, ON WEDNESDAY, THE 14TH INST., and at 7 o\u2019clock, P. M., then and there to take such course as duty and patriotism may demand of us in this emergency of our history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There followed a long list of signatories printed in one paragraph, which is hard to read, so I\u2019ve alphabetized them at the end of this article.<\/p>\n
But what did this declaration mean and why was it published on December 14th<\/sup>?<\/p>\n My first reaction on reading this and the reference to a \u201cday of darkness\u201d was that it was an expression of sympathy for those fighting for abolition. But no\u2014their sympathies were with the slaveholders of Virginia, who were being attacked by abolitionists and \u201cthe ceaseless agitation of Slavery and Sectionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n The raid on Harper\u2019s Ferry had taken place October 16-18, 1859, leaving 14 dead and 9 wounded. John Brown was arrested and tried almost immediately, and on December 2, 1859 he was executed.<\/p>\n The events at Harper’s Ferry were certain to catch people\u2019s attention, and one Flemington merchant knew how to make use of that fact, as shown in this advertisement:<\/p>\n NO MORE HARPER\u2019S FERRY INSURRECTION!<\/p>\n Capt. Brown has suffered the extreme penalty of the law.\u2500 The excitement, however, still continues, caused by the large arrival of\u2500 of \u2500 Clocks, Watches, Jewelery, [sic] Silver & Plated ware, Musical Instruments, Stationary, and fancy articles, at the \u201cGOLDEN OPHIR,\u201d Flemington. (opposite the COUNTY HOUSE.) . . . [signed] Samuel V. Egbert<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How bizarre, to suggest that clocks and jewelry were exciting enough to overcome attention to the disaster in Virginia. No doubt it never occurred to Mr. Egbert that the execution presaged a full-scale civil war.<\/p>\n The Hunterdon Gazette considered itself an independent newspaper, as John Kuhl so aptly explains in his book Hunterdon County in the Civil War: The Times, The Men, Their Stories<\/em>.1<\/a><\/sup> On Dec. 7, 1859, the Gazette\u2019s editor, Alexander Suydam, wrote: \u201cThe execution of John Brown occupies considerable space this week, to the exclusion of other affairs.\u201d He then demonstrated this effort at even-handedness, as well as the deplorable attitude toward African Americans that generally prevailed, by publishing this editorial:<\/p>\n DISSOLUTION.\u2500 The threats of dissolution made by our Southern brethren, are very ridiculous. If the Union was dissolved, the south, in ten years would be as contemptible in power, and as weak in resources, as any of the other Southern governments. Its negroes could not be kept in subjection without an enormous police force which would cost more than could be paid it. The principal produce of the South is cotton. The crop averages about eighty millions a year. The expenses of our present government, under Mr. Buchanan, are eighty millions annually. The expenses of a Southern government would be fully as much, taking into consideration the expense of keeping the negroes in subjection, and the inordinate love of the southerners for office. It would, therefore, take their whole cotton crop to pay the expenses of their government. The whole thing of a southern confederacy is absurd, and a new light has been thrown on the absurdity by old Brown\u2019s raid upon Virginia. If thirty men could put that section in a ferment of terror, when the United States troops were on hand to protect it, what would become of it, when it would have to defend itself, and any foreign power should invade it?\u2500 Let us hear no more of such inexcusable nonsense.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As Mr. Kuhl points out in his first chapter, the war was about slavery, no matter how much people tried to disguise the fact. Slavery was not a major issue in Hunterdon County, as there were very few African Americans living here at the time. The 1860 census for Hunterdon did not even include a schedule for slaves as it did in previous years.2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0However, on November 30, 1859, the Gazette included this advertisement:<\/p>\n TO BE SOLD\u2500 A NEGRO MAN.\u2500 About 23 years of age, brought up to farming, in full health and strong. Enquire of John Stryker at Six Mile Run.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Stryker may well have been one of the last slave-owners in Hunterdon County.3<\/a><\/sup> But just because slaves were rare did not mean Hunterdon residents were indifferent to the subject. During this time, they had access to several newspapers and could choose which one suited their own attitudes about slavery and the south. According to Mr. Kuhl:<\/p>\n The Gazette<\/em>, as an independent, could avoid taking a stand on serious issues, and wrote about the war and the home front with a somewhat detached viewpoint. In general, both [editors] Suydam and Schenck supported the war and Lincoln\u2019s policies. Not so, Bellis and his Hunterdon Democrat<\/em>.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As editor of the Democrat<\/em>, Adam Bellis took a completely different approach. Quoting Mr. Kuhl:<\/p>\n Bellis gave considerable space to war news and events at Washington, often to the extent of crowding out local news. . . . In his own way, like Hunterdon County itself, he was loyal to the Union, but from first to last he thought that the conduct of the war was very bad. In the election of 1862, he fought very hard for the local and state Democratic slates and had the satisfaction of seeing his party sweep Hunterdon by nearly two to one and the State by a considerable majority.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Browns-Hanging-copy.jpg\")
<\/a>\n
Hunterdon Newspapers<\/h4>\n