Letter from Unidentified Author, circa Spring 1843, Extract
Source Note
Unidentified author, Letter, [, Cook Co., IL], to [JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 Aug. 1842]. Extract published in 1883 in Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past from the Leaves of Old Journals, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883, p. 396. Transcription made from digital images obtained from Harvard University by Google Books in 2008.
“They hate you,” writes this friendly lawyer, “because they have done evil unto you. . . . My advice to you is not to sleep in your own house, but to have some place to sleep strongly guarded by your friends, so that you can resist any sudden attempt that might be made to kidnap you in the night. When the Missourians come on this side and burn houses, depend upon it they will not hesitate to make the attempt to carry you away by force. Let me again caution you to be every moment upon your guard.” [p. 396]