Weekly Democrat-Times clipping
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Date
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Gray, William, 1841-1919; Ames, Adelbert, 1835-1933; Hill, James, 1846-1903
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Bad Lemonade - Wicked Democrats.
A Rare Certificate.
[Globe-Democrat.]
An intelligent looking mulatto gentleman, about 30 years of age, called at the Globe-Democrat office yesterday afternoon to complain of the treatment he had received at Uhrig's Cave. He said he was pastor of a colored Baptist church at Macon, Mo. He had come to St. Louis to purchase furniture for his church, and while walking in the western part of the city, becoming heated and feeling tired, he entered the garden at Uhrig's Cave and called for a glass of lemonade. His order was refused on the ground of his color, and he left the place, determined to denounce this act of wrong, which he believed to be the work of Democrats. To prove his identity he exhibited a number of documents. One was a commission as Brigadier General of Mississippi militia signed by Governor Adelbert Ames, 1874 and the other was the following:
State of Mississippi, Office of Secretary of State, Jackson, February 3, 1877. To all who shall see these presents, greeting: Be it known, that I have been acquainted with Hon. William Gray, late Senator from the Twenty-ninth District of this State, during his residence here; that he never was in the Penitentiary of the State, and furthermore I have never heard of his being convicted of any crime.
JAMES HILL, Secretary of State.
The "documents" which the Hon. William exhibited to prove his identity carries us back to a period upon which memory does not fondly dwell. Still the tempering of time will enable our readers to smile over this characteristic episode of Bill Gray; the most consummate adept of all the negro bosses in swaying the voters of his race. He was an influence before whom the carpet-bagger knelt and trembled; for he, despite all envious opposition of his race colleagues, never failed to carry the masses with him.
As proof of how Gray's power was recognized, we herewith publish a paragraph from a letter to Gray from Ames, the original of which we have. Gray had applied for a brigadier generalship in 1874, when Ames was contemplating the arming of the negro militia; to maintain carpet-baggery, against which he saw clearly a storm was brewing. Ames knowing Gray's uncontrollable and turbulent temper, was loath to place him in a position which called for the exercise of coolness and courage; and sent him an appointment instead as trustee of Tougaloo school. Gray was furious and wrote him a most insulting letter. This was too much for Ames, as the following closing page of his letter, which the G.-D. can publish in connection with its identity "documents," to Gray will show:
"I sent the appointment of trustee of Tugaloo not as a substitute for your B. G.'s commission, but as additional and cumulative evidence of the confidence and esteem in which I hold you. When I 'break faith' with you or 'evade promises,' my dear Senator, then you may 'slap me in the face,' but you are not justified at this time in doing so. I return the commission as trustee, and before I leave for the North with my family, which will be in two weeks, you shall have the B. G.'s commission.
Very truly yours,
ADELBERT AMES."
A Rare Certificate.
[Globe-Democrat.]
An intelligent looking mulatto gentleman, about 30 years of age, called at the Globe-Democrat office yesterday afternoon to complain of the treatment he had received at Uhrig's Cave. He said he was pastor of a colored Baptist church at Macon, Mo. He had come to St. Louis to purchase furniture for his church, and while walking in the western part of the city, becoming heated and feeling tired, he entered the garden at Uhrig's Cave and called for a glass of lemonade. His order was refused on the ground of his color, and he left the place, determined to denounce this act of wrong, which he believed to be the work of Democrats. To prove his identity he exhibited a number of documents. One was a commission as Brigadier General of Mississippi militia signed by Governor Adelbert Ames, 1874 and the other was the following:
State of Mississippi, Office of Secretary of State, Jackson, February 3, 1877. To all who shall see these presents, greeting: Be it known, that I have been acquainted with Hon. William Gray, late Senator from the Twenty-ninth District of this State, during his residence here; that he never was in the Penitentiary of the State, and furthermore I have never heard of his being convicted of any crime.
JAMES HILL, Secretary of State.
The "documents" which the Hon. William exhibited to prove his identity carries us back to a period upon which memory does not fondly dwell. Still the tempering of time will enable our readers to smile over this characteristic episode of Bill Gray; the most consummate adept of all the negro bosses in swaying the voters of his race. He was an influence before whom the carpet-bagger knelt and trembled; for he, despite all envious opposition of his race colleagues, never failed to carry the masses with him.
As proof of how Gray's power was recognized, we herewith publish a paragraph from a letter to Gray from Ames, the original of which we have. Gray had applied for a brigadier generalship in 1874, when Ames was contemplating the arming of the negro militia; to maintain carpet-baggery, against which he saw clearly a storm was brewing. Ames knowing Gray's uncontrollable and turbulent temper, was loath to place him in a position which called for the exercise of coolness and courage; and sent him an appointment instead as trustee of Tougaloo school. Gray was furious and wrote him a most insulting letter. This was too much for Ames, as the following closing page of his letter, which the G.-D. can publish in connection with its identity "documents," to Gray will show:
"I sent the appointment of trustee of Tugaloo not as a substitute for your B. G.'s commission, but as additional and cumulative evidence of the confidence and esteem in which I hold you. When I 'break faith' with you or 'evade promises,' my dear Senator, then you may 'slap me in the face,' but you are not justified at this time in doing so. I return the commission as trustee, and before I leave for the North with my family, which will be in two weeks, you shall have the B. G.'s commission.
Very truly yours,
ADELBERT AMES."
Citation
Weekly Democrat-Times, “Weekly Democrat-Times clipping,” Mississippi State University Libraries, accessed April 19, 2024, https://msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com/items/show/480.
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