American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Manuscript letter signed ("By order of Committee"). N.p., 12 February 1869. 1p, 7 1/2 x 12 in. (creasing at folds, light toning, adhesive repair on verso). Addressed to "Dr. Pearson (So called)," likely Dr. Hamilton Wilcox Pierson (817-1888). With hand-drawn skull and crossbones above salutation.

A threatening letter sent from anonymous members of a "committee," perhaps local residents associated with the Ku Klux Klan or other racist white supremacist groups. The "special communication of warning and instruction" reads, in part: "The citizens of this place...know you to be a wandering, vagrant, carpet bagger, without visible means of support and thriving, at present on the earnings of those, who are endeavoring t make a living, by leaching. You have also proved yourself to be a scoundrel of the deepest dye, by maliciously interfering in matters, which do not in the least concern you....This therefore is to warn you to leave this county forthwith, twenty-four (24) hours from the above date...If after the said time your devilish countenance is seen at this place or vicinity, your worthless life will pay the forfeit. Congressional reconstruction, the military, nor anything else, under heaven, will prevent summary justice being meted out to such an incarnate fiend as yourself."

A manuscript notation was added to the bottom of the letter: "March 1888 / Presented to the Library by the honored recipient Companion Hamilton W. Pierson."

Hamilton Wilcox Pierson was born and raised in New York before embarking on a career which took him throughout the United States and beyond. According to his biography prepared for the Hamilton Wilcox Pierson Papers in the archives at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University: "He earned a Bachelor's degree from Union College in 1843. On November 13, 1853, he was ordained. Between 1849 and 1960 he served as an agent for the American Bible Society in Haiti and the West Indies. He also served as agent in the American Tract Society from 1843-1845, and as Secretary of the United States Christian Commission in Toledo, Ohio. From 1958-1962 [sic] he was President of Cumberland College in Princeton, Kentucky, and between 1863 and 1869 he worked as a teacher in Virginia and Georgia. From 1885-1886 he worked as State Librarian at Columbus, Ohio. He began his literary pursuits in 1850, publishing and editing a number of key texts...."

During his time as President of Cumberland College, Pierson was certainly given the honorific title "Dr." as evidenced by an article from 20 April 1862 which identifies "Dr. Hamilton W. Pierson of Cumberland College, Ky." This likely accounts for the letter's salutation with "So called" after the name. Additionally, Pierson's biography places him in the Reconstruction South in 1869, and seemingly indicates that he departed Virginia and Tennessee after 1869. It seems this later may provide evidence for the impetus behind Dr. Pierson's departure.

A disturbing and fascinating glimpse into the tumultuous race relations and Northern-Southern hostilities following the Civil War.