Unsigned letter on African American race relations in Salem

Other Media

Salem, January 25<br/><br/>My dear Mrs. Lyman,<br/><br/>Your letter was received & we were just talking of & wishing to hear from you as Reuben brought it in. We were very sorry to hear of little Mary's illness hope she may never have a repetition of the same. I have busy sewing & visiting all day & in fact never knew a winter pass so quickly & any never pleasantly than this thus far.<br/> <br/>I fear the loss of poor Dolly will seriously interfere with your enjoyment in getting around. I hope you may see over her if not I trust she will be well treated by those that have her for the services she has rendered you.<br/> <br/>I suppose you will wish to hear the news that is afloat in this dired_ well the first thing that took entire possession of the people of Salem in 1863, was a few white ladies attending America Waldo's wedding held at the house of W. Johnson (colored). America lived with us & was the best girl we have ever had in the family. She was very [?] that the ladies in whose families she had lived should see her married accordingly a hack was sent around on New Years & gathered in her numerous friends for all who knew America could not help loving her if she was half black, the table bride & groom appeared very well. Ellen & I made her wedding apparel. Little dreaming what a commotion we were about to produce. Mrs. Terry Reed, [?] Juleilson & entire family & Ellen & I with several others & a host of children witnessed the ceremony & spent a very pleasant afternoon going home before dark. The next day every busy body in town was spreading the news & made out we had been guilty of great impropriety in attending a 'nigger wedding & said that expressly for my benefit on the street as Mrs. Thompson (Mary Stone) & I were out shopping it amused me very much to see them gathered in companies of eight & ten discussing the momentous affair. J. Wilson & Mr. Dickinson were all the white men present. No black darkies stood at the table with us & they had an excellent dinner. There has been one peice in the Corvallis Union & another coming out this week in a Eugene paper with the names of the guests present. Next subject that interested us particularly was the meeting & resolutions drawn up & presented to Mr. Dickinson for his consideration in regard to the course he has & is to take. <br/><br/>There is a great amount of dissatisfaction felt towards him throughout the whole town & it gets worse every abolition sermon he preaches he has not been preaching any where lately & his church feel anxious that the house is being completed that he should not force those sermons upon the people unless they know the day so they can go elsewhere if they chose. Then they had a resolution about his being personal in the pulpit etc. etc. They have had two meetings & from Ellen's account the resolutions were adopted without a dissenting voice at the first meeting. The second Mrs. Wilson brought some objections & the third & they say last is to be on Monday night & then they will decide whether he had better stay or go etc. how if he remains is the best method of raising his salary. <br/><br/>You may think I am prejudiced but I do really believe a minister against whom there is no such strong prejudices Even if his mind was inferior to Mr. D. would do more good here. I did not know there was such a dislike & I may truly say disgust existing toward him until we were getting up that Thanksgiving supper & that was the greatest obstacle we had to surmount I believe him to be a Christian & think he does what he thinks to be his duty. Some of his best members regard him as a monomaniac upon the negro equality question. I will not mail this until after Monday & write you the decision of this, the last meeting. <br/><br/>Roxanna Polly's daughter presented her mother with a baby this week- half white. No one is willing to claim it that just now is agitating Salem. Capt. Lyon, Ellen's father has just come down from the Dalles with a bride they are stopping at Jo. Watts will be here next week.<br/><br/>She is from New England about forty & Ellen says looks very well that she has sisters in Cal. & came on a visit to Oregon & was not very pleasantly situated, so she married.<br/><br/>Do not make public what is in this letter I am afraid I have written too plainly respecting Mr. D. but you know, I can not have any influence for I am not one of his church.

Title

Unsigned letter on African American race relations in Salem

Description

Unsigned letter to Mary Denison Lyman regarding race relations in Salem. The letter discusses the marriage of an African American woman named America Waldo in Salem in early January, 1863. The unnamed woman author recounts attending the wedding along with some other white women and two white men. (Other sources identify America Waldo's husband as Richard Bogle, also an African American.) She describes how the next day, the people of Salem verbally attacked them for having participated in the integrated wedding, and that their names were published in two newspapers in order to shame them. The author goes on to describe other unrest regarding race relations, including tensions over the preaching of the abolitionist Congregational Church minister Obed Dickinson ("a monomaniac upon the negro equality question"); and the birth of a mixed-race baby to a woman named Roxanna. This was very likely Roxanna Holmes, an African American woman whose parents were brought to Oregon as slaves in 1844.

Creator

Unknown

Source

Pacific University Archives

Date

1863

Is Part Of

Lyman Family Papers

Format

Letter

Language

English

Identifier

PUA_MS31_47_a

Subject

Bogle, America Waldo, 1844-1903

Holmes, Roxanna, 1846-1873

Dickinson, Obed, 1818-1892

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Type

Text