A Guide to the Letter from J. Wilder to T.H. Canfield, 1891 June 14 Wilder, J., Letter to T.H. Canfield, 1891 June 14 10961

A Guide to the Letter from J. Wilder to T.H. Canfield, 1891 June 14

A Collection in
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 10961


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Processed by: Special Collections Department

Repository
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Accession number
10961
Title
Letter from J. Wilder to T.H. Canfield 1891 June 14
Physical Characteristics
This collection consists of one letter.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

J. Wilder, Letter, 1891 June 14, Accession #10961, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This letter was purchased from William A. Fox Auctions, Inc. of Springfield, New Jersey, on June 12, 1990.

Scope and Content Information

In his letter, June 14, 1891, to T.H. Canfield, J. [Wilder ?], Bristol, Virginia, describes witnessing the recent lynching of a black man taken from his jail cell by a mob which was also reported in the Bristol Courier . He attributes various motives to the participants in the lynching, "some drunk and some acted for the fun of the thing and some from feeling that the courts are ineffective. It was a horid thing but it is 'Southern'."

He also shares his own experience with the widespread corruption of the local and state court systems and law officers. [Wilder ?] and Dr. Bailey were both involved in a legal dispute over the ownership of some railroad property in Bristol against several wealthy New Yorkers, [Mr. ?] Clyde, [John Hamilton ?] Inman, G.S. Scott, and Nat Thayer of Boston. They had appealed to Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller of the United States Supreme Court to sit in on the case because of their fear that a fair trial over the matter was impossible in the local courts.