Plistoriosll Revie^W
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PlistoriosLl Revie^w The State Historical Society of Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI BOARD OF EDITORS LAWRENCE O. CHRISTENSEN SUSAN M. HARTMANN University of Missouri-Rolla Ohio State University, Columbus WILLIAM E. FOLEY ALAN R. HAVIG Central Missouri State University, Stephens College, Warrensburg Columbia JEAN TYREE HAMILTON DAVID D. MARCH Marshall Kirksville ARVARH E. STRICKLAND University of Missouri-Columbia COVER DESCRIPTION: Tourism is one of the state's top revenue-producing industries and one of the fastest growing elements of the economy. Depict ed on the cover is the Lake of the Ozarks, a frequently visited area of Missouri. Union Elec tric Light and Power Company of St. Louis began construction of Bagnell Dam in 1929. When com pleted two years later, it impounded the waters of the Osage River creating the 129-mile-long Lake of the Ozarks, with some 1,300 miles of wooded shoreline. The lake inundated parts of Camden, Miller, Morgan, Benton, Henry and St. Clair counties. To recall this popular scenic area, the Division of Tourism supplied this colorful fall MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW Published Quarterly by THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA, MISSOURI JAMES W. GOODRICH EDITOR MARY K. DAINS ASSOCIATE EDITOR R. DOUGLAS HURT ASSOCIATE EDITOR LEONA S. MORRIS RESEARCH ASSISTANT Copyright ® 1987 by the State Historical Society of Missouri 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri 65201 The Missouri Historical Review (ISSN 0026-6582) is owned by The State Historical Society of Missouri and is published quarterly at 10 South Hitt, Columbia, Missouri 65201. Send communications, business and editorial correspondence and change of address to the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201. Second class postage is paid at Columbia, Missouri. SOCIETY HOURS: The Society is open to the public from 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 VOLUME LXXXII P.M., Monday through Friday, and Saturday from 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., except legal holidays. NUMBER 1 Holiday Schedule: The Society will be closed Saturday during the Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving OCTOBER, 1987 weekends; and Saturday, December 26, 1987 and January 2, 1988. THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI The State Historical Society of Missouri, heretofore organized under the laws of the State, shall be the trustee of this State—Laws of Missouri, 1899, R.S. of Mo., 1969, chapter 183, as revised 1978. OFFICERS 1986-1989 JOSEPH WEBBER, St. Louis, President AVIS TUCKER, Warrensburg, First Vice President SHERIDAN A. LOGAN, St. Joseph, Second Vice President VIRGINIA YOUNG, Columbia, Third Vice President NOBLE E. CUNNINGHAM, Columbia, Fourth Vice President R. KENNETH ELLIOTT, Kansas City, Fifth Vice President ROBERT G.J. HOESTER, Kirkwood, Sixth Vice President ALBERT M. PRICE, Columbia, Treasurer JAMES W. GOODRICH, Columbia, Director, Secretary and Librarian TRUSTEES Permanent Trustees, Former Presidents of the Society LEWIS E. ATHERTON, Columbia ELMER ELLIS, Columbia WILLIAM AULL III, Lexington RUSH H. LIMBAUGH, Cape Girardeau FRANCIS M. BARNES III, Kirkwood LEO J. ROZIER, Perryville WILLIAM R. DENSLOW, Trenton Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1987 H. RILEY BOCK, Portageville GEORGE MCCUE, St. Louis ROBERT S. DALE, Carthage ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia FREDERICK W. LEHMANN IV, WALLACE B. SMITH, Independence Webster Groves ROBERT M. WHITE, Mexico Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1988 JAMES W. BROWN, Harrisonville BOB PRIDDY, Jefferson City ILUS W. DAVIS, Kansas City DALE REESMAN, Boonville JOHN K. HULSTON, Springfield ARVARH E. STRICKLAND, Columbia JAMES C. OLSON, Kansas City BLANCHE M. TOUHILL, St. Louis Term Expires at Annual Meeting, 1989 MRS. SAMUEL A. BURK, Kirksville DOYLE PATTERSON, Kansas City VICTOR A. GIERKE, Louisiana STUART SYMINGTON, JR., St. Louis JEAN TYREE HAMILTON, Marshall ROBERT WOLPERS, Poplar Bluff W. ROGERS HEWITT, Shelbyville DALTON C. WRIGHT, Lebanon EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The twenty-nine Trustees, the President and the Secretary of the Society, the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, President of the University of Missouri and Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia constitute the Executive Committee. FINANCE COMMITTEE Five members of the Executive Committee appointed by the President, who by virtue of his office constitutes the sixth member, compose the Finance Committee. WILLIAM AULL III, Lexington, Chairman JEAN TYREE HAMILTON, Marshall FRANCIS M. BARNES III, Kirkwood ROBERT C. SMITH, Columbia ELMER ELLIS, Columbia JOSEPH WEBBER, St. Louis EDITORIAL POLICY The editors of the Missouri Historical Review welcome submission of articles and documents relat ing to the history of Missouri. Any aspect of Mis souri history will be considered for publication in the Review. Genealogical studies, however, are not accepted because of limited appeal to general readers. Manuscripts pertaining to all fields of American history will be considered if the subject matter has significant relevance to the history of Missouri or the West. Authors should submit two double-spaced copies of their manuscripts. The footnotes, prepared ac cording to The Chicago Manual of Style, also should be double-spaced and placed at the end of the text. Authors may submit manuscripts on PC/DOS, 360K floppy disk. The disk must be IBM compatible, pre ferably a Displaywrite 3 or 4 program. Otherwise, it must be in ASCII format. Two hard copies still are required, and the print must be letter or near-letter quality. Dot matrix submissions will not be accepted. Originality of subject, general interest of the article, sources used, interpretation and style are criteria for acceptance and publication. Manuscripts should not exceed 7,500 words. Articles that are accepted for publication become the property of The State Historical Society of Missouri and may not be pub lished elsewhere without permission. The Society does not accept responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by the authors. Articles published in the Review are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts, America: His tory and Life, Recently Published Articles, Writings on American History, The Western Historical Quar terly and The Journal of American History. Manuscripts submitted for the Review should be addressed to: Dr. James W. Goodrich, Editor Missouri Historical Review The State Historical Society of Missouri 1020 Lowry Street Columbia, Missouri 65201 STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS AND GIFTS Memberships in The State Historical Society of Mis souri are available in the following categories: Annual Membership $5.00 Contributing Annual Membership $25.00 Supporting Annual Membership $50.00 Sustaining Annual Membership $100.00 to $499.00 Patron Annual Membership $500.00 or more Life Membership $100.00 Each category of membership is tax deductible. Member ships help The State Historical Society preserve and disseminate the history of Missouri. The Missouri His torical Review is included as a membership benefit of the Society. Gifts of cash and property to the Society are de ductible for federal income, estate and gift tax purposes. Inquiries concerning memberships, gifts or bequests to the Society should be addressed to: James W. Goodrich, Director The State Historical Society of Missouri 1020 Lowry Street Columbia, Missouri 65201 Phone (314) 882-7083 CONTENTS THE DEBATE OVER SLAVERY ON THE EVE OF THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. By Ronald C. Woolsey 1 LINCOLN UNIVERSITY'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THE SHARECROPPER DEMONSTRATION IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, 1939-1940. By Lorenzo J. Greene 24 REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC WELFARE IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, MISSOURI, 1939-1941. By Clarence R. Keathley 51 DUNKLIN COUNTY, CHARLES P. CHOUTEAU, AND THE COURTSHIP OF THE IRON HORSE. By John Hall Dalton, Jr 71 HISTORICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS Society Receives Jesse T. Cargill Cartoons 97 Charles Schwartz Enhances Society's Art Collection 98 News in Brief 99 Local Historical Societies 102 Gifts 116 Missouri History in Newspapers 123 Missouri History in Magazines 131 In Memoriam 140 BOOK REVIEWS 141 SCOTLAND COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM Inside Back Cover The Museum of the Confederacy Born in Kentucky, but a long-time resident of Mississippi, by the opening of the Charleston Convention 1860, Jefferson Davis staunchly favored the expansion of slavery. His strong Southern sympathies placed him on a collision course with Stephen A. Douglas over popular sovereignty. State Historical Society of Missouri Delegates to the Charleston Convention came to this attractive, idyllic, oceanside Southern city in 1860. The turbulence of the convention, however, foretold the violence of Fort Sumter a year later. The Debate Over Slavery on the Eve of the Charleston Convention BY RONALD C. WOOLSEY* Perhaps a singular reason can explain why the Civil War era has captured the public's imagination, both on film and in print. Against a historic backdrop, personalities like Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler exposed the human condi tion, its vulnerabilities, and their determination to survive them. Such figures symbolized the tragic consequences of the antebellum South. These circumstances, likewise, beckon the historian to continually reexamine the conditions that split the nation in 1861. Here, the spotlight focuses on the expan sion of slavery as an ideological dilemma in the Southern states. It sets the stage for the Charleston convention and subsequent attempts at congressional compromise in 1860. *Ronald C. Woolsey teaches history and is a level coordinator at Bishop Amat High School, La Puente, California. He received his undergraduate