Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-07-25
The Author of Nasby.

The Toledo correspondent of the Detroit
Post gives an account OF - Nasty" now the
editor of the Toledo Blade
Everybody has read the Nasty letters, but
very few people know Anything of their origin
or their author. Those who have read the
book-lateiy printed-containipg, according
to the ntle-page, 50 Divers Views, Opinions
and Prophecies OF yoors trooly, Petroleum V,
Nasby," have undoubtedly made themselves
familiar with the portrait of the - Lait Pas
tor" as drawn by Jones, and printed therein.
This is undoubtedly a'true likeness of Petro-
leum ", if not of the gentleman who person
ates him in the Nasty letters, would recognize
The former as a real caricature of the latter
The picture was undoubtedly intended to have
some points of resem blauce to the real author
of = Nasby," and with this his many admir-
ing readers should be satished. The first of
the Nasty letters appeared in April, 1868,
but Is printed third IN the book. Its title Is
Negro Emigration" This letter deprecates
the alarming suckess of negro population
at Wingert's Corners, calls upon the g disIn
terested patriots " OF this place to IS hold a
mass meetn TO tax this subjik in2 copsidera-
shun," and proposes g the adol shun NV Sc
ries Nv resolooshsns." The second clause OF
The proposed preamble - has it the germ
of the entire series of Nasby letters, and is
printed follows:
80 Wareas, In the event Nv this Imigrashun
our fellow-townsman, Abslum Kilt, and uth-
ers, whose familis depend upon their labor
fur support, wood be throde out of employ
ment."
I" Abslum Kilt " is not myth, but at the
time this letter was first published, lived at
Findlay, Ohio, his Zeal name beng Fienner
Fienner was a lazy, drunken, good-for- no thing
sort of fellow, seldom doing any work, and
M hImsaIf little laSS than AHA
In fact, his father was already In the poor
house, and if Flenner, Jr., had been there too,
be would have cost the town less trouble and
money. About this time, a petition, emaDat-
ing from high Democratic authority, was
circulated in Ohio, asking the Legislature TO
pass law prohibiting negro immigration,
and to provide for the removal of negroes then
residing in that state. The principal reason
offered by these disinterested patriots" for
the passage OF such q law was the great influx
OF negroes trOm the South, which would fol-
low the expected emancipation, would SO re-
duce the wages of labor in Ohio that white
laborers could not live there. copy of this
petition was sent to very respectable Demo
crat OF Findlay, who, being ashamed TO circu-
late it himself, employed Flenner to do the
job. While in Fienner's hands the petition
was seen by MIR. ID. r. Locke, pu blisher at
that time of the FIndlay Jefersonian, who was
at once struck by its absurdity, especially
when presented by a man like Flenner. He
therefore borrowed the petition, intending to
print it in the next iesue of his paper, and
make some serious comments regarding it. If
this design had been carried out the Nasty
letters would never have been written OF pub
lished; but extremely ridiculous did the
affair appear, that Mr.. Locke, who is a prac-
tical prin ter, finally gave up the idea of writ
ing anything serious about 1T, and commenced
putting in type the letter referred to above
This be did without having written word OF
it, and without any well defined plan, except
to make his soIecisms humorous, and his hu-
NOR pointed and pungent. After the letter
was IN typo Mr.. Locke hesitated about pub