Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1870-06-12
Letter from colonel Baxter.-No. 4.
Editors OF tie Chronicle


of 1851. This correspondence did not af-
| feet me, but it constituted an incident in
the local history of Knoxville, and will
serve, in some small degree, TO show the
! character of some of the men with whom L
have been contending. At the time, about
May, 1861, and just before communication
by mail was closed between East Tennes-
see and the "loyaP' States letter writ
ten 10y some one and purporting to have
been written by Andrew Johnson and adj
dressed to Amos Lawrence, Boston, Mass,
was mailed at Knoxville-Charlton, the
present liberal editor of the Wing, being
at the time United States Postmaster. In
the name of Mr.. Johnson this letter in
formed Dir. Lawrence that a large majori-
| ty of the people of East Tennessee were
opposed to rebellion; that, if supplied with
arms and muntions,they could be induced
to resist by force the effort then being made
| to Withdraw Tennessee from the Federal
| Union, and concluded with an earnest APP
| peal for money with which to supply the
! people with arms for Self-defense
Mr.. Lawrence believed the letter gem
uine, and being man of large wealth and
warmly opposed to the rebellion, responded
promptly by enclosing his check, payable
to the order of Andrew johnson, for one
thousand doUars His letter containing
this check was addressed to Andrew JOHN
him. 1t was intercepted i'm the Knoxville
Post Office, and, in violation of law and
the oath which Postmiisters are required
by law to take, it was opened. Why this
spurious correspondences was begun and
why Mr.. Charlton the Rev. Mr. Charl-
ton, the sanity editor of the IVhig, who has
recently written 50 many editorials pro-
testing that he wasn't afraid and could not
be bought up, favoring justice and forbear-i
Il
followers and retainerS not to be too hard
on Union COnservatives--not to require
Messrs. Williams, Fleming and Crippen
to surrender all their precOnceiVed political
opinions aS Il condition precedent to their
admission into fulllfellowship into the re-
organized Conservative party of Knox
county IIawrence'S letter to
Mr.. Johnson was in answer to the spurious
one which had been previously sent To Mr..
Lawrence, | am not prepared to say. But
so it was ; the letter was addressed IL Mr.
Johnson, and was Intercepted in the Knox
vile Post Office. 1t contained, too the
coveted prize--a thousand dollar ehecks
but being payable to Mr.. Johnson's order
it could not be used without his endorse
ment. Thus an unforeseen and uneXpect-
ed obstacle interviewed and thwarted the
object in which the whole plan originated.
Money they wanted and money they Were
equal to the emergency, and brilliant
thought, worthy of the brain in which it
originated, came to their relief; and acting
upon its suggestion, another letter in the
name of Mr.. Johnson was forged and
mailed to Mr.. Lawrence, saying that he
could not use the check without exposing
himself to detection, and his plans to dis
covery and defeat, and urged upon him the
overwhelming necessity of having money,
L. ..l-
Tennessee and East Tennessee Unionists to
the Federal cause, and requested remit
tances in Eastern currency.
In my judgment, the first and prime
object of this spurious communication,
was to get mOney--to get it through n
false pretence-tO steal it from Mr.. Law
renee. There was motive, and if it was
not the one stated by me, what was it:
In the loose morality which has made
such alarming Roadway in the past ten
years, it may be said the country was then
engaged in civil war; that the parties to
the foregoing nefariOus scheme, were pub
lie enemies to Mr.. Lawrance, and as such,
had right to pluck him by forgery and
false pretcnces if they could. I don't think
50. There is no condition of things,
which, in the estimation of honorable
men, could Justify the attempt which was
made and detailed above, to get money
from Mr.. Lawrence. But when we con-
slider that the State of Tennessee was still
in the Union and that Charlton was
s,OOrn officer in the Federal Government,
drawing his salary from the United States
Treasury, and, that as such officer, used
his official position himself, or permitted
others to use it, for the purpose of robbing
citizens adhering to the Government, of
which he was an officer, his conduct be-
came so atrOciOuS as to shock the sense of
Justice and right of the most Obt,Ise and
degraded.
But even this view of his action bears
no comparison in black -hearted atrocity to
what followed. The last effort was d fail
ure. The Eastern currency which the
second letter requested, was not forwarded
by express. Enraged at the disappoint-
ment, and nerved by a diabOlical purpose
that defies description, the first letter
which they had interceuted from Law
renee with the cheek which it contained,
was without word of explanation, sent
forward to Governor Harris, to be used i'm
firing the Southern hearts, and strength
ening the rebel cause Believing that
they had drawn from Mr.. Lawrence by
genuine letters from Mr.. Johnson, Gov.
Harris caused them to he published in the
Nashville papers. The paper containing
the publication, i'll due course of mail,
came to Knoxville. This part of it at
tracted general comment; it stimulated
Southern vengeance; Col. afterwards GEM
Hindman, of Arkansas, Was here with his
regiment news came that Mr. johnson
was then leaving the State By way
of Beams Station, Tazewell and Cum
berland Gap; Col. Hindman demanded
of the East Tennessee and Virginia
Railroad authorities. 1, special train with
which to run to Morristown for the pur-
pose of interceDtins. caDturinp and banU-