The Last Slanders / of the Bolters / Nailed to the Counter! [caption title, followed by ten paragraphs of text, printed in two columns and separated by a thin rule]. Signed in type at the end “Reuben Walton, John Clinedinst, James A. Clinedinst, H.S.G. Albert, Samuel Rinker, Daniel Burner.”
[Harrisonburg, VA?]: nd [1869?]. [Place of publication and date from Hummel.] Printed broadside, 9 ½ x 5 ¾ inches, title printed bold in larger type. Hummel 5048 (Virginia, Library of Virginia, Eastern Mennonite, Virginia Historical Society). OCLC locates two copies (Virginia, Library of Virginia). Very good copy. Item #70798
“A lawyer, judge, and politician, John Thomas Harris (1823-1899) resided in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and served in the U. S. House of Representatives, 1859-1861, 1871-1873, and 1875-1881, opposing Civil Rights for Black Americans following the Civil War. This crudely printed broadside responds to the “slanders” of a Black man named Joe Williams, a “low mean Negro” who appeared to be on his deathbed and babbling against Harris, but was then seen rational and lively the next day. The broadside suggests that Blacks and Whites conspired against Harris. Harris, or someone speaking for Harris, writes: “The negro is my enemy because, as he said, I have no confidence in negroes … There they were in the dark hours of the night – ‘black spirits and white spirits’ – concocting evidence to influence the white freemen of this District.” The broadside goes on to say that while it’s bad enough that a black man lies against a white man, it’s even worse that a white man tries to influence white people by “negro evidence.”.
Price: $600.00