The Port Gibson Reveille

PORT GIBSON.
Letter of William E. Curtis in the
Chicago Record-Herald.
The following are extracts from
a letter written by William E. Curtis,
the well known correspondent,
to the Chicago Record-Herald. The
other portion of the letter is merely a rehash of the Burr episode:
Port Gibson, Miss., April 21.-
This is one of the prettiest towns in
the South-neatly kept and prosperous and sacred to Aaron Burr
and Blennerhassett.
The houses
which they once occupied are pointed out to strangers and interesting
incidents are told with which they
are connected. Port Gibson has
one of the wealthiest communities
in the state, as might be inferred
from its spacious mansions and other appearances of prosperity and
culture. The streets are wide and
well shaded : there is a tall dome
on the court house : the churches
have aspiring steeples, and long
rows of enormous warehouses are
crowded with cotton waiting until
the price gets up to 10 cents a
pound.
Dunbar Rowland, the state historian, has recently unearthed a lot
of valuable historical documents
down here, including a diary of
Governor Claiborne's which is reasonably complete and connected,
and covers all the important events
in the territory between 1803 and
1816. It was obtained through a
nephew. He has also secured the
journal of Cowles Mead, who was
acting governor at the time of the
Burr incident, and a large quantity
of the private and official correspondence of both of those gentlemen, the greater part of which refers to the conspiracy. That was
the greatest event that ever occurred in this section of the country until the days of secession.
This material is entirely new, and
there are some exceedingly interesting reports made by state officials bearing on the same subject.
While, unfortunately, none of
these documents is convincing or
contains positive evidence of Burr's
guilt, they throw much light upon
his character and relate circumstances which would not have occurred in the conduct of a loyal citizen or
honorable man. They also indicate
that he had adherents down in this
section who must have been familiar with his designs and were prepared for his arrival, although there
is no evidence among all the records to show that any of them ever
betrayed the confidence he reposed
in them.
Months before President Jefferson
issued his proclamation declaring
Burr to be engaged in a treasonable riot, rumors were brought down
the river by travelers and boatmen,
and the people became convinced of
his guilt and very much excited.
About this time Cowles Mead, a
young Georgian, was appointed
secretary of the territory, and during the absence of Robert Williams,
the governor, exercised the functions of that office. His diary and
correspondence, which, as I have
said, have recently been discovered,
show that he was a man of energy,
courage and was convinced that
Burr was engaged in an attempt to
set up an independent government
in the Southwest. There is no
doubt, judging from intimations
and hints that appear in his writings, that he had confidential information which he dared not even
confide to his diary. It is also clear
that Mead had evidence that General Wilkinson was crooked also.
He warned various authorities of
the United States that Wilkinson
was the greatest transgressor of
the group. It was evidently his
opinion that Wilkinson had betrayed Burr to Spain and was in
the pay of the Spanish authorities.