Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) to Edwin M. Stanton
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05508.008 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph note signed Date: September 29, 1862 Pagination: 1, 2 p. 25 x 19.8 cm + 1 engraving ; col. ; 21.1 x 15 cm Order a Copy
A two-page petition regarding churches in Port Royal, S.C., occupies recto and verso of first leaf. Lincoln's note appears on verso of second leaf. Lincoln writes about the danger of conflict among different religious denominations in their ministry to the colored people in Port-Royal. He suggests that the churches not have interference from others, hoping that "a real Christian charity and forbearance on the part of all" will eliminate the discord. One colored bust engraving of Lincoln included.
Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953). Vol. V 1861 - 1862,
p. 445 - 446.
Note: Lincoln's endorsement is published in Basler 5: 445-446. Peck represented the interests of the Baptist Home Mission Society. The society asked that ministers and churches operating in Port Royal be freed from restrictions imposed by the military. No reply from Stanton is known to exist. On 4 March 1864, Lincoln would firmly state his opinion regarding the separation of Church and State: "The U.S. Government must not undertake to run the churches" (See GLC 4813).
Among the Freedmen on Port Royal (S.C.) & adjacent islands, are several thousand members of Baptist churches; with whom also the greater part of the colored population of the islands, statedly assembling for religious worship, are associated & in sympathy.
To supervise & guide these churches, in their present destitute & dependent condition, the American Baptist Home Mission Society have commissioned men, ministers of the Gospel, in whose loyalty, discretion & fidelity they have full confidence. Some of these have already entered on their appointed service, & their ministrations have been gladly welcomed by the people to whom they were sent.
The hope of the Society now is, that the beneficent labors of these Christian ministers, & of others of like character who may be associated with them, will be suffered to proceed without unnecessary interference; that no religious test or question will be applied ab extra to such persons, as conditional to their admission to or continuance on the islands; - that the churches &[2]congregations spoken of will be allowed to assemble & worship as heretofore in their respective meetinghouses without "let or hindrance," except as the use of the said houses shall be imperatively required by military exigencies; - especially, that no measure, designedly or unwittingly, will be suffered to infringe on the internal economy of the churches, but the rights of conscience, in matters of purely religious faith & practice, be held inviolate; - in short, that the department of State & Church will be maintained not only professedly but practically distinct & separate; & the Freedmen of the South, & the freemen of the North as well, enjoy the priceless boon not only of civil but of religious freedom.
Respectfully submitted.
On behalf of the Society
S. Peck.--
Washington, D.C. Sept. 26. 1862.
[Lincoln's endorsement:]
It seems by the within that there is danger of the different religious denominations having some collision in their ministering among the colored people about Port-Royal, and perhaps elsewhere. I should think each church should minister according to it's [sic] own rules, without interference by others differing from them; and if there still be differences about places of worship, a real Christian charity, and forbearance on the part of all might obviate it. With this view I submit the subject to the Secretary of War.
A. Lincoln
Sept. 29. 1862
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