Letters from scholars in this field will help us to learn the truth. A copy of a letter from J. F. Rhodes follows:
Ravenscleft, Seal Harbor, Maine,
Sept. 27, 1920.Henry A. Wallace,
Dear Sir:
I have your valued favor of 23 with enclosure. It is now about fourteen years since I made my study of Reconstruction, and on some details my memory is not fresh, but I have no hesitation in saying that I never found anything that would lead me to believe that either Sumner or Stevens was in favor of the scheme outlined. The story told by the affidavit "does not fit into the situation" as Samuel R. Gardiner used to say. Nothing but irrefragible evidence could lead one to such a view. Your examination of the subject seems to have been thorough and I thank you for giving me the results of it.
Very truly yours,
enc. returned
Signed. James F. Rhodes.
A Copy of a Letter from Samuel W. McCall
24 Mt. Vernon St., September 13, 1920.
Mr. Henry A. Wallace,
245 West 139th St.,
New York, N. Y.Dear Sir:
In reply to your favor of the 3rd inst., with enclosed copy of the affidavit concerning the position of Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner upon the proposed policy of organization for the negroes, I would say that I do not remember ever having come across anything of the kind in my researches concerning Mr. Stevens, nor have I ever heard of it about Mr. Sumner.
Very truly yours,
Signed. Saml. W. McCall.
A Copy of a Letter from Hon. H. C. Lodge.
Nahant, Mass.,
September 8, 1920.My dear Sir:
I have received your letter of the 6th. I have never heard before of the point which you raise in regard to Mr. Sumner and really know nothing about it. As I am separated from my library, which is in Washington, I am sorry that I can give you no information about it, but if you would examine the Life of Charles Sumner by Edward L. Pierce, which is very elaborate and thorough, you would find something about it there, if anywhere.
Very truly yours,
Signed. H. C. Lodge.
Henry A. Wallace, Esq.,
245 West 139th St.,
New York, N. Y.
As the native white men of the master class were ineligible to hold office until the new Constitution and the 14th Amendment were ratified and their political disabilities were removed, even had they acted in an advisory capacity to the newly enfranchised Negroes, the Northern men being eliminated, only Negroes and white men of the "cracker" element could have held office and have been elected delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
There were some native white men of the "cracker" element in the Constitutional Convention and also in the first legislature elected.
Very respectfully,
Henry A. Wallace.
245 West 139th St.,
New York City,
January 16, 1921.Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D.,
Editor, The Journal of Negro History,
1216 You St., N. W., Washington, D. C.Dear Sir:
In connection with my letter to you of the 11th instant, pertaining to the affidavit of Messrs. Miller and McKinlay relative to the statement made by Mr. Francis Cardoza to them concerning Mr. Sumner and Mr. Stevens, as published in The Journal of Negro History for January, 1920, I respectfully invite your attention to a copy of a letter from Dr. J. W. Burgess, formerly of Columbia University. You will find him listed in "Who's Who in America."
Dr. Burgess is the author of two books covering the Civil War and the Reconstruction period, The Civil War and the Constitution and Reconstruction and the Constitution, and evidently made a thorough research in collecting the data for publication.
I regard this as a very important matter and the truth or falsity of the statement should be established. It is only by publicity that the facts can be established.
The names of Stevens and Sumner should be imperishable to the Negro race and any reflection on their attitude during the Reconstruction period should not go unchallenged.
A copy of letter from John W. Burgess follows:
Brookline, Mass.,
January 14, 1921.Mr. Henry A. Wallace:
Your favor of January 12, forwarded to me here, interests me highly, and I thank you most sincerely for it. I am obliged to reply, however, that the affidavit of Messrs Miller and McKinlay astonished me very much. I cannot remember to have ever read anything of the kind anywhere and like you, I am very skeptical about it. I was in the world and a student at Amherst College in the year 1867, and was even then collecting the material for my history. I am pretty sure that I should have known of anything of this kind had it existed. I am going to try to run this assertion down, as I am here among the acquaintances and relatives of Sumner.
Very sincerely yours,
Signed. John W. Burgess.
I have written to Dr. Burgess to inform me as to the result of his investigation and will let you know what he reports.
Yours very truly,
Henry A. Wallace.