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Loyal or not? Virginia-born Iowa Democrat in the spotlight

After Ft. Sumter, Iowans roared, Punish the Rebels!   Republicans and Democrats flocked to enlist in the Union Army.

Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood called a special session of the state legislature.  He wanted a legal framework for enlisting regiments and funding the war.

James H. Williams (courtesy Phil Williams)
James H. Williams (courtesy Phil Williams)

Republicans suspected state representative James H. Williams of disloyalty because he was a native Virginian.  Even more damning, Williams’s father was a Virginia legislator who called for that state to secede.

One of Williams’s constituents, Dewitt C. Cram, confronted Williams in a public letter on May 3, 1861.

Declare yourself like a man!

Cram asked Williams:

1.   Are you a believer in the Constitutional right of secession, as distinguished from the right of revolution, and as maintained by Southern Statesmen of the Jeff. Davis order?

2.  Does a citizen of Iowa owe superior allegiance to the general Government?

3.  Does a citizen of Iowa, born and bred in another State, owe any allegiance of any sort to the State of his birth, as against the State of Iowa or the general Government?

4.  Will you sustain the State or general Government in any measures adopted … to maintain the Union by force if needed, and to put down the Southern rebellion?

5.  If you deny the right of secession, as a remedy for alleged grievances, found in the Constitution, and place this rebellion upon the right of revolution, is it your opinion that the Seceding States have so far exhausted all Constitutional and peaceful remedies … ?

No answer – and Cram follows up

A week later, May 10, 1861, Cram stated:

“So far no answer has appeared … I … have a right to know the opinions of him who represents me …

If Mr. Williams be a believer in the doctrine of secession as a constitutional right, and that the State of his birth has superior claims upon him as against the State of Iowa, or the general Government, then he ought not to take a seat on our Legislature …

Private thoughts

Williams soon went to Des Moines for a special legislative session.  He wrote in his diary:

I go most reluctantly to the legislature.  Want to be home, to get ready to go to Va & espouse her cause.

Williams waited two months to indirectly answer Cram.  On July 11, 1861, Williams stated:

I am a citizen of Iowa; I have not gone to Virginia …   I have written nothing to favor violations of the Constitution in any quarter …

Williams celebrates

After the legislature adjourned, Williams returned to Dubuque and, on July 22, 1861, learned about the first battle of Bull Run (Manassas).  He wrote in his diary:

About 3 1/2 ock, the News the glorious victory was received.  Took the biggest drink of brandy &c.

Fateful choice

Two days later, James H. Williams took a train to Virginia.  In November 1861 (some four months later), he became a recruiter for Chew’s Battery, 7th Virginia Cavalry.

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David Connon

David Connon has spent nearly two decades researching dissenters in Iowa: Grinnell residents who helped on the Underground Railroad, and their polar opposites, Iowa Confederates. He shares some of these stories with audiences across the state through the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau. He worked as an interpreter at Living History Farms for eleven seasons. Connon is a member of Sons of Union Veterans, an associate member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a member of the Des Moines Civil War Round Table. His articles have appeared in Iowa Heritage Illustrated, Iowa History Journal, Illinois Magazine, and local newspapers in both states.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Pat Granstra

    24 May 2016

    Sounds like an honorable man caught between a rock and a hard place.

    1. David Connon

      24 May 2016

      Hi, Pat. Yes, James H. Williams’s diary shows that he tried to be an honorable man. Thanks for reading my blog!

  2. czechreb

    25 May 2016

    Enjoy your posts, Dave. A suggestion for the title. How about dropping the “not to defend” and just say “to understand”? Great research, keep up the good work.

    1. David Connon

      25 May 2016

      Hi, Czechreb.
      Thank you for your kind comments. Thanks for the suggestion, too. Regarding the blog title, I hope it will set readers at ease, that I am promoting understanding.

  3. Annie Duckett Hundley

    27 May 2016

    Great writing and research, David. Thank you for the invite to view it. It’s always interesting to me how complex choices/reactions can be…especially concerning so called “loyalties” in matters of war or change. I have three ancestors who switched sides (all, confederate to union) for matters of extreme complexity but their descendants make all kinds of assumptions regarding them based on where they were born, raised or their parentage. It’s always interesting to see that was no less complex at the time…not just in the opinions of their posterity. By the way, I personally, love the title.

    1. David Connon

      7 Jun 2016

      Hi, Annie.
      Thanks for your generous comments. I appreciate your comments about complex choices and reactions. The more that I study Confederates from Iowa, the more I think that they were complicated people who had compelling reasons for their actions. Similarly, Iowans in blue also had compelling reasons for serving the Union. Thanks for reading my blog!

  4. Joan

    27 May 2016

    Interesting thoughts from Iowa. Here in Oregon, my Keyes forebearers, and their fellow family from Tennessee had much the same feelings– being far from home with convoluted feelings. Little pockets of Tenneesse blood and tears.

    1. David Connon

      7 Jun 2016

      Hi, Joan.
      Thanks for sharing this comparison with your ancestors in Oregon and Tennessee. And thanks for reading my blog!

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