To the Hon the Senate & house of Representatives of the U.S. in congress assembled
The undersigned memorialists citizens of Newton county respectfully ask leave to represent
to your Hon
bodies that they labour under great inconvemence for want of such mail facilities
as (not only) the present b (growing but) present) importance of the country justly entitle them to expect.
that they live in a section of the state strictly agricultural the occupation of
its citizens being principally stock raising & from the very nature of their calling
it is highly important to their interests they should know the state of the market
at the earliest possible moment. In order to represent this matter more clearly &
to present the claim of your memorialists in its propper light before your honourable
bodies they ask leave to make the following representation. During last spring, when
it was least expect immediately after the U.S. Arms had been triumphant at Buenavista
—when all expected an immediate adjustment of our Mexicans difficulties; a demand
for cattle was occasioned at Independence & Fortleavenworth on the Missouri frontier
to supply the quartermasters department. The farms of your memorialists were well
stocked with that article, but in consequence of the tardiness of the mails their
cattle was purchased by speculators & jobbers from in & about Independence for
much less than their real value & within 150 miles of the market. The undersigned
attribute it to the tardiness of the mails alone that a
few
men—a
very
few were able to realize fortunes off of the hard earned industry of the country. Your
memoralists the
<Page 2>
would represent the above as being only one of the many inconveniences under which
they labour for want of propper mail facilities. They are of opinion that a country
producing an amount of stock far greater than most portions of Southern Missouri is
entitled to such mail facilities as will keep them advised at the earliest ^moment^ of any change in the market favorable to their interests & being be a preventative in future from their being imposed upon by speculators & making
a sacrifize their property.
In consequence of the inconvemences & the interest your memorialists ^feel^
take in the news of the day—in receving their papers pamphlets documents &c, they are
induced to ask of your honbodies the passing of an act establishing a semi weekly mail route from Boliver the
seat of justice of Polk County via Greenfield the county seat of Dade county Oakland
in Laurence county Carthage the seat of justice of Jasper county U Union Grove to Neosh0 the county seat of Newton county. Your morialists would represent
that by establishing the proposed route many other sections of the country might be
accommodated with mail facilities with but little expense to the department by crop
& connecting routs
In conclusion your memorialists would respectfully ask of your honourable bodies
the passing an act as early consideration of this memorial as convenient & they will ever pray &c.
<Page 3>
| A. B. McHaskell | [H?]W Pennington |
| [M.?]H. Ritchey | L. F. Pennington |
| John D [House?] | |
| L B. Hearrell | William Williams |
| A [Abun?] | William G Baynham |
| Wm Conley | James Harris |
| Sam Walker | H Jennings |
| Jesse Farris | |
| Wm K [Farmer?] | |
| John J Watson | |
| Joseph pearson | |
| Wm M, Green | |
| M B Holmes | |
| ThosShannon | |
| Sam Rice | |
| A. J. Shannon | |
| Moses Hudson | |
| D A Campbell | |
| Andrew [Spers?] | |
| Jacob Coppenbager | |
| G. [W. Cruiz?] | |
| [J L Cruiz?] | |
| JosephTomson | |
| A. [T.?]Weatherspoon | |
| Chas Lancaster | |
| M Mitchele C. Shipman | |
| StS.p pearson | |
| L. M Johnson | |
| William [Cendeste?] | |
| John R Hulse | |
| O. R. Manchester | |
| William [Shenalt?] | |
| John [Coggleur?] | |
| M F Crouch | |
| William [Elvin?] |
<Page 4>
free
[...?]
Dec 16
Mr
John S Phelps
Washington city
D.C
Dec 16
[ docketing
]
Missouri [
(Ph
?]
Petitions of citizens of Newton & Jasper Counties fo a semi-weekly post route from Bolivar ^ via Dare C. H. ^ to Neosho
Petitions of citizens of Newton & Jasper Counties fo a semi-weekly post route from Bolivar ^ via Dare C. H. ^ to Neosho
[ docketing
]
January 7, 1848 Referred to the committee on the Post Office & Post Roads
[ docketing
]
Refer & Com on P.O. P R
[ docketing
]
Phelps
[ docketing
]
Phelps
Handwritten Document Signed, 4 page(s), RG 233, Entry 367: Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thirtieth Congress, 1847-1849, Records of Legislative Proceedings, Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to Committees, 1847-1849, NAB,