United States, 39.76, -98.5United States, Alabama, 32.75041, -86.75026King, Porter, 1824-18901856-11-05From Marion, Alabama, Porter King, lawyer, future judge and Perry County representative in the Alabama legislature, writes a letter dated November 5, 1856 to his wife Callie King, the daughter of Joseph Henry Lumpkin. He informs her that he and his friends are celebrating the decreased number of votes for the Know-Nothing Party in the county, and the election of James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge, the Democrats who won the Presidential election of 1856. He gives Callie the statistics from the previous year's elections and tells her that he is happy because the Know-Nothings, an antiforeign, anti-Roman Catholic political organization also known as the American Party, seem to be losing popularity with the American people. Appointed by the court along with Rufus Reid to represent the state in a case involving an African American, King tells Callie that he fears the man will be hanged. He reports that they will meet tonight in consultation for the case, which is coming up in the morning and that the opposing team, Garrote and Brooks, were dismayed that he and Reid were appointed for this particular case. Additionally, King expresses happiness in the continuing recovery of their son, Joseph Henry King.Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2001, as part of GALILEO.image/jpegjhl0069http://american-south.org/http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/Manuscript held by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Joseph Henry Lumpkin family papers, 1821-1862 (bulk 1852-1857), box 1, folder 69, document jhl0069.African American criminalsDomestic lifeLawyers--AlabamaTrials--AlabamaAlabama--Social life and customs--19th centuryAlabama--Politics and government--To 1865United States--Politics and government--1853-1857American partyBrooks, William McLinGarrott, Isham Warren, 1816-1863Reid, RufusKing, Callie, 1826-1905Letter: Marion, [Alabama] to Callie [King], 1856 Nov. 5Text