They declare openly that their God hath given them this county of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have possession of our lands for an inheritance, and in fine they have conducted themselves on many other occasions in such a manner, that we beleive it a duty we owe ourselves, to our wives and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to give up our pleasant places, and goodly possessions to them, or to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions for our wives and daughters the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes, that are now invited to settle among us.

Under such a state of things, even our beautiful county would cease to be a desireable residence, and our situation intolerable! We, therefore, agree, that after timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave in peace, as they found us, we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them, and to that end we each pledge to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes, and sacred honors,

We will meet at the Court house at the town of Independence, on Saturday next, 20 Inst, to consult ulterior movements.”

Among the hundreds of names attached to the above document were:— Lewis Franklin, Jailor: Samuel C. Owens, County Clerk; Russel[l] Hicks, Deputy clerk; R. W. Cummins, Indian Agent; Jones H. Flournoy, Post Master; S[amuel] D. Lucas, Col. and Judge of the Court; Henry Chiles, Attorney at Law; N. K. Olmstead, M.D, John Smith, Justice of the Peace; Samuel Weston, Justice of the Peace; William Brown, Constable; Abner F,