Letter from M. Emanuel to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 24, 1865

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Letter from M. Emanuel to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 24, 1865

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People

Donnellan, George Emanuel, M.McDowell, Unknown Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873 Smedes, Unknown Yerger, E. M. (Edward M.)

Occupations

Legal Profession--Judges

Places

Bodies of Water--Interstate. Mississippi River Mississippi--Tallahatchie County. Charleston Mississippi--Warren County. Vicksburg Texas

Social Identifiers

Impoverished people Marital Status--Widows Orphans

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Death

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Charleston, Aug 24, 1865

Governor Sharkey

My dear Sir—

I requested my friend Judge Yerger to request you to do me the favor of writing me a letter expressing your good wishes that I might succeed in finding a lenient & liberal disposition in our Northern & Euro-pean creditors. speaking of the great inpor-tance of the Southern Railroad—built by the Enterprize & means of a few individuals—your confidence in the bright future of the road, when prosperity is restored to the South—its important connections. with the Miss River—& the Rail road leading from the Miss River into Texas—which will Con-stitute it one of the most important nation=al thorough fares for travel & transportation of frieght, in the Southern States—The north has a deep interest in contributing in every possible way to make the South a great producing & prosperous country, & no means are more

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important to that end than promoting Rail Road communications & sustaining Railroad interests—of which, I think our road is certainly one of the most important & deserving whether regarded as a channel of traffic & travel—whether we look to this coun-try it traverses or its important connexions both East & West—another must feature in views of its future Earnings & Stability in the fact, that it is not liable to be affected by Competition—& Still another important feature is the liberality of its Charter—

The Charter is perpetual—& the company is left free to establish & change its tariff of charges at pleasure—and those important privileges Cannot be Changed by state Legis-lation—You Know Governor, that Poor Smedes' family are left with barely the means of support—if they are even so fortu=nate as that—The Same may be said of M^c-Dowells widow & orphans—& when I die my family will ^be^ in the same condition.

If the Stockholders Can Satisfy the

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creditors that the road being left in their hands, will eventually pay the three millions of debt it owes if they will give us time Enough—Say 30 years—making a hundred thousand dollars a year, besides paying promptly the interest in Semi Annual instalments—I say if our creditors could be satisfied on those points I think there would be no difficul-ty obtaining the indulgence that I am seeking—Now all that you can say to assist me in this important undertaking will be worth its weight in gold—My candid Opinion is, that when our Connections with Taxes and Mont-gomery are effected—our gross Earning will be from 800.000 to $1.000.000 per annum, of which one half will be profit—with any thing like such an income how easy it would be to ^pay^ the principal & interest of a $3000.000 debt Judge Yerger is perfectly familiar with

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these matters & all our business affairs I would be greatly obliged to you if you would talk the matter over with him—and write me as strong a letter as your well known sense of justice and veracity will sanction.—Please enclose this letter for me to M^r George Donnellan ^at Vicksburg^ to be forwarded to me without delay—

If you have already written to me a letter of the character I desire it has miscarried—as it has never come to hand—M^r D will know where it will reach me & Send it by the most expe-ditious route—I am sorry Governor to give you so much trouble—and hope it may be in my power to serve you in return—than which, nothing would give me greater pleasure with my sincere good wishes for the success if your administration in bringing the State honorably back into the family of States—& for the preserva-tion of your health

I remain sincerely yr frd

M Emanuel Pres. S R R Co