Olympia Rallies for the Union
Citizens of the Second Judicial District gather in Olympia to pass resolutions against secession and the threat of a Pacific Confederacy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Pursuant to notice, a large and enthusiastic Mass Meeting of the citizens of the Second Judicial District, composed of the counties of Thurston, Pierce, King, Lewis, Sawatnish, and Chehalis, assembled on Thursday, the 14th instant, at 3 o'clock P. M. On motion of Wm. M. Rutledge, Esq., Hon. O. B. McFadden, Chief Justice of Washington Territory, was elected President. Maj. H. A. Goldsborough moved the appointment of a committee of seven, who reported a series of resolutions which were unanimously adopted. The resolutions expressed that citizens of Washington Territory earnestly deprecate any measure to dissolve the fraternal unity of our country, declaring that there are no causes for the dissolution of the Union. The meeting repudiated as treasonable any attempt to establish a Pacific Confederacy, and the assembly concluded with three hearty cheers for the Union.
“Resolved, That our attachment to the Union is unimpaired, steadfast and immovable, and that our hopes for the future destiny of this Territory are inseparably connected therewith.”
In March 1861, just weeks before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Washington Territory was a far-flung frontier deciding its loyalties. This meeting demonstrates how deeply the existential crisis of the American Civil War reached into Olympia’s civic life, forcing neighbors to declare their stand on the crumbling Union.
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