August 29 Thursday – In Saranac Lake, N.Y. Sam wrote to Frank Bliss, rethinking the idea of writing a book on lynchings:

No, upon reflection it won’t do for me to write that book if Mr. Newbegin values his Southern Trade, for I shouldn’t have even half a friend left, down there, after it issued from the press.

You have probably already thought of that. It is a pity. I think I could make a book that would make a splendid stir—in fact I know it.

I shan’t destroy the article [“The United States of Lyncherdom”] I have written, but I see it won’t do to print it. I shall keep it, & wait. There is considerable vitriol in it, & that will keep it from spoiling.

Sam felt someone should write such a book but could not think of the right man [MTP].

Notes: R.G. Newbegin Co. was the distributor for Sam’s Uniform Edition (see other entries). This letter begs the question: did Sam hold off here after considering the heat he’d taken for his stance on anti-imperialism and the Philippines? Did he really think his reputation and sales would greatly suffer? He’d shown much courage in denouncing the political course of the country, so why would he shrink from denouncing lynchings? Did he really think Southerners were enamored of the widespread practice? Was it truly only about book sales? Surely the man didn’t lack the courage—did Livy play a hand in this decision? Coming from a family background supporting the Underground Railroad, it doesn’t seem likely she would object. Whatever the true reasons, the article wasn’t published until 1923 in Europe and Elsewhere; the book was never written. Theodore Roosevelt would make public statements against the practice, which continued for decades, and did not end until after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, though there were a few exceptions.

Sam also wrote to Susan Crane.

You have a small book by a Negro named Ball, which tells of terrible things in the Dismal Swamp in slavery times. Won’t you send it to me—for use?

All well, here, & send lots of love. I was very very sorry to miss your visit [MTP].

Note: the book was by Charles Ball: Slavery in the United States: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Charles Ball, a Black Man, Who Lived Forty Years in Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia, as a Slave, New York 1837. See Gribben p.43. Evidently, Sam intended to use the book in his proposed volume on lynching. Sue Crane’s visit ended before Sam’s return from the cruise to Saranac Lake on Aug. 21. The Great Dismal Swamp is a marshy area on the coastal plain of S.E. Virginia and N.E. North Carolina. It is now a protected refuge.

Sam also began a letter to H.H. Rogers that he did not finish until Sept. 6, due to inspiration for and writing of “The Double-Barrelled Detective Story.”

I carried off Mr. Coe’s sponge, but I seem to have left a set of my underwear in place of it. I’ll trade back if he will. He mustn’t think ill of me. I give you my word I didn’t intend to take the sponge; I did it while thinking of something else; I was only intending to take his dressing gown; he can send it to me here [MTHHR

469-70 and n1]. Note: William R. Coe, son-in-law of Rogers.