Anna Dickinson General Correspondence Hughes, Charles Evans
19071
No. 1065 [?] (Bronx)
New York City 10.2.1907
[?] Hon. Charles E. Hughes,
Governor of New York,
Sir : -
You have just
come from Gettysburg, - and you
have just said that truth
needs, now, as much courage to
defend it as here; - at the
Common's Mouth.
= You are the Governor of 
New York. - You are a great 
lawyer. - I make my plea to
the first, - and the second
will know how to sift allegations.
= On the 25 of Feb. 1891. - on the2
eve of a day of battle with the
Republican National Committee
and some of their adjuncts, I
was brutally assaulted, kidnapped,
and imprisoned in the Danville,
Pa. State Hospital. — At the
end of five weeks, - the world
having been inundated with
a sea of lies in which I could
drown, I was set free to sink
— or to swim.
= This is not to be a history
of my life, — nor of a great
crime. - It is a request to let
me see you when you are in
New York, and to listen to my
cause — In four courts of
law, State and Federal, under
most unjust handicaps and

3
cruel odds I have won.
= It is the State of
Pennsylvania I wish you to
force to an open acknowledgement
and some sort of reparation.
Its entirety could not make
restitution.
= A place dominated
by politics did the murderous
work of a handful of newspapers
and politicians. Brought to
the Bar of its own Judge it
had no defense but Forgery
and Perjury: - both there
exposed.
= For more than half my
life I have been a citizen of
New-York. The misfortune of
temporary residence placed4
me in Pennsylvania at that
time. - The United States Circuit
Court, and the New York Courts have
been my unheralded and
unreported Battle and 
Victory Grounds.
= The same men: same
order, legitimate successors -
who laid bets on my life when
I, - a girl of nineteen- work for
their Committees to speak through
the Draft Riot Counties, - at
Gettysburg with the dead still
lying in trench and timber, -
in Hospital, at Carlisle and
Hanover and talk to thousands
[?] and tour by the "Common's
Mouth" - and responsible

5
for Danville, controlled it and
its action. - But Danville is
a State Institution; - every right
of a citizen the State had violated
in my person, and I know
if the Governor of New York will
make the demand he can
make on the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania a giant
wrong will be righted - as
far as it can be in this world.
= Again, I ask you to see
me - for a talk - summary
that would need a volume
to embody in writing.6
"Once to every man and nation
come the moment to decide
In the strife of truth with falsehoods
for the good or evil side
Then it is the brave man chooses
- " ?
= I think you are a brave
man. - And I know I
have the right to ask you
to prove it.
Respectfully and truly
Anna E DickinsonState of New York
Executive Chamber
Albany
October 3rd, 1907.
Mrs. Anna L. Dickinson
1065 Forest Avenue
New York City, N. Y.
Dear Madam:-
Governor Hughes
directed me & acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of
the 2nd instant. It will
be impossible for him to see
you when he is in New York
City. He does not make
appointments there


2
as his time is so fully
occupied. He has no
authority to interfere with
the proceedings of the Courts
of another state.
Very truly yours,
Robert H. Fuller,
Secretary to the Governor.1
No. 1065 Forest Av. (Bronx)
New York City, 10. 4. 1907.
Hon. Charles E. Hughes.
Governor of New York,
Sir:-
Will you out
of your crowded time take space
to read my letter to you of, 10, 2,
last, -- and not simply an
abstract? -- Your secretary
Mr. Fuller, writes me by date of
10.3. - "the Governor has no 
authority to interfere with the
proceedings of the Courts of 
another state." -- It is
unreasonable to suppose this
a reply from you to my inquiries.



2
There is no question of Courts.
I sued certain people in
Pennsylvania on the charges
of conspiracy and kidnapping
and obtained verdict in
the U.S. Circuit Court held by
Judge Acheson at Scranton.
-- I also sued certain New York
papers, in New York Courts, for
libel involving this whole 
matter, and won verdicts 
and damages. -- In these
cases the defendants all used
as witness, the Supt. of the Hospital
--and through him, under
oath, was shown that State
Institution had been part 
in kidnapping and3

conspiracy:- guilty of false
imprisonment, cooked records,
forgery and perjury. 
   At the outset I had been
legally misinformed to the effect
that I could not bring suit
against a State Institution.
When I knew to the contrary
the time limit was crossed.
   I am a citizen of the 
State of which you are the
Governor. -- I am a citizen
of the United States. I know
of no way by which Liberty and
Justice in America can be 
preserved save by maintaining
the rights of the individual
citizen. -- There must be some


4
 way by which the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania through its
Governor, or Legislature, or both,
can be compelled to recognize
what I have asked you, through
them, to secure for me. -- As
the representative and
guardian of the rights of
every citizen of this State I
ask you to do this.
   = If you have absolutely
no power to do this, will you so
inform me? And, in that case,
will you tell me where such
power exists?
Respectfully and truly,
Anne E. Dickinson1

No. 1605. Forest Av. (Bronx)
New York City. 10. 27. 1907.
To Mrs. Charles E. Hughes,
Madam:-
It is because 
I take for granted you are a
woman who desires right to be
done, and who regards the 
honorable record of your husband,
that I write you this request.
   =By dates of 10.2. and
10.4. last, I sent to him, not
 a petition, but a plea.
   =His missive mailed me
on October 3, signed by the 
Secretary of the Governor is
without relevance. So foolish2
as an evasion that it would
be an insult to the common
sense and dignity of Mr. Hughes
to regard it as his reply. People
make mistakes, and then
enlarge them to cover them.
For that reason I send this
to you for him, that it may
not fall by the way.
- This is my request: - I
desire him to read, and
reply to my letters, - as my
right, and his honorable
duty, that he certainly
cannot wish to shirk, or
ignore, - still less to


3
have covered from him by
the ignorance or dishonesty
of a subordinate.
Believe me, Madam,
With regards,
Sincerely -
Anna E Dickinson