Laconic correspondence.--Soon after the passage of the
Virginia Ordinance of Secession,
Governor Letcher sent the following despatch to the
Mayor of
Wheeling:
to
Andrew Sweeney,
Mayor of
Wheeling:
Take possession of the custom-house, post-office, all public buildings, and public documents, in the name of
Virginia.
Virginia has seceded.
Mayor Sweeney replied in the following laconic style:
to
John Letcher,
Governor of
Virginia:
I have taken possession of the custom-house, post-office, and all public buildings and public documents, in the name of
Abraham Lincoln,
President of the
United States, whose property they are.
The correspondence here closed.
Mayor Sweeney continued to hold possession of the
Federal property until the organization of the new State Government at
Wheeling.
Governor Letcher made no further attempt to seduce him from his allegiance.--
N. Y. Evening Post, July 3.