On March 11, 1863, a large delegation of Republicans from farther west in the state assembled here at the office of W. B. Allison. The Dubuque Herald took fright and declared "those midnight gatherings of a lawless confraternity have no worthy object for a stimulus. They are held to plot against the liberties of their political opponents and unless we awaken in time to an appreciation of our danger we shall find ourselves subjected to the merciless tyranny of an organized mob. The S. B.'s of Fayette county claim as the object of their existence the destruction of 'an organized conspiracy in Dubuque to revolutionize the government.' These men have no knowledge of such an organization, for there is none. They are making this the pretext for their organization simply that they may be allowed to proceed without interference. The society in this city meets almost nightly. Whether it is yet in possession of arms we do not know; we are informed, however, that it is. But preparations will not injure anybody and may prove invaluable. We therefore advise a public meeting of the Democracy called under the auspices of the Democratic club to consider the steps proper to be taken for the formation of an open day organization to defend ourselves against midnight conspirators and would-be assassins."

--(Dubuque Herald, March 14, 1863)