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The Cosner papers document the experience of a middle-aged Union soldier serving with the 21st Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.

Cosner's letters reflect his rather unusual position as a middle-aged soldier. Sixteen of the 18 letters in the collection were written to his wife, Ann B. Cosner, and the other two were addressed to his daughter, Martha, one in 1880. Cosner's handwriting suggests that he was not an experienced letter-writer, nor are his descriptive skills well developed, seldom advancing beyond straightforward comments and never at length. Cosner's letters, however, do reflect the attitudes of many pious, honest soldiers trying to live a Christian life in the middle of a seemingly godless war, and, unusually, display an open reticence about entering combat.

Forms part of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. This collection includes promotional kitchen and other household appliances. Publications date from circa 1860s to circa 1990s, with most material concentrated between the 1930s-1980s.