Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Calvin A. and Albert H. Irish diaries consist of 2 volumes. Calvin A. Irish kept a diary from January 1865, during the end of his service in the Union Army, until May 1866. His son, Albert H. Irish, also wrote a diary in 1885.

For his diary, Calvin used a printed almanac entitled Vermont Directory and Commercial Almanac for 1865. The entries are mostly short and detail his daily activities and experiences, including the distance he marched, the weather, letters that he sent or received, and work that he accomplished. The small volume was also Calvin's financial ledger.

Calvin's son Albert also wrote daily records in an almanac entitled The American Diary 1885. The first 2 manuscript pages are comprised of a few verses and adages. Albert's entries are short and include information about the weather, school, chores, odd jobs, and visits of his friends and neighbors. The almanac also contains a short cash-management ledger and brief descriptions of the Irish family's cows.

The Charles M. Byington diary records the Civil War service of the quartermaster-sergeant of the 110th New York Infantry, including the battles of Fort Bisland and Port Hudson.

The Charles M. Byington diary contains approximately 95 pages of daily entries, covering January 1-July 19, 1863, and 5 pages of records documenting financial transactions. The earliest diary entries are quite brief and record daily activities, duties, and movements. Byington frequently noted that he had distributed equipment, made invoices, foraged for food to feed the soldiers, and drawn rations in his role as quarter-master sergeant. On January 4, 1863, he mentioned a soldier who had given religious instruction to an African American Regiment; in other entries he discussed the activities of his company's colonel, DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn, and those of several of his friends.

Byington wrote longer, more detailed entries beginning in March, when his regiment camped near Baton Rouge and he noted the frequent firing by gunboats there. On March 15, 1863, he gave a firsthand account of an engagement near Port Hudson, in which the USS Mississippi lost its rudder and exploded. In mid-April, he wrote about the Battle of Fort Bisland, including nearly getting hit by shells and seeing white flags hung outside of "most every house," reportedly by Confederate women frightened of the Yankees (April 19, 1863). In June, he described frequent foraging, his health problems, and the Battle of Port Hudson, in which several men he knew were wounded and killed (June 14, 1863). He also recounted a surprising assault by Confederate cavalry, which he and several officers fled by boarding a ship that was "peppered by bullets" (July 2, 1863). On July 18, 1863, he mentioned a visit to the decimated Port Hudson (July 14, 1863: "The buildings inside were literally torn to pieces"). The diary ends with a search for a coffin for "one of our boys" and a church visit on July 19, 1863.

The Charles Snyder papers contain correspondence between Snyder, a soldier in the 50th New York Engineers, his future wife, and other family members, concerning soldiers' duties and attitudes, religious activities, and other topics.

The Charles Snyder papers contain 182 letters to and from Snyder, 1857-1866, and one carte-de-visite photograph of him in uniform. Charles wrote 67 letters; his future wife, Hannah Wright, wrote 77; his sister Lizzie wrote 10; and his brother Steve wrote 8. Miscellaneous friends and family contributed an additional 20 letters.

The 14 letters predating Snyder's enlistment concern his teaching career, study at the University of Albany, religious activities, and family news from several of his sisters. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Snyder commented regularly on the conflict; he stated that the "strongest moral power" would be needed by soldiers in order to resist the temptations of camp life (September 17, 1861) and described a visit to the barracks of his brother William, a soldier in the 97th New York Infantry (January 25, 1861).

Between Snyder's enlistment in August 1862 and the end of the war, almost all of the correspondence is between Charles Snyder and his future wife, Hannah ("Nannie") Wright. In his letters, Snyder gave his frank opinions of various aspects of the war, often influenced by his strong religious convictions. Snyder initially felt that a recruiter had deceived him about the character of the regiment he had joined, particularly objecting to the men's swearing and drinking, and in several early letters, expressed his disillusionment with their behavior, as well as with the Union's mounting defeats. In other letters, he described his duties with the 50th Engineers, including building and destroying roads and bridges, constructing rafts, unloading trains, clearing brush, filling ditches, and moving boats, but wrote "that our country is receiving the full benefit of our sacrifices is not so clear to me" (November 27, 1862).

Snyder's letters provide many rich details of his experiences, such as the taunting by Confederates wielding a sign reading "Burnside stuck in the mud" (January 25, 1863), the universal dislike of the strict pass system instituted by the army (August 30, 1863), and the eating of a Thanksgiving turkey that he and his friends named "Jeff Davis" (November 28, 1863). On several occasions, he wrote to Hannah regarding the morale of the Army of the Potomac, discussing their "unabated" confidence in General Joseph Hooker (May 7, 1863) and stating that they did not consider Chancellorsville a total defeat, especially with the death of Stonewall Jackson, which he considered "equivalent to the loss of many thousand men" (May 20, 1863). Many of Snyder's 1865 letters relate to his promotion to first lieutenant and his desire to return home to Hannah, whom he intended to marry.

In her letters, Hannah Wright discussed religious activities (including involvement with the Tract Society), teaching, and family news, and she also expressed concern and affection for Charles. Later correspondence indicated her increasing involvement in the Union cause, including going to meetings of the U.S. Sanitary Commission (December 21, 1864), and knitting for soldiers. Wright shared Snyder's religious devotion and strict moral code. She reacted strongly to his news that Mary Todd Lincoln had worn makeup to a reception held for soldiers by President Lincoln, writing "It is a sad pity Mrs. Lincoln isn't a true woman" and calling it a "sin" (February 19, 1864). Letters from Snyder's brother Steve and sister Lizzie are primarily personal, regarding health, social visits, and news about other enlisted friends and neighbors.

During the mid-19th century, A. A. Coleman was a judge and well-respected planter in the black belt of west-central Alabama. W. S. Stuart, possibly a son-in-law to Coleman, was a physician, planter, and slave holder living in Monticello, Miss., southeast of Vicksburg. After the Civil War, both he and Coleman returned to farming, and Coleman may have engaged in a mercantile partnership. The Coleman-Stuart Papers consists of twenty-nine items, mostly bits of correspondence and other manuscripts of A.A. Coleman and W.S. Stuart.

The Coleman-Stuart Papers consists of twenty-nine items, mostly bits of correspondence and other manuscripts of A.A. Coleman and W.S. Stuart. The public addresses in the collection, probably written by Coleman, reflect the local prominence of the speaker, as does his Colonel's commission in the 40th Alabama Infantry.

The items in the collection span half a century, and although there is little continuity in the correspondence, many individual items are of interest. Stuart discusses crop values, arrangements for selling slaves, and the Locofocos (#2), and in the post-war period, he discusses the difficulties of adjusting to free labor in Louisiana (#23). Coleman's correspondence includes a letter written by Eli Shorter, brother of the Alabama governor, discussing state politics in 1861 (#11) and another letter asking Coleman to discharge a young soldier (#12). A letter written by E. Simpson provides a lengthy and imaginative attack on the "Black Republicans" (#7), and there are important resolutions of support for the Nashville Convention favoring the extension of slavery into the territories (#6) and what appears to be a Democratic Party address lambasting abolitionism, while supporting the Union (#8).

Cornelius Hulsapple entered the Paoli Guards in October, 1864, as a two-year draft substitute for W. R. Ridgway. Only three letters of Cornelius Hulsapple's survive, two of which are addressed to the man for whom he was substituting, W.R. Ridgway.

Only three letters of Cornelius Hulsapple's survive, two of which are addressed to the man for whom he was substituting, W.R. Ridgway. Each of the letters provides detailed information of Hulsapple's activities.

Hulsapple's writing is typified in a passage written in March 1865. In the passage Hulsapple describes seeing a large number of deserters from Lee's Army and a flood of liberated, nearly debilitated Union prisoners marching north: "they are a sad site to look on some of them have the toes frsen [sic] off of their feet some of them without hat or coat and they say that they are diing in droves every day some of them are that starved that they would catch rats and mice and eat them and they would even kill dogs if they could catch them and eat them raw."

The Curtis family papers are comprised of 58 letters written between Maine ship's captain Joseph Russell Curtis and his wife, Louisa. The letters map out the confines of a close relationship, maintained despite the lengthy periods of great separation.

The Curtis family papers are comprised of 58 letters written between Maine ship's captain, Joseph Russell Curtis and his wife, Louisa. The letters map out the confines of a close relationship, maintained despite the lengthy periods of great separation. Louisa uses phonetic spelling, and her letters reveal the hardships she encountered through separation. Joseph's letters are more concerned with matters in Maine than they are with describing the many ports of call he visited.

The Eaton-Shirley family papers consist of personal diaries, correspondence, military papers, legal and business documents, printed materials, and photographs. A primary figure in the collection, John Eaton, Jr., was Civil War Superintendent of the Freedmen and later Commissioner of Education under Grant. The papers also contains substantial material from other Eaton family members, including military papers and correspondence of his brother, Lucien B. Eaton, and papers of the Shirley family (the family of John Eaton, Jr.’s wife, Alice E. Shirley).

The Eaton papers consist of 1,903 items, dating from September 1790 to July 30, 1939. The bulk of the collection falls between 1850 and 1906. The papers contain 318 letters, 9 diaries/journals, 60 personal documents of John Eaton Jr., 275 legal documents and business papers, 112 military documents, 923 photographs, 84 printed items, and 122 miscellaneous items.

The majority of the correspondence is personal and relates to family matters. The 168 letters of John Eaton, Jr., contain extensive biographical information. Of particular interest are 44 Civil War-era letters including information about the freedmen, three letters pertaining to the publication of The Post, and two with content regarding the Ku Klux Klan. The collection also contains 22 letters to and from Alice (Shirley) Eaton, 31 letters to and from Lucien Eaton, and 32 miscellaneous letters from members of the Eaton family. Of the 30 letters written by Alice Eaton's parents (James and Adelaine Shirley), 10 letters regard compensation for the damage done to the Shirley House during the Civil War. Various other members of the Shirley family wrote 15 letters, and 20 letters are from other people unrelated to the Eaton and Shirley families.

John Eaton Jr.’s aunt, Ruth Dodge Eaton, wrote two diaries which consist almost entirely of Christian hymns and essays. John Eaton Jr.'s uncle, Horace Eaton, wrote one diary that contains Christian material written while he attended Dartmouth College. John Eaton, Jr., wrote two diaries, one of which he wrote as a youth, and the other as a student at Dartmouth. Other journals include two by John Eaton Jr.'s brothers, Frederick and Charles, and a household account book, kept by his sister Christina. Of particular importance is Alice Shirley’s diary, in which she described pre-civil war tensions between the north and the south, speculation on the upcoming Siege of Vicksburg, the early stages of the Siege of Vicksburg, and very personal feelings regarding her marriage to John Eaton, Jr.

The 60 personal papers of John Eaton Jr. include 17 documents regarding his appointments and titles, two documents about freedmen, and 41 miscellaneous address cards and invitations (including an invitation to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Of the 275 legal papers, 74 documents pertain to the sale of land in Mississippi; 7 concern Robert M. Jones’s claim to Choctaw Nation lands; and 25 relate to estate papers, deeds of trust and documents about the proceedings of Adelaine Shirley’s post-war relief claims; and a receipt for the sale of an African American woman. The remaining 176 legal papers are miscellaneous financial documents, such as tax documents, checks, and receipts.

Of the 112 military documents, 58 pertain to John Eaton, Jr., 7 of which are about freedmen. The military documents of Lucien B. Eaton number 54.

The 923 photographs consist of six photo albums, 31 cased daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, 144 cabinet cards, and 421 loose photographs and snapshots all depicting members of the Eaton and Shirley families, scenic locations, and the Shirley House.

Of the 84 printed items in the collection, 49 newspaper clippings pertain to the occupational and personal activities of John Eaton, Jr., and 9 miscellaneous clippings relate to the Eaton family. The remaining 26 items are published pamphlets, including addresses and reports concerning John Eaton, Jr.; a sermon written by Horace Eaton; a report of proceedings of an Ohio Brigade reunion; an Anti-Slavery Almanac from 1838; and an incomplete piece describing the history and restoration of the Shirley House.

The 122 miscellaneous papers of the John Eaton, Jr., collection consist of 53 recipes and 69 miscellaneous items including a partial autobiography of Alice Eaton.

The Edwin F. Belden friendship album contains autographs (sometimes accompanied by poems or other inscriptions), newspaper clippings, and biographical notes by and related to New York politicians, Civil War soldiers, and other individuals. Photographs are also included.

The Edwin F. Belden friendship album (25cm x 18cm, 141 pages) contains autographs (sometimes accompanied by poems or other inscriptions), newspaper clippings, and biographical notes by and related to New York politicians, Civil War soldiers, and other individuals. Included are 112 salted paper and 3 albumen photographic portraits. The album has a hard cover with Belden's name and a decorative border stamped in gold on the front. Plates on the inside of the front and back covers feature a patriotic eagle and banner with the slogan "The Federal Union it must be preserved" and of a building used as "Republican Head Quarters" in 1860.

The first 37 pages contain signatures from members of the New York State Assembly, where Belden was a messenger in the early 1850s. Some politicians accompanied their signatures with brief personal message for Belden, often including well wishes and advice. Many signers recorded the name of the district they represented, and most dated their contributions April 16, and 17, 1851. This section of the album is followed by other autographs that Belden solicited in the mid-1850s, as well as an endorsement from his employers Lemuel Jenkins and C. Ten Broeck (November 22, 1852, p. 41).

The remaining contents, dated 1860-1866, are comprised of small photographic portraits, brief biographical notes, inscriptions, autographs, and newspaper clippings related to a variety of individuals, including many men who served in the Civil War. One page of individual full-length portraits represents members of the Albany Zouave Cadets with military equipment and musical instruments. Belden labeled most of the photographs and often included notes about the subjects' dates of death. Several entries include copied correspondence, inscriptions and autographs, and obituaries or other news articles. Contributors included former New York Governors Washington Hunt and John A. King; General William Tecumseh Sherman; and Samuel Streeter, a former delegate representing Albany at The Colored Men's Convention of 1840 (also pictured, October 30, 1860, p. 63). A letter from William F. Russell, a former member of the state legislature, is laid into the volume after the autographs (April 19, 1886).

Eliza O. Perkins Burke's letters and papers document the life of a military officer's wife before and during the Civil War, and her friendships with fellow military wives.

Most of these letters are addressed to Eliza Perkins Burke, excepting a handful written to Mary, an invitation to Capt. Perkins to play billiards, and a certificate of merit presented to Edward while he was at St. Louis University. This is a scattered, spotty correspondence, but there are a couple cohering elements. Many of the women writing to Eliza were also married to military men. They had become friends on Sullivan's Island, while their husbands, many of whom were in the 3rd Artillery, were stationed at Fort Moultrie in the 1830s and early 1840s. The Civil War is another theme around which several of these letters cluster, although only one letter is from an actual soldier. The other coherent grouping is a series of six letters from Rosalie Smith, who was trying to obtain a divorce and chafing under the necessity of depending on her sister's husband for financial support.

The letters from fellow military wives show how close the women had become while together on the island, and there is a sense, especially during and after the Civil War, that these friendships were doubly valuable because they reminded the women of better times. Many of the wives did not see each other again after leaving Fort Moultrie, or only enjoyed infrequent visits. Although they only wrote to each other occasionally, they expressed great nostalgia for the time shared on Sullivan's Island. Often a milestone -- birth, death, or wedding -- prompted the letter, and the author often described her children's progress.

Judith Chiffelle, who had probably been on Sullivan's Island with her brother Thomas, was an anomaly. While the rest of the women were married to military men, Judith was single. She taught school in Baltimore and was raising her dead sister's children while their father ran his business in St. Louis. She wrote, "this I know will astonish you. I like to be an independent old maid, I will never marry. I have taken an oath to live single for my dear childrens' sake" (1854 December 17). Two years later her tone is less triumphant: "what a change a few years make in our life -- I struggling along trying to make a living hard work & keeping school " (1857 February 2). She admits that she would "long ago have laid down this weary head" had it not been for the children.

The Civil War era letters include one from Caroline Carson, a southern woman who suffered multiple hardships. Her husband died, "the plantation was sold according to his directions," and then her father's house, where she had stored her possessions, was burned: "Everything I had in the world was burnt up -- Books and pictures, china, glass linen all my little effects which I valued, and hoped someday to get around me again" (1862 February 4). "I hope in this horrid war no thing of the kind will happen to you," she continued. Another letter, from a northern lady, shows the less direct effect the war had on women who were not in the midst of the fighting. Rather than wondering where to live, Annie Eustace pondered what to wear: "in this time of our country's great troubles, we should think of something else, beside dress and party giving . . . I spend very little time and thought about fine dress, and making a show; I have lost all taste for such things (1862 May 6). There is also one letter from Eliza's soldiering nephew David P. Hancock while he was at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, recovering from a wound and anxious to get back to the field (1862 May 12).

The other clutch of letters is certainly the most intriguing one. Rosalie Smith was living, along with her mother, at her sister Ann Eustace's house in Dixon, Illinois. Rosalie bridled at having to depend on Judge Eustace, whose wealth had been severely reduced by the depression of 1857, but she saw no alternative until her brother Joe returned from Mexico with funds. In response to Eliza's suggestion that she get married, Rosalie wrote, rather obliquely, "this would be a long story and probably uninteresting on paper, but should I ever see you, I will give you some of my reasons for remaining in 'meditation free'" (1859 November 30). By the next year, Rosalie's reasons for resisting her reliance on her brother-in-law had increased: "Judge Eustace's relatives have always annoyed me by reports of our entire dependence on him, making things at times, very disagreeable to all" (1860 October 27). This letter also alludes to a Mr. Sheridan, who was apparently Rosalie's husband, whom she now wished to divorce. She was worried that he would "use every effort to annoy, and keep me bound; money only, will be the great lever by which it can be accomplished." She moved to Chicago with her sister's family, and she happily discovered that "a residence of two years, will grant me a divorce, provided Sheridan does not make application to live with or support me; so on this account too, I am anxious to keep quiet, that he may not know where I am, to molest me" (1860 December 3).

The Sturtevant papers are made up of letters written by Francis Crayton Sturtevant, a musician in the 5th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, to his family during and following the Civil War. The collection also includes Francis' incoming correspondence after the war.

The Sturtevant papers contain 29 Civil War-date letters written by Francis Crayton Sturtevant to his mother (Mrs. C.F. Sturtevant), his sisters Ann or Eveline, or generally to his family. The collection also contains 9 post-war letters written to Hattie Ellis, Crayton's fiancé/wife; 5 letters from Hattie to Crayton; 8 letters from members of the Sturtevant family to Crayton; and 10 miscellaneous items relating to Sturtevant's sons, Harry, Albert, and Francis.

The Civil War letters reflect Sturtevant's perceptiveness and talent as a writer, as well as his strong ideological commitment to the war. Although his reasons for enlistment are somewhat obscure and his early departure from the war stands out, Sturtevant never displayed any doubt that his service was his patriotic duty. His letters are valuable for reconstructing life in the defenses of Harpers' Ferry in the fall and winter months of 1861-62, as well as the events of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. His letters are of added value in being written from the unusual perspective of a musician, and are filled with depictions of the lives of musicians, who were not always subject to the same level of hardship or the same rigors of average soldiers. Sturtevant's letters provide several descriptions of practicing, playing, working on musical formations, and competing with other bands, and they also give an idea of the effect that the music had on his audience of soldiers and civilians.

Sturtevant was also a soldier, and his letters contain fine descriptions of hard marches and battles, particularly leading up and during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. The accounts of Jackson's assault on Hancock, and of the battles of Kernstown and Winchester stand out as among the best letters in the collection.

The post-war material includes an eloquent letter addressed to Sturtevant's future mother-in-law, in which he defends his impending marriage to Hattie against his in-laws' opposition. Sturtevant argued that there can be no loss to Hattie or her family by the union, but only gain due to the genuineness of their love for each other. Also included is a powerful letter, grieving over the loss of his mother, who had died in his arms (1874 September 22).

The Barr papers consist of the Civil War letters of George W. Barr, who served as a surgeon in the 64th New York Infantry Regiment. Barr's letters describe his experience with the army as well as the aftermath of battles and his criticism of the ineptitude of generals and politicians.

George W. Barr wrote 144 letters to his wife during the years 1861-1865, distinguished by their openness and honesty. Early in his service, he spoke confidently of a quick Union victory on the Peninsula, but the horrible casualties and sickness that faced him had a huge psychological impact. Barr does little to spare his wife when describing the aftermath of a battle, and is honest in his criticism of the ineptitude of McClellan, Burnside, and other generals and politicians. Nevertheless, Barr remained a strong patriot throughout.

Military concerns aside, Barr's letters provide some interesting details regarding his medical practice, building a home in Titusville, his interest in the flora and fauna, and his illness which may have been symptoms of hypochondria. Finally, the collection includes a letter from Barr to his cousins and one to his parents, a fragmentary history of the 64th New York Infantry, and a letter to Iris Barr regarding the war-time correspondence.

The Barry diary recounts 48 days in the life of a private in the 127th Pennsylvania Reserves, Company E, encamped in 1863 near Falmouth, Virginia, across the Rappahannock River from rebel forces. The diary describes his company's actions surrounding the second battle at Fredericksburg at Marye's Heights.

This volume is a 3" by 6" leather-bound pocket diary recounting 48 days in the life of Henry Barry, a private in the 127th Pennsylvania Reserves, Company E, encamped near Falmouth, Virginia, across the Rappahannock River from rebel forces. Entries span from March 31 to May 16, 1863. The first page, numbered "113," indicates that it is part of a series. Pasted in the back are severely faded pictures of his father and mother, William A. Barry and Rachel Ann Barry.

Barry wrote in detail about camp life in Northern Virginia and about the Virginia front six weeks before Gettysburg. He described his experiences leading up to the second battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of, Chancellorsville, at Marye's Heights and his regiment's unsuccessful attempt to push Southern forces back to Richmond. On April 14, they were warned that they were about to advance, confirmed by seeing a cavalry unit and about 2,000 wagons go by. On the 29th they marched south seven miles with full packs and 8 days’ rations.

"This evening I went to the top of a hill and there saw for the first time an engagement between our forces and the Rebs. They were shelling each other at a fine rate" [April 30].

"I understand old Ive drove the Rebs 10 miles yesterday capturing 18 wagon loads and ammunition and 4 days rations. I understand old Joe calculates being in Fred-ericksburg by 4 o’clock this afternoon carrying all the heights" [May 2].

In Battle. This morning at daybreak we marched into Fredericksburg and went down Caroline Street and there rested a few moments when I heard Gen. Gibbon tell Gen. Hall to file left & left flank so we did and the shells did come in profusion" [May 3].

Henry Jackson McCord (1827-1917) was a California Forty-Niner who later fought in the Civil War with the 111th Ohio Volunteers, 1862-1865. His journals include two diaries describing his trip to California in 1849, a diary describing a return trip from San Francisco in 1853, and a duty roster from 1864.

The journals of Henry Jackson McCord include two diaries describing his trip to California in 1850, a diary describing a return trip from San Francisco in 1853, and a duty roster from 1864. The first, a diary and commonplace book, contains a few sketchy notes about the trip to California, some quotations, accounts, and lists of names. A second journal is a long account of McCord's voyage to California in the brig Orleans, in which he writes daily descriptions, and later account entries. The third journal has entries for the return trip from California by ship, but it is much shorter than the journal he kept on the outgoing voyage. A final journal contains accounts and duty rosters for 1864, during McCord's service with the 111th Ohio Volunteers in the Civil War.

Henry J. Johnson was a proponent of the secession of West Virginia from Virginia. Johnson acted on his principals in the fall of 1861, enlisting for duty as a corporal in the federal 1st (West) Virginia Infantry. The Johnson papers consist of 52 letters written by Johnson to his sister, Clara, and three documents relating to Johnson's career in the 1st West Virginia Infantry.

The Johnson papers consist of 52 letters written by Henry J. Johnson to his sister, Clara, and three documents relating to Henry's career in the 1st West Virginia Infantry. The letters, particularly the first few, contain useful reports of minor military incidents, but by and large, the correspondence contains little information on actual battles or campaigns. Johnson writes frequently of his acquaintances, both civilian and soldier, and these comments create an interesting impression of life in his hometown, Wellsburg, West Virginia, and in the West Virginia and Maryland countryside around the head of the Shenandoah Valley.

Of particular interest in the collection are Johnson's comments on the efforts of western Virginia to remain within the Union and separate from its Confederate origins. His own hometown was so severely divided that many people took a malicious pleasure in the misfortunes of neighbors who had joined the "enemy." Johnson himself was a Union man through-and-through, yet an outspoken opponent of the anti-slavery movement and of firebrands like the "infernal abolitionist" Owen Lovejoy.

For military history, Johnson's account of the abortive effort to cut off Lee's escape from Pennsylvania after Gettysburg is intriguing for what it says about the toll exacted on the Army of Northern Virginia, and in another letter, he includes an interesting anecdote about a soldier's surprise visit to General Irwin McDowell's quarters.

The Huntington family papers are a collection of letters from the children of Cyrus Huntington of Watertown, New York, between 1845 and 1886. The collection contains 7 Civil War era letters, written by Hiram Huntington of Co. G of the 94th New York Regiment, in which he discussed his experiences in Washington and Virginia and expressed his opinions on the state of the war.

The Huntington family papers contain 83 letters, written between 1845 and 1886, mainly by the children of Cyrus Huntington, and 4 undated newspaper clippings. The earliest item is a document assigning Cyrus T. Huntington, the marshal of election in district no. 2 in Watertown, New York, the responsibility of taking the "census or enumeration of the inhabitants" of the town in 1845. The next six letters are from Charles S. Huntington in Lee Center, Illinois, addressed to his parents and sister Eliza. He writes of his health and his work on his family farm, and news of mutual family, friends, and acquaintances. Hiram's letters begin in 1855, when he left home to attend the Fairfield Seminary in Fairfield, New York. Hiram's 10 pre-war letters to family and friends largely concern family news and his life at school.

Several other pre-war letters are from Eliza to her brothers, and from John, who lives in Black River, New York, a small town close to Watertown, to his parents and friends. One notable item is a constitution of the Fairfield Union Guards, organized in May 11, 1861. No Huntington names, however, appear on the list.

The collection holds 7 Civil War era letters from Hiram, writing from Co. G of the 94th New York Regiment, including 2 undated letters. In these he described his war experiences in Washington and Virginia, and shared his opinions on the state of the war. On July 24, 1862, Hiram wrote "I think that placing Gen. Pope in his position was the very best thing that could be done, McDowell's imbecility or intended Backwardness has been a serious drawback upon the war." In his letter from November 14, 1862, he mentioned that General Tower was wounded at Bull Run and lamented that

"Gen McClellan took his leave of us. I think that if there had been any one to start the thing the whole corps would have lain down their arms. As it was the thing was Much talked of[.] little Mack as McClellan is called is the Man we want to fight under. & no one who has not been in on a battle can estimate the advantage of giving Men a leader in whom they can have confidence. In McL that Confidence was unbounded."

Hiram's final letter is dated November 22, 1862.

The remainder of the collection consists of letters written to family members still residing in Watertown, New York, between 1862 and 1886. These include 5 letters from John, who by 1878 is living in Mexico, New York; three letters addressed to John; three letters from Charles, who is living in Liverpool, New York; and one letter from brother Henry.

The collection also contains 4 undated newspaper clippings including a Watertown obituary for Dr. Isaac Munson and poems entitled "Come," "Railroad Matters," and Dash Down the Wine Cup."

The Huntington family papers have two items with illustrations: a letter from September 28, 1855, contains a large letterhead engraving depicting a pastoral view of Fairfield Seminary, and a letter from July 13, 1862, contains a patriotic letterhead in red and blue depicting an eagle raising a flag with the inscription "Not a Star Must Fall."

John Byrd Hall, Jr., of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was a Confederate soldier who enlisted in the Fredericksburg Light Artillery (Capt. Pollock's Company Virginia Light Artillery) on August 6, 1861. His short diary, covering a 43-day period between August 10th and September 20th, 1861, describes his time spent at Camp Braxton near Aquia Creek, Va. He did not see combat during this time, but filled his days with drills, guard duty, reading books, a "Philos Lodge" discussion group, prayer meetings, and chess. This diary is a handwritten copy of the original made by Capt. John P. Reynolds, a Union officer, in 1888.

The back cover of this diary declares it to be "a copy of a Rebel diary." The copy was made in 1888 by "J.P. Reynolds, formerly a Capt. in the 19th Mass." from the original, at that time, in the possession of Mrs J. C. F. Because it is a handwritten copy of a handwritten manuscript, the transcription may have errors. For example, the name "Stallard" is written as "Stalland," and the name "Thorburn" as "Therburn." This could have been the mistake of Hall or Reynolds, or both. A single drawing on the first page of the diary is a Christian cross with the letters IHS.

This is a short diary covering a 43-day period between August 10th and September 20th, 1861. It starts the day John B. Hall, Jr., first arrives at "Camp Braxton" near Aquia Creek, Va., joining his younger brother Marshall and several other friends from Fredericksburg. They do not see combat during this time, but fill their days with drills, standing guard, and waiting for something to happen. John spent a good portion of his leisure time reading moral philosophy, the Bible, the works of Goldsmith, and history books (Napoleon and Charlemagne), although he did read Edgar Allen Poe's "The Gold Bug" while on furlough in Fredericksburg. He and some of the other soldiers formed a "Philos Lodge," where they engaged in frequent discussions. He also attended the prayer meetings held in one of the mess tents. Chess was popular, and after playing three games in one day, he decided to cut back on the amount of time he spent at the chess board.

The John Comfort papers consist of seven letters written at scattered times through his Civil War service with the 137th New York Infantry Regiment.

The John Comfort papers consist of seven letters written at scattered times through the Civil War service of John R. Comfort with the 137th N.Y. Infantry Regiment. Because of the scant coverage, these letters do not build a clear picture of Comfort's attitudes or experiences, though occasional glimpses of both come through. Comfort provides some interesting soldiers'-eye observations on his commanding generals, particularly Henry W. Slocum, whom Comfort liked for not putting on the airs that other generals do, John W. Geary, Joseph Hooker, whom Comfort considered one of the most intelligent commanders in the Union army, and Alpheus S. Williams, whom he detested. Comfort's letter of August 13th, 1864, includes a useful account of the life in the Union lines before Atlanta, and his letter of January 21st, 1865, provides a brief but interesting description of the desperate Confederate effort to impede the advance of the Union XV Corps by flooding rice fields around Savannah.

The Joseph Hooker Collection is comprised of 22 letters dating from May 10, 1862, to February 12, 1865. They describe Hooker's involvement in the Peninsula Campaign and the Western Theater. Additionally, this collection covers Hooker's leave from the army in Watertown, New York (September 1864), and administrative duty in Cincinnati, Ohio (1864-1865). Roughly half of the letters are addressed to Dr. Bela Nettleton Stevens, a physician at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D. C.

Of twenty-two letters, nineteen were authored by Hooker. U.S. Senator of New Jersey John Conover Ten Eyck wrote the remaining three. Hooker sought Ten Eyck's help with repairing his reputation after the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862.

The collection contains official battle reports, including two letters to Chauncey McKeever, one a report on the Battle of Williamsburg, and a report on the Battle of Fair Oaks. The collection includes one letter to L. Sherman and one to Samuel Wylie Crawford. Three letters to William Denison Whipple contain reports on Mill Gap and the Battle of Kolb's Farm.

A majority of the letters are of a personal nature, including one to William Pitt Fessenden and ten letters addressed to Dr. Bela N. Stevens, a physician at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.

The Josephine Wakely papers contain correspondence from several Civil War soldiers from Whiteford, Michigan, primarily describing battles, attitudes, and duties.

The Josephine Wakely papers contain 22 letters written to Wakely between 1862 and 1871. Six Union soldiers wrote seventeen of the letters during their Civil War service; they were likely Wakely's neighbors in Whiteford, Michigan.

Adam H. Crist, a corporal in the 15th Michigan Infantry, composed 10 of the letters in 1862 and 1863. In them, he described the aftermath of the Second Battle of Corinth (October 18, 1862), attacks by guerillas in Grand Junction, Tennessee (December 13, 1862), and taking horses from Southerners (December 27, 1863). Throughout his correspondence, Crist exhibited a dislike for military life, repeatedly stating that he did not blame anyone for getting out of the Army in any way he could. In several letters, Crist mentioned African Americans. On May 21, 1863, he observed that many in his regiment had taken roles as officers in "Negro regiments," while in another letter, he commented on the plight of soldiers: "they say we took the Negroes place & they took ours & it looks so to me for we are in bondage now while they are free." (July 16, 1863). In the same letter, he also discussed the superiority of western troops and wrote, "I never want to go unless Grant goes with us for I don’t want to fight under them Eastern generals."

Thomas Wakeley [sic] of the 8th Michigan Cavalry and George H. Rogers and Edward Keller of the 18th Michigan Infantry each wrote one letter to Josephine Wakely. In his letter of May 29, 1864, Thomas Wakeley described an assignment to tie a man to a tree as punishment. Rogers gave an account of washing clothes at Cumberland Hospital and expressed his appreciation for freckled Southern girls (February 15, 1865). From his location, Keller recounted seeing many steamboats burning aboard a gunboat on the Cumberland River (May 14, 1863).

Morris Cummings of the 24th Michigan Infantry and Thomas G. Spriggs of the 18th Michigan Infantry each contributed two letters. Cummings wrote from Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois, and mentioned attending Abraham Lincoln's funeral (May 26, 1865), while Spriggs wrote from Huntsville, Alabama, concerning news and an upcoming prisoner-of-war exchange (February 19, 1865). Five letters postdate 1865. They primarily provide news about family members and mutual acquaintances, though one letter recounts a religious conversion experienced by its author (June 1, 1866).

Levi Hines enlisted as a private in the 11th Vermont Infantry (later converted to the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery) on December 10th, 1862. Seventy of the letters in this collection were written by Hines to his sister Maria, his brother Chester, and parents or other relatives while he was in the service. The remainder of the collection consists of letters from relatives to Hines, with the majority coming from Maria (8 letters), John (5), Chester (4), brother Joseph (7) and E.C. Fisk, who served with Hines in the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery.

Levi Hines' letters are intimate in nature and provide access to an individual soldier's personal feelings. Seventy of the letters in this collection were written by Hines to his sister Maria, his brother Chester, and parents or other relatives while he was in the service. The remainder of the collection consists of letters from relatives to Hines, with the majority coming from Maria (9 letters), John (5), Chester (5), brother Joseph (7) and E.C. Fisk, who served with Hines in the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery.

A notable letter in the collection is Hines' account of seeing Lincoln and his entourage in Washington. Hines writes that Lincoln "is a much better looking man than I I [sic] expected to see... There is something in his Eye and in his physiognomy, that denotes firmness decision impressing one with an idea that when he had once taken his course he would not be easily swayed from it..." (1863 August 7-15). Hines also provides an account of the raising of the statue of the Goddess of Liberty on top of the Capitol Building, an occasion upon which he fired the fourth of seven shots in celebration. In the garrison, he recounts the story of a scam run in camp by three men of Company K who bought watches on credit and then deserted (1864 March 4). Another letter includes a humorous account of lice infestation (1864 March 5). Other noteworthy subjects include: Hines' thoughts of home while looking at the night sky (1862 October), his feelings regarding the lines of graves of soldiers who died of disease, and his comments on guard duty or fetching water for the regiment.

Hines' four letters from the field were written while in the trenches at Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He writes of how soldiers become inured to the violence surrounding them and the constant crash of shells and whistling of shot over head. These letters afford insight into one soldier's reactions to intense conflict.

The Lyman Gardner papers contain the Civil War correspondence of Mr. Gardner, who served in the 26th Ohio Infantry Regiment, and a later account book which documents his work in the Ohio lumber industry.

The bulk of Lyman Gardner's collection consists of a series of letters to his parents in Ohio, including two letters to his brother and sister. The collection also contains a few brief articles announcing births, deaths, and marriages in the Gardner family. A ledger of his personal accounts and of his lumber business can be found in this collection as well.

Gardner's letters center around food, clothing, and money. He does not possess much understanding of why he is participating in the war. He views his service as a dutiful obligation, though he neither explains why he is dedicated to the Union, nor what he believes the Union cause to be. Gardner's letters reveal a strong religious background.

Gardner's letters serve as an account for his action in the Atlanta Campaign, and his regiment's assignments in Chattanooga, Tenn., Huntsville, Ala., Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, La., and Irwin, Tex. He goes into some detail of his skirmishes, but the majority of his letters are filled with requests for supplies and money. Overall, Gardner seems to enjoy his involvement in the army and does not express a particularly strong desire to return from it.

The Warner papers consist of letters relating to the Warner family including Michael Warner III's Civil War service.

The main interest in the Warner papers is likely to be found in one of two sets of documents. The first concerns the Civil War experiences of Michael Warner III. While only a few individual letters are interesting in themselves (most being filled with routine requests for food or other goods), the letters concerning Warner while he was missing in action are, as a group, the highlight. These letters underscore the confusion of battle and the organizational difficulties inherent in any military campaign, and the many conflicting interpretations of the battlefield fate of Warner are an interesting commentary on the Union army's ability to deal with MIAs.

Of secondary interest are a series of 10 letters concerning a dispute over a fence constructed on the Warners' land by Frederick Dawson. The remarkable aspect of these letters is that the argument over the placement of the fence was protracted over 20 years even though both parties agreed the fence was illegally placed. Dawson's underhanded intransigence in the matter, and Warner's increasing level of frustration is almost comical.

Other non-war material includes a few interesting letters written by friends to Michael Warner, Jr., while he was at college (c.1812-1816), family documents, and some photographs of the Warner (?) home in Maryland probably taken during the 1890's.

The Newell family papers show what life was like in a small New York town in the mid-1860s and detail Albert Newell's entrepreneurial ventures into the oil and cotton trades. The heart of the Newell family papers consists of 41 letters written by Arthur W. and Cornelia E. Newell to their son George Newell during his first two years at Yale.

The Newell family papers show what life was like in a small New York town in the mid-1860s and detail Albert Newell's entrepreneurial ventures into the oil and cotton trades. The heart of the Newell family papers consists of 41 letters written by Arthur W. and Cornelia E. Newell to their son George Newell during his first two years at Yale. Most were written from the family home in Medina, New York. Both Arthur and Cornelia included news of local people's movements and sicknesses, of events, and the effects of the weather on the crops. They frequently mentioned trips to nearby Lockport, Middleport and Ridgeway, often for cultural or religious activities. The Newells' letters also recounted longer trips to Chicago for the nomination of Lincoln on the Republican ticket in 1860, to the Armory in Springfield, Mass., and to the Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac in Washington in May 1865.

There are no letters from George to his parents, but some information about his university years can be inferred from the letters they wrote to him. They both lectured him about being an upstanding young gentleman, exhorting him to "choose virtue as your Goddess..." and to "beware of all evil". As a freshman he joined a fraternity without having to undergo too many trials. During the winter of 1865-66 he hurt his ankle severely enough to necessitate the use of a crutch for several months. He first lived in a private home at 30 High Street but moved to college rooms his sophomore year. Arthur's investments meant that the Newells were often cash poor, however, they were still able to send George over $970.00 during his first two years of college. Yale tuition at the time was less than $25.00 per term. Almost all of George's tuition bills are included in this collection, along with a "promise to pay" signed by his father.

There are five letters written to George Newell in the 1880s and 1900. As an older man, he evidently developed an interest in his family history, and there are two letters from a second cousin concerning their great grandfather Thomas Steadman. Colonel Edwin Franklin Brown of the 28th New York Infantry wrote George a marvelous letter recounting the involvement of his father, Jeremiah Brown, in the "Morgan Affair". In 1826 the Masons of the Batavia Lodge were accused of murdering Capt. William A. Morgan for divulging secrets of the society. Jeremiah Brown was charged with complicity in the abduction of Morgan, went into hiding, was tried at Lockport and acquitted by Judge William S. Marcy (who went on to serve as governor 1833-1838). This event catalyzed the Anti-Masonic movement, led by Thurlow Weed, and Brown related some of the repercussions felt by his family.

The collection also includes three earlier Newell family documents. The oldest is a small copybook, inscribed, "Samuel Newell his book 1734". It evidently passed from generation to generation of Newells and contains genealogical information and some accounts; dates span from 1726 to 1823. According to the copybook, Solomon Newell married Sally Steadman in 1807. The two letters from George's second cousin G. W. Pierce suggest that her father was Thomas Steadman, a Revolutionary War soldier from Connecticut. Pierce refers to Thomas Steadman as "your [George's] Grandmother's Father", offering further evidence that Arthur was the son of Solomon and Sally (Steadman) Newell. The other two documents are early nineteenth century deeds. One, from Damaris Newell, gave his son Solomon Newell land on Center Hill in Barkhamsted, Litchfield County, Conn. The second, signed by Grandison Newell, gave Solomon a portion of a house and barn, also on Center Hill. The rest of the collection is comprised of a variety of miscellaneous documents relating to the life of George Newell, including Yale tuition bills, a bill from the photographer, George K. Warren, a stock certificate issued by the Medina & Alabama Plank Road Company, a mortgage, two checks drawn from a Union Bank of Medina account and a clipping from the Medina Tribune.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family papers include correspondence, diaries, essays, lectures, printed matter, clippings, financial and legal papers, photographs, daguerreotypes, ephemera, realia, maps, and books belonging to the Townshend and Dodge families, who were connected by the marriage of Margaret Wing (granddaughter of Norton Townshend) and Homer Levi Dodge (grandson of Levi Dodge) in 1917. Much of the collection documents the life and career of politician and agricultural educator Norton Strange Townshend, including his political, educational, and social reform activities.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family Papers consist of 20.5 linear feet of manuscripts, 66 cased photographs, 3 linear feet of paper photographs, 8 cubic feet of photographic slides, and 7 cubic feet of realia, arranged into 13 series. For more detail, see scope and content notes, below.

The Correspondence series (Boxes 1-10) contains all the collection’s letters, postcards, and telegrams (with the exception of official military correspondence, financial correspondence, and genealogy correspondence, which are under "Topical Files," "Financial Correspondence," and "Genealogical Correspondence," respectively). Correspondence spans the years 1827-1989 and makes up around one quarter of the collection. It is subdivided by family into the "Townshend Subseries" and "Dodge Subseries," and arranged chronologically, with undated items at the end. The series contains correspondence to and from prominent Ohio politicians, such as Salmon P. Chase; who wrote 34 letters to Townshend; William Medill; Rutherford B. Hayes; and notable agricultural educators, including James Sullivant and John Klippart. Correspondence among family members is also voluminous, and documents a wide variety of issues during the mid-19th to early-20th centuries, including social and family life, courtship, women’s work and viewpoints, travel, and attitudes toward education. For an index of correspondents, see "Additional Descriptive Data."

The Joel Townshend papers series (Box 10) brings together documents by and related to Norton Townshend’s father, Joel Townshend (1780-1864). It includes a few religious writings, as well as financial and legal documents that shed light on the family’s life in Northamptonshire, England, and Ohio. Most items date from 1810 to 1830, with the exception of a biography of Townshend written in the 1930s or 1940s by his great-grandson, H. Percy Boynton.

The Norton S. Townshend papers series (Boxes 10-26) is the largest series in the collection and contains diaries, published and unpublished writings, printed materials, clippings, broadsides, biographical materials, and other items relating to nearly every facet of Townshend’s adult life. These materials document Townshend’s political involvement, particularly in local and national antislavery, in agricultural movements, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. The series also includes papers about his educational career, family life, Civil War service, and religious views and work. Townshend frequently worked and reworked his ideas on paper, and both his published and unpublished writings are a rich source of intellectual and reform history. Townshend was also an inveterate collector and preserver of interesting items, including materials relating to northern Ohio’s Liberty Party, his admission tickets to medical courses and the World Anti-Slavery Convention, an application to the Ohio State Asylum for the Education of Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, of which he was a trustee, and dozens of fliers and handbills for lectures given by himself and others.

The Margaret Bailey Townshend papers series (Boxes 26-27) is comprised of two diaries, a rich autobiographical writing entitled "Genealogy," describing her childhood and education, a small number of clippings, and materials relating to her education and career as a teacher in Illinois and Ohio in the 1850s. Many items in the Realia series (below) also relate to Margaret Bailey Townshend.

The Other Townshend family members’ papers series (Boxes 28-30) contains materials relating mainly to Townshend’s children and their spouses, but also includes James B. Wood (Townshend’s father-in-law), Harriet Wood Townshend (Townshend’s first wife), Margaret Wing Dodge (Townshend’s granddaughter), and several other relatives. The bulk of this series is made up of their writings, which are autobiographical, religious, and cultural in subject. Also of interest is biographical information on family members, including articles on Townshend’s children, who were early students of Ohio State University, and a number of obituaries of these family members.

The Dodge family papers series (Boxes 30-34) consists of materials produced and collected by the Dodges of upstate New York, from 1839 to approximately 1970, and documenting their family life, travels, hobbies (in particular the outdoors and canoeing), financial and legal transactions, and civic engagement. Incorporated are some writings by various family members, including Levi R. Dodge, F. Isabella (Donaghue) Dodge, Homer Dodge, and family friend Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck; topical files, the bulk of which are 20th century; biographical materials such as obituaries and clippings; and periodicals on topics of interest to the Dodges.

The Genealogical research series (Boxes 35-37) reflects the family’s interest in its own history and consists of correspondence, family trees, historical essays, as well as commercially produced family histories for some lines. The materials reflect a particular interest in finding links between various family members and such prominent figures as the Townshends of Raynham Hall, the Green family of Vermont, and General Grenville Dodge. This series pertains mainly to the 20th century and is arranged by family, except for the correspondence, which is arranged chronologically.

The Collection-related materials series is made up of documents and articles that shed light on the outreach efforts made on behalf of the collection, particularly for the Easterly items, prior to their accessioning by the William L. Clements Library. The series is comprised of fliers, museum publicity materials, and articles on exhibits. Materials date from the late 20th century, particularly the 1990s.

The Books series contains three items that are housed with the collection: Sermons on Various Subjects by the Late Rev. Thomas Strange, Kilsby, Northamptonshire, with Some Memoirs of His Life (1807); the Townshend Family Bible (with manuscript notes on births, deaths and marriages); and Robert W. McCormick’s 1988 self-published biography of Townshend: Norton S. Townshend, M.D. Antislavery Politician and Agricultural Educator. The rest of the books, including books from the personal libraries of Norton Townshend, Joel Townshend, Margaret Bailey Townshend, and the Dodge family, are housed in the Book Division of the Clements Library; for the list of titles, search for "M-3437" in the University of Michigan's library catalog.

The Visual materials series is arranged by type of item and then by subject. This includes daguerreotypes by prominent daguerreotypist Thomas M. Easterly, other photographs, drawings/prints, and maps. The materials range from the 1840s to the 1970s. See also Realia series below.

The Realia series contains approximately 8 linear feet of objects, including items from the childhood and teaching career of Margaret Bailey Townshend, intricate hairwork jewelry and a hair wreath made with the locks of at least 16 family members, geological materials and fossils collected by Norton Townshend and possibly Thomas Easterly, and other three-dimensional objects such as a glass vial for medicine, ribbons from the Ohio State Fair, and decorative objects. Also noteworthy are a number of paper objects, such as Civil War era chromolithograph animal toys, a Japanese paper lantern, and an alphabet game for children.

The Dodge Photographic Slides series includes eight cubic feet of photographic slides, totaling approximately 22,000 slides, attributed to Homer L. Dodge. They document travels around the southwest United States and to countries such as Japan, Canada and Sweden.

The Miscellaneous series contains envelopes without accompanying letters, blank letterhead, and a binder of transcriptions of select letters from Harriet Wood Townshend to Sarah Wood Keffer.

The Numa Barned papers consist of letters home written while Barned was serving with the 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry in a variety of campaigns.

Although Numa Barned's letters are few, many of them are very valuable because of the effort that he put into them. Unlike many of his fellow soldiers, Barned did not write simply a succession of one-liners to fill out a page. Rather, he stays on a subject for a full paragraph, viewing it from various angles, philosophizing, and fleshing out his ideas. One excellent letter in this genre is almost entirely occupied with his opinions on African Americans, drawn from a wide range of experiences with them. Another deals with the equivocation inherent in the question of killing another American -- even a rebel -- in battle.

Barned is also good at writing a sequence-of-events letter, such as the report of his capture by Confederates, and his subsequent attempts to escape. He has a head for chronology, as exhibited in his lists of day-to-day positions, apparently reconstructed after the fact. One additional feature of interest is Barned's continued cry of "On to Richmond," long after most soldiers had given the phrase up as another hollow reminder of the ill course of the war.

The Orson D. and Mary L. Johnson papers contain letters of Civil War soldier Orson Johnson to his wife from August 29-December 28, 1862, during his service in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers and during his stay in a military hospital.

The Orson D. and Mary L. Johnson papers (35 items) contain 27 letters between Orson Johnson and his wife Mary from August 29-December 28, 1862, while he served in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers. Also included are 4 items from other family members and another Wisconsin Infantry service member, a photograph of Mary Johnson, and 2 poems clipped from a newspaper.

The letters between the Johnsons are tender, though Orson often complains of not receiving enough letters from his wife. Mary's letters provide a view of the hardships of trying to care for two children as a single mother living in Wisconsin. Orson tries to offer advice on how to manage the household and finances and is sympathetic to her difficulties. The letters offer little information related to military activities but reveal the mental and physical toll the war is taking on the family. In Orson's later letters, he discussed getting wounded, hospitalized, and discharged in early 1863 because of a disability. Orson first mentioned his time in a military hospital in November 23, 1862, and a friend wrote a letter for Orson on December 8, 1862, because he was not well enough to compose it himself. By December 18th he was well enough to write again but was discharged soon after.

This collection also holds one letter from Maria H. Stone to her brother, Orson D. Johnson and an item from H.L. Stone and O.D. Johnson to their "Dear Uncle." The final two dated letters are from privates in Co. G of the 43rd Wisconsin Infantry, one of them signed William L. Shumway, both addressed to siblings (1865). The last dated letter concerns some thoughts on Lincoln’s recent death and the end of the war (April 28, 1865). Both the 22nd Regiment, of which Orson was a member, and the 43rd Regiment were in the Army of the Cumberland at the time that these letters were written, though in different brigades. It appears that both of these regiments were involved in the defense of Nashville and the surrounding area in early 1865, making it possible that the soldiers' paths crossed.

This collection also contains a photograph of a Mary L. Johnson and two poems entitled The Wife of the Volunteers andThe American Girl , both clipped from newspapers.

The collection contains two illustrations. The letter from September 18, 1862, has a blue patriotic "head quarters" stamp depicting an eagle, a flag, and bayonets. The letter from October 7, 1862, has a large patriotic engraving for the letterhead depicting an angel with a sword leading the charge of a company of Union men, with a small Confederate flag in the distance.

"Our Generals" is a lithograph album (17 x 13.25 cm) consisting of 24 gray-toned lithograph carte de visite sized portraits of Union Civil War generals sold commercially by Leavitt & Allen of New York in 1862.

"Our Generals" is a lithograph album (17 x 13.25 cm) consisting of 24 gray-toned lithograph portraits of Union Civil War generals sold commercially by Leavitt & Allen of New York in 1862. The initials "A.W." appear in pencil on the inside front cover. There is a pre-printed index of names.

On each page, there is one lithographed carte de visite mounted into pre-cut slots surrounded by red and white decoration. The images themselves are either close ups or full body portraits. The name of the subject is handwritten in pencil under each image.

The album's covers are brown leather embossed with a floral pattern, with two large decorative brass clasps. The two brass closure tabs are stamped with "Our Generals."

The letters in the Peter B. Mereness papers were written by Mr. Mereness to Helen A. Arthur during his Civil War service in the 5th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment.

All of the letters in the Mereness papers were written by Peter Mereness to Helen A. Arthur -- "Nelly," as he called her -- who seems to have been his sweetheart. Most follow the same format: introduction, description of weather, other information, close. In a few cases, the information section includes accounts of war-related events, and particularly of Mereness' frustration with military service, but all of the letters possess the kind of back home gossip exchanged between close friends.

Mereness spent most of the war in three forts: Carroll, C.F. Smythe, and Stone. Although he includes details of several battles and skirmishes, Mereness never mentions having been in combat himself, and in one letter he refutes charges of being a "featherbed soldier." Mereness chronicles Capt. Smith's dishonorable discharge and Smith's attempts to be reinstated. He also recounts the death of his friend, Maurice, from smallpox and the railroad's refusal to take the corpse back home for burial. Mereness obviously disliked "soldiering" from the start of his service, and was determined to stay in close touch with "Nelly." He alludes several times to wanting to marry her.

Mereness does not write in great detail about his experiences in the war, and his occasional notices of military events are usually brief. He does however repeat an account that had John S. Mosby (1833-1916) killed by a Loudun Ranger in 1865. Mereness also writes of his entry into Charleston, West Virginia, shortly after its occupation by Union forces. Battles mentioned are: Vicksburg; Port Hudson; and Centreville, Virginia.

Mereness was very active in veterans' organizations after the war, and the collection contains 13 ribbons worn by Mereness at encampments or organization meetings. There is also a tintype of Mereness taken on April 8, 1864.

The Morse papers consists of letters from various members of the well known Morse Family of New England, with the greatest part of the correspondence between Richard Morse, Sr. and his son Richard Morse, Jr. including many letters written while Richard junior was at school.

About half of the correspondence in the Morse papers consists of letters between father and son, written mainly while Richard junior was at Andover and Yale. The senior Morse insisted that the boy write often and at length as a way of maintaining a close relationship with his family, describing academic and recreational activities, expressing his opinions on all sorts of matters, recording the substance of sermons and lectures he attended. His own letters to his son were similarly detailed. The correspondence is a particularly rich source of data on the content and tenor of conservative Protestant preaching during this era, as well as on details of a classical private education. Perhaps its greatest value, however, is as a record of the father-son relationship and the changes it went through as Richard junior matured. It shows how the young man gradually took on his own opinions and tastes, and became less shy about expressing them even when they brought him into disagreement with his father -- who was clearly a strongly opinionated and very controlling parent. (He advises his son minutely on food, exercise, study, religious practice, dress, companionship, sleep habits, reading, career choice, etc.) Richard's New England experience brought him into contact with liberal political and social views which were much at odds with Morse conservatism, and while he never strayed very far from the fold, his conservatism became more tempered than his father's, his perspective broader and outlook more flexible. The letters record the process of this separation and personal development.

The 100-odd letters to and from siblings are briefer, less revealing, though far from rote and mechanical. They depict warm affection between brothers and sisters and the protective, advising role taken on by elder toward younger. Those from older sisters at home show the busy doings of the New York household and the many comings and goings of various family members, for the Morses were great travelers, both in America and abroad. Eldest sister Elizabeth Morse Colgate wrote especially detailed and loving letters, advising Richard on matters of clothing, manners, and general behavior and catching him up on family activities. Brother Sidney offered his opinions on conduct appropriate to young men, and especially advised Richard on matters of academics and personal finances. Older sister Charlotte seems to have styled herself as a religious guide for her younger brother, while Mary and Louisa occupy a less prominent role with regard to Richard, at least as expressed in surviving family correspondence. Richard, in turn, looked out for those who came after him, and his younger sister Rebecca and brothers Willie and Nollie sought his advice on all kinds of matters, from politics to reading choices to composition themes.

Harriott Messinger Morse does not seem to have developed a close relationship with stepson Richard, and this eventually led to strained feelings between father and son, for he blamed Richard for the failure. A few later letters between siblings indicate that the other Morse children had their problems with her as well, and the father seems to have responded with some bitterness toward his children and the sad results of their "liberal" education. In Richard's case, particularly, there may have been some truth in this, for the boy developed a close relationship with Miss E.D. Apthorp, a fervent abolitionist, during his education at her Hartford school which continued into his college years. The Morse papers contain 7 letters to Richard from Apthorp, only 4 from his stepmother--and the Apthorp letters are far warmer, more personal and engaging. Richard's former teacher encouraged him in his efforts to enter the Civil War service, in open opposition to his parents' wishes.

Relations between the Richard Cary Morse household and the families of Samuel F.B. and Sidney Morse are touched upon but not detailed in the collection. There was evidently frequent communication and visiting back and forth, especially among the young women, and the two younger brothers and their families shared the same New York City house for some years. A few letters mention "Uncle Finley's" (Samuel F.B. Morse) travels, activities, and honors, but there is no direct correspondence with him or his family in these papers.

Richard's letters from friends during and just after college make up a valuable component of this collection. They depict the nature of male friendship, and the sorts of interests, concerns and activities typical of young men of this social class during the era. They are open with one another about loneliness, religious doubts, and other personal matters. Since the Civil War erupted during Morse's college years, young men faced difficult decisions and pressures which led them into vastly different experiences. Richard felt guilty about avoiding war duty, and conscientiously tried to keep in touch with those who went into the army. Other friends also opted out of service, expressing varying degrees of remorse over their decisions. There are a few letters from former classmates in military camp, and others which tell of friends in the service, several of whom died.

There are several small subsets of correspondence pertaining to non-family matters. Seven letters between Richard Morse senior and Guillaume de Felice offer a few details about social and religious conditions in France, the publishing business, and the conservative religious tone of the New York Observer, which regularly published pieces by Felice. A series of letters between clergyman, religious writer, and autograph collector William Buell Sprague (1795-1876) and the two Morse brothers involved in the Observer records the difficult relations which developed between Sprague and the Morses during his work on a biography of Jedediah Morse. One controversy touched upon in a few 1858 letters is the accusation by the Morses that Sprague, without their permission, removed autographs from letters given to him in relation to the biographical work. He vigorously denied this, and the truth of the matter is not evident from the correspondence. A more complicated and extended dispute, in 1867, revolved around the treatment by Sprague in the biography of a scandal in Jedediah Morse's career involving accusations of plagiarism of work by Hannah Adams. Adams was a Unitarian, Morse a well-known and fervent anti-Unitarian, and his condemnation, some felt, was more related to his religious views and former attacks on Unitarianism than the actual merits of Adams' case. Sprague wished to avoid reopening the issue, Sidney Morse felt strongly that his father should be vindicated in the biography, and Richard senior wavered back and forth indecisively, increasing Sprague's discomfort level. The arguing and negotiating goes on at great length, and evidently to no end, for the project was abandoned after being all but ready for press.

The collection also includes a book, Maria Louisa Charlesworth, Sunday Afternoons in the Nursery; or, Familiar Narratives from the Book of Genesis. (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1859). The volume is inscribed by Nollie Morse.

The Morses, with their impressive intellectual tradition and high level of education and sophistication, could hardly be considered a typical family of the time, particularly since their religious orientation, anti-urban sentiments, and lack of wealth kept them somewhat isolated from the general upper-class New York scene. This very difference contributes interest to the collection, for Richard Morse was not a typical wealthy young Yale man on his way to an illustrious career. He struggled with strongly conservative family traditions and parental opinions that were often at odds with what he encountered in his own experience, and which he wished at times to defy. In the end, Richard Cary Morse was decidedly a Morse, abandoning youthful doubts and contrary ambitions for a life of religious service, but in a form which reflected the strong influence of his school and college years -- by devoting himself to an organization formed to encourage the fellowship of Christian young men.

The Samuel Ripley papers contain correspondence from a soldier in the 36th Wisconsin Infantry, describing several months at Camp Randall, participation in the siege of Petersburg, and his feelings about the war.

The Samuel Ripley papers contain 60 letters, spanning February 1864-February 1865, two brief undated notes, and two photographs. Samuel Ripley wrote 58 of the letters between the commencement of his service in the 36th Wisconsin Infantry in February 1864, and his imprisonment at Salisbury Prison in August of the same year. The recipients were his wife Mary and his mother Abigail. Ripley's early letters, between February and mid-May 1864, describe life at Camp Randall near Madison, Wisconsin, including drilling, taking on the responsibilities of company clerk, and leisure activities. Several letters also mention attempts to visit Mary, as well as to bring her to Madison before his departure for the front.

Between June and August, Ripley wrote 37 long, richly-detailed letters, in which he discussed many aspects of the war: his opinions on its progress and how it was conducted, experiences participating in trench warfare during the Siege of Petersburg, attitudes toward fighting and the Union cause, and, to some extent, politics. He also frequently mentioned his ongoing rheumatism and digestive issues, but generally reported experiencing fair health. Correspondence from June 14-23, 1864, vividly depicts the siege of Petersburg, including being grazed by bullets and participating in an undermanned charge through an unprotected melon field (June 19, 1864). In a letter of June 20, 1864, Ripley described the variety of activity in the trenches: "any one fires from the trench who pleases and when they please, so some are firing some eating some cooking some hunting grey backs." Surprisingly, although an undated note in the collection states that Ripley was wounded on June 22, 1864, his letters do not mention such an event.

A strong believer in the Union and in the abolition of slavery, Ripley admitted to disliking warfare (June 27, 1864), but hoped that peace arbitrations would not succeed unless they ended slavery (July 25, 1864). In several other letters, he expressed distaste for "Copper-heads." He also frequently made predictions about movements and on the outcome of the war, which he believed had neared its end.

Ripley's later letters are particularly introspective and frank; on August 22, 1864, he wrote to his mother, describing his reasons for enlisting against the wishes and advice of friends, and alluded to his own shortcomings and disagreements with his deceased father. He also mentioned his distrust of some Union officers, whom he suspected of receiving bribes from Southerners and stealing packages from Union soldiers. In his last letter of August 28, 1864, Ripley notified his wife about his capture. Two letters from military officials, providing details on Ripley's imprisonment and death, close the correspondence.

The Miscellany Series contains lyrics to a Civil War song, a few biographical details, and two photographs of Ripley (one tintype and one carte-de-visite).

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and realia related to the family of Universalist Rev. James Shrigley of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The collection spans 1761 to 1955, with the bulk of the materials covering the lives of Rev. James Shrigley (1813-1905) and his son James Burley Shrigley (1846-1914).

The Shrigley family papers are divided into four series: Correspondence and Documents; Diaries, School Books, and Scrapbooks; Photographs and Watercolor Illustration; and Realia. The collection spans 1761 to 1955, with the bulk of the materials covering the lives of James Shrigley and James Burley Shrigley.

The Correspondence and Documents series is divided into two sub-series: Family correspondence and documents, and financial records.

The Shrigley family correspondence and documents subseries contains letters from George S. White, Margaret Shrigley, and James B. Shrigley. James B. Shrigley and Ella G. Oler's marriage certificate and license are present. The items in this subseries were found in a portable writing desk, described below. The Financial records subseries is comprised of receipts and warrant deeds for Corlienus DeHart. DeHart's connection with the Shrigley family has not been determined. Two family account books date from 1764 to 1787 and 1803 to 1811.

The Diaries, School Books, and Scrapbooks series contains seven bound volumes. Three journals by James Burley Shrigley date from 1859-1864, while he was a teenager in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The third volume contains several watercolor illustrations, including one of a US steamer Monitor-inspired hat. The collection includes two scrapbooks compiled by James B. Shrigley and Arthur Shrigley. James's scrapbook contains a biography of his father Reverend James Shrigley and several signed letters and clipped autographs of prominent public individuals, such as P. T. Barnum and Daniel Webster. Arthur's scrapbook contains holiday-themed newspaper clippings.

The Photographs series contains images of multiple members of the Shrigley family and scenes of Frankford, Pennsylvania. Among the photographs are cabinet cards of Reverend James Shrigley and Mary Shrigley, and stereograph cards of Frankford, Pennsylvania, in 1875. The series includes ten photographs that were removed from their frames; three of the frames (original to the photographs) were retained and are filed in the Realia series.

The Realia series contains a portable writing desk, a leather pouch, and three frames. The items in the family correspondence and documents series above were found within the portable writing desk. The owner of the desk has not been determined. The three frames were original to three photographs described in the photographs series.

The South Carolina Militia orderly book contains brigade-level orders issued under the command of Brig. Gen. James Simons, commander on Morris Island during the siege of Fort Sumter.

The South Carolina Militia orderly book contains brigade-level orders issued under the command of Brig. Gen. James Simons, commander on Morris Island during the siege of Fort Sumter. The importance of the book lies only partly in documenting the build up and reduction of Sumter, but in the insight it provides into the formation of the earliest structures for organization and command in the Confederate army, and the taste it provides of the enthusiasm surrounding South Carolina's defiant entry into war.

Laid inside the cover sheet are two letters:

Charleston, 1861 June 10. Concerning formation of regiments.

Charleston, 1861 June 27. Request for a list of officers.

In 1863, Union soldier Stephen Metcalf posted a newspaper solicitation for correspondence with a Northern woman, and Carrie White, a supporter of the Union forces, was one of several who responded. All but a few letters in this collection are correspondence between the two that started with this advertisement and ended with their marriage in 1868. The letters span the first five years of the couple's relationship, offering detailed and intimate insight into courtship and other social practices of the Civil War period.

Approximately one third of the letters in this collection were written during the war, and much of the early correspondence centers around the battle and politics. The correspondence is almost entirely complete, with some of White's early letters missing. The bulk of the letters that discuss White's involvement with the aid society are between the beginning of the correspondence and May 25, 1865. As the war ends, topics begin to include Metcalf''s career, courtship and marriage.

The collection begins with a letter from "Eugene" thanking Carrie for her kind response to his advertisement. The letter includes a clipping of his newspaper solicitation. This first letter is almost a grand song of praise to the female sex, and her support of the Union cause: "I have scarcely withdrawn from the blood-stained battlefield when woman has made her appearance and by word, book and deed produced the balm of healing and consolation into every wound."

Metcalf directed most of their conversations, and he centered on two themes: first the war, and second, any social topic that was a little bit controversial. For example, in a letter dated 1863 November 1, Metcalf stated:

The day has come when it is no longer considered a disgrace for woman to appear in the capacity of teacher, lecturer, authoress, or physician. Slowly, yet surely, is the "better half" of the human race rising to the heights destined by the Creator. I believe that when our school houses, seminaries, colleges and Universities shall have become wholly or in part under the influence of female influences there will be greater intellectual advancement and a sounder code of morals inculcated, than characterizes our Educational institutions at the present time.

Metcalf asked for White's attitudes about topics such as co-education. Unfortunately, as is the case for much of the first year of their correspondence, we do not have her reply. One can gain some insight into the kinds of things that White was aware of by reading what Metcalf asked and told her.

Letters from both White and Metcalf during the war provide information about several military actions and the political state of the Nation. On November 1, 1863, Metcalf wrote to White that his company had joined the Pioneer Brigade and built two bridges across the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. One and a half years later, on April 12, 1865, Metcalf celebrated the capture of Richmond: "Yesterday the forces at this post celebrated the capture of Lee and his army by firing a salute of two hundred guns. With the Capital in our possession, the greatest general and best disciplined army of the enemy our prisoners, the conflict cannot continue much longer."

In a letter dated March 10, 1865, White reflected on the war, the condition of Union soldiers, and the future of the nation. She was mortified by the behavior of Andrew Johnson: "What a disgrace to the Nation. The vice-president being in a state of intoxication at the time of the inauguration, what will other nations think? What would become of us, if 'Uncle Abe' should chance to be taken from us?"

Within a year and a half of the first letters, Metcalf and White were very much friends, and their letters take on a comfortable, frank, and familiar tone. White's side of the correspondence is well represented from this point on. Ongoing conversations touched on topics as difficult as Lincoln's assassination and as banal as clothing. As their friendship grew and the war came to an end, topics got more personal, and the two began to tease one another and share their emotional experiences. For example, Metcalf revealed over the course of several letters that he had been fond of a young lady in his home town. While he was away fighting for the Union, she married a "Copperhead." White, also over the course of several letters, delicately consoled him, assuring him that the young lady was not deserving of his affection.

There are signs that by 1865, they each had significant influence over the other. White had particular influence over what Metcalf would do after the war. He discussed some of the career tracks that he could take, including medicine, teaching, or moving west and farming, and seemed to be fishing for White's opinion. In her response, White suggested that she was not fond of the teaching idea. Metcalf immediately qualified his remark, noting that education would only be something he would consider as a temporary form of employment.

White and Metcalf had corresponded for two years before they met in person. After meeting in Jersey in November of 1865, the courtship truly started to evolve and the reader gains an insight into the powerful yet precarious position that women could hold in this kind of interaction. White, for example, is the first to write after the two meet, and she worried that such an "aggressive" move might be too forward. Stephen teased her a bit, but was not put off by her boldness.

As the courtship developed, the two discussed social connections with the opposite sex. Both Metcalf and White deployed jealousy as a mild form of manipulation. On January 14, 1866, Metcalf wrote, "There are eight young ladies in attendance, and I must say that some of them are handsome, at least in a moderate acceptation of that word. But you know that teachers are supposed to occupy a neutral position of all questions relating to the good or bad looks of their female pupils."

In April of 1866 the two met again, and Metcalf declared his love to her. By July of 1866 he proposed marriage and she accepted, all by mail. After the two became engaged, White expressed several concerns about their marriage, often through indirect means. For example, she sent Metcalf a long poem entitled "A Woman's Question," by an unknown author. The first stanza reads:

Before I trust my fate to thee,

Or place my hand in thine;

Before I let thy future give

Color and form to mine,

Before I peril all for thee;

Question thy soul to-night for me.

The remainder of the poem lists the many concerns of a bride-to-be. White seemed to fear that there was a hidden nature within Metcalf that would be revealed after marriage, or that she would somehow fall short of his expectations.

Both parties expressed some concern that the fact that their friendship started as a correspondence based on a newspaper advertisement might violate a sense of propriety. White encountered such concerns among her friends in Jersey. One of her friends, not knowing about Metcalf, told White that this kind of letter writing was very low class. In a letter dated 1864 October 17, Metcalf responded to a question that White has posed about this concern: How would he feel if his sister were to correspond with a soldier? Metcalf admitted that he would not look upon such a situation favorably. On May 1, 1866, just after Metcalf had been presented to White's friends in Jersey, her aunt advised her on sharing publicly the origin of the friendship: "I don't want you to tell a story, neither do I want you to tell the truth..." Although White and Metcalf seemed to regret the way the relationship began, they also recognized that it was the only way the friendship could have started.

Chaplain Thomas D. Witherspoon wrote these letters to members of the Witherspoon and Rascoe families during his Civil War service in the 2nd, 11th, and 42nd Mississippi Infantry Regiments.

The surviving letters of Thomas D. Witherspoon, most addressed to members of the Rascoe family, include a small number of insightful Confederate letters. There are, unfortunately, large gaps in the correspondence, most notably between July, 1862, and 1870, interrupted by only one letter from Witherspoon, January 7, 1864, and this lacuna conceals the entirety of Witherspoon's imprisonment, the end of the war, his departure from the service, and his adjustment to civilian life and Reconstruction. The surviving correspondence, however, forms an interesting and surprisingly fleshed-out portrayal of one man's service as a Confederate chaplain during the earliest stages of the war.

As an educated, clear-thinking, and utterly committed man, Witherspoon is an ideal correspondent. His letters are filled with emotion, driven by a sense of purpose in his military service, and ordered by a strongly held code of morality. His religious leanings and training make him particularly sensitive to the moral state of the Confederate army, and somewhat prone to viewing the conflict as an almost Manichean struggle between southern Good and northern Evil. The scattered letters written during the late spring and summer, 1864, include additional comments on organized "Christian" relief during the war, including a particularly interesting comment from Witherspoon that the (northern) Christian Commission does more to crush the rebellion than the entire Army of the Potomac through their intrigues and trickery in getting sick and wounded men to take the oath of allegiance (1864 January 7).

After the war, Rev. Witherspoon settled in Memphis, Tennessee, and published at least two works: Children of the Covenant (Richmond, Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1873) and The Appeal of the South to its Educated Men (Memphis: The Association, 1867). He also contributed an essay, "The doctrinal contents of the confession" to the Presbyterian Church's Memorial volume of the Westminster assembly, 1647-1897 (Richmond: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1897).

Witherspoon was also author of "Prison Life at Fort McHenry." Southern Historical Society Papers 8 (1880): pp. 77-82, 111-119, 163-68.

The Uriah Lee family collection (39 items) contains 32 letters, 3 diaries, and 4 additional items related to Lyman Uriah Lee of Foxcroft, Maine. Uriah Lee wrote 27 letters to his family while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, his brother Leonard wrote 3 letters while serving with the Union Army at Fort Sumter, and family members exchanged 2 additional letters. Also included are 3 diaries that Elizabeth M. Lee kept between 1851 and 1878, a poem, Uriah Lee's discharge papers, and a photograph.

The Uriah Lee family collection (39 items) contains 32 letters, 3 diaries, and 4 additional items (1850-1912) related to Lyman Uriah Lee of Foxcroft, Maine. Uriah Lee wrote 27 letters to his family while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, his brother Leonard wrote 3 letters while serving with the Union Army at Fort Sumter, and family members exchanged 2 additional letters. Also included are 3 diaries that Elizabeth M. Lee kept between 1851 and 1878, a poem, and Uriah Lee's discharge papers.

The Correspondence series (32 items) contains 27 letters that Uriah Lee wrote to his family while serving in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D. C. Lee provided details about his daily life as a soldier, and discussed soldiers' attitudes toward officers, food, and clothing; encounters with former slaves; the weather; and political issues. He also mentioned specific battles, and his letter of May 18, 1863, includes a hand-drawn map of his company's route from New Berne, North Carolina, to Washington, D. C. Leonard Lee wrote 3 letters during his Civil War military service, and discussed similar topics. In his postwar letters, Uriah Lee offered advice to his younger siblings and discussed family affairs. Anne Lee wrote a letter to Lyman Lee in which she recounted the events surrounding the death of a man named Edward, and Chauncey received an unsigned letter about his wife Eva's visit to the writer.

Elizabeth Lee kept 3 Diaries between July 1851 and November 1878, concerning her thoughts and activities as a wife and mother. Among other topics, she discussed housework, the weather, her family, social engagements, and religion. Most of her entries are brief lines about the weather and the housework she was able to finish, with details of church meetings provided every few days.

The Documents, Poetry, and Miscellaneous series is comprised of 5 items. Fanny Hosier wrote Uriah Lee a poem that reflected positively on Southern rights and secession. Uriah Lee's military discharge papers from 1863 and 1865 are also included. A piece of ephemera illustrates 4 badges of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Jones served with the 61st New York Infantry Regiment until his discharge on April 29th, 1862, and later saw service as a Lieutenant in Co. A of the 14th New York Cavalry, remaining with that unit until it was consolidated near the end of the Civil War. Six of Jones' letters were written home from Camp California, near Faifax Court House, Va., in the first months of 1862, when the 61st Regiment was attached to the slow moving Army of the Potomac.

Six of Jones' letters were written home from Camp California, near Fairfax Court House, Va., in the first months of 1862, when the 61st Regiment was attached to the slow moving Army of the Potomac. Jones' letters are well written, but not particularly eventful. These letters do more to illustrate the slow pace of the Army of the Potomac than to provide details of camp life or battle. He remained optimistic that the war would end soon, "but if not," he wrote, "I would rather that we were well whipped, than that foreign nations would speak of us, as more frightened than hurt." He hoped particularly that he would have the chance to fight in a battle before it all ended.

Some of the letters in the collection include a description of a New Years' celebration among officers at which "an examination of the darkies [for allegedly stealing a bottle of brandy] was the most amusing part;" an account of Beauregard using "Quaker guns" at Munson's Hill to buy him time to reinforce positions at Centreville; and a mention of guard duty, during which Jones had to hand cuff and gag one man, and during which he encountered an Orderly Sergeant who had been imprisoned for five months for shooting a man for disobedience of orders. The collection also includes two souvenirs collected by Jones at Bull Run: a blade of grass from the battlefield and a piece of a Confederate flag.

The Washington Irving Snyder collection contains several letters and diaries relating to the Civil War service of Washington Irving Snyder, of the 11th Michigan Infantry, and his brother, James Madison Snyder, of the 25th Michigan Infantry. Also included are several miscellaneous pieces of 19th-century ephemera.

The Washington Irving Snyder papers, 1862-1898, contain 25 items: 2 letters, 2 diaries, 13 offprints from Photographic History of the Civil War, and 8 pieces of ephemera.

James Snyder wrote the first letter on January 23, 1863, to his brother (presumably Irving Snyder), describing the poor health of his regiment (25th Michigan Infantry), his impressions of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and some orders which he found peculiar. The second letter, written by W. Frankish to Snyder's parents, is a notice of Irving Snyder's death and the circumstances surrounding it (October 5, 1863).

Also included in the collection are eight ephemera items: an illustration of Major-General John Logan; a photograph of Borden M. Hicks of the 11th Michigan Infantry; an 1864 dance card for a "May Party" held in Elgin, Illinois; an undated postcard from Havana, Cuba; an order for the 33rd Michigan Infantry during the Spanish-American War, dated August 1, 1898; and a souvenir program for the inauguration of President Benjamin Harrison. The last four items have no direct connection to the Snyder family.

The Diaries series contains two pocket diaries kept by Irving Snyder during his service in the 11th Michigan Infantry. The first contains 194 pages covering January 1-December 31, 1862. In it, Snyder described movements around Kentucky and Tennessee, duties, health, and interesting incidents in very brief, near-daily entries. He did not write between September 15 and November 8. In his March 12 entry, Snyder wrote about a visit to Sulphur Springs near Shepherdsville, Kentucky, where he was treated to good whiskey by a generous saloonkeeper. On April 11, he described his arrest of two soldiers for getting drunk and abusing superior officers while on duty. Throughout the year, he kept meticulous records of letters sent and received.

The 1863 diary contains 30 pages of very short entries, for January-March and September of 1863. In early January, Snyder wrote briefly about the Battle of Stones River (Second Battle of Murfreesboro), noting that he took part in driving the Confederates across the river (January 2, 1863). Entries become somewhat more detailed and frequent beginning September 1, including descriptions of time spent in the woods for several days, of wounds sustained during the Battle of Chickamauga (September 20, 1863), about his transfer to a hospital, and about updates on the wound that killed him on October 5, 1863, five days after his last entry.

The William Boston diary is a bound typescript, which documents Mr. Boston's service in the 20th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. This volume, compiled by William's son, Orlan W. Boston, contains supplemental information and facsimiles of original documents related to William's service.

The diary consists of brief entries written almost daily during Boston's service. Early on in the war, Boston looked favorably upon the regiment's colonel, but was not as enamored of other officers, writing that "[t]he boys were glad to see him [Col. Williams] and cheered him lustily. Most of the officers looked sober" (1863 April 26). His comments on routine daily life tend to be very brief.

During his western service, Boston's diary is fairly thin, with perhaps longest and best description relating to a trip taken to some caverns in southern Kentucky (1863 May 27). The writing improves, however, following Boston's second tour in Virginia, and includes a good account of battles in the Petersburg Campaign from late August through November, 1864, as well as descriptions of life during the siege in the late fall 1864 through Spring, 1865. Boston's best description of an engagement is that for the desperate Confederate assault on Fort Stedman. His entries from the Appomattox Campaign are lengthier than average and provide a very good account of the regiment's activities.

William P. Fessenden was a founding member of the Republican Party and one of its most energetic antislavery voices. His papers consist almost entirely of incoming correspondence, written while he was serving as a U.S. Senator from Maine, 1855-1868. This correspondence reflects Fessenden's moderately progressive political views, and his interests in the abolition of slavery, economics and finance, the turmoil in Kansas in the late 1850s, and the Civil War.

The William P. Fessenden papers consist almost entirely of incoming correspondence addressed to Fessenden, written while he was serving as a U.S. Senator from Maine, 1855-1868. This correspondence reflects Fessenden's moderately progressive political views, and his interests in the abolition of slavery, economics and finance, the turmoil in Kansas in the late 1850s, and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the correspondence consists of requests for favors from acquaintances and constituents, usually in seeking recommendations for jobs, political appointments, or assistance in pressing legislation.

The major topics of interest covered in the collection include the national debate over slavery. Several letters relate to the political turmoil in Kansas between 1856 and 1860, and there are letters requesting that Fessenden address particular abolition societies, and one interesting item relating to slavery in Missouri that includes a small printed map depicting slave-holding patterns in the state (2:49).

The Civil War forms the context for approximately half of the letters in the collection. There is a small series of letters relating to increases in pay for naval chaplains and army surgeons, and several routine letters requesting commissions or transfers in the army. The most important items present include a letter written from New Orleans, 1864, complaining of Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut's apparent unwillingness to execute the government's orders to stop trafficking in cotton (Hurlbut's corruption appears to have been no secret); a letter describing the situation in Missouri in the midst of Sterling Price's Wilson's Creek Campaign, complaining about John C. Frémont's ineffectiveness; and a fine letter from a commander of a Maine independent artillery battery in the defenses of Washington, complaining of their inactivity. Finally, there is a brief obituary of Jesse Lee Reno, killed at South Mountain in 1862.

There are very few items that relate in any way to Fessenden's private life, but three letters include some discussion of the problems of his son, Samuel. The only letter written by Fessenden in this collection is addressed to Sam, advising him to behave himself and not to consort with bad company. Apparently, the Senator had good cause to worry for his son, since Sam apparently fell in with gamblers and fled for Canada after running up a sizable debt.