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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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).