1851: John Andrew Smith to his Mother

February 1, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by John Andrew Smith (1826-1863), a native of Virginia, from his temporary home in Grass Valley, Nevada county, California. In the 1850 US Census, we find him lodging with fellow Virginian 28 year-old William Broadwater with whom he made the trip to California, and two other gentlemen, 23 year-old Ohioan Zenus Hathaway Denman, a trader; and 22 year-old Louisianan, Edward Theriot, a miner.

From Find-A-Grave we learn that John was born in Fairfax county, Virginia in 1826. He died on 5 June 1863 in Nevada county, California, and was buried in the Rough & Ready Cemetery, Memorial ID 22611023. John’s parents are not identified on Find-A-Grave but based on the address written on the cover, I believe his parents were Thomas Z. Smith (1784-1868) and Elizabeth Fretz (1795-1871) who were both natives of Bucks county, Pennsylvania but lived in Fairfax county in the 1840s. In 1850, the couple were enumerated in Thoroughfare, Fauquier county, Virginia, but later moved back to Alexandria where Thomas died in 1868. Following her husband’s death, John’s mother moved back to Buck county, Pennsylvania where she died in 1871. John’s parents were Quakers.

A search of the California newspapers revealed that John died tragically. “Sad Accident. A man named John A. Smith, late proprietor of the Anthony House in Nevada county, was thrown from his horse lately near Rough and Ready, and was so badly injured that he died in a few hours.” [Sacramento Daily Union, 11 June 1863] The Anthony House was built about 1850 and it was up for sale in 1852 and purchased by Mr. S. P. French. By that time it was a flourishing stage stop, serving as a hotel, restaurant, livery stable and post office. The original house burned down in 1876 but was quickly rebuilt (see newspaper clipping below).

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

This watercolor of Grass Valley was painted on 18 September 1851, less than a month after this letter was written. When the artist, Edward Gennys Fanshawe, visited Grass Valley, he described it as a “very retired spot two years ago, but now one of the principal mining stations, with seven steam engines at work crushing the [gold-bearing] quartz, which is dug out of the surrounding hills. It has also an hotel kept by an Englishman, to whose favourable notice we bore a recommendation…” Most of the excavations shown here are what he described as ‘ “coyota digging”, from a burrowing animal of these parts, in appearance between a wolf and a fox. This is only for burrowing near the surface for “pay dirt”, or auriferous earth, without undertaking the more solid quartz’ (p.285). The view here appears to be roughly west across Wolf Creek and the ‘coyote’ pits around it, with what became Mill Street running across the background and Main Street intersecting with that at far right, its near end being then the road north-east to Nevada City. [National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.]

Grass Valley [California]
August 23rd 1851

Dear Mother,

The time has again arrived when I deem it my duty to indite a few lines to you that you may know I am yet in the land of the living, well and hearty, and am making an independent living at least—such as it is—without owing a dollar or having a boss to say, “John, go…,” or “John, come….” It is a hard living, I say, and it comes by hard licks and many of them, yet there is but one thing necessary to render John happy and perfectly satisfied and that is to have the society to enjoy of the few near and dear relations that are left him. But this can never be. Therefore, John can never be perfectly happy.

This country does not suit every person. There is not one in every hundred that are here at this time neither rich nor poor that are willing to make the country their homes and hundreds upon hundreds are here to make a raise sufficient only to take them back without a red cent to expect when they get there except what must be earned by the power of wisdom, industry, and economy all combined. Under these circumstances I will not advise any person to migrate to this country, yet there are some no doubt were they here and satisfied to stay would do better than what they are doing.

I am informed there are but few who have returned home satisfied with the appearance and manners of things. This I know from common sense to be true. We all complain of the times being very hard here. True, they are very hard to what they have been. Yet I imagine the difference between the times here and those of the Atlantic States are so great and will be for years to come that I for one would not be able to withstand the change like others as I have said before without being dissatisfied. I do not mean to infer that I have staked my life on this spot of grass forever—no, not for two reasons. First, the grass might fail. Second, I am too young [and] too much like the wild Mustang to be corralled in any one place in this little world. Therefore you need not be surprised if I be with you tomorrow or at the World’s Fair, or some place else the least expected.

Time it is said will bring all things right. If that be true according to my way of thinking, I will see myself someday groaning under the weight of at least fifty thousand. That is what I would call right though it may not be so.

Dear mother, it has been a longtime since I have heard from you. The accounts in the papers of the high water together with the cholera renders me very uneasy and doubly anxious to hear from you all. I hope the damage may not be so great nor the health so affected as in ’44—a year long to be remembered by me.

The warmest part of the summer is now over with us though it is yet very dry. Operations are suspended in many parts of the mines for want of water which is somewhat the case here though the quartz mining is in successful operations and is looked upon as a safe and profitable business. Many of the most wealthy and enterprising men of this country can be seen in our small but beautiful village engaged or waiting for an opportunity to engage in the quartz business.

What a great change has taken place here since William Broadwater and myself on our way to Sacramento City in the fall of ’49 then a trackless forest beneath the wide spread branches of an Oak which now stands within view of my door. We made our bed down there upon to rest our wearied limbs, disturbed by naught save the cool breeze which penetrated the few and scanty blankets that covered us and on occasional outburst of screams from the coyote. From this place can now be heard the rattling of machinery, the noise of the hammer and axe, the tinkling of cow bells, the voice of both male and female. In short, everything that was familiar and tends to remind us of our native homes and absent friends. ¹

*Another view of Grass Valley, dated 1852*

I have not seen nor heard of any of my country since I wrote last. Tell Bro. R. I have not heard of S. Bryan since March. If he has heard since, I would like him to inform me. We have a US Post Office at this place. Should anybody think it worth their while to write me, they will please direct to Grass Valley, Nevada county, I will then stand some chance of getting them. ²

Dear mother, I hope this unconnected and uninteresting letter may reach you in due time and find you in good health and spirits and do not forget that a few lines from you, dear Mother, will be so gratefully received. My love to all. Adieu. Adieu. Your affectionate son, — Jno. Andrew Smith

*A facsimile of John A. Smith’s grave marker.*

¹ The Nevada Journal of 19 April 1851 boasted that Grass Valley was already a place of “growing importance.” It reported that “It already contains a population of some 2,000 souls, about 200 houses, and some 59 trading establishments. Two saw-mills and three steam quartz crushing machines are now in operation there—some of them running night and day, and several others are in progress of erection. The attention of quartz rock operators, which was at first attracted to the northern portion of the State, is now fast becoming concentrated in this neighborhood. The gold bearing quartz in this region is almost inexaustible, and is found in every direction for miles around. On gold hill, where the rock was first discovered, several hundred tons have been taken out. Large quantities have also been taken out of other hills. The rock on gold hill we found to be unusually rich.

² A US Post Office was established in Grass Valley, Nevada County, California, in 1851. The town was named Grass Valley at that time, having previously been known as Boston Ravine since its settlement in 1849.

20th Iowa Infantry

1862: Elisha M. Hummel to Mattie E. Snider

February 1, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

*I could not find an image of Elisha Hummel but here is one of Andrew J. Grace who was the same age and also served in Co. C, 20th Iowa Infantry. (Iowa Civil War Images)*

The following letter was written by Elisha M. Hummel (1838-1866) who enlisted in August 1862 when he was 25 years old to serve in Co. C, 20th Iowa Infantry. He was made a corporal and remained with his regiment until 16 November 1863 when he was discharged for disability at Mound City, Illinois. The letter was datelined from their camp at Marysville on 6 November 1862—just one month before the Battle of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. In that engagement the regiment marched 110 miles in three days to reinforce the Union forces assembled there and when called upon to fight, they suffered 47 total casualties (8 killed, 39 wounded).

Elisha was the son of Mathias Hummel (1805-1881) and Louisa P. Mosier (1809-1890) of Winfield, Scott county, Iowa. Census records reveal that Elisha was born in Ohio and migrated with his family from Morgan county, Ohio, sometime in the late 1850s.

The only other letters I’ve transcribed (to date) by a member of the 20th Iowa were written by William Busby of Co. H. I published those 31 letters over ten years ago at: https://williambusby.wordpress.com

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp at Marysville
November 6th 1862

Much esteemed friend,

After so long a period, I seat myself to inform you that I am well at this present time hoping you are the same. I have not been shot yet. We are on our way to Springfield. I think we will go to St. Louis and then go down the river where there is something to do. The rebels is afraid of us. They won’t stand fire here so we will go down the river to find work to do. We have had some very hard marching. The dust is so bad that we can’t see each other in the road. It nearly smothers us to march.

I sent you a [letter] some time since so I can’t think of much this time. I am looking for an answer every day, or every mail. The weather is dry and the days warm but the nights is cool so we can get along very well. The time slips along fast and smooth but we can’t have so much fun as I had last winter when I was down there to Uncle Bill’s. I would like to be down there this winter. I think I will be down there [before] long to see the folks. I think the war will end before long. I hope so anyhow. If I ever get free, I am coming down to see the folks.

We are 25 miles from Springfield now. We will go there tomorrow, I think, and then to Rolla, then take the cars for St. Louis. That is what we think now and I hope it may be so. It is very hard work to march night and day. We marched 84 hours and only got 6 hours sleep. That was pretty tuff on us. But I have stood it very well so far—only my feet, they get very sore sometimes. The road is so full of pebbles that it is hard on our feet.

Well, Miss Snider, I often think of you and that car ride that we have talked about in our letters. It would be a pleasant thing to me to take a pleasure ride with some nice lady. It is very seldom that I get to see a girl here. What few I do see is secesh and I do not like them very well. Just wait until I get out of war, you won’t catch me in this trap again, I think.

Mark Lockerbie Thomson (1835-1916), a native of Scotland, was the Captain of Co. C, 20th Iowa Infantry. He had previously served in Co. B, 2nd Iowa Infantry and participated in the Battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh where he was wounded. (Find-A-Grave)

We have the best captain in the regiment. He was formerly a private in the 2nd Iowa Infantry and is now a captain in the 20th Iowa Infantry and a nice man.

Times is very hard here for you can’t buy anything here at all at any price hardly. I have only received one letter from [you] since I enlisted, I would like to hear from you once more. Can’t you write any more? You can write if you will. I hope you will write often to me and let me know how you are getting along in the land of rest or land of peace.

Well I must go and get a load of rails so as to get our supper. Well, I have been after the rails so I will finish this epistle. I sent cousin Anna a letter some time since but I have not received an answer yet but am looking for one every day from her and J. M. Hummel. When you write, tell me who he is waiting on now for he won’t tell her name. Well, I can’t write much more this time because it is getting late. I have no good place to write on. I just have to sit down on the ground and I am kept very busy the most of the time.

The Boys is full of fun today. I think they will have good times when they get to St. Louis. I will write when I get to Rolla or before if I have time. Direct to Benton Barracks, Mo., Elisha M. Hummel, Co. C, 20th Iowa Infantry in care of Capt. M. L. Thomson

To follow the regiment.

Please write soon. Yours as ever. — Elisha M. Hummel to Mattie E. Snider

When this you see, remember me. Goodbye. 1862

Kansas Nebraska Bill

1854: Bishop Perkins to Charles Anthony

January 31, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

Bishop Perkins was a Representative from New York; born in Becket, Berkshire County, Mass., September 5, 1787; attended private school at East Granville, Mass., and was graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., in 1807; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1812 and commenced practice in Lisbon, N.Y.; subsequently moved to Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, N.Y., and continued the practice of law; clerk of the board of supervisors of St. Lawrence County 1820-1852; appointed district attorney of St. Lawrence County February 24, 1821, and served until May 21, 1840; member of the State constitutional convention in 1846; member of the State assembly in 1846, 1847, and again in 1849; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1855); was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; returned to Ogdensburg, N.Y., and continued the practice of his profession until his death there November 20, 1866; interment in Ogdensburg Cemetery.

Perkins wrote the letter to Charles Anthony, born in 1816 somewhere in Jefferson County, New York. Later he settled in Gouverneur, Saint Lawrence County, New York, where he pursued a career as an attorney. He also had business interests in banking, saw mills, and railroads, and was active in the civic and political affairs of Gouverneur, serving as town supervisor from 1850 to 1852, and as postmaster from 1853 to 1855.

In his letter, in which he conveys copies of the Nebraska Bill—recently passed by the US Senate—to his constituents back home, Perkins references the last-minute amendment put forth by North Carolina Senator George E. Badger (the “Badger Proviso”). This amendment altered the bill to ensure that it would not reinstate any pre-existing laws concerning slavery in the newly established territories. Although he articulated a desire to address the House regarding the Bill, it remains uncertain whether Perkins had the opportunity to do so. Prior to its enactment, Congress revisited the legislation to establish two separate territories—Kansas and Nebraska—and to formally repeal the Missouri Compromise.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Washington [D. C.]
March 10, 1854

Charles Anthony, Esqr.

Dear Sir, yours of the 7th inst. is duly received. Each member of Congress has forty copies, I distribute 17 of those to Herkimer [county], 23 to our county [St. Lawrence]. I have sent one to your [Ogdensburg] Academy & one to Judge [Edwin] Dodge—all that I think I can fairly give your town. I assure you I have no friend I would be more delighted to gratify than yourself but I feel these books are not mine. I am only a trustee for their fair & honorable distribution.

It is true [George Edmund] Badger’s amendment modified the bill somewhat, yet it is far—very far—from being satisfactory. It leaves an open question—viz: Is slavery a common law matter of State rights of property in negroes recognized by the Constitution only to be prevented by legislation, or is it a municipal local law which under our system can only exist by legal enactment. I have a pretty clear conviction that the Southern judges who compose the majority of our Supreme bench will hold the former & the judges of non slaveholding states the latter. Beside, it is just as certain as that two & two make four that a Southern judge will be appointed for Kanzas and no man can be appointed & confirmed by the Senate as the judge of that territory whose sentiments on that question are unknown, nor any unless his views are thoroughly Southern on the question.

I get on here very satisfactorily to myself and find more respect paid to the expression of my opinions than I expected so early in the session. Indeed, I flatter myself my standing in the House is tolerably respectable.

I presume I shall speak on the Nebraska Bill. I now intend doing so if I can get the floor in any tolerable season.

Truly yours, — Bishop Perkins

16th Massachusetts Infantry

1862: George Foster Brown to Lydia (Sawtelle) Brown

January 31, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by George Foster Brown (1833-1863) who on 29 June 1861 mustered into Co. H, 16 Massachusetts Infantry, and was KIA on 2 July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He wrote the letter to his widowed mother, Lydia (Sawtelle) Brown (1797-1885) of Waltham, Massachusetts. His father, Aaron Brown, died in 1853. Serving with George in the same company was his brother, CharlesL. Brown (1840-1863).

The Massachusetts brothers, George and Charles Brown, were both mortally wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. “On July 21, 1863, residents of the town of Waltham, Massachusetts gathered at the First Methodist Society to comfort a widowed mother of two local young men who had perished on a distant battlefield in Pennsylvania. It was an impressive and touching service, conducted by members of the Masonic order, augmented by a solemn organ and choir. George F. Brown had enlisted at the same time with his brother, and was also mustered into Company H, but at the rank of sergeant. It was something of a miracle that the body of Lieutenant George F. Brown had been found. Lieutenant George F. Brown of Company B, had been shot through the brain and foot. Charles found himself posted at the Daniel Klingle place on the Emmitsburg road. It was nearly 7 p.m. on July 2, 1863 and the enemy was closing in from two directions at once, the 18th Mississippi approaching from the south, and the 10th and 11th Alabama from the west. In the merciless crossfire Charles was struck in the shoulder and in two other unspecified spots. While Mr. Greene was busy making arrangements for the recovery of George’s body, Charles unexpectedly took a sudden turn for the worse. He succumbed on the morning of July 11. Now Mr. Greene stayed on to ensure both men were embalmed and transported to Waltham, where they could be properly honored and mourned. Both local heroes had rendered their “last full measure of devotion” to their country.”
[Sources: Waltham Sentinel, July 24 and 31, 1863; Diary of Charles L. Brown, Massachusetts Historical Society, uncovered by author Greg Coco, whose collection resides at the Gettysburg National Military Park, Box B-10.]

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp near Fort Worth
Alexandria, Virginia
September 19, 1862

Dear Mother,

We are still here. Don’t know how long we shall stay but I hope during the war. They are digging rifle pits around these hills. Charley has been sick ever since he come back. He is better this morning. The Dr. told him he should give him something to give him an appetite in the morning.

I received my box last Tuesday. Everything in it was spoilt except the sugar and what was in the bottles. The cork was out of that bottle of wine so I didn’t get so much as a smell of it. Those boxes that Mr. Scott sent came last night. That handkerchief and shirt came very acceptable. The rest you had better kept at home.

I wrote [sister] Mandana for a handkerchief. Don’t send it now. I don’t know what you think we are made of if you think we can lug as much clothing as we should have at home. I had three good pairs of stockings before these came. Two is enough. We have to throw away what we can’t carry.

We have a tent, one rubber and one woolen blanket and overcoat to carry. That is load enough fora jackass. It is enough to make a minister swear to have you keep sending stuff and writing to know if I don’t want something more to lug when I have wrote you time and again that when I wanted anything, I would let you know. Now I hope you will not send anymore clothes to me until I send for them.

Our boys that was wounded are doing well. Savage was taken prisoner [and[ is at Annapolis. I received a letter from him Wednesday. I let Howard have a paper of sugar that came in that box for Greene. He will pay George off some of them for it if they will let him know how much it is. — G. F. B.

114th New York Infantry, Fall of Richmond, US Colored Troops

1864-65: Daniel Webster Turner to Vesta Turner

January 31, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letters were written by Daniel Webster Turner (1837-1932), the son of Samuel and Amanda (Wells) Turner of Oxford, Chenango county, New York. Daniel enlisted at age 25 on 23 July 1862 to serve three years in Co. A, 114th New York Infantry. He was quickly promoted to first sergeant and later commissioned a second lieutenant. He was named Captain of his company on 20 June 1863 and wounded in action on 19 September 1864, at Winchester, Virginia. He mustered out with his company on 8 June 1865 at Washington, D. C.

Daniel wrote the letters to his younger sister Vesta Turner.

To read letters by other members of the 114th New York Infantry published on Spared & Shared, see:
Asa Holmes, Co. A, 114th New York (10 Letters)
Erastus R. Gregory, Co. C, 114th New York (1 Letter)
Elbridge LaMunion, Co. G, 114th New York (1 Letter)
Charles E. Thompson, Co. G, 114th New York (1 Letter)

Letter 1

Headquarters 114th New York Camp
Russell, Virginia
December 16th 1864

Dear Brother & Sister,

Your kind favor of the 9th inst. came to hand last night & I was very glad to hear that you were enjoying your usual health &c. I was somewhat surprised to hear that Charley is going to be married so soon but I had a letter a few days since that informed me that it was going to take place soon without doubt as he was making some preparations for the occasion, &c.

The weather has been very cold here for the last week and very good sleighing a portion of the time. It is more mild at present but is frozen up so that there is no mud to bother about getting about. I have very comfortable quarters at present & can keep very comfortable if I can get wood enough to burn which is a pretty scarce article about here & is growing more & more so each day, &c.

There has been no move here of late, the weather being too severe to admit of anything except doing picket duty, &c. which is very trying these cold nights. Many of the men freeze their feet & ears &c.

We have good news from Sherman &c. stating that his campaign has been a perfect success & that he has reached Savannah and that a battle was going on for the possession of that city which is probably ours before this. The Rebs are evidently taken somewhat by surprise at the course that the Rebellion is assuming & many of them are anxious to return to the Union, &c. The success of Sherman & the cutting of the railroads that lead to Richmond which must sooner or later fall & I think that the time is not far distant. Our Corps from the Army of the Shenandoah are at present with Foster & cooperating with Sherman. There is a report that Early is going to attempt to regain possession of the Valley again but he may find a hard job if our force is reduced nearly one half, &c.

I have had the easiest time as far as duty is concerned since I came back that I ever had. Have not been on duty but once aside from drill &c. Crumb has got his mind made up to go home. He has sent in for a leave of absence but whether it will be granted or not remains to be determined. My company remains quite small as yet but is gaining slowly. Have 22 men present for duty but some of them are not armed. One man came back that has been absent a year and a half & has had three furloughs within the last five months.

There is some dull times among the officers. Many of them have become perfectly reckless since the two last battles & are drinking very hard. But when the Old Colonel got back they had to be a little more cautious. But it is bad enough now. I never saw such a change in the appearance of men in so short a time as there was in some of them in the time that I was absent from the regiment & the example that they set before the men tends to do away with all dissipation as they are not respected by their men, &c.

You may send me eight of those photographs when you get them—that is if they are good ones & do what you are a mind to with the rest. You had not better enclose them all at one time &c. Please to give my respects to all enquiring friends & especially give my congratulations to the Bride & Groom or which are to be soon. I should enjoy being there very much but it is not destined so to be but I shall think of the time & remember that others are enjoying themselves, &c. Write often & tell me all of the news & what is going on about home &c. From your affectionate brother, — D. W. Turner, Capt., 114th N. Y. S. V.

Letter 2

Camp Sheridan, Virginia
March 12th 1865

Dear Sister Vesta,

Your much welcome letter of March 4th came to hand last evening & I was very glad to hear that you were all well &c. Everything remains quiet about here & has for some time except the excitement that it caused by the prisoners that Sheridan captured arriving here the first of last week which we had to take charge of and delivered to Harpers Ferry.

The weather is much more pleasant than it has been & we have now & then a real spring day which we enjoy very much by sunning ourselves in much the same manner that fools do in a warm pleasant day.

We do not get any news from Sheridan since the capture of the prisoners above mentioned but we feel confident that he will accomplish his object before he returns if he returns at all.

We had a Review this morning at eleven a.m. which went off very well. Men looked finely for the season. We are having services regularly for the Sabbath at two p.m. and 6.30 p.m. & prayer meetings twice each week, but there is not a very large attendance.

There is not as strong signs of a move as a week or ten days since but we may be ordered out when we are least expecting it. The Pay Master was here & paid us off last Friday. Your humble servant got a little over a thousand in green backs which will enable me to pay up my debts & send a little home as soon as there is an opportunity to do so.

Your letter seems to carry the idea that the Rouses are as flirty as ever & if they cannot rule, that they desert their collars.

I suppose that you will be making sugar by the time that this reaches you—that is, if the weather is as warm as usual at this season of the year. How is Charlie & wife getting along farming? and what are the news in general? Write often and let me know what is going on about Preston & the surrounding towns. Give my love to all, &c. — D. W. Turner

114th N. Y. S. Vols.

Letter 3

*Gen. Gofrey Weitzel leads his Black troops into Richmond on 3 April 1865.*

Camp Sheridan, Virginia
April 4, 1865

Dear Sister Vesta,

Your letter reached me in due time & I was very glad to hear that you were all enjoying good health & that you had not suffered from the effects of the flood which I learn by the papers has been very destructive, particularly in the western part of the State.

We have not moved as yet as you will see by the heading of my letter but are in readiness to move at a moment’s warning. Our surplus baggage has been sent to the rear or is in readiness to send as soon as transportation is furnished.

There has been quite an addition made to our force within the last few days. Hancock’s Corps & part of the Fourth Crops are here so there is quite a strong force in the Valley but it is pretty badly scattered at present. A force about ten thousand strong moved up today but I am not informed of their destination—whether they are going into camp in the vicinity of Winchester or going to push up the Valley. Our Division is to be known in the future as Dwight’s Division of the Army of the Shenandoah & is not assigned to any Corps at present.

The weather is somewhat changeable but is quite pleasant most of the time except now and then a rainstorm which are not of very long duration. Most of the time is taken up by drills, inspections, reviews, &c. Had a recruit in my company last evening [who] has ben in the Confederate service 18 months but got tired & made up his mind to try ours for three years.

Sheridan & Grant are everlastingly thrashing the confederates about Richmond & at last compelled them to evacuate the place & to seek some other place of defense, but if they cannot hold Richmond after expending three years on its defenses, how can they expect to cope with our army in the open field & no defensive works?

The news at present are very encouraging & I hope that they may continue to be so & that Grant may cut Lee off & prevent a junction with Johns[t]on & demoralize & shatter his army so that they can never be got together again. The gentry of Richmond must have felt pretty indignant when Gen. [Godfrey] Weitzel marched his colored troops in & took possession of the place. But it is a good lesson & will learn them that they have got to submit to military law although it may be carried into force by the darkey. The Confederacy is at last on its last legs & must soon succumb to the hateful Yanks although he may be worse than the brute in their estimation.

Maj. Curtis returned to the regiment last evening from Frederick, Maryland. Capt. Baker has been ordered back & will probably return in a day or two. General Emory has been assigned to the command at Cumberland, Maryland.

Yunxy [?] is well but is getting somewhat demoralized. Has got to gumming it & loses his money about as fast as he earns it. Everything remains quiet. There has not been any attack by guerrillas for some time & things are getting to be quite monotonous, not having anything to disturb us for the last three months or over. Please write soon & tell me all that is going on about home &c. Give my love to all. From your affectionate brother, — D. W. Turner, Capt., 114th N. Y. Infantry Vol.

Antislavery Movement, Conscientious Objection, Massachusetts Homefront, President Abraham Lincoln

1863: Sam & Julia to Mother

January 31, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

Without investing more time, I’m unable to attribute this letter to any specific family. The author was “Sam” and his wife was “Julia.” He wrote the letter from Reading—probably Massachusetts—and his mother lived far away—possibly in or near Rockford, Illinois. We know that Sam raised sheep and sold his wool to market. We also know that Sam did not share the Antislavery views of his Governor nor of the Lincoln Administration. There are other names mentioned in his letter that may be clues to the identity of his siblings.

The letter provides us with a viewpoint that was not particularly unusual among the northern population during the American Civil War. Clearly Sam would have voted for the Democratic Ticket advocating for peace on any terms—the Constitution as it was; the Union as it was. In other words, in 1864 he probably voted for George McClellan. Many began to believe that Lincoln was unequal to the task at hand. Sam most likely would have been a conscientious objector based on his religious beliefs though this did not exempt him from federal draft laws and he would have been compelled to pay for a substitute or face imprisonment.

*This cartoon appeared in Harper’s Magazine in January 1863. It captures the mood of a significant segment of the northern population.*

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Reading [Middlesex county, Massachusetts?]
March 1st 1863

Dear Mother,

How do you do? How goes the times this curious winter? We have had an open winter here without any sleighing—not one good day of sleighing yet & March is stealing upon us. We are well and trying to enjoy ourselves the best we can in this ungodly war. I call it so because the devil rules the whole thing & there is no prospect of peace as I see while Old Abe Lincoln is at the helm.

Peace is better than war anytime & in every place better in a family—better in a neighborhood. I had rather be called a coward than to fight & then be disapproved of God. If you can find any command of the Savior to fight, just write to me, the place, and do it quick. Peace is better under any circumstance whatever. Maybe you think me a Quaker & so I am in this respect. I think we are not converting the world very fast just now. We have always had peace & plenty under the old democracy & would to God we had it now.

Talk about honor—not one word of it. All they are trying to do is to build up the Abolition party & make money, and unless we stop soon we shall surely wreck on a rocky shore in a strange land. I do not know when I may be called. We hear that a law is passed to take just who they please. But most of the folks here think there will be some serious times about then. Yet we have some hope of peace.

We have picked up a few little notions to send you & you will find them at the Express Office in Rockford. Charges are all paid & you please to send us a letter with all the good news from your own family & all the rest that will entertain Sam & wife. My taxes this year were bout $13. We will have taxes enough to pay aside from three times as much to pay on all we buy. But such are the results of war.

Ellen, write won’t you? Mary C. & Henry owe us a letter & we want it too right away. I have not heard from Horatio & Edmunds in some time. If you have, please give me the news. Times are perhaps as they are with you. I am wintering about 100 sheep and hope to get a good price for wool & yet if the war would stop, I would willingly give it away. One of our neighbors was drafted & had to give $190 to get a man in his place. If a man does not want to make sure work of dying in 9 months, then he don’t want to go to war.

We have got an abolition Governor & that’s mean. I will send you a paper now and then if you would like it. I would have been glad to sent you some green apples but they would have froze. I will try and send you some in the fall if we all live so long. Express charges are high & it is not always sure to send by railroad companies. I should be glad to let you have a good many things if you lived anywhere near. Take things on th bright side & may all try to live so as to meet in the better land. Respects to all. So now good night. — Sam & Julia

Post-war Virginia

1865: John Alexander Swetnam to Thomas Levi Swetnam

January 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by John Alexander Swetnam (1824-1867) to his younger brother, Thomas Levi Swetnam (1830-1898). They were two of at least nine children born to Levi S. Swetnam (1785-1838) and Frances Buckner Roane (1792-1858) of Hartwood, Stafford county, Virginia. John was married to Elizabeth (Bettie”) Keith Ford (1824-1882) and had four children—Addie (b. 1846), Charles (b. 1849), Thomas (b. 1854) and Mary (b. 1858). Thomas married Keturah Marie White (1837-1917) in 1857 and was living in Florence (near Cincinnati), Boone county, Kentucky during the Civil War. Clearly their residencies prior to and during the war prevented the two brothers from seeing each other.

“In April 1865, Stafford’s Civil War soldiers returned to a desolated and defeated land. Destruction had been nearly complete and Stafford’s recovery would take a century. About 1,000 Stafford men had fought in the Confederate forces – mostly in the 47th, 30th, 40th and 55th Virginia Infantry Regiments, the 9th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, and the Stafford Light Artillery. Those Staffordians who remained notoriously remained loyal to the Confederate cause, assisting cavalry reconnaissance, spying and refusing to trade with the occupying Federal forces. There were exceptions – a number of citizens were deemed sufficiently loyal to receive postwar compensation from the Southern Claims Commission. Several actively spied for the Union at great personal risk. A number of former Union soldiers returned and became Staffordians themselves.” [see Civil War in Stafford—Overview]

*I believe the Swetnam family lived in the area west of Falmouth, north of Banks Ford. There are some Swetnam’s marked on the map but its spelled “Swetman” instead*.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Laurel Cottage
October 15, 1865

Well Thom,

As I am alone this morning I will write to you. I received your letter a few days after it was written. I will proceed and answer your inquiries first. There were several skirmishes in the road just opposite our house and one considerable little fight down the road near Falmouth. The Yankees got whipped every time. 33 were killed and not one of our boys were hurt except one. Young Curtis got his arm broken but he got well and made a good soldier afterward.

I can give you no idea of the state of things we have had here in the last four years unless I could see you. I hope it will not be long before you come now the year is drawing to a close. You say I stated in my first letter that the house and barn at Holly Hill were still standing. Well they are and that is about all on the place. There is no fence around the place at all except a lot Mrs. Pulliam has in corn. Oh yes, the old kitchen and cornhouse are there. Mrs. Pulliam has taken better care of the place this year. You say I said it was unlike many others in the neighborhood and you want to know whose houses have been destroyed. Well the house and all the out houses at Green Bank have been destroyed. The house and all the out houses at Mr. Sanford’s old place. The house and all the out houses at Aunt Nancy’s old place—not a vestige left. Mr. Ballard’s house almost destroyed though he has moved back and is repairing it. I just name those immediately around us. All of these were destroyed by the Yankees, besides every church in the county. Some of the churches were burned, others pulled down to build the huts. Even the old school house was pulled down.

Stafford Court House was almost destroyed—nothing left except the walls and roof. The records were all destroyed. All this was done by the Yankee army. The oficers robbed private houses and sent the furniture North. They even took ladies and children’s wearing apparel and sent them to their wives and children. I write this upon the authority of a reliable person who saw the clothes and furniture at the North and recognized them.

You want to know if Fredericksburg was much burned. Yes, a greater portion of it was burned or battered down. I cannot enter into a detail account.

Joe Swetnam is living at his mother’s. He made a good soldier. ¹ I have not seen Hickerson or Lucy since she got your letter. ² She got a letter from Eliza a short time ago but I don’t know what was in it. I only heard she had received a letter and they were all well. Aunt Willie and Mr. Lunsford were home last Sunday and came on Saturday and Robert and his wife came for them Sunday. I was quite sick. I have not been as well as usual for a week or two. Bettie has gone to town to stay a day or two so I am alone as the boys are always out. This is a rainy day—the first we have had for a month or more. It has been so dry that we could not seed though we do but little. I tell you, farming is a small business in Old Stafford now.

Addie is still at her grandpa’s. Will stay all the winter. I would like for to be here when you come. Write as soon as you get this and let me know when you expect to get here. We all look forward with pleasure to see you in Old Stafford once more. Oh how glad I will be. Charlie says he is going to have a fine time hunting when Uncle Thom comes. I will now stop as I have filled this sheet. All send love to you and family. Yours truly, — John

¹ Joseph F. Swetnam (1835-1892) served in Co. A, 9th Virginia Cavalry. He was from Stafford county, Virginia. In 1870, he lived in Hartwood, Stafford county.

² John Hore Hickerson (1818-1875) and his wife, Lucy Frances Buckner Swetnam (1824-1878). Hickerson was a farmer in Hartwood, Stafford county, Virginia.

Gen. Ulysses S.Grant, Maine Homefront, Portland, Maine

1865: Jennie (Graham) Stevens to George Byron Stevens

January 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by Jean (“Jennie”) S. Graham (1843-1921), the wife of George Byron Stevens (1839-1926). Jennie was the daughter of William Graham (1812-1866) and Ann Creighton (1812-1856), emigrants from Perth, Scotland. Her brother was Capt. Charles Creighton Graham of Co. E, 29th Maine Infantry.

Jennie wrote the letter to her husband who served as a 1st Lieutenant in Co. E, 25th Maine Infantry but then reenlisted again as a private in February 1865 in Co. H, 30th Maine Infantry. Much of the beginning of the letter is doting on their young child, Jean Mae (“May”) Stevens, which is understandable given that their first two children, both boys, died as infants in 1862 and 1864. Jennie’s husband, George, was a teacher in Stevens Plains when he enlisted in Co. E of the 25th Maine Infantry on September 29, 1862 and was soon promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He and Jennie were married on Dec. 1, 1861.

There is a lengthy description of Gen. Grant’s visit to Portland, Maine, with his wife Julia in August 1865.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Stevens Plains [Maine]
Wednesday evening, August 2nd, 1865

My dear husband,

We are all well at home tonight. Baby May has gone to bed. She is well & has her doody today. Darling little May and she grows more beautiful every day, Mama thinks. Her cunning little [ ] and sweet smiles more than repay me for all that I have suffered for her dear sake. She received the poetry from her dear father this morning. I think that she was pleased to hear her Mother read it as she kept very quiet and looked up in my face and smiled so sweetly. I wish her papa could haveseen her then. It would I know have repaid him for writing it. I hope that she will live to fully appreciate the pretty lines written to her childhood by her dear soldier father & give him her opinion of them. Mother thinks them beautiful—more beautiful perhaps because I know that they come from your heart. I think the third verse so sweet & full of poetry pet. The fifth verse is good. They are all good. I believe every word in the last verse is truly heartfelt by you, darling, & I hope your prayer may be answered. I will do all in my power to smooth the rouygh places in your path through life, dearest, and ever pray God to bless my darling husband & make him happy…

Aunt Ada said that she saw by the Argus yesterday the 30th [Maine] Regiment were expected home soon. I have seen nothing of it in the press. I do not put much confidence in anything that I hear. When I see anything official, I will believe it….

Thursday morning, August 3rd. Dear George, I will try and finish this letter this morning…Itis very warm. Not a breath of wind stirring. It is going to be a hot day. I shall not do much but try to keep myself and baby May cool. It is very comfortable in the sitting room with the windows all up, the blinds shut & the mosquito bars in to keep the flies out. I wish you had a mind to stop in but I thinnk I can imagine just how you look, darling, with nothing on but your drawers & shirt. How much I would like to see you dear hubby. I often imagine how you are situated and how live, but I do not suppose that I get any kind of a right idea of it. I suppose you live something as the gypsies use to that were encamped up by the railroad. I hope you will get home soon darling…

*Massachusetts Weekly Spy, 4 August 1865*

Gen. Grant arrived in Portland yesterday afternoon at half past four o’clock. John, Irene, & I went in to see him. We saw him four times. had a good chance to see him every time. I think he looks something like you George. His family were with him. He wore an old slouched felt hat, no shoulder straps—nothing to show his rank. His hat was like the one that [brother] Charlie wore when he was home last winter. His face is very pleasant. He appears very modest and retiring. The first time his carriage passed us I didn’t see anyone but the General. The next time it passed us I looked at his wife. She was dressed very plain. She wore a gray traveling dress suit, dress & cape alike, a plain straw hat trimmed with black velvet. I could not see her face. She held a large bouquet in her hand right up so that we could not see her face from where we stood.

The people cheered as they passed through the streets and ladies waved their pocket handkerchiefs. The General lifted his hat and his wife waved her handkerchief. He had quite an escort from the depot. The policemen, citizens in hacks, soldiers from the fort & from Camp Berry with the 17th U. S. Infantry Band.

After they arrived at the Preble House where they stopped, the General stepped out on the balcony and showed his thanks to the people. He did not say much. I believe he is no speech maker. He is a man of deeds, not words. Mother took care of baby May for me to go in. She was good—slept most of the time I went in… I was not gone very long. We got in just in time to see him. We did not start for the house until we heard the guns. He held a reception at the City Hall. This forenoon, Mother & Sarah Ballard went in to so Mother saw him too. It is getting to be quite late. I do not get to writing in very good season & then I am slow at it even if I do scribble it off as fast as I can & make it look as bad as possible… Yours only, from Jennie

The Preble House at right on Congress Street in Portland.

6th Connecticut Infantry, Bermuda Hundred, Commissary of Subsistence, James' Landing, Virginia

1864: Cardella E. Brown to his Relatives

January 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

This beautifully written letter was penned by Cardella E. Brown (1841-1896) who was a clerk at the Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut in 1860. His parents were divorced and he lived with his mother in Hartford while his father lived in New York City with his second wife and Cardella’s brother Gerald and sister Lulette, while Brown’s other brother Henry was employed as a printer in Boston.

In September, 1861, Brown was mustered in as a Corporal in Co. B of the 6th Connecticut Regiment. He served three years and muster rolls record that he was discharged in September 1864 as a Sergeant. It’s presumed that Cardella elected to stay with the army following his discharge to serve as a civilian in the commissary. Suffering from depression, Cardella shot himself in 1896 at the age of fifty-five, leaving a widow and three sons—one of whom was named Cardella Drake Brown (the “Drake,” no doubt, from his “Uncle Drake” who is mentioned in this letter.)

The Huntington library holds three volumes belonging to Cardella E. Brown. The first is a letterpress copybook containing approximately 100 outgoing personal letters Brown wrote from 1859 to 1861 while he was living in Hartford, Connecticut and working as a clerk at Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company. The letters are addressed to Brown’s parents, siblings, a cousin, and other family members and friends. The detailed and candid letters are written in a conversational tone devoid of usual epistolary formalities. The letters comment on a wide range of topics, including Brown’s personal life and sexuality, goings on in Hartford, and state and national politics of the 1860 election year. He talks in detail about Stephen A. Douglass, the anticipated secession of South Carolina, the Buchanan administration, and the hanging of John Brown. [Archived @ The Huntington]

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Office Depot Commissary
Jones’ Landing, Va.
December 22d 1864

My dear Aunt,

Pray excuse me for not writing you before but I have been so very busy for the last month that my time has not been my own. We have been relieved from Jones’ Landing—I should say Bermuda Hundred—and are stationed as the heading of this will inform you. I would write a desription of the place had I the power but my descriptive muse has forsaken me. Suffice to say that we are somewhat nearer the City of Richmond than before. Firing can be distinctly heard whenever it takes place & “they say” that the “Johnnies” can throw a shell over here if they see fit to (provided our forces will allow them). I haven’t heard the hum of a shot or shell since the last time I was at the Regiment. May be so unfortunate as to hear one to my sorrow before long.

We are waiting anxiously for Grant to do something that will eclipse Sherman’s late successful movement in Georgia, but I am afraid that we will continue waiting for some time to come. Once in a while our boys have a slight rub with the Rebs and come off victorious—at least the papers say so, & you know they never lie. Although so near the front, I never can learn any news from there directly, but depend altogether upon the Northern papers for any information from the “seat of war.”

While at Bermuda Hundred, I met an old schoolmate named Jason Shepard. We used to go to school together on Lord’s Hill [in Hartford]. He belongs to the 21st Connecticut. Was much surprised to learn that I had served my term of three years and had a great many things to talk about. ¹

A person just from Bermuda Hundred says that Andy Marshall is there & will be out here tomorrow, so that his leg must be pretty nearly recovered. Hope he will not be ordered to his Regiment. ²

I sent one of my pictures to the old gentleman who thinks tis a capital likeness. I haven’t received one from you as yet. Hope to soon. I am enjoying first rate health & am having a pretty good time generally. Give my love to Uncle Drake & to all interested in my welfare or write to your affectionate nephew, – Cardella

Received a couple of papers from you. Accept thanks, — Card.

¹ Jason J. Shepard (1841-1916) served in Co. A of the 21st Connecticut Infantry from 5 September 1862 until 22 November 1863 when he was transferred to the US Signal Corps. He was discharged from th service in June 1865. He was born in western Massachusetts but in 1860 was residing in Hartford, Connecticut. After the war he married and settled in Hartford until late in life when he moved to California.

² Andrew Marshall was the 2nd Lieutenant of Co. B, 6th Connecticut Infantry.

Recruitment in Cincinnati, Ohio

1861: George Washington Neff to Unidentified Colonel

January 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by George Washington Neff (1833-1892), the son of George Washington Neff (1800-1850) and Maria White (1802-1871). It was penned less than a week following the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861.

A biographical sketch of the author can be found on Find-A-Grave which reads: “Union Civil War Officer, Brevet Brigadier General. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended Woodward College and worked as a shoe merchant and an insurance agent.

Before the Civil War, he served with the Rover Guards, a detachment of local militia. In 1861, he was appointed to organize the 2nd Kentucky Infantry, comprised mostly of Ohio soldiers, at Camp Harrison in Hamilton County, Ohio. He led the regiment into western Virginia where he was captured by Confederate forces during a skirmish at Scary Creek on July 17, 1861, and held as a prisoner of war for thirteen months.

After he was paroled, he returned to Cincinnati and commanded Camp Dennison when the camp was threatened by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid into Ohio. He then served briefly on the staff of Major General Lew Wallace in Cincinnati. He was commissioned as a Colonel in 1863 and assigned to organize the 88th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, also known as the “Governor’s Guard,” at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. He was the regiment’s commanding officer during guard duty at the camp’s prison. He received a brevet promotion from Colonel to Brigadier General on March 13, 1865. Bio by: K Guy”

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Headquarters 1st Division Ohio Vol. Inf.
Cincinnati [Ohio]
April 18, 1861

My dear Colonel.

I have neglected writing you before as I have been very busy as you may suppose as we have been called upon to defend the glorious Stars & Stripes. I conceive it my duty to stand busy then in the hour of need. I am for defending our public property at all hazards. I think it is my duty to do so. I feel the responsibility that rests upon me. I deeply regret that we are compelled to take up arms against our brothers but they have made an attack upon us and design taking possession of our National Capitol and this must never be by traitors to their country.

Our city is in intense excitement such as I never witnesses before. We have a large force enrolled for immediate action service. We sent off three fine companies, 80 men each this morning, and sent a fourth off, same number tomorrow. I am awaiting orders [and] do not know what moment I may be ordered away. We will have in the service some three or four thousand more by Saturday night ready to march in an hour’s notice.

My family are all well. I have not your letter with me to refer to as I have snatched a few moments of rest from my arduous duties to write these few lines to you.

I left Pear Street and the mercantile business on 1st January and have been attending to my little farm until called into my country’s service. I shall be glad to hear from you, my dear Colonel, at any time in camp or wherever it may be my fortune to be. I hope in case I am called into action you will hear a good report of me. I shall be surrounded by a brave set of fellows and shall endeavor to merit their esteem.

My respect to your family. I know if Mrs. Neff knew I was writing you she would have a message for one whom we often talk about and we [ ] as a friend. Goodbye my dear sir, and believe me your sincere friend, — Geo. W. Neff

In haste.