The following letter was written by William Duffield McIlvaine (1839-1916), the son of George D. McIlvaine (1805-1849) and Sarah Stauffer (1810-1901) of Gap, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. After the war, in 1870, William married Mary Elizabeth Warren (1840-1917) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while working as a salesman. By 1880 he was living in Chicago employed as a clerk in a shot manufacturer’s establishment. He died in Oak Park, Illinois.

William wrote the letter to his sister, Sarah Jane McIlvaine (1837-1921) who was about to marry Charles Blanchard Seely (1824-1901), a real estate broker of East Liberty, Pittsburg.

In the 1860 US Census, William was enumerated in his mother’s household in Salisbury (Gap Post Office) in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His occupation was given as “machinist.” The first notice I can find of him serving in the US Navy was in March 1862 when he was assigned to the steam sloop Oneida. He served aboard this vessel until some time in 1864. Five of his letters were transcribed and published on Spared & Shared in May 2022. See—1862-64: William Duffield McIlvaine to Sarah Jane Duffield.

The only record I can find on Fold 3 is a letter William addressed to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells on 16 January 1865 (see below) in which he acknowledges the receipt of orders assigning him to duty aboard the USS Agawam as a 2nd Assistant Engineer.

Transcription

USS Agawam
Richmond, [Virginia]
July 15 [1865]

My dear sister,

Your letter was received on Wednesday, just as we were starting for this place where we arrived the same night. I am very glad to get here and have been enjoying myself very much. Rode all about the city yesterday, visited various places, was through Libby Prison and at Castle Thunder. Was also in the State Penitentiary [and ] saw where Dick Turner is confined. Saw him reach above his cell door for a mug of water. If you don’t know who he is, you had better enquire. He was the jailor of Libby & starved our men & stole their money. He is now guarded by six of the very men whom he treated so badly as prisoners. They would starve him if let alone. He is getting well paid for all his crimes I am convinced and will probably swing one of these days. ¹

I had not been ashore long before I found my old friend and schoolmate Jere Horton who is on duty with the army here. He has lots of horses and wagons at his service so I can ride when or where I please. I had a very good time yesterday and expect to have some more next week. Was at Jeff Davis’s home, saw Gen. Lee’s house, was in the State House, and in fact almost everywhere. Coming up the river, saw all the fortifications and Dutch Gap Canal, which is a very small affair—contemptible. We had to run very slowly to keep off of piles, old vessels, rams, &c. sunk in the river all the way up here from City Point. On both sides of the river the banks are covered with earthworks and heavy forts. The ground seems to have been dug all over. I can truly appreciate the great work an army had to overcome to get to Richmond. Don’t think they could ever get in any other way than by cutting off the enemy’s supplies.

I am very much pleased with Richmond. It is, or has been a fine place situated on a hill in a very pretty country—scenery almost equal to Lanc. county. One can see many miles any direction from the Capitol. The river is much lower than the city and is small and narrow. There are a great many fine residences here and much shrubbery, trees, &c. A very pretty public square and I could give you no idea of all there is to be seen. One cannot look any way without seeing some house or object he has not read of during the past four years. I got some leaves from Jeff Davis’s yard and and some small stones from out of Libby Prison. I got a nice piece of grey cloth such as rebel uniforms were made of in the penitentiary where it was woven. I thought it might do to work something out of—tis only a few inches squarre. We will be here a week yet, I guess. ²

What must I say about the great news you wrote me. One naturally feels sad, at first thought, of a member of the family taking a new name and leaving home. One is apt to think she will be less to them than before. It is a new experience for our family & we rather shrink from it. On the other hand, I am happy at the prospect of your entering into this new relation and of your having a home and someone to love, for it is the natural way of living. And I pray and believe you will be happy. Of course you love the man and perhaps found it out when you got home & saw no more of him, which is a very good way to discover if we think anything of a person. No doubt Mother and Dollie feel very badly about your leaving them & we all do. You will be much missed in the neighborhood, but I think you will have much better society than in Lanc. County, except that of your home, & then ’tis not far away.

I have no doubt you feel much better now that you have decided the question. So we scatter. Soon Doll will be going & then Mother will come & live with all of us.

I will do my best to get home in September and will try every way but cannot tell till I do try. You must tell me all about Mr. S[eelly]. What he looks like—tall or short, stout or thin? What his business is, &c. I have not committed my heart to the keeping of any young lady yet, though Anna W. rather claims it I fear. But I’m free. Would like to see your friends in East Liberty very much but what chance have I at sea to form any correct opinion of any lady. I am not ashore long enough to fall in love with anyone.

Heard from Robert today. He don’t seem to know anything of your affairs. I ought to have written to Dollie this time but circumstances must be my excuse. Give much love to all at home & write soon. As ever, your affectionate brother, — W. McIlvaine

Here’s leaves from Jeff Davis’s front yard.

---

¹ The Encyclopedia Virginia informs us that, “Libby Prison’s commandant, Major Thomas Pratt Turner, had been a student at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington and then at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He left West Point in 1860, refusing to “swear allegiance to, a Government I despise and abhor.” He was described by one inmate as a man whose “utter depravity seems to have gained a full and complete expression in every lineament of his countenance.” Inmates, however, often confused Turner with another Libby official, Richard Randolph “Dick” Turner, no relation [another source says they were cousins], who was universally despised and singled out by U.S. secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton, in November 1865, for investigation into the criminal treatment of prisoners.“ It appears that Dick Turner was commissary at the prison and referred to as the “jailor.” Though Thomas Turner escaped when Richmond fell, Dick Turner was captured and held in Libby Prison for a few days until he escaped. He was caught again later and held at the State penitentiary where McIlvaine wrote that he saw him in Richmond, but he was paroled in June 1866.

² Curiously McIlvaine makes no mention of the destruction in much of the business district in the city caused by the fires set by Lee’s retreating army. The Union army is often mistakenly accused of burning Richmond but the fires were actually set by Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, Richmond’s military commander, who was ordered to destroy all of the liquor in the city and also all of the government stores. The fires were so extensive that they got out of control and burned much of the business district. Union soldiers arriving in the city attempted to put the fires out but a sudden change in the wind direction was the only thing that really saved the destruction of the entire city.