The following letter was penned by Levi Bird Duff (1837-1916), the son of Samuel Duff (1807-1890) and Catherine Eckelberger (1810-1880) of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Raised in the Saltsburg area, after graduating from Allegheny College, Levi moved to Pittsburgh to study and practice law upon his admittance to the Allegheny Bar Association in April 1860. One year later and just weeks after the start of the Civil War, Duff enlisted in Co. A, Ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. His acumen as a soldier and leader led to his rapid rise through the ranks, from corporal to captain to major to lieutenant-colonel. Duff led his troops in over twenty battles during his enlistment, such as Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. During his military career, he survived bullet wounds through the right lung and right thigh, though when the latter led to the amputation of his leg in 1864, he received an honorable discharge.

Duff returned to Pittsburgh to continue his law practice and start a family with his wife Harriet (Nixon) Duff, whom he married during the war and whom he exchanged dozens of letters during those years. He allegedly would send Harriet flowers or leaves from the battlefields he traveled to along with the letters. Duff displayed a strong passion for politics and inciting change, especially in regards to slavery and racial subjugation. He maintained the same political platforms throughout his law career, including his three-year term as district attorney of Allegheny County until 1868. Duff had two children with Harriet prior to her death in 1877. He remarried Agnes F. Kaufman in 1882. After Agnes’ death in 1913, he decided to close his law practice and move to Lansing, Michigan to spend his final years with his son Hezekiah’s family until his death in 1916. His legacy lives on through his letters recounting his war triumphs and tribulations, which 150 years later are now preserved and available to view at his alma mater Allegheny College.” [Source: Union Dale Cemetery]

Duff’s Civil War letters were edited by Jonathan E. Helmreich in 2009 and published under the title: To Petersburg with the Army of the Potomac, the Civil War Letters of Levi Bird Duff, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The letter was sent to his younger brother, Sardis Tunis Duff (1840-1930) who had apparently gone to Texas but not before being enumerated in his father’s household in Clarion, Pennsylvania, where his father was a merchant in the borough. When he registered for the draft in 1863, he was identified as a “student” in Indiana county, Pennsylvania.

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Pittsburg[h], Pennsylvania
August 5, 1860

Bro. Tunis,

Your last letter—date I don’t recollect (is at my office a mile distant & I cannot refer to it at present) came dult to hand. I am much surprised that a letter can travel from here to your country by the U. S. mail in the short space of two weeks. Verily stage coaches must be fast travelers on the prairies & verily, 2nd, what a great institution the United States are with James Buchanan at their head, & how much greater will then be when that “renowned warrior” & “great statesman” Sam Houston is sent up to Washington by the belligerent State of Texas to take the place of the “Old Public Functionary,” who is to retire by common consent on the Fourth of March next. Indeed then will Cumming’s time have come.

Hereabouts the abolition Rail-splitters threaten to ride Lincoln to Washington on a rail which he made in Macon county, Illinois, thirty years ago. ¹ Won’t this be a righteous retribution for the indulgence of his rail-mauling propensity! Men have often been treated to a ride on a rail but I never heard of a man being tortured by one of his own manufacture. Perhaps it will not come to pass in this case; but they make fierce threats & low boasts up this way of making Lincoln the victim of his own rail. The riding is to take place in November next. We want our Southern brethren to come up & aid us to ride this man Lincoln on his own rail, but they demur & say it shan’t be done; & that if, contrary to their orders, it should be done, they will dissolve the Union. Herein we think our Southern brethren are a little inconsistent. For should the same Lincoln be foolish enough to visit his native place down in Hardin county, Kentucky, how the inhabitants “round about” would long for an Illinois rail to give him a ride. Yet they won’t come up here & help us to do it. They want to do all the rail-riding themselves. We wish to partake of the fun & they object. Our fellows, notwithstanding these protests, are making the “necessary preparation” for the ride & I have no doubt it will take place next November as I before said.

But I must drop this subject for the present to ask you how Texas is getting along. Wonderful reports have reached us that the Abolitionist are burning up the State & doing many other things. I cannot recollect them all just now. How is this? Give me some information respecting these things if you can.

I see by the reports from your country & also by your letter that the weather has been very warm there this summer. This warmth may convince you that the climate is not so pleasant as you anticipated. You are, I think, a little too far south.

Let me know how the political fight goes on down there. It is now said that Sam Houston is declining & that his state will go for Breckinridge.

Your friend & bro. — Levi Bird Duff

¹ The Chicago History Museum informs us that Abraham Lincoln acquired the sobriquet “The Railsplitter” in May 1860 when Illinois Republicans convened at Decatur to endorse a favorite son for president. “Lincoln was the likely choice but his supporters felt he needed a catchier nickname than ‘Old Abe’ or ‘Honest Abe.’ Thus, Richard J. Oglesby and John Hanks, a first cousin of Lincoln’s mother, located a split-rail fence supposedly built by Lincoln in 1830. When they walked into the hall carrying two of the rails—decorated with flags, streamers, and a sign that read, ‘Abraham Lincoln/The Rail Candidate’—the crowd went wild.”

The following letter was written by Gen. John Wilson (1790-1877), a native of the Shenandoah Valley, who came to California in 1849 as Indian Agent, then as Navy Agent in San Francisco. He soon settled down to practicing law in San Francisco, becoming somewhat of a specialist in land claim cases. Wilson was active in the Whig party in California but when that party dissolved in the 1850’s, he joined other old conservatives to join the Constitution Union Party that selected John Bell and Edward Everett as their nominees for President and Vice President in 1860.

Wilson wrote this letter to his old friend, James William Denver (1817-1892) who had previously filled several military and civilian posts with the US government, most recently as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. A life-long Democrat, Denver supported the Democratic party’s nominee, Stephen A. Douglas, for the office of President in the 1860 Election.

In this letter, recognizing there was little alternative to preventing Abraham Lincoln from winning the State of California in the Election of 1860, Wilson proposes to Denver that an attempt be made to unite the conservative members of their two party’s slates of electors to cast their ballots for either Douglas (Democratic Party) or Bell (Constitutional Union Party), but not for both. If “divided at the polls, victory will perch upon abolition,” warned Wilson.

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San Francisco, [California]
26th September 1860

Hon. Jas. W. Denver, Sir:

Allow me to suggest a matter that I at least think of great importance. There ought & must be—to save the state to conservatism—a combination between the Douglass & B & E [Bell & Everett] men. I think I can answer for the latter that they will agree to a fair one. You are fully informed how I stand. I have attended no public meeting od any party. My views have been expressed to you and are generally known. I feel the negotiation ought to be prompt & more than secret—if one is made that it should be sprung upon the public like a meteor.

Let it be supposed one was in embryo & all factionists the slave dealer & slave liberator would both glory in the work of making it odious with D & B [Douglass & Bell] rank and file, so that our combination would be shorn of its force—before the matter was accomplished & would unquestionably do the matter much harm.

If I can be of service, why command me on behalf of B & E [Bell & Everet]). To begin, I would write to Gov. Downey but I have no personal acquaintance with him & therefore I address you alone. To begin—two or three ways have suggested themselves to me—your committee State Central—& such other prominent men on the D [Democratic] side—sign a paper addressed to me or anyone else they can confide in of B & E men saying our 4 electors will withdraw if yours will. Our committee will meet yours to have an equal number in joint convention. Each party shall nominate two in their own way by their own members. Then when a majority of 2/3rds of their opponents agree to such nominations, they shall be unanimously nominated as two. If a majority or the 2/3rds of their opponents do not vote for these, then nominate new ones till they are thus accepted by the opposite wing. Then so of the other side—or name two of your men who will withdraw and allow the B & E men to name two others by their committee—or propose the names of two you will withdraw & name the two B & E you will agree to in their place. In this last, be very careful you take men who are generally known & influential B & E men.

I make these suggestions to begin with. No doubt you being far more familiar with matters of this sort than I am, can easily suggest a better plan than either. I am satisfied if the public should not be aware of it till completed. Therefore, there should be speed used in every necessary preliminary. If it is thought that I would be a proper channel to carry on the negotiation, I will undertake it. But I shall much prefer some other may be selected. Depend upon it. There is danger of L [Lincoln] carrying this state. This I hold would be a great political calamity to the Union for there are a majority of conservative votes here, but being divided at the polls, victory will perch upon abolition, so says your old friend, — John Wilson

This letter was written by Peter J. Miller (1841-1910) who married Anna N. Warstler (1838-1910) on 6 September 1860 in Stark county, Ohio. In the 1860 US Census, taken in June, Peter was enumerated in the household of Mrs. M. Shellenberger of Marlboro, Stark county, Ohio. Peter’s occupation was given as “laborer.” Anna was enumerated in the same village living with her parents, Jonas and Elizabeth Warstler. By the time of the 1870 Census, Peter and Anna had relocated from Ohio to Monroe, Kosciusko county, Indiana, where Peter earned his living as a farmer.

Peter appears to have been the son of John P. Miller (b. 1813) and his wife Maria (b. 1819), both natives of Pennsylvania who resided in Bethlehem, Stark county, Ohio, in 1860.

Peter wrote the letter to his uncle George Miller (1804-1867) who was married to Lydia Newhard (1811-1890). George and Lydia had several children, to include: Christianna (b. 1837), Tilghman P. (b. 1939), William (b. 1841), Eli (b. 1844), and Peter (b. 1849). The couple lived out their days there, raising at least seven children.

Peter’s letter to his paternal uncle and family shares a reaction of Ohioans to the election of Abraham Lincoln and expresses some fear that the country will face “hard times” if the South does not “cool down” before the President’s inauguration. He informs them that the life of the president-elect has been threatened and suggests that Old John Brown is to be blamed for making the South “spunky” and emboldened them to carry out their threats of dissolution.

[This letter is from the private collection of Adam Ochs Fleischer and has been published on Spared & Shared by express consent.]

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Bridgeport, Stark County, Ohio
December 23, 1860

Dear Uncles and Aunts and Cousins,

I sit down to try to write a few lines to you to let you know that we are all well at present and so are all the rest of the friends as far as I know. And I hope these few lines will find you all well. I ought to have write to you for some time but I didn’t get at it. But I will let you know that I received your letter and I was very glad to read it and to read in it that you were all well for the times are mighty hard in Ohio at the present time for there is no money that goes except Ohio and the Old Pittsburgh Bank. That is all that goes here at the present time.

And there is a great excitement about the President that was elected. Some are almost scared to death while others only laugh at them. But for my part, I didn’t lose any sleep about it yet. But I don’t know but what we will have hard times if the South don’t cool down before the fourth of March for the way the papers say, they are going to kill the new[ly] elected President and if they will do that, then it will give hard times. But I guess they will cool down yet before that time. But all this fuss would not have been if that Old John Brown would have kept his fingers out of the Harper’s Ferry scrape. But that made the South spunky and now they are determined to dissolve the Union, and I, for my part, can’t blame them much for the black republican party used the South very mean so that I can’t blame them very much. But still it would be better to cool down than to dissolve the Union.

Further, I will let you know that I commenced to keep house and I guess we have plenty to live on for I butchered three hogs and have a quarter of a beef and I have some wheat and some buckwheat and corn. And so I guess we can get along very fine if we keep our health. And I think that it was most time for Christian[na] to catch one or else she will be in the bachelor line. That was the reason why I got married. I was afraid that they would turn me over to the bachelors and I didn’t like that. And if Christian[na] can get one in there if she will come out here, I will help her to [find] one for they are plenty here—and some old bachelors [too].

Further the weather is very agreeable. We have had some good sleighing but it didn’t last long and about the market prices, I don’t know anything. Well I guess I must bring my letter to a close for this time and I want you to write soon and not wait so long as I did. So no more but I remain your friend and well wisher till death. Excuse me for my bad scribbling and misspelling.

Peter J. Miller to George Miller
Ana M. Miller to Lydia and Christian[na] and Tilghman and William and Elias.

And all the rest of the friends and so forth. Goodbye to you all.

This letter was written by 40 year-old Benjamin Field (1820-1876), a partner with Thomas F. Langstroth (1815-1879) in the Philadelphia hardware merchant who kept a store at 440 Market Street. His home was, at the time, located at 321 S. Third Street in the Society Hill District. The Field, Langstroth & Co. was advertised in the 1860 Philadelphia City Directory as a “Hardware & Cutlery, Importers of, and Wholesale Dealers in” firm located at 440 Market Street.

According to the Death Certificates Index, Benjamin Field (Hardware Merchant) died in Philadelphia on 29 April 1876 and was buried in North Laurel Hill Cemetery. His last known residence was at 1116 Walnut Street. Benjamin was a Quaker and attended the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.

Benjamin wrote the letter to a client and friend named Maj. John Houston Bills, a wealthy planter residing in Bolivar, Tennessee—not far from Nashville. The purpose of the letter was to convey information pertaining to the intended purchase of jewelry by Major Bills but Benjamin using the opportunity to share his thoughts on the recent election of Abraham Lincoln as the next President. The “present course” of South Carolina mentioned in the letter of course refers to the calling of a convention to secede from the Union. That convention was subsequently convened and South Carolina seceded on 20 December 1861. Benjamin states in his letter that he supported South Carolina’s action thinking that only such a bold move will awaken the northern populace to the potential economic impact of disunion with the southern states and prevent the election of yet more Republicans in both houses of Congress who would pass laws that did not honor the existing Constitution.

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Philadelphia [Pennsylvania]
November 24, 1860

Major John H. Bills
Bolivar, Tennessee

Dear Sir,

The set of jewelry which Messers. Pratt & Reath were to show us today is not as near the description of your order as we supposed it might be. We have examined the stock of Bailey & Co. but do not find anything made up that answers the description. We have therefore instructed Pratt & Reath to have a set made Etruscan Gold, Carbuncle Crescent, set with pearls. They promise it by Thursday night. We hope that the worst of the financial panic is over though we will not feel decided on that subject until we see the return of the New York Banks which we get on Tuesday next 27th. We have had no failures here of consequence (except the Banks themselves) but hundreds of our deluded workmen who voted for Lincoln are already out of employment.

We think it fortunate that South Carolina has taken the present course at this time as we believe that it was necessary for the people to feel the power of southern commerce and to realize what they would suffer in losing it. The change in public sentiment within the last two weeks exceeds anything that we could have conceived possible.

We think it quite possible that if Carolina had made no stir, we would in a year or two have elected a “Republican” majority in both branches of Congress; and such a majority might pass a bill clearly unconstitutional in the eyes of the whole South, and in opposition to the decisions of the Supreme Court. Under such circumstances, the slaveholding states in a body would probably have withdrawn—never to return. Now we think it entirely clear that a majority of the slave-holding states will oppose secession, and we also think that the Northern States will withdraw all unfriendly legislation.

Until I had the law of our state published in the Pennsylvania last Monday, there was not one man in an hundred in this county knew that we had any law that interfered at all with the effective execution of the Fugitive Slave Act. The vast majority here mean to do right but they so not take the trouble to inform themselves.

Sight exchange on New York sells at 1% premium though if we buy from brokers we would pay 3%. We have no use for any at this time (I allude to our firm) as we have nothing to pay there. Our Banks are sound and can resume soon if New York continues to pay specie. It is of course merely a matter of confidence whether the New York Banks are compelled to suspend or not. Our Banks were much stronger when they suspended than in 1857, but New York was sending stocks and notes here for sale and drawing the Gold for proceeds and our Banks thought best to stop. Whether this was good policy is a question I feel a little uncertain about. I have always declined a seat as director of a Banking Institution and I am now very glad of it.

Having done all in my power to defeat Lincoln, I feel now quite cool and calm, and thinking that the present financial distress and suspended commerce is for the general good in the end, I bear my share of it with entire composure.

Truly your friend, — Ben. Field