21 April 1864

Kessler, Thomas J., fl. 1843-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his friends

Writes to his friends from camp. Informs them he received marching orders for tomorrow. Relays a rumor that General Robert E. Lee may be heading towards Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and they may head there too. Notes he sent a trunk of clothes home so he would not have to haul them. Discusses that his band made an appeal to the Secretary of War. Comments he is very discouraged and wants an honorable discharge. The letter has a watermark on the top left hand corner. Letter is addressed to his friends but envelope is addressed to his father, A. P. Kessler.

GLC03523.52.50

circa June 1865

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Pamphlet

Title: [Amnesty Proclamation]

Full printing of the oath with several circular letters appended. [The proclamation states the terms on which the citizens of the Southern states could be restored to their civil rights; Johnson's terms were much more stringent than Lincoln's, excluding 14 classes of prominent Confederates from taking the oath.] Housed in folder with .01 and .02.

GLC09326.03

5 November 1852

Smith, Gerrit, 1797-1874

Broadsheet

Title: To the voters of Oswego and Madison counties New York

Thanking them for electing him to a seat in Congress, and reprising his anti-slavery, pro-equality platform.

GLC09329.02

circa 3 March 1783

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Certificate of service for African American soldier Primas Hubbell]

Connecticut Line Continental Army, Revolutionary War African American soldier Primas Hubbell. Certification of service signed by three Kent, CT selectmen; with order for delivery of pay to Joseph Pratt, signed with "X" by Hubbell; and with attestation of above via Hubbel's appearance before Justice of the Peace Jedidiah Hubbel.

GLC09365.01

29 May 1783

Printed document signed

Title: [Receipt of payment]

Receipt of payment of eleven pounds, three shillings, and fourteen pence to Primas Hubbell, signed by selectman Joseph Pratt.

GLC09365.02

9 January 1784

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Certificate of enlistment and discharge for Samson Cuff]

Connecticut Line Continental Army, Revolutionary War African American soldier Samson Cuff. Certification of enlistment and discharge signed by four Windsor, CT selectmen. To the Committee of Paytable.

GLC09366.01

January 17, 1784

Manuscript document signed

Title: [pay request for Samson Cuff]

Pay request, signed "X" by Samson Cuff, and signed by Justice of the Peace Henry Allyn.

GLC09366.02

January 22, 1784

Phelps, Jesse, fl. 1784

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Receipt of payment]

Receipt of payment of eighteen pounds and ten shillings to Samson Cuff, signed by Jesse Phelps.

GLC09366.03

11 April 1831

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Harriet Buchanan

The only U.S. president who never married, to his sister Harriet: "When you have determined (as I trust you will not) never to marry I shall cheerfully provide you a comfortable home. It would afford me great pleasure & promote my own comfort & happiness to have you for a house keeper. Still I think you ought to marry, should a favorable opportunity offer. There is nothing very desirable in the situation of an old maid; still it is less comfortless than that of an unhappy wife."

GLC09367

2 May 1862

Humphrey, Marshall, fl. 1806

Manuscript document signed

Title: to A.C. Moore

General orders to Col. A. C. Moore to recall all troops on furlough from the 29th Va. Volunteers: "Events render it imperative that there shall be no delay in executing this order. The country demands the energies of all its soldiers, and the General relies upon them to fulfill their whole duty at any sacrifice." The previous December, Marshall had threatened to arrest and court-martial Moore because he did not bring his troops to the defense of Abington quickly enough to suit the general.

GLC09368

January 27, 1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his brother

Re Burnside's ill-fated "Mud March." Firsthand account by a soldier in the 1st Mass. Volunteers, who writes to his brother: "…nor did our movement benefit the 'Glorious Cause' in the least, except it cause Burnside to be removed and a better man put in his boots, Say McClellan and then the movement will be of a vast benefit to that suffering part of the community known as the Army of the Potomac. I don't know as I am much the worse off now for the jaunt through the mud, and if Burnside be removed I will not complain but I think I got off cheaply, for it was about time for another slaughter,…

GLC09370

February 21, 1865

Owen, John, fl. 1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James

Captain of 36th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, mentions the locations of fellow Harvard alums, including "[Robert Todd] Lincoln in the army," and the health of those released from POW camps. He announces the news that "at this moment [received from] the Orderly…'By telegraph…a despatch from Admiral Dahlgren that Charleston is evacuated & that he is running up to take possession - you will fire a…salute…for the Capture of Charleston & Columbia, U.S. Grant.…' Hurra for Dahlgren & Sherman - The fall of Ch. & Columbia ­ Yea! verily the end approaches & one last fight more…

GLC09371

9 July 1862

Broadside

Title: [Orders from the State of Maine]

Two Executive Orders and three General Orders from the State of Maine, printed together, re the necessity of raising additional troops for the Union cause. Bottom of page is a statement addressed to "the Patriotic Citizen Soldiery of Maine: …With the $100 cash bounty … the advantages of entering the service by voluntary enlistment, rather than by being detached or drafted, are most apparent. The adoption of the latter course, for want of volunteers, while it will deprive our citizens of the Government Bounty, premium and advance pay, will also deprive them of the honor of volunteering in this…

GLC09372

16 November 1846

Brown, Neill, fl. 1846

Autograph letter signed

Title: to a cousin

[Slavery] From Cleveland, Ohio to a cousin in North Carolina: "I am here surrounded by abolitionists, yea in the very hot bed of this class of people.… Three weeks since there was a negroe woman who said she was a fugitive slave from Mississippi, got up in the pulpit of one of the churches here and related her suffering while in slavery, more than three fourths of what she said of the usage or treatment of slave in the south I know to be false. A few nights after this in the same church 2 individuals who had been imprisoned in the penitentiary of some slave state for negro stealing or as they…

GLC09373

22 August 1871

Autograph letter signed

Title: to her cousin

Alabama woman writes to her cousin in Michigan about family news and her mother's illness, and how life has changed since Emancipation: "It does not seem possible that I could go through the same amount of labor and endure the anxiety and suspense of the past two months again. But one has not the most distant idea of what they can perform until circumstances forces them to exertion. Until our servants were freed, I was considered entirely too delicate to perform any kind of household work. And had any one told me that I could, or would in a few years, perform the entire work that was then…

GLC09375

15 June 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

Encourages his son to come home to rest and discuss plans for the future, rather than stay in Mississippi, which will take some time to recover economically after the end of the war.

GLC03135.11.02

26 June 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

Reiterates his desire for his son to return to Washington, D.C., and promises to consider his son's suggestions regarding employment. Also provides information on property belonging to James's aunt.

GLC03135.11.03

26 June 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

In an addendum to his earlier letter of the same date (see GLC03135.11.03). Discusses a packet of letters he is trying to send to various political figures in Mississippi, including Governor William L. Sharkey.

GLC03135.11.04

25 July 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

Discusses the possibility of James taking an appointment with the Post Office in New Orleans, but mentions that he would have to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, as recently mandated by Congress. Also mentions the provisional Governorship of William L. Sharkey in Mississippi.

GLC03135.11.06

18 September 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Autograph letter

Title: to James R.Y. Fendall

Mentions a variety of government job opportunities which require the appointee to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and mentions some positions which have not required it. Contains an extensive docket dated 21 October.

GLC03135.11.09

19 October 1865

Walker, Robert J., 1801-1869

Autograph letter

Title: to Andrew Johnson

Marked "copy." Writes that Governor William L. Sharkey and Judge [William] Yeager recently recommended the pardon of Albert Gallatin Brown. Conveys his strong agreement with this sentiment.

GLC03135.11.10

19 October 1865

Fendall, Philip Richard II, 1794-1868

Manuscript letter

Title: to Robert J. Walker

Marked "copy." Contains two letters. The first is a copy of a letter from Philip R. Fendall to Robert J. Walker, former Secretary of the Treasury, asking for Walker's help in getting his son James an appointment at the Customs House in New Orleans. Explains how James came to serve in the Confederate Army while the rest of his family remained Unionist, but argues that James is of good character and has taken the oath of allegiance to the United States. Asks if Walker will write on his behalf to the current Secretary of the Treasury, Hugh McCulloch. In the second letter, Walker writes a…

GLC03135.11.11

June 10, 1861

Hollingsworth, William T., fl. 1861-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James H. Hollingsworth

William T. Hollingsworth writes to his brother. Draft transcript is available. Envelope is stamped "5" and "PAID."

GLC00653.20.01

July 24, 1861

Hollingsworth, William T., fl. 1861-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James H. Hollingsworth

William T. Hollingsworth writes a detailed letter to his brother in which he discusses the Battle of Bull Run (fought on July 21, 1861, near Manassas, Virginia). He reports 500 Confederate soldiers were killed, another 1500 wounded, and some 7,000 or 8,000 Union soldiers killed or wounded. Envelope is green with 1861 "PORTSMOUTH." Draft transcript is available.

GLC00653.20.02

October 26, 1861

Hollingsworth, William T., fl. 1861-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James H. Hollingsworth

William T. Hollingsworth writes to his brother. He notes he has been offered an office with the Medical Corps with the ranking of Sergeant Major. He reports intermittent & remittent fever, pneumonia, bronchitis, measles, and mumps are the chief illnesses in camp. Draft transcript is available.

GLC00653.20.03