Compare Constellations

Prince, Israel N., ca. 1826-1863. Letters to Elizabeth E. Hodsdon, 1850-1863.

Title: Letters to Elizabeth E. Hodsdon, 1850-1863.

Series of letters written by Israel N. Prince to his sister Elizabeth E. Hodsdon in Falmouth, Maine. Prince's first letter traces his journey by boat from Boston to Charleston in 1850. The next several letters provide a detailed look at the hardships of frontier life in the Nebraska Territory, where Prince lives humbly ("our dogs have a more comfortable house," he writes), holds low a low opinion of many of his neighbors ("the character [of frontier people] is not what I could wish it might be," he laments), works briefly on the Burlington Railroad (which ended with "considerable loss"), and is disinterested in in the California and Kansas "excitement," although he later thought about moving to California or Oregon. Prince also urges Elizabeth and her family to come west, answers her questions about when he will return home by saying "when I came into the western country it was my determination not to go back till I had done something," writes of his many uncertainties ("I seem to myself to be peculiar in some respects," he noted, "At times I hardly know what to make of myself"), and shamefully admits his failures ("I hated to tell you that I was too poor to own a farm of any description"). Beginning in 1861 the letters describe "the great war feeling around" and Prince's enlistment in Company "C" of the 1st Nebraska Volunteers in June 1861. He was initially stationed at Pilot Knob, Missouri, and guarded bridges on the Iron Mountain Railroad, and writes of a difficult march to Springfield and an enemy raid at Georgetown, Missouri. Most of his time was spent near the Tennessee/Mississippi border between Savannah and Danville. Prince writes of his participation in the Battle of Shiloh and of the Army of Southeastern Missouri, which in early 1863 had just finished "one of the hardest campaigns of the war" (probably part of Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign). He alludes to "daily skirmishes," although also notes that his sister probably knows better than he what is happening since he has little access to newspapers or outside information. In addition to chronicling the movements of his regiment, Prince outlines the difficulties of army life, including long "forced marches," the shortness of supplies, his many illnesses, the possibility of his death, and the unpopularity of the men in command. In his last letter Prince writes that there is little hope for a promotion since "I don't believe I am a great favorite with some of the officers." Specific references are made to General John Davidson, Secretary of War Simon Cameron, General John C. Frémont, and General Justus McKinstry.

ArchivalResource: 22 letters.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/752183765 View

Philip Case Lockwood memorial collection of Civil War portraits and autographs, 1862-ca. 1886.

Title: Philip Case Lockwood memorial collection of Civil War portraits and autographs, 1862-ca. 1886.

Scrapbook collection of Civil War photographs and autographs, assembled by Philip Case Lockwood.

ArchivalResource: 1 v. (.38 linear ft.)

http://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hou00542/catalog View

Shepard, John D., 1816-1884. John D. Shepard-Thaddeus Joy papers, 1808-1861.

Title: John D. Shepard-Thaddeus Joy papers, 1808-1861.

Acceptance of John D. Shepard's resignation as quarter master in the New York State Militia, signed and with a note by Col. William W. Wadsworth, 17 Nov. 1837; appointment of Shepard as power of attorney for Pierre M. Irving of New York, in the sale of Irvings's stock in the Wisconsin Steamboat Association, 6 Nov. 1841; and a pass issued to Shepard by Major J. M. McKinstry, 4 Sept. 1861, for travel from St. Louis, Mo. to Buffalo, N.Y. Thaddeus Joy's papers include his appointment as captain in the Onondaga Militia, signed by Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins, 28 June 1808; stock certificates for shares in the Bank of Niagara and the Buffalo and Chippawa Steam Ferry Boat Company, 1825; letters, from J. Lloyd and N. Prime, New York, 25 Mar. 1829, regarding a conveyance of the right of dower to Sheldon Thompson, the decline in Buffalo commerce, and leases, rents, and building repairs; from George W. Clinton, Buffalo, 28 Sept. 1843, expressing gratitude for a speech given by Joy at the state fair, in which he alluded to Clinton's father, and his memory of Joy as the "life of the party" on board the Seneca Chief during the 1825 Erie Canal opening ceremony; from J. N. Reynolds, New York, 13 May 1844, regarding organization of the [Whig] Central Committee in New York ; from Calvin Colton, Boston, 12 Aug. 1844, requesting that Joy act as his agent for sale of his Junius tracts to the Clay Central Committee in Albany; and from Jonas Phillips Phoenix, Morris Town, N.J., 27 Aug. 1844, regarding an invitation to attend the upcoming Whig convention in Boston.

ArchivalResource: (0.1 linear ft.).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/170581614 View

Balch, Edwin Swift, 1856-1927,. Papers of the Balch family, 1760-1955.

Title: Papers of the Balch family, 1760-1955.

The collection contains journals and letters, 1825-1881, of Joseph Swift; journal excerpts and diary of Emily Swift Balch; letters and diaries of Thomas Balch; letters of Elise Willing Balch; a diary, 1760-1761, of Joseph Shippen; deeds, letters, unpublished writing, address books, engagement book, and a Vassar sketchbook of Eugenia Hargous Macfarlane Balch; and letters, and Little Theatre minute book of Emily Tapscott Clark Balch. The collection pertains chiefly to Edwin Swift Balch, and contains a journal, 1859-1906, re Philadelphia society, the Civil War, Confederate diplomacy and European travel; an autograph album signed by prominent literary, artistic and political figures; scrapbooks re polar exploration, and the Cook-Peary controversy; a biography and bibliography of his published works, incomplete diaries, 1904-1917; and account books. Other topics include Philadelphia riots, 1864, fighting near Leestown, W. Va., Mosby's raiders, life in Paris, art in Europe and America, Louis Philippe, Jenny Lind, the London Exhibition of 1851, Prince Clemens von Metternich, Napoleon III, the Paris Commune, Henry M. Stanley, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Suez Canal, the Sedan battlefield, Richard Cobden, Theodore Roosevelt, and European travel especially in Switzerland. Also unpublished pieces by Edwin Swift Balch and Eugenia H.M. Balch; a biography of Emily Balch and manuscripts of her "Stuffed Peacocks," and of Joseph Hergesheimer's "Tintypes"; and a limerick collection. Also family photographs; a tintype album; a photograph album with notes by Rudolph Franke on a polar expedition; and "The Confession of the Murder of Prof. Marvin," analyzed by Thomas F. Hall, 1926.

ArchivalResource: 170 items.1 reel : positive ; 35 mm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647842108 View