The unidentified original owner of the diary was with the Second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He acted as General Nelson's orderly at Camp Jefferson, even though the Regiment was not under the General's command. Camp Jefferson was located near Bacon Creek in Kentucky and suffered from several illnesses during that winter. It is possible that the diarist died sometime between his last entry and David Spence's acquisition of the journal.
David Spence's journal entry on September 8, 1861, refers to that day as his twenty-third birthday. He was from Pleasant Plain, Warren County, Ohio, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth Spence. He was in Company C of the Second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry under Colonel Leonard A. Harris. Spence was killed at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862.
From the description of David Spence, his journal, 1861 Aug. 7-1862 June 17. (Alma Public Library). WorldCat record id: 29995784
