A small diary kept by John R. Crossman of Columbia County, Wis. beginning with notations made during his service with the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery Regiment, Co. M in the Civil War. The diary includes lists of clothing and the cost of each item, his own telling of Lincoln's assassination (he attended the funeral in Washington, D.C.), and an account of volleys fired by his company to salute Union victories in 1865. Additional entries include recipes for linaments and other treatments for animals, accounts of rents collected, money spent, and work done for hire. Also included in the collection is his discharge paper; a formal portrait of him in uniform holding his rifle; and a group photograph made on May 31, 1915 with other Civil War veterans all of whom are identified although the location is unknown.
