Spooner family papers, 1832-1925 and undated.

ArchivalResource

Spooner family. Spooner family papers, 1832-1925 and undated.

Spooner family papers, 1832-1925 and undated.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28534432

Consists of a genealogy, three volumes, obituaries, correspondence, two photos, and a record of students who attended Derby Academy, Hingham, Mass., between 1875 and 1880. The genealogies as well as the obituaries pertain to the Spooner family. Two of the volumes, an autograph album and a diary, belonged to John Winthrop Spooner. The autograph album contains the names of Spooner's classmates at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., during 1861-1863, and the diary documents Spooner's work in the U.S. Christian Commission, a volunteer organization dedicated to aiding Union soldiers. The thrid volume's owner is not identified and it was probably written around 1832. It contains mostly genealogical information, along with a short history (1804-1821) regarding William Roger's service in the Massachusetts legislature. In this diary, Spooner describes the hard conditions of military camp life, and his task of establishing schools in the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment and in an unidentified unit of sharpshooters near Jones Landing on the James River in Virginia. Throughout the diary, Spooner comments on teaching Afro-American soldiers to read. Among other topics, Spooner comments upon seeing a group of Union prisoners exchanged by the Confederacy, and he states that the soldiers were in poor condition and disagrees with the public sentiment that the Union should not retaliate against the South for the poor treatment of prisoners. While the diary is not dated by year, it was kept during 1864 and 1865 since the autograph book indicates that Spooner was at Phillips Exeter Academy prior to 1864.

11 items.

Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library