Mary Rinkard family papers, 1854-1951.

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Mary Rinkard family papers, 1854-1951.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702171897

84 letters written by Alvin F. Smith to his wife Mary during his service in the United States Army. Accompanied by 25 letters from other family members and friends, including four letters from Mary to Alvin, two letters from Mary's second husband, and five letters from other Civil War soldiers; correspondence regarding the Rinkard's land investments; bills, receipts, and furlough passes; tax records for property in Black Hammer, Minn.; printed ephemera; an undated account notebook; a wallet; manuscript notes; and five photographs, one of a group of soldiers, two of unidentified people in front of a house, and two portraits, one possibly of Alvin F. Smith. Stationed originally in Minnesota, Smith writes from his post at Fort Snelling and later at the Winnebago Agency at Blue Earth. He describes scouting missions, burying settlers killed by Indians, guarding Indian prisoners being held for trial, and daily life in his regiment. He discusses riots in Mankato during the transportation of Indian prisoners, the trial and execution of Indian prisoners in December 1862, skirmishes between the Winnebago and the Dakota, and the progression of the Civil War. In 1863 Company F assisted in the removal of the Winnebago Indians from Blue Earth, Minnesota to the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota, and Smith relates their journey down the Missouri River to Fort Randall with 750 Winnebagos. After returning to Minnesota, Smith describes quelling draft riots in St. Paul while guarding the city's arsenal. Smith shares impressions of the land and the war, news of other family members and friends in the service, updates about his inconsistent health and details of numerous raids and battles as Company F is reassigned to various posts (the Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., Columbus, Ky., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., St. Charles, Ark., and Eastport, Miss.). In July 1864 he describes his participation in the Battle of Tupelo. The letters of other correspondents in the collection relate primiarily to family affairs and local news from Hardin Co., Ohio.

0.42 linear ft. (1 box)

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8023717

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Rinkard, Samuel J.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vt27t8 (person)

United States. Army

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6km312r (corporateBody)

The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 and United States Code, Title 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001. As the largest and senior branch of the U.S. military, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which wa...

Smith, Alvin

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66m3pdp (person)

Tualatin Academy (now Pacific University) was a secondary school in Oregon. It was originally founded as a missionary school in 1841 by Harvey L. Clark, who joined with Tabitha Moffatt Brown, the "Mother of Oregon," in turning it into an orphans' school in 1848. In 1854 college classes were added and Pacific University was run concurrently with Tualatin Academy until the latter was closed in 1914. From the description of Letter to the Trustees of Tualatin Academy, 1851. (Huntington L...

United States. Army. Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 10th (1862-1865). Company F.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bs3b6t (corporateBody)

Rinkard, Mary.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cj8wvr (person)

Mary Rinkard, wife of Alvin F. Smith until his death in 1865 and mother of their three sons: John, Charles, and Alvin. Later married Samuel J. Rinkard. Alvin F. Smith enlisted in the United States Army in the fall of 1862, joining Company F of the 10th Minnesota Regiment. He fought in the Indian Wars in Minnesota before being ordered to posts in Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. He died at Overton General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee on March 17,...