Manuscripts
Goff-Williams papers, (bulk 1859-1889)
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Manley Ebenezer Rice papers, (bulk 1863-1865)
Manuscripts
The largest part of the collection is 57 letters that Manley E. Rice wrote to his wife Elizabeth Jane Day Rice from Camp Randall, (Madison, Wis.), New Orleans (April and May 1864), Brownsville and Fort Brown, Tex. (May-- July 1864), Fort Morgan, Ala. (1864, Augus--October), and Fort Gaines, Ala.(1864, Nov. -- 1865, June). The letters posted at Camp Randall describe the training and drills, (or rather the lack of thereof), veterans of the Vicksburg campaign returning from the battlefield, and former slaves working at the camp. Rice also registered his unhappiness with the state legislators who had failed to appropriate more funds for medical help and his astonishment upon hearing a woman temperance orator, a Mrs. Hobert, "addressing five or six hundred men." The letters then follow Rice's journey from Wisconsin to Texas and Alabama, providing detailed accounts of camp life, his concerns for his family struggling to survive back home, eager anticipations of the "end of this Fratricidal Strife," description of the occupied country, war news, (including the evacuation of Fort Brown, John Salmon Ford's operations at Fort Brownsville in the summer of 1864 and other operations in southern Texas, Farragut's capture of the ironclad ram Tennessee, the Franklin Nashville Campaign, the battle for Mobile, Ala., and the peace negotiations), the Fourth July and the first anniversary of the fall of Vicksburg celebration at Brownsville, and the hospital at Fort Gaines, including former slaves employed there. Rice vividly describes the shock of the news of Lincoln's assassination that found him in New Orleans, noting that there were "several shot for rejoicing over the death of the President" and the shooting was "mostly done by Colored Troops." (He also cited very tangible threats made against Confederate prisoners held at Fort Gaines.) Rice recounts a chase that the federal ships gave to a Confederate ram, the William. H. Webb that was trying to escape to Havana. (Rice who was accompanying hospital patients to New Orleans, was onboard of one of the ships, the Hollyhock).
mssHM 69708-69803
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Charles William Watts papers, (bulk 1897-1900)
Manuscripts
A collection of 91 items from 1897 to 1963, which consists chiefly of letters written by Charles William Watts to his wife and daughter between 1897 and 1900. The letters are written from Alaska, including Juneau, Sheep Camp, Skagway, the Yukon River Valley, Dawson, and the Klondike River Valley. Watts's letters describe the Klondike gold rush and life in Alaska and in the Yukon. The collection also contains a photograph of Charles William Watts with a group of hunters and various clippings. There are also a few letters and notes written in 1963 by Lee Rohrbough.
mssHM 48341-48427
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Daniel Horn papers
Manuscripts
Letters from Daniel Horn to his wife Geles posted in various places in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia. Also, letters of Horn's comrades and the regimental chaplain informing Geles Horn of the death of her husband. The letters discuss camp life, payments, Horn's concern over his family back in Ohio, war news, the Union commanders, including Ulysses S. Grant, and his fellow Confederate soldiers. He also writes about several military operations including Fort Donelson, the siege of Vicksburg, Morgan's Ohio raid, and operations near Atlanta and Marietta, Georgia.
mssHM 49539-49610
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Jonathan B. Labrant papers
Manuscripts
Correspondence between Jonathan Labrant and his wife Mary Melissa and his parents and siblings (chiefly between 1862 and 1864), miscellaneous letters addressed to the Labrants, photographs and documents. One letter is in German. Jonathan Labrant's Civil War letters cover his service in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, including encouters with fugitive slaves, "black rebels," and Confederacy sympathizers, and discuss military actions, camp life - rations, inspections, drills, etc., recruiting in Illinois in 1863, and war news. His correspondence with other veterans of the 58th Regiment includes discussions of the history of the regiment and current political affairs. His wife's letters give updates on friends and family, local news, and describe challenges faced by a young mother running a household.
mssHM 73100-73223
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Alexander William Conlee papers
Manuscripts
Includes letters from Conlee to his parents while serving in Company K, 96th Regiment Illinois Volunteers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, 1862-1864; also letters to Conlee, 1863-1904 and a biographical sketch of Conlee by his granddaughter, Lucille Bell Walker, written in 1941.
mssHM 20892-20907
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William Williams papers
Manuscripts
Personal and business papers of William Williams, chiefly his correspondence with his father-in-law and his brothers-in-law Henry Huntington, Jr. (1813-1854), and Benjamin Nicoll Huntington (1816-1882). Also included are a few letters from Benjamin Nicoll Huntington to his mother, Catherine M. Haven Huntington.
mssHM 46555-46670