Manuscripts
Charles Lee Civil War diary
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Charles Rowe diaries
Manuscripts
Three diaries kept by Charles Rowe when he was living and working in California, Nevada, and Missouri from 1852-1864. The first diary covers 1852-1853 and begins when Rowe had just arrived in San Francisco from New York. It primarily recalls his experiences at Mission San Jose, where he worked as a farmer for $60 a month. He also describes some events at the Mission, such as a "bullfight ...at which two Indians were killed" (May 2, 1852). The second diary, dated 1854-1855, continues with Rowe's work at Mission San Jose, as well as his farm work on Captain Beard's Ranch and the E.M. Knowles Ranch (both apparently near Santa Clara, California), and his mining at Dutch Flat, California, and in Nevada. The final diary, dated 1861-1864, was kept while he was living near Springfield and Sharon, Missouri, during the Civil War. Rowe writes about troops coming to town, but most of the entries focus on his daily activities. The diary was kept from 1861-1862, but also includes account notes from 1864.
mssHM 50575-50577
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Civil War letters of Charles Atkin
Manuscripts
Letters that Charles Atkin wrote to his wife Sarah Hickock Atkin and their children Hortense and Ernest between August 27, 1863 and May 7, 1865. There is a gap in the correspondence between Nov. 8, 1864 and Feb. 10, 1865.
mssHM 71682-71716
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Simon R. Frank Civil War diary
Manuscripts
Diary kept during Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns. Also present certificate of appointment as 3rd Cpl., Co. C, 57th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 1864 April 4.
mssHM 30408
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Rachel Andora Woolsey Lee diary
Manuscripts
A collection of 99 items from 1841 to 1967; the collection consists of diaries, letters, documents and manuscripts primarily by John Doyle Lee. There is a letter by William W. Bishop that includes a list of names of persons in and present at the Mountain Meadows Massacre (mssHM 31237). There are also letters by and to several of John D. Lee's wives. There are six volumes of diaries by John D. Lee which span the years 1846 to 1876, as well as several facsimiles of Lee's diaries dating 1841 to 1860, and one diary of his wife, Rachel Andora Woolsey Lee, from 1856 to 1860. Many of the items in the collection are contemporary copies or facsimiles.
mssHM 26338
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Henry Breidenthal Civil War diary
Manuscripts
Breidenthal's diary that covers the month from October 10 to November 12, 1861, when the 3rd Regiment was attached to Reynolds's command at Cheat Mountain, W. Va. Breidethal, being and a devout Christian and possessing of an indomitable if somewhat morose personality, set to out devote his spare time to writing a diary in large part to avoid "the society here" that he found was "not congenial to my tastes." (He dismissed "the general character of our soldiery" as "lowbred" and their aspirations "rising but little above the instinct of the animal creature.") The daily entry contain detailed expositions on his Bible reading, including political implications of the Scripture, (Breidenthal was a passionate abolitionist who counted "our complicity with African Slavery -- a crime of sufficient enormity to sink this great nation" as one of the great sins and regarded "Bible defenders of the American slavery" as "false prophets"); his opinions on the books he was reading (he studiously avoided "trashy novels" and "obscene books," preferring sermons by Henry Ward Beecher, a biography of Cavour, or a "Life of Balaam, by Rev. Hatfield"); political news, including discussion of Fremont's proclamation of Aug. 30, 1861; and camp life, especially entertainment (of which he heartily disapproved, being particularly troubled by the widespread gambling, "not edifying conversation and vulgar songs" as well as dancing and smoking); regimental gossip and jockeying for promotions. He also recounts, in great detail, the inquiry into the death of a soldier killed by a sentinel too scared to give the required challenge.
mssHM 68485-68486
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Charles Willson Peale diary
Manuscripts
Diary kept by artist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) which documents his service in the Pennsylvania militia during George Washington's retreat through the Jerseys, December 4, 1776 to January 20, 1777; the diary includes the battles of Trenton on December. 25, 1776 and Princeton on January 3, 1777.
mssHM 974