Duncan McKercher papers

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  Duncan McKercher papers

  Manuscripts

  The collection includes three pocket diaries kept by McKercher from January 1, 1862 to March 3, 1865, detailing his military service and his imprisonment. Also included are memoirs, based on the diaries that McKercher composed later, and some additional regimental records. There is also a group of 41 notes from South Carolina enslavers requesting various forms of punishment for enslaved persons. The requests are addressed to the Master of the Charleston "workhouse," the city's notorious jail for enslaved persons. McKercher apparently took these papers while incarcerated in Charleston jail on his way to Libby Prison. Also included is a military commission issued by Governor of Alabama, May 29, 1861, a special instruction for officers guarding Libby Prison, April 30, 1864, and a letter from Theodore Schock, a prospector of Needleton, Colorado describing his wife's suicide, written on January 9, 1889.

  mssHM 48562-48568

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  Life in Libby Prison manuscript

  Manuscripts

  Account of Jones' experience in Libby Prison, 1864 to 1865.

  mssHM 3208

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  Duncan Richmond accounts

  Manuscripts

  Accounts kept by Duncan Richmond between 1757-1758; there are six clearance notes in the hand of Earl of Loudoun. Also included are 32 receipts and accounts, mostly for feed and repairs, and the the account with Richmond (1758, Nov. 20), and Samuel Sackett (1758, July 22).

  mssHM 444

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  Goff-Williams papers, (bulk 1859-1889)

  Manuscripts

  The letters from Robert H. Williams to his parents and fiancée Elizabeth Goff contain detailed accounts of duty at Muddy Branch, Maryland; military operations at Berryville Pike, Winchester, Cedar Creek, and expeditions to Danville and Petersburg, Virginia; camp life, promotions; discussion of war politics and commanding officers, especially Philip Henry Sheridan and William Tecumseh Sherman; and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The collection also contains a letter to Robert H. Williams from his father regarding the Pike's Peak gold rush, a letter to him from Elizabeth Goff, and a letter from his brother Richard describing Tennessee at the end of the war. James M. Goff's letters to his father and younger brother Oscar in Delavan, Wisconsin describe camp life, the march from Kentucky to Tennessee, and life in Libby prison. There is also one photograph album, loose photographs, ephemera, and newspaper clippings.

  mssHM 28864-28884

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  J.D. Duncan letters to A.H. Campbell

  Manuscripts

  In these two letters to his brother, J.D. Duncan writes that he has arrived in the town of Stockton, California from Wisconsin and plans to head north to the gold mines. A year later, he writes that he has found work with "a large Ditch Company." He writes of the current state of crops, of the scarcity of gold, and the danger posed by Indians. Nevertheless, J.D. believes there is still "plenty of gold to be had." HM 25788 is dated 1857, February 4, and HM 25789 is dated 1858, September 13, and both were written in Stockton, California.

  mssHM 25788-25789

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  Moses A. McCoid Papers

  Manuscripts

  The papers consist of 86 letters, the majority of which were written by Moses to his wife Helen. Three letters were written by Helen to Moses. The letters are organized chronologically. The pre-Civil War letters were written between 1859 and 1861 when McCoid was in Fairfield, Iowa reading law with James F. Wilson. In these letters, Moses is wooing Helen. He reminds her of the time they met and talks about their future together despite her parents being against the match. The Civil War letters cover the period of May 1861 to April 1864. These intensely emotional love letters are filled with the young man's longing for his "dear Helen," and his attachment to "our flag" and country. The letters discuss war news and politics, army life (rations, attending church services, conflicts with commanding officers, etc.) including a detailed account of the Battle of Shiloh and Moses' take on the Emancipation Proclamation. He also talks about his regiment, the 2nd Iowa Infantry Regiment (1861-1864), courts-martial, the siege of Vicksburg, G. T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Ambrose Burnside, Grenville Dodge, John Charles Frémont, H. W. Halleck, William Hardee, Joseph Hooker, Abraham Lincoln, John A. Logan, Gideon Pillow, Samuel Sturgis, Libby Prison and war prisoners, and slavery. One of the letters includes a hand-drawn map of the Battle of Shiloh with a list of casualties from Co. E. Many letters were written on ornate patriotic stationery, some with illustrated envelopes as well. The post-war letters were written by McCoid when he was a member of the Iowa State Senate living in Des Moines and Washington, D. C. In these letters he talks about politics in Iowa and his dislike of being away from his wife and family.

  mssHM 74211-74296