Manuscripts
Captain H.J. Farnsworth letter to General Montgomery Meigs
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J.H. (James Hervey) Simpson letter to Richard H. Kern
Manuscripts
J.H. Simpson writes of his travels to and arrival at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and of details of other troops.
mssHM 20646
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Moses Franklin Farnsworth autobiography
Manuscripts
This typescript was copied from a typewritten account owned by Dana Finley. Written by Moses Franklin Farnsworth in 1905, this autobiography gives an account of his life, covering his conversion to Mormonism; frontier and pioneer life in Salt Lake City and Kanab; and his mission trips to England. Other details of particular interest include genealogical information about his five wives and thirty children, stories of his service as a 1st lieutenant in the Nauvoo Legion, and his discussion of the "Co-hab code of Dixie" whereby polygamists could communicate with each other through the use of code words to avoid capture by authorities.
mssHM 66578
![Diary of Moses Franklin Farnsworth [microform] : 1862-1864](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN4DWVN82%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Diary of Moses Franklin Farnsworth [microform] : 1862-1864
Manuscripts
Microfilm of a diary kept by Moses Farnsworth during his British mission from 1862-1864. The diary opens with a detailed account of his travels from Salt Lake City to New York and sailing to Liverpool. The rest of the diary recounts his mission work and attendance of church conferences, primarily in Sunderland, Newcastle, and Dudley. At the back of the volume is a list of mission fund contributors.
MSS MFilm 00183
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Montgomery Meigs letters to Montgomery C. Meigs and Louisa Meigs
Manuscripts
This small group includes three autograph letters of Montgomery Meigs, one to his mother Louisa (incomplete), one to his father of the same name, and one fragment (probably to one of his parents). The letters are illustrated with three small sketches. Also included is a color map of the Prairie Bay, Otter Tail Lake and environs in Minnesota. Two of the letters have typescripts.
mssHM 82579-82582
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Meigs, Montgomery, 1847-1931. Letter to Montgomery Cunningham Meigs
Manuscripts
The majority of the collection consists of letters sent by Montgomery Meigs to his parents, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs and Louisa Rodgers Meigs, and his sister, Louisa Rodgers Meigs Forbes (known as Loulie), while he was working as a surveyor and engineer on the Northern Pacific Railroad in Minnesota and the Dakota and Montana Territories from 1870-1873. The correspondence begins in May 1870, when Meigs was traveling by rail to Minnesota by way of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and continues with his impressions of St. Paul and his visit to Saint Anthony Falls, including a description of an 1869 bridge collapse there. In June 1870 he accompanied a surveying party to the Old Crow Wing area, where he wrote of Ojibwa Indians, the particulars of running a railroad line, his hunting of prairie chickens, and conflicts between homesteaders and the railroad. In September Meigs went on an expedition through the Detroit Woods, running a line from the Oak Lake area toward Georgetown, Minnesota. During this time Meigs wrote of camp life and the progress of the railroad line, before he was sent back to St. Paul and later the new railroad headquarters in Brainerd. In April 1871 Meigs accompanied new chief engineer Thomas Lafayette Rosser to the Dakota Territory. Although they made some progress past Fort Rice, Meigs wrote that by June the threat of Sioux attacks had forced them to turn back. In the fall of 1871 Meigs went on the Whistler Expedition to the Yellowstone River, and in April 1872 he was made a resident engineer for the railroad line heading east. His letters frequently mention his difficulties with his new position, including his continual conflicts with the contractors and the slowness of his party's work (Meigs blamed a shortage of men and supplies for their lack of progress). By the end of May he was considering leaving the railroad, and in September 1872 wrote extensively of the Northern Pacific's ongoing economic and management issues. In a December 1872 letter sent from Fargo, Meigs wrote to his parents that "the N.P.R.R. appears to be hard up...[and] they have so disbanded the fine engineer corps we had and were so proud of that I scarcely care whether I stay or go." But in June 1873 Meigs still held his position, and was preparing to serve as chief of party for another Yellowstone Expedition, this one accompanied by the 7th Cavalry ("Custer's Cavalry...present a fine appearance on the march," Meigs wrote admiringly). In September they had established themselves at Camp Thorne in the Montana Territory, and Meigs' final letter of the trip, dated September 9, 1873, was written shortly after he had explored the Musselshell Valley. Meigs' next letter was written in August 1874, when he was in Rock Island, Illinois, waiting to go on an expedition up the Mississippi River. He had apparently left the railroad and was employed in making leisurely surveys to estimate the cost of deepening the channel. His final letter was written on May 17, 1875, and in it he wrote to his father that "I think I may someday work into the place of U.S. Civ. Engr." Individuals Meigs met, worked with, or wrote of throughout his correspondence include Walter Atwood Burleigh, George Washington Cass, Ignatius Donnelly, Thomas Lafayette Rosser, and General Ira Spaulding. Also included in the collection are original sketches made by Meigs during his expeditions; typescripts of his letters, some with extended accounts, made by Meigs in 1929; and miscellaneous Meigs family ephemera.
HM 78180.
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Meigs, Montgomery, 1847-1931. Letter to Montgomery Cunningham Meigs
Manuscripts
The majority of the collection consists of letters sent by Montgomery Meigs to his parents, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs and Louisa Rodgers Meigs, and his sister, Louisa Rodgers Meigs Forbes (known as Loulie), while he was working as a surveyor and engineer on the Northern Pacific Railroad in Minnesota and the Dakota and Montana Territories from 1870-1873. The correspondence begins in May 1870, when Meigs was traveling by rail to Minnesota by way of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and continues with his impressions of St. Paul and his visit to Saint Anthony Falls, including a description of an 1869 bridge collapse there. In June 1870 he accompanied a surveying party to the Old Crow Wing area, where he wrote of Ojibwa Indians, the particulars of running a railroad line, his hunting of prairie chickens, and conflicts between homesteaders and the railroad. In September Meigs went on an expedition through the Detroit Woods, running a line from the Oak Lake area toward Georgetown, Minnesota. During this time Meigs wrote of camp life and the progress of the railroad line, before he was sent back to St. Paul and later the new railroad headquarters in Brainerd. In April 1871 Meigs accompanied new chief engineer Thomas Lafayette Rosser to the Dakota Territory. Although they made some progress past Fort Rice, Meigs wrote that by June the threat of Sioux attacks had forced them to turn back. In the fall of 1871 Meigs went on the Whistler Expedition to the Yellowstone River, and in April 1872 he was made a resident engineer for the railroad line heading east. His letters frequently mention his difficulties with his new position, including his continual conflicts with the contractors and the slowness of his party's work (Meigs blamed a shortage of men and supplies for their lack of progress). By the end of May he was considering leaving the railroad, and in September 1872 wrote extensively of the Northern Pacific's ongoing economic and management issues. In a December 1872 letter sent from Fargo, Meigs wrote to his parents that "the N.P.R.R. appears to be hard up...[and] they have so disbanded the fine engineer corps we had and were so proud of that I scarcely care whether I stay or go." But in June 1873 Meigs still held his position, and was preparing to serve as chief of party for another Yellowstone Expedition, this one accompanied by the 7th Cavalry ("Custer's Cavalry...present a fine appearance on the march," Meigs wrote admiringly). In September they had established themselves at Camp Thorne in the Montana Territory, and Meigs' final letter of the trip, dated September 9, 1873, was written shortly after he had explored the Musselshell Valley. Meigs' next letter was written in August 1874, when he was in Rock Island, Illinois, waiting to go on an expedition up the Mississippi River. He had apparently left the railroad and was employed in making leisurely surveys to estimate the cost of deepening the channel. His final letter was written on May 17, 1875, and in it he wrote to his father that "I think I may someday work into the place of U.S. Civ. Engr." Individuals Meigs met, worked with, or wrote of throughout his correspondence include Walter Atwood Burleigh, George Washington Cass, Ignatius Donnelly, Thomas Lafayette Rosser, and General Ira Spaulding. Also included in the collection are original sketches made by Meigs during his expeditions; typescripts of his letters, some with extended accounts, made by Meigs in 1929; and miscellaneous Meigs family ephemera.
HM 78189.