Author: Steve

How to Label Your Collection

Posted on by Steve

Last week we discussed how museum and archive numbering systems work, and this week we are going to discuss how to label your collection. This is a relatively straightforward process, but there are a few key things to keep in mind as you go. The main rule of thumb is that however you add your catalog number to your object or document, it is done in a non-permanent way. In other words, don’t pull out the Sharpie and start writing all over your things! Sadly, I have seen that happen in museums, and that’s definitely something we want to avoid!

How to Label Your Collection: Writing Directly on the Document Vs. Archival Sleeves

When you’re working with paper or photographic archives there are two schools of thought with regard to how they should be numbered. Some folks will write VERY lightly in pencil the catalog numbers on the bottom right (or left) corner of the document—typically on the back. This way the writing is not visible from the front if it is on display, the writing is reversible because it can be erased, and the size of the writing is very small so that it is not intrusive. This method can work for relatively modern documents. For example, if you have someone’s 1980s era research notes that you are adding into your collection you may choose to number it that way. For Civil War era paper materials (including CDVs), I would hesitate to use this method, simply because the documents are often very fragile—and in some cases disintegrating—to the point that should that number ever be erased, doing so would likely destroy the paper. The advantage of lightly writing the number in pencil on the document directly ensures that it will never be separated from the number. If using this method, do not use a mechanical pencil as it is often too sharp and can damage old paper or leave an imprint that shows through the front. Use a 2B soft leaded pencil, sharpen it, and then use a piece of scratch paper to soften the tip of the lead so that it is a bit duller. The below video shows how to mark papers, photographs, and books using this method.

Personally, the method I prefer (and the one we use at the Research Arsenal) is to write the number on the clear archival sleeve that protects the document. This ensures that the document is not directly affected by the writing. Should the number ever need to be changed it only needs to be placed in a new sleeve with the correct number. You can use a fine point Sharpie to write on the sleeve and the ink will not smear. Be sure it has dried completely before you place a document inside just in case the document touches the ink.

Here is an example of writing the catalog number directly on the archival sleeve.
Here is an example of writing the catalog number directly on the archival sleeve.

If your documents are digitized (which they all should be eventually) then there will be minimal need to handle the original documents in the future. If you want to read through them or look up something with them, you only need to use the digital scan, rather than handling the original document which can further degrade it.

How to Label Your Collection: Tagging Objects

How to tag your collection, artifact tags
This is an example of a museum artifact tag sold by Gaylord here.

In this case, I am going to include tintypes (in cases) and ambrotypes as objects as opposed to archives simply because they are not made of paper material. Anything not made of paper will typically fall into the object category and use tags. Tintype photos not in cases can be safely stored in archival sleeves and can be numbered using the above method of numbering the sleeve.

Objects will need an archival tag which consists of a small square of archival cardstock strung on a loop of archival string. These come in all sorts of sizes and shapes and can be used on a variety of objects. They are also easily removed if need be and can be arranged in such a way that they are not obtrusive if the object is on exhibit.

To use a tag, you will want to write the catalog number on the tag and if there is room, a one- or two-word description. A tag for a M1851 Colt Navy Revolver might look like “2025.002.0014 M1851 Colt Navy Revolver” and that’s it. You can shorten or lengthen in to your preference, the intention being that it allows you to easily identify what item the tag goes with, should it become separated, and also so that you can easily identify what the object is without needing to look it up. To write on the tags you can use the fine point Sharpie again.

You’ll want to loop the tag around the object in some fashion so that it is unlikely to fall off. In the above example of the Colt Navy Revolver, you could loop it around the trigger guard. For objects that don’t have an obvious way to loop the tag, you’ll have to get a bit more creative. You can tuck the tag inside the case of a tintype, loop it around a buttonhole, tuck it in the band of a hat, etc. It will vary from object to object. No matter what the object is and how difficult it is to find a way to secure the tag, do NOT tape, glue, or otherwise use adhesives to attach it. If you are working with small objects, maybe say, Minie balls, you may wish to keep them in a small Riker mount and then tag the mount or keep them in a small archival box with the tag inside the box. The most important thing to consider in all of this is that what we are doing does not have any permanent effect on the object.

I’ll leave you with this link to some “horror stories” of museum numbering fiascos that you may find entertaining. Whatever you do, don’t do what these folks did! https://world.museumsprojekte.de/how-not-to-number-objects/

Research Arsenal Spotlight 4: Colonel Clark Swett Edwards and the 5th Maine Infantry

Posted on by Steve
Clark Swett Edwards via Library of Congress.

This week our spotlight is on the Clark Swett Edwards Collection, a group of 25 letters written by Clark Swett Edwards throughout his service in the 5th Maine Infantry. Clark Swett Edwards helped form the regiment as a captain of company I, before being promoted to Major, then Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, eventually being awarded the brevet rank of Brigadier General.

Clark Swett Edwards and Company I, 5th Maine Infantry

Clark Swett Edwards was born in 1824 to Enoch and Abigail (McLellan) Edwards. Prior the war he operated several trading businesses in Maine and married Maria Antoinette Mason, to whom he addressed many of his letters in our collection. At the start of the Civil War, Clark Swett Edwards began recruiting a company in his hometown of Bethel, Maine which became known as the “Bethel Rifle Guards.”

The Bethel Rifle Guards were then mustered in as Company I of the 5th Maine Infantry, with Clark Swett Edwards as their captain. Clark Swett Edwards’ brother, Bryce M. Edwards, also served as a private in company I.

Throughout his service, Clark Swett Edwards kept a close eye on the Company I and often lamented its ever dwindling numbers of the original enlisted men.

While his letters to his wife did not discuss the specifics of the many battles in which his regiment fought, he frequently shared with her small anecdotes of camp life, as he did in this letter  from August 9, 1861:

“One little circumstance I thought I would write you. It is this. In Company F, a lady by the name of [ Mrs. Albion R.] Stewart came from Lewiston here to see her husband. He stood in his camp door night before last and the first he knew of it, she stood before him. They told me he stood like a ghost for a minute and then she fell into his arms. There were but few dry eyes around the camp for a few minutes. She is here yet. The quartermaster gave up his tent to them and they have it yet. She left Lewiston alone and came on here without his knowing it.”

Clark Swett Edwards as a Field Officer

Clark Swett Edwards was promoted to Major on August 28, 1862 and to Lieutenant Colonel on November 1, 1862. Despite this, he remembered his men from company I and kept a special interest in them. In a letter  written December 28, 1862, about a month after his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, he wrote about the situation of some of the men in company I and the problems with military bureaucracy:

“I will now write you the news of the camp. [Rufus Crockett] Penley of my old company died this morning of consumption here in our camp hospital. He was a fellow I enlisted in Portland when at Camp Preble. The poor fellow sent for me to come and see him a few moments before he breathed his last. He thanked me for my kindness to him while under my command and requested me to see that his folks received the pay due him from government. I took him by the hand and bid him a last farewell. It caused a tear to dim my sight but such is life. I think he has gone to a happier land than this. The poor man should have gone to his home in Portland months ago but this red tape and want of promptness of actions is fatal in many cases. I sometimes feel that great injustice is done to the poor soldiers in holding them when the surgeon knows he will never be of service to the government but it is the same as everything else. There is a lack in almost every department of energy. I have yet some discharged from Co. I since I left it and am making an effort for others which I hope will be successful. I feel sad at heart when I look back on my old company and think of what it once was but few are now in it that once filled its ranks. Some are discharged for disability; others are now sick in hospitals around Washington; some in convalescent camps; while others have gone to their last resting places among the dead. It is anything but pleasant for me to look back and I almost shudder when I look or reflect on the future. But I must drop this and look on the brought side.”

During this same time, Clark Swett Edwards’ brother, Bryce Edwards, was also sick in the hospital. After many months he would be discharged for disability as well.

On January 18, 1863, Clark Swett Edwards was worried about the future battle plans for his regiment and feared that they would be sacrificed in service of General Ambrose Burnside trying to regain ground lost after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. The offense, known as the “Mud March” was a failure and was General Burnside’s last major action as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Sketch by Alfred Rudolph Waud of the Army of the Potomac near Falmouth, Virginia on January 21, 1863 via Wikimedia Commons.

Contributing to the march’s failure was the awful weather, which Clark Swett Edwards detailed in his letter, as well as his determination to do his duty despite his own misgivings:

“Last night it froze hard enough to bear my horse anywhere in the roads so you can judge how it is with the poor soldiers. And still the prospect is a fight soon. We are now under marching orders and I think it must be over the river but I dread the consequence as the army is disheartened. Burnside is bound to cross the river at this place and to retrieve his loss but all the generals are opposed to it so you can judge of our prospect. It is heart sickening, I can assure you. But I shall do my duty regardless of others, or at least I think I will now, but no one can tell till after the fight is over. I feel for others as well as myself. I know if a fight comes off now, that the wounded must suffer greatly, but then I will not borrow trouble as it comes soon enough. The sick of my regiment I sent away this morning to Aquia Creek but as the hospital tents were not ready to receive them, so they only went a mile or so and were sent back. I ordered to send them in the morning again but this moving the sick this cold weather is awful.”

Clark Swett Edwards Hopes for a Star

Towards the end of his service, both Clark Swett Edwards and his wife, Maria, were hopeful that he might receive a promotion to general, despite the long odds against them. The referred to this potential promotion as a “star” in reference to the uniform insignia.

On December 6, 1863, Clark Swett Edwards referenced his wife’s desire to see him promoted:

“ I know you are wishing to see me one peg higher but it will take some political influence to bring that about. But one thing sure, I will never be beholden to anyone at home for a promotion in the army. I know I have done enough to have a star, but there is to many Big men sons in the army for me to rise higher. I still see puff in the eastern papers for myself, some in the Bangor papers [and] also in the Massachusetts papers, but they will do now if I get no more. I presume you see a great many but not all.”

In a letter from January 27, 1864, Edwards was less optimistic:

“You speak of the Star. I am not expecting it. I learn there were six hundred names before Congress at this session and out of that number, five has been appointed—four for Black Regiments and one in the [Regular] Army. There is a great many Colonels whose commission dates from sixty-one while mine dates only back to sixty-three, so you see my prospects is poor. If I should get it, it would be for my exhibiting good conduct.”

Clark Swett Edwards mustered out with most of his regiment on July 27, 1864. The veterans of the regiment who stayed were transferred to the 7th Maine Infantry. On March 13, 1865, Edwards received a brevet promotion to brigadier general for gallantry in action. He died in his hometown of Bethel in 1904.

We’d like to thank William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his tireless work in sharing and transcribing these letters.

To access all of the Clark Swett Edwards Collection as well as thousands of other letters, photos, and other documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership here.

Looking for more spotlights on our collection? Check out the story of John L. Hebron of the 2nd Ohio Infantry or the letters of Alfred Washington Ellet, the commander of the US Ram Fleet.

How to Set Up a Catalog Numbering System

Posted on by Steve

Last week we looked at how to catalog your collection and the software available to do that. This week, we’re looking at how to set up a catalog numbering system and the kind of information we want to prioritize in our collections, whether it’s for our own personal reference, for other people to use after we’re gone, or insurance purposes.

Catalog Numbering Systems

If you’ve ever visited a library—I am assuming everyone has (if not, go to a library!) —you’ve no doubt seen a very prominent numbering system in use. The Dewey Decimal system allows libraries to organize and catalog books using a numeric code. Each prefix in the string of number indicates what subject matter the book relates to. Additionally, each call number has additional numbers indicating where the book falls in relation to that subject and author information. All of this is contained in a simple numerical code! The Dewey Decimal system dates back to 1876, and although it has been updated over the years, it is still in use in libraries today.

Dewey Decimal system graph
This chart shows the categories and numbers connected with the Dewey Decimal system.

If you visit a museum, you may see a similar string of numbers on various artifacts. Sometimes the numbers are also included on the signage within the exhibits. These catalog numbers are very similar to the call numbers on books in libraries, however, there is no standard in catalog numbers that is used by all museums. Typically, these numbers will be in a trinomial system, which each section representing a specific data point. For example, a catalog number of 2024.003.0001 would be broken down into: 2024 meaning the year the item was acquired, .003 indicating it was the third collection of items to be acquired, and finally, .0001 would mean that this object is the first item in the collection. For a museum that routinely acquires donations of materials this system works very well. For a private collector, who is acquiring items often one or two pieces at a time, this may not work as well, as the number of collections (middle number) in any given year could grow very large.

Therefore, it may be more reasonable to modify this number system and use the middle number to track the source on a market basis rather than by individual person. For example, using the same number 2024.003.0001, the first number would still represent the acquisition year, but .003 would now represent “eBay,” and .0001 would represent the first item purchased from eBay that year and added to the collection. In this system, you may have various numbers that would retain the same meaning regardless of the acquisition year.

2025.003.0013 would simply mean the item was acquired in 2025 from eBay and that it is the 13th item from eBay that year. Your additional secondary numbers could represent donations, garage sales, specific auction houses (Fleischer’s, etc.) you regularly purchase from, and individual people you regularly trade with, or from whom you have received a large collection.

  • .001= Donations/gifts
  • .002= Garage sales/flea markets
  • .003= Ebay
  • .004= Fleischer’s
  • .005= Joe Smith

Once you have this key, it is easy to add more numbers to it as you go if they are needed. If you start buying a lot of items from another auction house, for example, then you simply add that new venue in as .006.  The rest of the system stays the same, as the first number is always the year of acquisition, and the last number is always the number of the individual item.

Example of a trinomial artifact numbering system.
Here you can see a good example of a trinomial catalog numbering system on a museum artifact. This particular item is at the Huron County Museum. You can read more about this image and museum numbering here.

Is everyone still with me? I know this is a lot of numbers and may seem convoluted, but the nice thing about having a system like this is that it gives you a good amount of information by just glancing at a number. This is especially useful if you do not have a computer-based system and are looking up items by hand in a notebook or with an index card system. Knowing that the item you are trying to find was purchased on eBay in 2023 gives you the first two numbers and narrows your search. Likewise, if you are looking at an item in your collection and see the catalog number for it on a tag with it, you immediately know where you got it from and when. If you need some examples of what the secondary numbers can represent, take a look at the Research Arsenal database search page and select “Search by Source/Call Numbers” then select “11th OVC Archives” from the top drop down menu. Once you select a year, you’ll be able to select the secondary set of numbers and can see how those work to filter through collections on the database. We’ll go into how to tag objects and archives in the next post as that can get a bit more complicated.

Now, as an aside, there are situations where these numbers may change a little. Let’s say you have a Civil War letter and the corresponding envelope. Or a letter and the CDV the soldier sent home with it. Obviously, these two items are related, and they also came together. This is the key part—they CAME TOGETHER. From a catalog standpoint, these would be cataloged as a single item. The envelope is intrinsic to the letter—it was not mailed without the envelope; the envelope is part of the overall object. The CDV was mentioned in the letter and mailed with it, therefore, it became part of the object of the letter. In this case, there are a couple of options of how to handle this. You would use the same numbering system we discussed above with just a minor addition to indicate they are tied together. Personally, I use lower case letters, so the letter would be 2024.003.0012a, and the envelope would be 2024.003.0012b. I prefer lower case because at times a “B” can look like an “8” very easily depending on handwriting, and there are less issues of that with lower case letters. If you prefer to use strictly numbers, then you could structure it as: 2024.003.0012-1 and 2024.003.0012-2 or use only decimals with 2024.003.0012.1 and 2024.003.0012.2. This really just comes down to personal preference. To me, using extra numbers at the end makes it easy to not see a decimal point or a hyphen and then get .0012.1 confused with .00121. This is why I prefer using letters to indicate items that are tied together.

For our next blog post, I’ll discuss how to label your items with catalog numbers, now that we know how to create a system. In the meantime, go through your collections and determine what your secondary numbers might be. Find out where you’ve acquired a lot of your items and use that as a guide to create those prefixes. Once you have that, save that as a key and use it to reference and add more numbers to as your collection grows.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 3: John L. Hebron, 2nd Ohio Infantry Collection

Posted on by Steve
Photo of John L. Hebron in 1863.

While serving in the 2nd Ohio Infantry, Company G, as a bugler, John L. Hebron wrote hundreds of letters home to his family. These letters offer a valuable insight into the mind of a Union soldier who served from September 1861 to October 1864 as well as the movements and actions of his regiment. The letters of the Hebron collection begin in September 1861 and continue through the end of August, 1864.

The 2nd Ohio Infantry in 1861

The 2nd Ohio Infantry was originally formed as a three-months regiment and mustered into service at the outbreak of the war in April, 1861. Although John Hebron did not serve in the three-months regiment, he enlisted in the three-years regiment on September 10, 1861.

John Hebron’s first letter  to his family in the collection comes from Camp Dennison, Ohio, just one week after enlisting on the September 18, 1861. He assured them that his regiment had enough food and mentioned some of the other regiments passing through the camp:

“We have a good time of it down here. We had big bonfires down here last night. There was an Illinois Regiment come along hungry and we got them their supper. They were the 24th [Illinois]. Two regiments left here on Sunday for western Virginia — one zouave regiment and the 32nd Ohio.”

In early October, 1861, the regiment was engaged in battle for the first time at West Liberty, Kentucky. John L. Hebron wrote home  about the skirmish to his mother:

“I now sit down to write you a few more lines after the war [battle] of West Liberty. We started from Camp Garrett Davis on Tuesday at 2 o’clock p.m. and marched all day and all night. Early in the morning we met the enemy about 200 strong. They fired first without doing any damage. Then we tore down a fence and got in a field and throwed a shell among them which scattered them in every direction. They all broke for the hills. Then we marched about a hundred yards and then throwed two shells into the town about a half mile distant. We thought there was more in the town. The inhabitants fled in all directions.

The cavalry went after the soldier secesh and killed 6 or 7 of them while they only wounded one of the cavalry — a lieutenant. One of our company received a flesh wound in the arm while another had a ball go through his coat on top of his shoulder. None of the rest of the companies had a bullet come near them. The secesh heard that we had only 75 men and they had an awful frolic on the head of it. They left blankets, their grub, and everything else. They thought they were going to take us right away but they was sold.”

John L. Hebron’s Animosity Toward General Don Carlos Buell

Major General Don Carlos Buell via Wikimedia Commons.

In the summer of 1862, the 2nd Ohio Infantry was serving under General Major Ormsby Mitchel whom John L. Hebron had grown to like along with the rest of his division. General Mitchel had recently captured Huntsville, Alabama, for the Union army and Hebron attributed jealousy over that success to General Don Carlos Buell coming down hard on the men of his division. In a letter  from July 20, 1862, Hebron wrote:

“ I see the papers are giving Mitchel’s division thunder on all sides — something he don’t deserve at all. The whole division was down on him at one time but now they like him so much the better. I guess Old Buell didn’t like it because Mitchel got another star on his shoulder. The citizens around Huntsville made a poor mouth [complained] to Buell how Mitchel has used them and Buell is now giving them our rations and feeding us on half rations. Old Mitchel told them [the citizens] he wouldn’t allow the stores to open till his trains could go through to Shelbyville without being fired into and it was nobody but the citizens that done it. And they tried to burn the bridges and fired into the cars when they were full of soldiers every chance they could get. [In retaliation,] Old Mitchel burnt down some of their houses and the people in Huntsville will spit in a soldier’s face now. We all were down on Mitchel because we thought he was not hard enough on them but Old Buell won’t make much by feeding us on half rations for the hogs and sheep look very saucy at us and we have to shoot them for fear they will bite us for we know they are secesh. And [we] don’t like to leave them lay around to stink so we eat them.”

Two days later John L. Hebron had even harsher words for General Buell:

“Dave Laizure just came from Huntsville last night. He was shot through the foot above the big toe some 2 or 3 weeks ago but he has got able to walk now. He says that Buell is giving all the sugar and nearly all the other rations to the citizens and we are living on half rations. He says the negroes are going around with wheel barrows of flour and meat. He [says] the citizens are stepping around with their revolvers and knives and a guard can’t say a word to them. If the government don’t do something with Buell soon, some of our division will for he was shot at by one of the 10th Ohio and shot through the hand and there has been a good many threats made. I believe he is as bad as Old Jeff himself.”

Battle of Stones River

The battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro’ sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regiment, O.V.I. via Wikimedia Commons.

The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought between December 31, 1862 and January 2, 1863. The Battle of Stones River resulted in a Union victory, high casualties on both sides, and the withdrawal of the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg.

During the battle, Lieutenant Colonel John Kell of the 2nd Ohio Infantry was killed and the regiment was credited with capturing the flag of the 30th Arkansas Infantry regiment. John L. Hebron was present for the first day of the battle and even helped to transport the 30th Arkansas flag, as he described in a letter to his mother after the battle:

“On the morning of the 31st [December], our division to the front or away back through some cedar bushes that was so thick you could hardly see 10 steps ahead of you. We went through them about ¼ of a mile and maneuvered there a few minutes and then fell back in order that we could get a better chance at them. We went about 400 yards from the woods and stopped and layed down as the rebs had followed us and were firing on us. On they came towards Terrill’s Battery which was at our right. Our regiment let them come till they was pretty close [and] then let them have it — and the Battery gave them grape and canister and just mowed them down. They dropped their flag  and run like scared sheep.

It was while charging on us that [Lt.] Col. [John] Kell was killed and Waty Nichols, William Dunn, and Elijah Matlock was wounded. Somebody picked the [dropped] flag of the rebs up and gave it to Gen. Rousseau and Gen. Rousseau gave it to Major McCook for the 2nd [Ohio]. He said they took the flag. Major [Anson G.] McCook gave the flag to me and told me to keep it till the fight was over so I took the flag and put it in the ambulance and went to gathering of wounded for that is the musician’s job in battle.”

Conclusion

John L. Hebron and the 2nd Ohio Infantry went on to fight in many more battles including the Battle of Chickamauga as well as the Atlanta campaign. Miraculously, Hebron never received a single wound in battle and was mustered out on October 10, 1864, returning to his home in Ohio and remained in the state until his death in 1914.

With nearly 150 letters as well as photographs of John L. Hebron and his family, the collection is a fascinating and detailed look at one Ohio man’s service during the Civil War. We would like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing the letters.

Join the Research Arsenal  today to view all these letters and thousands more by Union and Confederate soldiers and their families.

Looking for more spotlights on our collection? Try reading about the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Chester Chapman letters or the US Ram Fleet in the Alfred Washington Ellet letters.

 

 

 

 

What is the Best Way to Catalog Your Collection?

Posted on by Steve

What is the best way to catalog your collection? A catalog system for your collection can be as basic or advanced as you would like, however, there are some key pieces of information that it should keep track of:

  • What the item is
  • Its description
  • Where it came from
  • Where it is located
  • Its catalog number

Aside from these major points, it can be helpful (although not necessary) to keep track of:

  • What did it cost
  • What is its value
  • What is its condition
  • Related items

As we discussed in a previous blog post, the purpose of the catalog system is to keep track of important details about your collection in a way that is easy to access. This second part will determine the best way for you to keep a catalog.

Analog or Digital?

I am a strong proponent of using a digital method to track your collection, but I will concede that the most important point is that you have one—not so much the format it may take. If you prefer to keep a notebook with this information written down, that is better than nothing, and I applaud you for creating a system! However, if I can encourage you to use a digital system, that will be of more use to you in the future. Simply put, a digital system will allow you to search your collection by keyword, location, description, donor, etc. If you are only using an “analog” system, you will only be able to search by your catalog’s filing system. If it’s alphabetical, you’ll only be able to search by that, or if it’s by catalog number, that will be your method of search. It will be impossible to simply do a keyword search for “bayonet” and find every photograph, artifact and document with “bayonet” as part of its description.

If you are dead set on avoiding anything computer based, and analog based system is still better than nothing. There are a couple of ways to do this: you could use a system based on index cards, or a simple notebook. In either case, you would want to give each item its own catalog number (which will get into in a future post on actually cataloging items) and use that as the filing point for your collection. For example, you may choose to use a simple numerical system of your name combined with the year you obtained the item. If Joe Smith purchased a bayonet in 2025, it’s number may look something like JS2025.001 with “.001” identifying it as the first item obtained in 2025. Don’t stress too much over the numerical system as we’ll go over that in a future post!

Computer Based Collection Catalog Systems

If you are comfortable with computers there are a number of options for you to use to create your catalog. Museums by and large use Past Perfect software, which is very expensive, and geared for museums. For the average private collector that is overkill, and now there are even competitor programs to Past Perfect.

If you’re only a small step up from using an analog based system, and the thought of using a dedicated software program is intimidating, then I’d recommend just using Excel. It’s not pretty, but it will let you list everything you would have listed in a notebook or index card set digitally, which will give you the option to at least use CTRL+F and do a keyword search.

If you’re willing to learn a new computer program, there are a couple of options:

Recollector

Cost: $49 one-time fee

Recollector screenshot
This screenshot shows what the interface of Recollector looks like when listing a collection’s contents.

Recollector is by far the most cost effective catalog system available for private collectors. It mimics the well-known Past Perfect but is stripped down to run on a budget. It is easy to install and their website includes a number of training options from videos to manuals, so it is easy to learn.

Screenshot of single entry in Recollector
Here you can see the important information that a catalog system tracks in a single entry for Recollector. All of the key information is easy to find, searchable, and in one convenient location.

It will track all of the key information above, is searchable, and lists the information in an intuitive format. In addition, it has a companion app so that you can view your collection on your phone. How handy would this be the next time you’re at one of those big Civil War collector shows and wondering if you already have a photo, document, or artifact similar to what you’re considering buying?

If your collection is sizeable—we’re talking over 1,000 items, many of which are related, then you will likely want a more robust program. In this case, I would recommend CatalogIt.

CatalogIt

Cost: $150/year for 2,500 items and 3 users

CatalogIt mobile and web view
CatalogIt offers both a fully functional web-based and mobile-based app, meaning you can view and edit your collection information from anywhere.

This software has all of the components of Recollector, and a whole lot more. One of the key features is the ability to relate items together and to share your collection online in virtual galleries. Both of these features are included in the subscription cost. Another key difference with CatalogIt is that it is cloud based with a fully functional phone app, meaning that not only can you see your collection from your phone, you can edit from your phone. You can create an entry on your desktop, snap a quick photo on your phone, and upload the image straight into CatalogIt from your phone. Easy peasy!

Screenshot of CatalogIt entry for the Grand Army of the Republic
In this screenshot from the author’s personal collection taken from the mobile version of CatalogIt, you can see how the Grand Army of the Republic is listed as “GAR” and “G.A.R.” showing that a search of any of those three terms will result in Grand Army of the Republic items.

CatalogIt also allows you to create related organizations and people. This is HUGE. Let me explain why: If you’re a Civil War collector, chances are you may have a GAR item, right? Or is that Grand Army of the Republic? Or is it G.A.R.? Now if you do a search in Excel or Recollector for “G.A.R.” you won’t bring up “Grand Army of the Republic” or “GAR” because they are not the same text values. They are purely searching based on that information. Or, if someone is “John Michael Smith” and is sometimes referred to as “J.M. Smith” or “JM Smith” or “J. Smith” you have no way to indicate that they are all the same. CatalogIt allows you to create an organization or a person when you are tagging information in your collection. When you create that person or organization, you simply type in any of their AKAs and the software will remember that. In addition, if you suddenly discover that a person named “Amos” also went by “Dale” you can edit the person you created, add “Dale” and it will automatically update that for all of your entries. This is a fantastic feature to make searches way more useful and accurate, and excellent if you wish to share your collection online for people to search through.

Take a good look through all of these options, and it’s important to note that both software programs offer free trials, so that you can see which one is right for you! We’ll start going over how to catalog in the next blog posts! In the meantime, feel free to check out the Research Arsenal database for ideas of information to track in your collection.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 2: Alfred Washington Ellet, the US Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade

Posted on by Steve

 

The US Ram Fleet

Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot showing several ships of the US Ram Fleet, published in “Harper’s Weekly”, 1862, via Wikimedia Commons.

The US Ram Fleet and the Mississippi Marine Brigade served an important role in the Union army countering Confederate forces operating on and near the Mississippi River. The US Ram fleet was initially formed in March of 1862 under the command of Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr. Somewhat unusually, the US Ram Fleet was under control of neither the army nor the navy, and instead reported directly to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton.

As the name suggests, the US Ram Fleet was made up of a collection of steamships fitted with rams designed for crashing into other ships and thereby sinking them. The US Ram Fleet was created in response to the successful actions of the CSS Virginia in sinking both the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress on March 8, 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.

In November of 1862, the Mississippi Marine Brigade was formed as a supplement to the US Ram Fleet, incorporating infantry, cavalry, and artillery units which would be transported by the fleet. Despite its name, the brigade was not part of the US Marines at any point. Both the US Ram Fleet and Mississippi Marine Brigade continued to serve directly under the Secretary of War until their disestablishment in August 1864.

The Ellet Family

Besides Colonel Charles Ellet, a number of other Ellet family members made up the command structure of the US Ram Fleet including Charles Ellet’s son, Charles Rivers Ellet, his nephew, John A. Ellet, and his brother, Alfred Washington Ellet. Also present was Alfred Washington Ellet’s young son, Edward.

Colonel Charles Ellet died from blood poisoning from a wound received at the First Battle of Memphis in June, 1862, and command of the US Ram Fleet then fell to Alfred Washington Ellet. Eventually raised to the rank of Brigadier General, Alfred Washington Ellet wrote a series of twelve letters to his wife and family back home in August, 1862, which are all available to read in the Research Arsenal’s Alfred Washington Ellet Collection, made possible through a partnership with Spared & Shared.

In these letters, Alfred Washington Ellet gives a frank view of the politics surrounding the US Ram Fleet, as well as numerous updates about his son Edward, who served with the fleet for a time as well as about his nephew, Charles Rivers Ellet, who would later go on to command the Mississippi Marine Brigade.

Edward “Eddy” Ellet

Edward Carpenter Ellet was born in 1845, the son of Alfred Washington Ellet and Sarah Jane (Roberts) Ellet, and was not yet 17 when he accompanied his father on the US Ram Fleet. Alfred Washington Ellet spoke very highly of “Eddy” and his bravery in letters home to his wife, telling her:

“I wish that you could have seen him [Edward] as he stood on that deck firing his pistol into the port of the rebel monster. Few men ever did a deed so daring yet so coolly. After firing five times, one barrel stopped. He stepped to my side, took a fresh cap from out of my pocket, capped the pistol and deliberately fired his last charge into the open port as we were passing. Show me an act of cooler self-possession if you can.”

1904 Drawing of the CSS Arkansas by R. G. Skerrett via Wikimedia Commons.

The “monster” referred to in the passage above is the Confederate iron-clad ship CSS Arkansas. On July 22, 1862, the US Ram Fleet encountered the CSS Arkansas outside of Vicksburg. The Queen of the West of the US Ram Fleet rammed the CSS Arkansas but failed to sink her. It was likely during this fight that Eddy fired at her.

Plans for Taking Vicksburg

In a letter to his wife dated August 4, 1862, Alfred Washington Ellet detailed his own plan for taking Vicksburg and expressed frustration at it not being implemented.

“I think that nothing is so important as to open this river and nothing much easier to be done if we can only procure some concert of action. Vicksburg can be taken in two hours if they would only do as I proposed near a month ago to [Admirals] Farragut & Davis. Let these gunboats be pushed right up to the batteries at close quarters and silence them with grape and canister. Their guns are all exposed. And I will engage to land five hundred men and passing under our own fire, spike every gun before the enemy could know what I intended. Our boats would of course elevate their guns as I approached the forts so that their fire would still pass over me and fall so as to prevent the enemy from advancing from behind. This thing could be accomplished so quick, commencing at the upper fort and taking them in succession that it seems strange that it has not been accomplished. I have talked with Davis repeatedly about it but he fears to bring his boats to close quarters. [As] for myself, I want to see more close quarters fighting. We have stood off from these villains long enough and now I want to see them “crowded to the wall.”

Ellet also added,

“I tell you that all that high falutin idea of southern chivalry is played out entirely with me. I have had too many balls whistle by my ears aimed by some lurking villain who took good care to keep out of sight for me to entertain any longer any refined notion about the way of carrying on this war. I am now for crushing out this rebellion if with it the life of every traitor, man, woman and child in the South should be made a sacrifice of, and the whole country made a desert waste. Let us fight the thing out with clean hands and without gloves.”

As it was a shot by a sharpshooter that led to the death of his brother, Colonel Charles Ellet (who was also the only Union casualty if the First Battle of Memphis), it is easy to believe that that incident hardened his views.

In the end, Vicksburg was not taken by the Union army until July 1863, after a long siege. Alfred Washington Ellet’s plan of attack proved to be too risky to attempt.

Relations with the Army and Navy

After the unsuccessful fight against the CSS Arkansas, Alfred Washington Ellet had considerable anxiety about how the incident would be portrayed in the press as well as his position of leadership as head of the US Ram Fleet. In a letter  dated August 10, 1862, he was finally much relieved in that area:

“[Charley] brought me the gratifying intelligence of the favorable light that my recent fight was looked upon by the people East, and the manner that the whole affair was set before the public by the press. I have felt extremely anxious upon this subject knowing how easy it was to crush me by an unfair statement even of facts, but of this I have no longer any apprehension. Secretary Stanton evidently intends that I shall have full justice and I rely upon him. I mentioned in my last that he says that he ‘will present my name to the President to be nominated for Brigadier General.’ This is sufficient evidence that he does not blame me for the late failure.”

He went on to tell his wife that she should not speak ill of other commanders, saying,

“I do not want you to express the feelings to others that your letters exhibits towards the commander in writing to me. I have fought my way into a position that I have nothing to fear from them, and the country has everything to gain from the knowledge that a cordial state of feelings exist between the commanders of the two fleets.”

Actions on the Yazoo River

In late August, 1862, Alfred Washington Ellet and the US Ram Fleet traveled up the Yazoo River successfully seizing and destroying large quantities of Confederate goods and ammunition. Describing the seizure Ellet said:

“We landed under the fire and found that we had got a prize again. The guns were not yet in position. Four heavy siege guns were lying by the side of their carriages, two brass field pieces, their mountings all laying close by, tons and tons of ammunition, shot, and shell in the greatest abundance, barrels and barrels of powders and quantities of “fixed” ammunition in boxes for the field piece, and 20-lb howitzers. We all went to work immediately to save what was of value to us and destroy the balance. We rolled all the solid shot into the river and the powder likewise. All the valuable prepared ammunition we took on board. The small cannon we also got on board, but we could not handle the large ones and were consequently obligated to burst them. So you see we have frustrated the little plan of this enemy for our future benefit. They must look out for more guns and another supply of ammunition before they can dispute our passage of the Yazoo at Hayne’s Bluff.”

The fleet was able to return safely with the prize and continued to act through out the war until its eventual disestablishment in 1864.

Conclusion

The twelve letters of the Alfred Washington Ellet Collection give valuable insight into the mind of the man behind the US Ram Fleet at a time when he had only shortly taken command of it. With the US Ram Fleet operating outside of the direct command of the army or navy, special care had to be taken to ensure cooperation and planning, as well as smooth personal relations between the various commanders. The letters also reveal the strong presence of the Ellet family in the US Ram Fleet and the close family ties between them. You can read the twelve letters in full on the Research Arsenal.

We’d like to give a special thank you to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing these letters.

Looking for more spotlights on our collection?

Try reading about the Chester Chapman Letters.

 

 

 

 

How Are You Keeping Track of Your Collection?

Posted on by Steve
Collections of items in Riker mounts (like this display of GAR medals) can benefit from having all of the background provenance tracked in a database.
Collections of items in Riker mounts (like this display of GAR medals) can benefit from having all of the background provenance tracked in a database.

Why You Need to Inventory Your Collection

Keeping track of your collection is one of the most important things you can do as a collector. We all know how it starts: You are going through life minding your own business when suddenly you get bitten by the collector bug. Now you find yourself scouring eBay, Facebook Marketplace, flea markets, antique stores, garage sales, and greasy dumpsters for your latest finds. Don’t worry, there’s no shame in that. Although if you’re a regular dumpster diver I’d definitely make sure that all your shots are current….

Once the collector bug has struck, you may find your new collection quickly spiraling out of control with more and more additions. Whether it’s a plethora of general Civil War memorabilia, a hefty photographic collection, firearms, buttons, badges, or ribbons, it can get overwhelming fast. Are all of these finds still on display? Or has that beautiful new sharpshooter tintype you found on your latest dumpster diving trip (hey, it could happen!) taken center stage on the mantel and relegated those other old CDVs to a drawer or a binder? Do you have all of the information of where you got these things, who you got them from, what the significance of them is, where they are stored, what you paid for them, who’s in the picture, and more, written down somewhere, or is it all in your noggin? If it’s the latter, it’s high time to start getting this information down on something concrete.

And if any of you are out there saying, “But I can remember all this! I know all this information in my head!” I’m going to tell you right now, STOP. Once your collection ends up with more than a few things, you won’t be able to remember the exact date you got something, the exact price you paid, the name of the person who sold it to you, the random funny story the seller told you about the person it used to belong to, etc. That information will fade. It’s a simple fact of life. The second issue with this mentality is what if something happens to you? We all know someone who has passed unexpectedly or has been severely debilitated by a stroke or freak accident. We all think it won’t happen to us, but the truth of the matter is that it absolutely can. One last thing to consider is what happens to all of your stuff when you pass on? Are your kids taking it? Do they have the encyclopedic knowledge of your collection that you do? Will it be sold? Does your family have the encyclopedic knowledge of your collection to sell it for a fair price? We all love those deals we find where someone is selling something that they have no idea the actual significance or value of. We’ve all made scores like that, but that’s probably not something any of us would like to see happen to our collections.

How Can I Keep Track of My Collection?

Pen and paper is better than nothing, but for a truly functional catalog system, you'll want to use a computer database.
Pen and paper is better than nothing, but for a truly functional catalog system, you’ll want to use a computer database.

At this point, you may be asking, “Well, this is wonderful information, but what can I do?” I’m so glad you asked! May I present to you, the idea of (drumroll) CATALOGING!” You may say, “But I’m not a museum! I don’t need that!” Well, my friend, once you’ve crossed the line into a large collection, you may as well be a museum. You’re in the big leagues now and you’re going to need to start using some sort of catalog system to track and store information about your collection. This is not as overwhelming as it may seem, and chances are, many of you are already doing something like this.

Over the next few blog posts, I’m going to walk you through creating and using a museum catalog system. I will take you through the basics of creating a trinomial numbering system, how to number your items (spoiler alert, it’s not with ballpoint pen. Didn’t you read last week’s article?), enter them into a database, and store your collection. The goal of all of this is to ensure that your collection itself and the information associated with your collection, all stays together in perpetuity. It’s frustrating to think that we may own an unidentified photo that maybe just one or two owners back, was actually identified, but the information was lost when the collection was parceled out on eBay. This happens far more often than I like to think about. Having all this information together in a single database will help alleviate those concerns. Not to mention, this also becomes a fantastic way to track your collection for insurance and appraisal purposes.

As someone who has worked in museums, ran museums, designed exhibits, and served on museum boards for the past 17 years, there are a lot of museum practices that would be of tremendous benefit for private collectors. A catalog system is high on that list because the value of keeping information with artifacts is priceless. So, pull out your notebooks for next week’s post as we dive into this. This is also a wonderful time to assess your collection and really take the time to inventory it, even just on a cursory level. How many items do you have? Do you know exactly which items are in which boxes for storage? Which items are on display? Can you pop quiz yourself on where, when, how and for how much you got each item? And for those of you who have a catalog system in place, how does that system work? Is there anything it’s not keeping track of that you wish it was? We’re going to go over all of this in the coming weeks and I sincerely hope that the information in these upcoming articles will help you find a system that works perfectly for you!

In the meantime, hop over to the Research Arsenal and look through the database to see what sort of data points it tracks. Then take a look at the Library of Congress (or any other inventoried database) and get a feel for how these sites organize information and what they keep track of.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 1: Chester Chapman Letters

Posted on by Steve
1st Connecticut Artillery at Fort Richardson.

This week were spotlighting a collection of over 70 letters on the Research Arsenal, made possible through a partnership with Spared & Shared. These letters were written by Chester Chapman of Montville, New London, Connecticut during his service from 1861 to 1865.

Chester Chapman’s Service in the 4th Connecticut Infantry and Reorganization into the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery

Chapman enlisted in the 4th Connecticut Infantry on May 22, 1861 and was assigned to company D. In an early letter written on August 29, 1861,  Chester Chapman wrote to his wife, Martha Loretta (Williams) Chapman about the conditions of the food in his camp at Frederick, Maryland.

“I am writing everything that I can think of. The boys are eating supper and they want me to let you know what they have got for supper. They have got boiled rice, which is little less than half done, and boiled water seasoned with oak leaves for tea, sweetened with molasses. I had rather eat it than drink it. So I am a going to wait until they stop eating, then I am a going to eat some of the molasses on a piece of bread. We have just half enough to eat and very bad treatment. Do not let anyone see this for if they should find out what I have been writing, they would take me up as a secessionist and God knows I hate the sound of the name.”

In September, 1861, Chapman received word that his regiment would be converted to artillery and the unit was soon after designated as the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, under the command of a new Colonel, Robert Ogden Taylor. Chapman wrote to Martha of the news saying, “We are to be artillerymen and have got to hold an advanced position on Arlington Heights for we are the first three-year’s men so we are to be put ahead of the rest. Our new Colonel [Robert Ogden Tyler] is one of the best of men for he tried to have the men have their rights.”

Chester Chapman’s Sickness and Battle in Virginia

Chapman spent many of the following months sick, moving in and out of the hospital depending on the amount of strength he had. He worked some as a nurse and cook in the hospital before going back on regular duty with his regiment as they traveled throughout Virginia. In June of 1862, he wrote from Cold Harbor about the current doings of his regiment and the grisly conditions they faced.

“We are on a hunting expedition, we have been all over Virginia after the rebels and only got up with them once and then they almost got us in a trap before we knew that they were in sight.

There is nothing that will kill a man like this for we had to walk thirty miles one day and then run for two hours over the battlefield where we could not step in some places without stepping on a dead man and Norman Smith slept with one and kept punching him with his elbow to make him move and did not know that he was dead until morning.

We buried 25 North Carolina men in one grave. Some of them was killed so sudden that they fell just as they stood. One man lay with one hand on his gun and the other on the ramrod a trying to load it. One poor fellow had the top of his head shot off. This war business is hard when one has to walk all day to do two or three hours fighting and then have to sleep on the battle ground all night.”

Chester Chapman’s Capture and Imprisonment at Richmond

During the Seven Days Battles in 1862, Chester Chapman was taken prisoner by the Confederate army. In July 1862, Martha Chapman received a letter  from another man in Chester Chapman’s regiment, Albert Sperry, stating that Chester had been captured and was currently a prisoner in Richmond, Virginia, working as nurse. Sperry expected that Chester would soon be released on parole.

On August 8, 1862, Chester Chapman was finally able to write what had become of him.

“As I have got clear of the rebels and back to my company with nothing else to do but write, I will let you know how I have been. I have been sick with the scarlet rash for about two weeks and besides all that, I have been in a Richmond prison for five weeks. I got taken at the hospital on the 27th of June by Jackson’s troops and carried to prison and fed on bread and water—and sour bread at that. But I am well at present, thank God, and hope that you are the same.”

Chester also wrote some of the deplorable conditions the sick and wounded endured.

“I wish that I could describe to you the horror of the battlefield. The one where I was was nothing to what some of them is. I went on to it a week after the fight and there lay poor men with no legs, some with broken arms, and some with all one side of their heads shot off and no one to help them for our doctors all run and the rebel doctors had as much as they could do to take care of their own men. I have seen poor men die that would have got well with a very little care for their wounds would get fly blown and the poor men would be eat up with maggots when a little cold water would have cured them.”

Chester Chapman’s Reenlistment as a Veteran and Service Until the End of the Civil War

1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery at Fort Richardson

Chester Chapman reenlisted as a veteran on November 3, 1863 and was promoted to corporal in January 1864. For much of this time there are no surviving letters between Chester and Martha. Martha came down to visit him briefly in April of 1864 and he wrote her detailed directions on how to arrive as well as a pass she could show the guards in order to be allowed on to Fort Richardson after meeting with the Provost Marshal in Washington.

Chapman’s regiment served for a time at Bermuda Hundred and in a letter from June 5, 1864, he described what it was like to be under constant shelling.

“They have been trying to see how many of us they could kill, I guess, for they have been shelling our works very hard. It makes me feel funny to have them pieces of iron fly past and burst on all sides and all a fellow can do is to trust to the Lord and let them come. When they come over, they cry furlough for about fifty time and when they burst they cry discharge.”

After the end of the war, Chester Chapman spent several long months waiting to be discharged. He once again served in the hospital and on July 14, 1865, he wrote to Martha expecting to be mustered out soon.

“I have some good news for you, and I hope that it will prove true. If it does, I shall be at home before winter for the news is that the whole of the army of the Potomac is to be mustered out except Hancock Corps. But I think that I shall stay for if I have been put on General Detail here, I shall have to stay till this hospital is broke up.”

Conclusion

The letters between Chester Chapman and his wife, Martha (Williams) Chapman paint a vivid picture of Chapman’s service throughout the Civil War. Though he spent much of his time in the hospital either suffering from illness or working as a nurse, he also faced many harrowing days on the battlefield. The full collection of letters highlights many more episodes we were unable to include here, and may be accessed through a Research Arsenal membership. We’d also like to give a special thanks to William Griffing for his tireless work in digitizing and transcribing Civil War letters at Spared & Shared.

Tracing Civil War History With a Ballpoint Pen

Posted on by Steve
This letter was written by Lt. Horatio Graves of the 10th Massachusetts Infantry in June 1864. At some point in recent history, the original writing has been traced over in spots with a modern ballpoint pen.

Working with archives and artifacts, you are bound to come across things that make you cringe or outright cry. I have been working in museums and with historic material for over 16 years now, and the things I see sometimes still shock me. No one wants an “angry archivist” so I am going to share some of the more unfortunate things I’ve encountered in this (and future) blog posts in the hopes of offering solutions so that these things can be avoided in the future.

One thing that is important to get straight right off the bat: If you are a collector of anything historic (ANY item of historical significance) you are not its owner, you are its caretaker. Bluntly, this means that this item should continue to exist long after you have kicked the proverbial bucket. Which also means that it should continue to exist in its purest form. It should not be modified in any way from its original form. Anything done to archive material or artifacts should be reversible—or in the case of conservation, be done by professionals to avoid irreversible damage. Tracing Civil War history with a ballpoint pen causes irreversible damage to documents.

The Ballpoint Pen

Civil War letter traced with ballpoint pen
This original Civil War letter written in pencil has been traced over by a modern hand with ballpoint pen.

Take a look at this wonderful original Civil War letter. Look at that lovely blue ink it is written in…wait, why is it in a mixture of pencil and ink? Why does that blue ink look like ballpoint pen ink? They didn’t have those in the Civil War, did they? No, no they did not. This letter was written in pencil, but at some point in its lifetime, a former owner of the document decided it was hard to read. So, what did they do? They busted out their trusty ballpoint pen and TRACED OVER THE ORIGINAL WRITING WITH PERMANENT BLUE INK.

Folks, I cannot stress this enough, please, please do not do this. I understand that 160-year-old pencil writing can be difficult to read, but tracing over the original writing on a period document is an archival crime.

Here are some alternatives:

  • Rewrite the letter onto a separate sheet of paper. Or, better yet, type it on your computer!
  • Scan the letter and use a photo editing program to enhance the contrast and make the writing more readable.
  • Literally anything that does not deface the original document.

The Tape

Civil War letter with acidic tape
Here you can see how acidic old cellophane tape is. Even where the tape has crumbled off, the yellow stain remains on the document.

As you can imagine, documents from the Civil War are extremely fragile. Some are even falling apart. Unfortunately, for this document, not only was the pencil writing difficult to read, but it was tearing along the creases where the letter had been originally folded. But not to worry! The former owner of it knew just what to do! TAPE IT. Sigh.

Crumbly acidic yellowed tape is something I see far too often on archival documents. And I understand why people did this. The paper was old, it was falling apart, and they tried their best to keep it together. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Unfortunately, tape is not archival—it is extremely acidic. Especially that old transparent cellophane tape from the 1960s and 1970s. Over time, it turns a beautiful shade of yellow, gets super crumbly, and begins to eat the paper. Lovely, isn’t it? And once it’s on there, much like the ballpoint pen, the damage is irreversible. In fact, if you look closely at this photo you can see where the acidic tape has actually eaten through the paper and dissolved it.

Here you can see how the acidic tape actually ate through the paper of the letter causing irreversible damage.

This is a quandary though. If you have historical documents like this, it’s important to preserve them. But if they are falling apart, what can you do? I’ll give you a hint, the answer is not to tape them back together. The first option I would recommend are archival sleeves. Specifically, polypropylene sleeves that are side locking. These are perfectly clear, durable, and archivally safe. This means no yellowing! Or slow acidic eating of documents! What’s better is that they are side locking. This means that you can easily open the sleeve, gently place your document inside it, and then “lock” it with the folding flap. The sleeve then safely holds your paper with a small bit of static and pressure of the top flap to ensure that it does not slide around inside. These types of sleeves come in a variety of sizes so that you can put everything from CDVs to oversized parchment certificates in them. Archival Methods is a great place to purchase some if you are interested: https://www.archivalmethods.com/product/side-loading-print-sleeves

These side-locking print sleeves from Archival Methods will keep your fragile documents safe without causing further damage and degradation.

When shopping for sleeves, I recommend the side-locking type, although there are other varieties that seal on two or three sides. I discourage using the ones that are sealed on three sides because that only allows one side to insert the document, and if it is fragile (as all Civil War era papers are) there is a much higher chance it will be damaged trying to place it in the sleeve. Because the side-locking ones are only sealed on one side, they open easily allowing you to place the document inside gently, and then fold it back over, minimizing stress on the document.

Digitize Everything

The second thing I would recommend is to digitize your documents. In museums, we always try to minimize the amount that any original document or artifact is handled. The more it is handled the more it starts to degrade. Tears on paper get bigger, edges can start to crumble, the leather on artifacts starts to deteriorate faster, etc. Once something is digitized it reduces the need to handle the original object. This is especially true with papers because they can easily be read on a high quality scan (300 dpi). Once the document is scanned, it can be stored safely in a sleeve inside an archival folder and box.

I understand that most collectors are not trained in museum and archival best practices. And I hope that sharing some of the suggestions above will help prevent more incidents like what I’ve discussed. I’ll continue to post and share helpful hints and tips on this blog and share resources of other sites that may be helpful for you in managing your collections. The most important thing to keep in mind when storing or working with your collection is: Is what you are doing permanent? If it is, do not do it. Don’t write on original documents with permanent pen, don’t cut them with scissors to better fit that neat frame you bought, don’t tape them back together, don’t hang them up in sunlight to fade, etc. You are the proud caretaker of these items, and if treated well, they will continue to last for future generations whether in private collections or museums. Once they are permanently ruined, there is no going back.

Where Can You See These Letters?

To see the letters referenced in this post visit the Research Arsenal database.

The first letter pictured can be found here: https://app.researcharsenal.com/imageSingleView/130324

An example of tape destruction can be found here: https://app.researcharsenal.com/imageSingleView/130294

The rest of the Horatio Graves letter collection can be found by searching by “Individual” and typing in “Horatio Graves” on the Research Arsenal database.

Civil War Letters: Identifying and Researching Authors

Posted on by Steve
Three unidentified officers and a 1st sergeant of the 7th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment in front of a Sibley tent. From Library of Congress collection.

In the 160 years since the end of the Civil War, many letters written during that time have lost valuable historical context as they were passed down through generations, sold and resold, and finally made their way into the hands of people that want to know more about them. Sometimes identifying the authors and regiments of Civil War letters can be as simple as reading the signature at the end of a letter, other times it takes more detective work.

To illustrate some of the ways a letter can be narrowed down or identified through research, we’re going to look at a letter that recently became part of the Research Arsenal collection through a group of unidentified Civil War era letters by various authors. The letter is signed with the initials “L. N. M.” but contains no dateline, location or regiment.

Example of one of many Civil War letters without a full signature.
Bottom of letter signed by L. N. M.

While knowing all three initials of the author is helpful, it’s too broad to lead us to a regiment all on its own. We also don’t know the exact date the letter was written or from where, so the next thing we have to do is look at the content of the letter itself and hope that we can find more clues.

Looking for Clues in the Content of Civil War Letters

In the beginning of the letter, L. N. M. writes (all quotes adjusted for spelling and punctuation), “the morning I had to get up and go to the sutler to take Everett’s place as he is not very well” and that “Two of the Lebanon Boys and Everett and I have fixed us up a board tent or shanty where we can be by ourselves.” Everett, then, is clearly someone close to the author and his wife, raising the possibility that it could be a brother or son, though it is just as likely to be a close personal friend. The “Lebanon Boys” also suggests that the author is from somewhere in Pennsylvania or New Hampshire, rather than further west.

Further in the letter, we get a series of information that greatly narrows down the possibilities:

“I expect the sutler will [want] all the time I can spare as he has had a place up with his clerk so I shall have as good a chance as I had to Fort Jefferson. I have thought pretty strong of sending Everett home with Mr. Williams, but he can do as he is a mind to. His shirts are getting rather thin I am going to take one to mend the other I have to economize on his clothes.”

From the above excerpt, it’s clear that Everett is likely the son of the author, and probably very young as L. N. M. is able to send him home, meaning he isn’t a regularly enlisted soldier. L. N. M. also reveals that the regiment was once stationed at Fort Jefferson, Florida, which means we now have a location to research for more clues.

Photo of Fort Jefferson arches via Wikimedia Commons.

Fort Jefferson is one of the United States’ largest forts and located in the Dry Tortugas area of Florida. It was constructed in the 1840s and occupied by Union forces throughout the Civil War. A quick scan of the Wikipedia page for Fort Jefferson reveals that the following regiments were stationed there during the Civil War: 2nd US Artillery, 6th New York Zouaves, 7th New Hampshire Infantry, 90th New York Infantry, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, and the 110th New York Infantry. There is an excellent chance that L. N. M. belonged to one of these six regiments. In addition, the 110th New York Infantry can probably be discounted as it served at Fort Jefferson through the end of the war, while L. N. M.’s regiment has clearly already moved on from that post.

Finally, L. N. M. writes that “Cap House thinks the select men will have to come over. He gets his information from Sham by the way of his wife. He is in the legislature you know.” Knowing that there is a captain named House in L. N. M.’s regiment is a tremendous clue. Using the National Park Services Soldiers and Sailors Database we can search for a “Captain House” in the six regiments we identified as having been stationed at Fort Jefferson. Of the sixth regiments, only one had a captain with the last name House: Captain Jerome B. House of the 7th New Hampshire Volunteers.

Using Regimental Rosters to Identify Authors of Civil War Letters

Now that we’ve narrowed down L. N. M.’s regiment, the next step is to see if we can identify him and figure out his full name. The best place to start would be with a roster of the men serving in Company C of the 7th New Hampshire Infantry, which is the company that was commanded by Jerome B. House. The Internet Archive has the “Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New Hampshire” which contains a complete roster of the 7th New Hampshire Infantry. Reading through the names, the only person with the initials “L. N. M.” is a musician named “Leonard N. Miner” who enlisted December 3, 1861 and mustered out in December 1864.

While it is very likely that Leonard N. Miner is the author of the letter, to make absolutely sure the next step is to research his family to see if the other information from the letter fits well with it. Census records along with genealogy websites like ancestry.com and familysearch.org are an excellent resource for looking up individuals once you learn their name. In this case, Leonard Miner’s gravestone is available on findagrave.com and tells us that he had a son named Everett, which is very strong confirmation that this is the correct person.

Finally, now that we’ve identified the regiment and the author of the letter, it is possible to narrow down the time it was written. The 7th New Hampshire Infantry was stationed at Fort Jefferson, Florida from March until June 1862, so the letter was likely written sometime after that. Captain Jerome B. House was severely wounded at Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863 and died of his wounds in Lebanon, New Hampshire on October 7, 1863, so the letter can be assumed to have been written before July, 1863. Throughout that time, the 7th New Hampshire Infantry served in the Department of the South.

With today’s online resources, it is much easier to research and restore valuable context to Civil War letters that may have been lost over the years. Everything mentioned in a letter is a potential clue to finding its author, and location information can be especially useful for narrowing down the regiment in which the author served. Even if you can’t identify the exact individual, knowing their regiment, or Corps, helps to add important historical background to the letter, and might help future researchers and historians narrow things down further.

In the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to own a piece of Civil War history, be sure to keep all the information you know about the item with it, so that it can be preserved for future generations.

To see thousands of Civil War Letters like the one discussed above, sign up for membership at the Research Arsenal here.

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