William Pendleton Palmer (b. June 17, 1861, d. Dec. 17, 1927) assembled this collection in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A former steel industrialist, Palmer became the president of the Western Reserve Historical Society in January of 1913, serving until his death in 1927. Palmer was an avid collector of Civil War memorabilia, collecting these various documents for more than a quarter of a century. He donated this and another collection to the Western Reserve Historical Society just prior to becoming its president. These collections together comprised one of the largest Civil War collections in any American public library. After his death, other items from his collection were acquired by the Western Reserve Historical Society.
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The William Pendleton Palmer Civil War Miscellany, 1812-1912 and undated (1860-1866), consists of personal accounts, correspondence, orders, military passes, propaganda, scrapbooks and newspaper clippings, mostly pertaining to the American Civil War. Materials range from 1800 to 1916, although the majority was written or published around or during the war itself.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio. Scholars interested in the nineteenth century, particularly matters relating to the American Civil War, will find this collection helpful. This collection has information addressing antebellum concerns about war, using both newspapers and personal correspondences. Civil War materials deal with both Eastern and Western theatres of the war, Union military and naval issues, and Confederate military and naval issues. Content includes newspapers, military, civil, and personal correspondence, military promotions, discharges and passes, as well as scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and speeches, and registers of soldiers.
The collection is arranged in six series.
Researchers interested in other Civil War material collected by William Pendleton Palmer should consult MS 3947 William P. Palmer Collection of Civil War Manuscripts; MS 2121 Medical Department and Hospital Papers Collection: Union and Confederate Armies; and MS 2152, Regimental Papers of the Civil War.
Processed by Alicia Pavelecky and Ashley Taylor in 2007.
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[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3194 Civil War Miscellany, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of William Pendleton Palmer in 1927.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.