| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Palmer, William Pendleton |
| Title: | Civil War Miscellany |
| Dates: | 1812-1912 |
| Dates: | 1860-1866 |
| Extent: | 3.80 linear feet (10 containers and 15 oversize folders) |
| Abstract: | William Pendleton Palmer (1861-1927) was a steel company executive and collector of Civil War materials. He served as president of the Western Reserve Historical Society (1913-1927). The collection consists of letters, telegrams, commissions, discharge papers, general and special orders, circulars, broadsides, maps, drawings, naval papers, and scrapbooks, relating to Union and Confederate armed forces and veteran's organizations and Confederate medical services; and newspaper clippings accumulated by Governor Reynolds of Missouri on politics and the American Civil War, a scrapbook including speeches of Mayor Richardson of Cambridge, Massachusetts, registers of 3 Confederate ships, and papers relating to several military units and battles. |
| MS Number | MS 3194 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
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.
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.
None.
Related MaterialResearchers 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.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3194 Civil War Miscellany, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of William Pendleton Palmer in 1927.
Processed by Alicia Pavelecky and Ashley Taylor in 2007.
Series I: Antebellum Correspondence 1812-1860 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Civil issues, including a letter signed by Daniel Webster, July 13, 1841; and three letters signed by Jefferson Davis, May 25 and October 20, 1855, and April 19, 1858 (original material removed to the vault) 1835-1860 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Military issues, including a letter signed by Winfield Scott, November 22, 1850 1845-1860 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Personal, Adams - King, including a letter signed by Charles Francis Adams, March 22, 1850; fragment of a note signed by Ethan Allen, November 10, 1812; a letter signed by George Bancroft, July 21, 1856; and a letter signed by Salmon P. Chase, August 10, 1860 1812-1860 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Personal, Lee - Seward, including letters signed by William H. Seward, March 28, 1846, and Winfield Scott, undated 1838-1860 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Personal, Stephens, Alexander 1843 1853-1859 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Personal, Stewart - Yaney 1842-1860 | |||||||||
Series II: Civil War 1860-1865 undated |
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Sub-series A: Union Military 1861-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Eastern Theater, Army, correspondence, including a letter signed by Robert Anderson, February 27, 1861; a letter signed by Abner Doubleday, October 14, 1861 and endorsed by George McClellan; and a letter signed by George McClellan, July 19, 1861 1861 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Eastern Theater, Navy, correspondence, including many signed by Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy 1861 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Eastern Theater, Army, correspondence, general and special orders, including a letter signed by George McClellan, July 15, 1862 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Eastern Theater, Navy, correspondence, including letters to and from Gideon Welles 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Eastern Theater, Army, correspondence, including letters signed by Winfield Scott Hancock, February 25, 1863; Abner Doubleday, March 26, 1863; and George McClellan, June 1, 1863 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Eastern Theater, Navy, correspondence, including letters to and from Gideon Welles 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Eastern Theater, Army, correspondence, including a letter signed by Ulysses S. Grant, December 22, 1864 (original material removed to the vault) 1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Eastern Theater, Navy, correspondence, including letters to and from Gideon Welles and Silas H. Stringham 1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Eastern Theater, Army, correspondence and requisitions, including letters signed by Ulysses S. Grant, March 30, March 31, and April 2, 1865 (original material removed to the vault) 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Eastern Theater, Navy, correspondence, including letters to and from Gideon Welles and Silas H. Stringham 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Western Theater, Army, correspondence, including a letter signed by Ulysses S. Grant, November 1, 1861; letters signed by William T. Sherman, December 31, 1861 and December 20, 1862; and a hand drawn map of the Battle of Shiloh, attributed to Sherman, April 1862 (original material removed to the vault) 1861-1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Western Theater, Navy, correspondence, including letters signed by David G. Farragut, June 30 and August 1, 1862 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Western Theater, Army, correspondence, including letters signed by Ulysses S. Grant, January 21, May 5, May 10, and July 16, 1863; and letters signed by William T. Sherman, March 28, May 30, and August 3, 1863 (including a cover letter dated August 14, 1863, signed by Brigadier General W.H. [William Hicks] Jackson, C.S.A.) (original material removed to the vault) 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Western Theater, Navy, correspondence 1863-1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Western Theater, Army, correspondence, including letters signed by William T. Sherman, March 4, May 12, and May 27, 1865 (original material removed to the vault) 1864-1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Western Theater, correspondence undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Western and Eastern Theaters, Medical Corps, correspondence, circulars, and general orders 1861-1865 undated | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Union Military and Civilian-Domestic Issues 1861-1865 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Eastern Theater, correspondence, general, and special orders, including a letter to Governor B. Magoffin of Kentucky from Governor O.P. Morton of Indiana concerning secession, May 1, 1861; a letter signed from Salmon P. Chase to Dr. T.S. Bell, May 16, 1861; a letter signed from Andrew Carnegie to Salmon P. Chase, July 2, 1862; and letters signed by Edwin Stanton, January 11, 1864 and February 10, 1864 1861-1865 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Western Theater, including a letter signed by Abraham Lincoln concerning release of prisoners at Camp Douglas, Illinois, April 2, 1862, and a letter signed by John Hay to N.P. [Nathaniel Prentiss] Banks, July 24, 1863 (original material removed to the vault) 1861-1865 | |||||||||
Sub-series C: Union Military-Personal 1860-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Eastern Theater, including a letter signed by George McClellan, 1861 1860-1862 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Eastern Theater, including letters signed by Abner Doubleday, August 7 and August 9, 1863; a letter signed by Benjamin F. Butler, November 29, 1863; a letter signed by Horace Greeley, August 30, 1864; and letters signed by Joseph Hooker to Senator Henry Wilson concerning his past military service, his views on Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Philip Sheridan, George Meade and William T. Sherman, and his hopes for gaining an active command, December 8 and 17, 1864 1863-1864 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Eastern Theater, including a letter signed by Mary Lincoln, to Mrs. Gurley, concerning civil service employment, March 24, [no year]; and a letter signed by George McClellan, April 29, [no year] (original material removed to the vault) 1865 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Western Theater, including a letter signed by William S. Rosecrans, December 29, 1864 1861-1865 undated | |||||||||
Sub-series D: Confederate Military 1860-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Eastern Theater, Army, including letters signed by Robert E. Lee, May 27, July 5, and September 25, 1861 (original material removed to vault) 1860-1861 | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Eastern Theater, Army, including a letter signed by James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart, February 18, 1862; a letter signed by Robert E. Lee, May 13, 1862; and a requisition signed by Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson, October 3, 1862 (original material removed to the vault) 1862 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Eastern Theater, Army, including a letter signed by Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, February 8, 1863; letters signed by Robert E. Lee, May 2, May 26, and December 12, 1863; military orders signed by James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart, October 1 and 7, 1863, and Robert E. Lee, October 5, 1863 (original material removed to the vault) 1863 | |||||||||
| 2 | 10 | Eastern Theater, Army, including a letter signed by Richard S. Ewell, February 10, 1864; and letters signed by Robert E. Lee, February 21 and May 24, 1864 (original material removed to the vault) 1864-1865 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 11 | Western Theater, Army, including many letters signed by Gideon Johnson Pillow; letters signed by George Edward Pickett, November 30, 1861 1861 | |||||||||
| 2 | 12 | Western Theater, Army, including a letter signed by Braxton Bragg, March 7, 1862; and a request for prisoner exchange, September 16, 1864; and a description of the Battle of Dalton February 22-27, 1864 1862-1865 undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Eastern and Western Theaters, Navy, including requests for naval funds 1861-1864 | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Eastern and Western Theaters, medical, including correspondence from the Surgeon General's office 1861-1864 | |||||||||
Sub-series E: Confederate Military and Civilian-Domestic 1861-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Political matters (Whitthorne and Stovall) and Governor's messages (Isham G. Harris) Nashville, Tennessee, freehand and typewritten copies 1861 | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Eastern Theater, including letters signed by Jefferson Davis, June 7 and 15, July 29, 1861, October 10 and 13, 1862, June 8, 1863, and December 26, 1864; and a letter signed by John Tyler, May 14, 1861 (original removed to the vault) 1861-1865 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Western Theater, including an arrest warrant for Robert J. Campbell for seditious conduct against the Confederate States, April 8, 1862 1861-1865 | |||||||||
Sub-series F: Confederate Military-Personal 1861-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Eastern Theater, including letters signed by Robert E. Lee, May 17, 1861, October 3, 1861 and May 1865; a letter signed by Jefferson Davis, April 5, 1862; and a report describing the attack on Fort Sumter, April 1861 (original material removed to the vault) 1861-1865 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 7 | Western Theater, including correspondence to Gideon Johnson Pillow; and a letter requesting supplies, food and pay to John Adams, October 25, 1862 1861-1865 undated | |||||||||
Series III: Postwar 1865-1912 undated |
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Sub-series A: Military Issues 1865-1897 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 8 | Correspondence, including a pardon request sent to Andrew Johnson for Richard Duke, July 6, 1865; letters signed by William T. Sherman, August 15, 1865, and July 18, 1867; an estimation of Robert E. Lee's forces during April of 1864; and a letter signed by George G. Meade concerning Reconstruction, November 22, 1868 (original material removed to the vault) 1865-1897 undated | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Civil Issues 1865-1898 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 9 | Correspondence, including property damage claims, employment requests, and military reinstatement requests 1865-1898 | |||||||||
Sub-series C: Personal 1865-1912 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 10 | Alexander-Davis, Jefferson, including letters signed by Pierre Gustave Beauregard, 1870, and 1892; letters signed by Jefferson Davis, 1876-1881 and undated; and letters written by Adam Badeau concerning articles he authored about Ulysses S. Grant, 1885 (original material removed to the vault) 1866-1904 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 11 | Davis, J.C. - Lossing, including a letter signed by Abner Doubleday, March 1, 1891; a letter signed by Ulysses S. Grant, January 19, 1884; a letter signed by Rutherford B. Hayes, October 18, 1879; and letters signed by Jubal A. Early, 1866, 1887 and undated (original material removed to the vault) 1865-1899 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 12 | Loveland, Frank C., history of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry 1912 | |||||||||
| 3 | 13 | Ludlow-Zeller and unsigned, including a letter signed by William T. Sherman, April 15, 1888 1865-1902 | |||||||||
Series IV: Miscellaneous Documents 1860-1865 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Manuscripts by Winfield Peters; including writings on John S. Mosby and racial issues dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Manuscripts by E. C. Wilson (a Confederate veteran); including summaries of battles; writings on traitors to the Confederacy; and a memorial of Robert E. Lee dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Elisha G. Marshall collection, including Marshall's graduation from West Point and promotions; drawings and floor plans of various hospitals; muster rolls; and registers of vessels dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | Elisha G. Marshall miscellaneous collection, including bulletins concerning the Emancipation Proclamation and the United Confederate Veterans; and various discharge papers for Elisha G. Marshall dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | Military tactic drawings of various fighting stances dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 6 | Muster roll of Abiel Rhodes of 1st Massachusetts Regiment 1864 | |||||||||
| 4 | 7 | Propaganda; including songs, poems and drawings dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 8 | Unsigned dinner invitation undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 9 | Union and Confederate, calling cards of various generals undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 10 | Union and Confederate, military passes dates vary | |||||||||
| 4 | 11 | Union and Confederate, telegraphs 1860-1865 | |||||||||
Series V: Bound Volumes 1842-1865 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Copybook, including general and special orders, printed broadsides, and copies of correspondence of Brigadier General Henry Hayes Lockwood, USA 1861-1863 | |||||||||
| 5 | 2 | Copybook, letters of General Lockwood and his aides 1861-1862 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | Register, 6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, including records of transfers, desertions, deaths, and discharges 1861-1865 | |||||||||
| 6 | 2 | Register, bounty receipt stubs for men drafted in the 15th Ohio Congressional District, collected at Athens, Ohio and including township and county of residence of draftee 1864 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | Scrapbook, newspaper clippings, concerning regional New England and Civil War topics ca. 1860-1861 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | Scrapbook, belonging to George C. Richardson, mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts and president of the Boston Board of Trade, including newspaper clippings concerning the Civil War, the death of Abraham Lincoln, and commercial and political activities and handwritten speeches given by Richardson ca. 1850s-1865 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | Scrapbook, newspaper clippings and broadsides (most from Missouri) concerning the Civil War, the death of Abraham Lincoln, and other political and social topics, 1849-1865. Newspaper clippings are partially pasted over pages of an account book with entries dated 1842-1847 | |||||||||
Series VI: Newspaper Clippings 1849-1890 undated |
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Sub-series A: Small 1849-1887 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | Newspaper clippings 1849-1860 | |||||||||
| 9 | 2 | Newspaper clippings 1860 | |||||||||
| 9 | 3 | Newspaper clippings 1861 | |||||||||
| 9 | 4 | Newspaper clippings 1861 | |||||||||
| 9 | 5 | Newspaper clippings 1861-1863 | |||||||||
| 9 | 6 | Newspaper clippings 1863-1864 | |||||||||
| 9 | 7 | Newspaper clippings 1864-1865 | |||||||||
| 9 | 8 | Newspaper clippings 1865 | |||||||||
| 9 | 9 | Newspaper clippings 1866-1887 | |||||||||
| 9 | 10 | Newspaper clippings undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1-8 | Newspaper clippings undated | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Medium 1853-1890 undated |
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| Folder | |||||||||||
| 1 | Oversize Folder 1: Newspaper clippings 1853-1860 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 2 | Oversize Folder 2: Newspaper clippings 1860-1861 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 3 | Oversize Folder 3: Newspaper clippings 1861 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | Oversize Folder 4: Newspaper clippings 1861-1863 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 5 | Oversize Folder 5: Newspaper clippings 1863-1864 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 6 | Oversize Folder 6: Newspaper clippings 1864-1865 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 7 | Oversize Folder 7: Newspaper clippings 1865 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 8 | Oversize Folder 8: Newspaper clippings 1865-1875 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 9 | Oversize Folder 9: Newspaper clippings 1875-1890 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 10 | Oversize Folder 10: Newspaper clippings undated | ||||||||||
Sub-series C: Large 1856-1889 undated |
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| Folder | |||||||||||
| 11 | Oversize Folder 11: Newspaper clippings 1856-1860 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 12 | Oversize Folder 12: Newspaper clippings 1860-1861 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 13 | Oversize Folder 13: Newspaper clippings 1861-1865 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 14 | Oversize Folder 14: Newspaper clippings 1865-1889 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 15 | Oversize Folder 15: Newspaper clippings undated | ||||||||||