Finding aid for the Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield Papers


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Mansfield, Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart
Title: Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield Papers
Dates: 1810-1898
Extent: 0.20 linear feet (1 container)
Abstract: Jeremiah Browning Mansfield, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Mansfield, was born in 1841 in Ohio, and raised on his father's farm in Wayne Township, Jefferson County, Ohio. He and his older brother Oliver served in the 52nd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Jeremiah Mansfield participated in the Battles of Chickamauga and the Battle of Perrysville, and then served at Camp Sheridan in Nashville, Tennessee until the end of the war. He and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield were married in Harrison County, Ohio in 1869. She was born in 1845 in Harrison County, Ohio, and received a teaching certificate in 1863. Her brother, Milton, attended Oberlin College and Michigan Law School. By 1880, Jeremiah and Elizabeth Mansfield had settled in Wells Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, where they farmed and raised five children. The collection consists of correspondence, essays, and miscellany relating to the Mansfield and Taggart families; Jefferson and Harrison counties, Ohio; the Civil War; and Oberlin College and Michigan Law School. The papers include letters written over a twenty-year period to James Carrick, an early settler of Harrison County, Ohio and ancestor of the Mansfield/Taggart family.
MS Number MS 4592
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

Biography of Jeremiah Browning and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield

Jeremiah Browning and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield spent most of their lives in the farming counties of east-central Ohio. Jeremiah Browning Mansfield (b. 1841), the second-oldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth Mansfield, was born in Ohio and raised on his father's farm in Wayne Township, Jefferson County. After several years of study at Richmond College, he and his older brother Oliver joined the 52nd Regiment OVI Company E of the Union Army. During the American Civil War, Jeremiah participated in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battle of Perrysville and then served at Camp Sheridan in Nashville, Tennessee until the end of the war. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Taggart (b. 1845) was raised in Harrison County, Ohio. Her father, James, was a well-to-do farmer in Greene Township, and her brother Milton was educated at Oberlin College and at the University of Michigan Law School. Lizzie and her sisters were educated in the area where they lived, and Lizzie achieved her teaching certification in 1863.

After several years of courtship, Jeremiah Browning Mansfield and Elizabeth Taggart were married on December 23, 1869 in Harrison County, Ohio. By 1880, they had settled in Wells Township, Jefferson County, where Jeremiah farmed and Lizzie kept house for a growing family of five children.


Scope and Content

The Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield Papers, 1810-1898, consist of correspondence, essays, and several miscellaneous papers.

This collection may be useful to scholars interested in the social and political climate of northeastern Ohio during the 1860s, to researchers studying Civil War correspondence, and to scholars of early eastern-central Ohio history. These papers include letters written over a twenty-year period to James Carrick, an early settler of Harrison County, Ohio and ancestor of the Mansfield/Taggart family. Correspondence between Jeremiah and his family and friends includes commentary on abolition; the progress of the Civil War; the 52nd Regiment, OVI Company E in which he served; and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln written while Jeremiah was stationed in an occupied Southern city. The correspondence between Lizzie and her friends comments on social interests and activities of young people and on the war and its effects on their lives. Lizzie's brother Milton Taggart's letters to his sisters describe Oberlin College, its strong abolitionist position, Michigan Law School, and, later, his service as a Union soldier.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by family name and then chronologically by document type.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Antislavery movements -- United States.
Carrick, James.
College students -- Ohio -- Correspondence.
Farmers -- Ohio -- Jefferson County.
Harrison County (Ohio) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Jefferson County (Ohio) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Mansfield family.
Mansfield, Elizabeth Taggart.
Mansfield, Jeremiah Browning.
Oberlin College.
Soldiers -- Ohio -- Correspondence.
Taggart family.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.
United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 52nd (1862-1865).
University of Michigan. Law School.
Women -- Ohio -- Harrison County.
Women -- Ohio -- Jefferson County.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4592 Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Elizabeth A. Grissinger, 1984.

Processing Information

Processed by Rebecca M. Johnson in 1992.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Jeremiah B. and Elizabeth Taggart Mansfield Papers 1810-1898 undated

Box Folder
1 1 Carrick, James, correspondence from John Beaty, Joseph Taylor, and James and Levinia Andrews 1810-1830
1 2 Mansfield, Jeremiah B., school papers, including exercise papers and essays 1856 1860 undated
1 3 Mansfield family, correspondence 1862-1865 1889 1898 undated
1 4 Taggart family, correspondence 1861-1867 undated
1 5 Taggart, Elizabeth, transcripts of correspondence from Milton Taggart and from John Burton to Margaret Taggart 1862-1866
1 6 Miscellaneous, including poem, legal document, and printed grammar instructions undated