Blue Electrode

It’s clear that the Barry-Hayes Papers collection, owned and housed by Independence Seaport Museum, offers a unique perspective on the early nineteenth-century shipping trade in America. Occasionally in the course of transcribing these fascinating documents we come across one that also has the potential to serve as primary source material for the biography of a famous American or some topic in American political history. Here I’d like to report on a letter I recently transcribed which will be of great interest to scholars of the Jacksonian era in American politics. (Take a look at it here.) It also includes a reflection on the final years of the namesake of a major thoroughfare in South Philadelphia, and quirky riddle for you to solve.

Top of “Letter, To: Isaac Austin Hayes and Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Thomas Hayes, June 8, 1831″.

The Namesake

In 1831 brothers Isaac Austin and Patrick Barry Hayes were in Brazil using their maritime skills and connections to run an import/export business. Their elder brother Thomas Hayes occasionally wrote from Philadelphia with news of home, and several of his communications are gathered in Series X, the papers of Isaac Austin Hayes. Thomas’ letter of June 8, 1831, was an especially long one, full of news of friends and acquaintances both prominent and obscure.
Among his famous relations was Commodore William Bainbridge, naval hero of the War of 1812, and father of his wife Susan. Commodore Bainbridge had his share of ups and downs throughout his four decades of service, and at the time of this letter he had recently suffered the double shock of the death of his only son and his abrupt removal from duty after a brief disagreement with the current Secretary of the Navy, John Branch. In this passage, Thomas refers to his father-in-law as “the old gentleman” as he provides for posterity a first-person account of the famous naval pioneer’s decline:

“poor Mr Bainbridge died last friday and was buried on Sunday. This event has caused much affliction in the Commodres family, and join’d together with his late unceremonious dismissal from the Command of this Station, weighs heavily on the old gentleman, and I should not be at all astonish’d if it seriously affects his health, which you well know, was already seriously impair’d.”

Politicks Avaunt!

Secretary Branch figured into another major event of the Spring of 1831 mentioned in script by Thomas Hayes, this time receiving explicit mention of his role in the controversy. President Andrew Jackson was at the time suffering the political fallout of his non-adherence to the mores of Washington society, a tidal wave of opposition culminating in the resignation of his entire cabinet in what is now commonly referred to as “The Petticoat Affair”. Branch was one of the ministers who demonstrated his support for Vice-President John C. Calhoun by stepping down, but Branch’s public and private correspondence from the period directly following the cabinet crisis suggests that the circumstances of his resignation were not so clear cut. Thomas Hayes refers to Branch’s letters and the tense relations between the Secretary and the Jackson camp in this excerpt:

“The Jackson cause is falling fast. Don’t think I say so because I am anti jackson, but tis really the case. Many of his original friends have left his ranks and are hurraing for Clay now. This of course was to have been expected but the recent resignation of his entire Cabinet has caus’d all his friends to open the […missing word…] Some letters letters that have pass’d between Mr Branch ex Secretary of the Navy and his friends in North Carolina seem to implicatey that the President wanted him to go further in forwarding his views, than the laws of honor would prompt him. Politicks avaunt…”

Politicks Avaunt!

The Riddle

And occasionally in the course of transcription work some word or phrase will appear that is so odd that it stops the whole endeavor in its tracks. Not just illegible—which is all too common—but odd! In the following passage Thomas is thanking his brothers for a “likeness” of themselves that they sent home to Philadelphia:

“We never until yesterday recv’d the box containing the birds and illusting likeness, which I believe was forwarded some time last December. We all think the likeness excellent. lufwa der sreksihw dna riah. the old lady I believe has already shewn to all friends far and near Tommy Natt with his der eson now has it expos’d in his window and has promis’d mother that it shall be fram’d by tomorrow.”

Can you decipher the odd words of Thomas Hayes?

It took a bit of puzzling before these weird obfuscations came into focus. I figured it out—can you?

Posted for Susan Ottignon:

The customary ‘Dear Santa’ letters, written by children every December 24th on Christmas Eve, is a time honored tradition. I encountered 3 such letters, from Mont and Ellie Thackara’s children, when I started transcription work for the Digital Library.

In child-like cursive writing the letters to Santa, by each Thackara child, were penned with unique salutations to the ‘Jolly Old Man,’ and included spelling errors that endear us more to these letters We read from Eleanor’s letter “My dear Santa-Clause,” her brother, Sherman wrote, “Dear St Nick,” with the youngest sibling, Lex ,penned “Santy.” The boys knew Santa’s ‘address’ which they either included in the body of the letter or addressed it directly to him. Santa address, according to Lex, was “Master Santy Clause Up the chimney.” Sherman boldly demanded of St Nick, “Unhitch your horses from the North Pole.”

The ‘wish lists’ penned to Santa by Eleanor, Sherman and Alexander (“Lex) Thackara reflect each child’s deepest longings and are shared by today’s children whether one has been ‘naughty or nice.’ Such things as “a pair of skates and a little iron and iron holder” requested by Eleanor. Sherman wanted Santa to “bring me a sled.” Lex was ‘all boy” when he wrote, “Please bring me a rifle a pen-knife and a kodact.” My guess for Lex’s wish was for a Kodak camera available since 1888.

Alongside the Santa’s letter, tradition beckons children to hang stockings for him to fill with gifts and sweets. The stocking is mentioned in 2 of the letters. Eleanor plainly states:

“. . . fill my stocking full to the brim I am going to hang up an
extra stocking and please fill it to”

Sherman notes his behavior as a good reason for his filled stocking.

“Please fill my stockings very full and do not think me a greedy boy.”

While working on these letters, I marveled over the simplicity of the times and experienced a child’s excitement in the penned letter to Santa on Christmas Eve. I enjoyed transcribing these pieces and many other of the Thackara correspondence. With over a thousand pieces in need of transcription the Sherman-Thackara Collection in the Digital Library has reassured me there many more items to still transcribe.

Here is a link to the Finding Aid for this part of the Sherman-Thackara Collection.

Alex., Sherman & Eleanor S. Thackara to A. M. & E. S. Thackara (parents)
Corresp., 1892-1897, (including 3 letters to Santa Claus):
William T. Sherman Thackara, (1887 – 1983)
Eleanor Sherman Thackara Cauldwell, (1880s? – ?)
Alexander Montgomery Thackara, Jr., (d. December 27, 1921):

7/5/9
Letter, To: “Dear Papa and Mama” (Ellie and A. M. Thackara) From: “Lex” (A. M. Thackara, Jr.), Christmas 1893.
Xmas blessing to parents by Alex

7/5/10
Letter, To: “My dear Father” (A. M. Thackara) From: “Eleanor” (Eleanor Thackara Cauldwell), Christmas 1893.
Xmas bear story Eleanor

7/5/11
Letter, To: “Santa Claus” From: “Eleanor” (Eleanor Thackara Cauldwell), [December, 1895?].

7/5/22
Letter, To: “Dear Father” (A. M. Thackara) From: “Sherman” (William T. Sherman Thackara), December 1896. Xmas Blessing Sherman

7/5/23
Letter, To: “Santy” From: “Your loving friend Lex” (A. M. Thackara, Jr.), December, [1886?].

7/5/24
Letter, To: “St. Nick” From: “Sherman” (William T. Sherman Thackara), December 20, 1896.

The Lloyd Collection contains correspondence, deeds, receipts, newspaper clippings, and account books related to Thomas Lloyd know as the “Father of United States Shorthand” and his family. One of the most interesting items from this unique collection is a household book dating from the years 1783-1826. This book contains home remedies, recipes, prayers, and a record of financial dealing.

Recently transcribed in full by Digital Library Team Member Ward Barnes, here are a few choice selections:

A Cure for a Burn

Take Chimney Soot and hogs lard—mixt well and anoint the part removes the pain immediately— for a sore leg—or any running sore Apply the Snuff of a Candle—and it certainly cures in a few days

To make Shrewsberry Cake

Take Half a pound of sugar a little Cinimond cloves beaten very fine add a pound and a Half of flour and a pound of butter Without salt then break in three Eggs and work all well together roll it very thin and bake in an oven not too hot

To make Catchup

Take the large flaps of Mushrooms pick nothing but the straws from it then lay them in a broad earthen pan throw a good deal of salt over them let them lie till next morning then with your hand break them, put them into a stew pan, let them boil a munuet, or two, then strain them thro’ a coarse Cloth and wring it hard take out all the juice let it stand to settle then pour it off clear run it thro’ a thick flannel bag then boil it; to a quart Of the liquor put a quarter of an ounce of whole Ginger and half a quarter of an ounce of whole pepper. Boil it briskly a quarter of an hour then strain it and when its cold put it into Bottles in each bottle put 9 or 10 blades of mace and 12 of cloves cook it tight and it will keep two years– This gives the best flavor of the mushrooms to any sauce If you put into this Catchup a pint of rum or old clear strong Cyder it will taste like foreign Catchup

Sauce for Steaks

Get a glass of ale two anchovies a little thyme Savory parsley an onion and some nutmeg shred all these Together adding a little lemon Peel; when your steaks are Ready pour the liquor from them then put your ale and the other things into a pan with a piece of buter roll’d in flour and when hot strain them thr’o a sieve over your steaks

Prayer

Thou foamy Ocean’s Star
Star of the wide and pathless sea.

This week marked the completion of the first fully transcribed collection available in the Digital Library. The Stokes Collection contains a small number of letters to and a speech by William Axton Stokes (1814 – 1877) who was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, attorney who contributed notes and references to an U.S. edition of Mathew Hale’s (1609-1676) Historia placitorum coronae (History of the pleas of the crown) published by R. H. Small of Philadelphia in 1847. Stokes later served as a major in the U.S. Infantry during the American Civil War, including a period in 1861 commanding at the 18th U.S. Infantry Headquarters, Camp Thomas, Franklin County, Ohio.

His stirring speech, at the Union Convention of Westmoreland County, PA in 1861, was delivered in support of the united American Republic and in favor of the war to crush rebellion. He denies the rebel cause by systematically positing that the rebel states have no right of secession, no grounds for revolution, and no justifiable argument against Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency. [Images ]

In 1874, Stokes was part of a committee appointed to report upon the operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. [Images Transcription]

In addition to the Villanova University Collection, a small collection of Stokes documents can also be found in the Special Collections Department at the University of Delaware Library.

Over the last month both Susan Ottignon and Ward Barnes worked on deciphering the letters to Stokes. Seven manuscript letters are included in the collection spanning the years from 1839 to 1870. Some of these letters are to his wife Mary and relate to the death of a friend in the Western Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. While others ask for assistance about military duty in the Civil War.

The longest letter, which is also authored by Stokes, describes in detail the courtship, and his proposal of marriage, to Mary. This is a serial letter written over a number of days and may very well have not been mailed. It thus shows the inner dialog of Stokes as he deals with Mary’s rejection of his initial proposal:

But am I mistaken? Can I love? – I should think not, and yet how am I to account for this repulse and its manners so cold and so indignant – Could any woman who loved as one should in her situation should, could any such one do as she did? I do not know – Lost in a sea of conjecture, without knowledge [or] skill, I am tossed about by doubts and fears of this most painful nature.

I know that she would not voluntarily deceive me. Can she deceive herself? But for this one single sentence and its manner I should at once repudiate such an idea. But how else am I to answer for this?

Perhaps she may know enough, (although not very experienced) to think that an occassional repulse will … to increase the exhibition of my feelings. She forgets that this is a very dangerous scheme in its self and besides it is a game at which two can play. I will do it. I will be as reserved as she is and as she wants me to be more dignified I will give enough dignity to make her tired of it forever.

One project of the Digital Library is to make unique physical objects available to a wider scholarly and public audience by digitization. Letters and personal papers of Joseph McGarrity housed in Special Collections have begun to be scanned into a new digital collection. As these items of Joseph McGarrity are processed and transcribed new connections between photographs and texts can be made, telling a living story.

The year 1927 finds Joseph McGarrity, noted Irish-American, in the rural mountainous region of Columbia seeking to renew his fortune by mining emeralds. As McGarrity ranges across the countryside he keeps in communication with his family by frequent postcards and letters. Here is the text of a recently transcribed letter from McGarrity to his son Joseph written in April 1927 in which he described the rugged yet beautiful countryside and offers some parental advice:

Chapinéro

Bogata, Colombia

April 14, 1927,

My dear Son Joseph

I was delighted to receive your very well written letter and to hear that you are getting along good at school. I advise you when you write letters to use a pen and ink and always try to write your very best and neatest in this way you will find that each time you write a letter it will be better than your previous effort and so on until you will find it as easy to write with a pen as with a pencil. I have been very lonely for you and all your sisters and Brother [...] Mama and Gram. I was very sorry to hear of your poor Uncle Hugh’s death God Have mercy on him pray for his soul every time you Kneel He was a good friend to us when we needed a friend let us now repay his great Kindness by our prayers that God may be Kind to him and take him to His Bosom

Well Joseph I will tell you of my trip to Muzo a place where the beuatiful Green Jewelery Precious stones called Emeralds are dug up from the Earth. It was a weeks trip about 5 days on Horse back and the rest of the time by train. The scenery was wonderful flowers of various colors and shapes many of which I had never seen before, groves of orange trees you could help yourself from your Horses or Mules back, pull them and eat them as you went. Great hills and cliffs that made you dizzy to ride along. If your mule should miss his step you might roll a thousand feet to the valley below

[p.2]

[...]where no trains nor auto travels. For miles at a time I was forced to dismount and lead my mule along the cliffs and deep gorges. Sometimes the path cut away by fllod from the hill was so deep and narrow that you were forced to raise your feet and stirrups to the mules back or your feet would get crushed by the mules sides as he walked along. My mule climed cliffs of stairs fifty times longer and steeper than any stairs you ever seen Jumping like a good from one rock to another at one time with me on his back He jumped right into a great gulch filled with water down He went all you could see if you were there was the mules head and the upper part of my body I got off and by a great struggle rescued the mule we were covered with yellow mud and dirt and had to go to a pool and wash off and dry in the sun.

But the scenery was so beautiful the Hills and vallies so green and silent. I longed to have mother and you all near me to view and enjoy the beauties of Gods wonderful works Strange beautiful birds piped and sang as we rode along Streams gurgled down the sides of the hills and united with larger streams in the vallies travel and food so cheap that it is cheaper to travel than remain at a hotel [...] cocoa and orange trees every where quaint beautiful and silent villages hid away in the hills beautiful Catholic Churches and plenty of good people praying in them. [...]

Well Joe as I have a detailed description which I will mail to mama or bring home with me I will say no more of it now we were where the > tigers and lions abound and I hope to bring home the skins of some of the wild animals that I may kill before I return

Would not a big tiger or two make a wonderful coat for mama I know you would be proud to see her wearing one. Pray hard Joe for mama Gran your brother and sisters and for my protection and safe return and always for your uncle Hugh who was so good to us. God love and bless you my dear son Joe your loving father Js. McGarrity

McGarrity also documented his journey and explorations with photographs. In this photograph taken in the mountains of Columbia, he sits astride a mule [Digital Library original].

While in this photograph taken in 1927, McGarrity with walking stick nearby and hat pushed back, sits at the end of the day near Bogota, Columbia [Digital Library original].

Posted for Scott Grapin, Digital Library Team:

Sometime in the 1890s, the love letters shared between Eleanor Mary Sherman (Ellie) and Alexander Montgomery Thackara (Mont) were donated with the rest of the Sherman-Thackara Collection to Villanova College, presumably by Ellie herself. Surely, Ellie saw the value of preserving documents pertaining to her famous father, General William Tecumseh Sherman, as well as to her husband Mont, who was appointed to serve as a U.S. Consul at Le Havre, France in 1897. As the library and its patrons have been discovering, this collection also reveals much about Philadelphia and the Main Line toward the end of the nineteenth century and is a rich primary source for studies of middle-class Victorian life. Because they are available in both Falvey’s Special Collections and Digital Library, these letters are also situated to reflect how different technologies might impact the ways we write and receive personal correspondence.

Although Ellie could not have envisioned their digitization, wide dissemination, and nearly instantaneous accessibility, her donation ensured that letters to Mont would become letters to each of us. At the same time, personal letters are characteristically private. We generally ensure this privacy by sealing a letter in an envelope intended for one recipient. Privacy, therefore, also personalizes the document. Letters may be sealed by drops of wax imprinted with a unique stamp or by glue moistened with the sender’s own mouth. In her letters, a young Ellie repeatedly claims this sort of private intimacy with her “own dearest, dearest Mont” , anticipating the days when she would be his wife in singular devotion. Until that time, the tangible letters would often serve as a surrogate presence when Ellie and Mont were apart. Just as we can see, touch, and smell one of these letters in Special Collections, Ellie would repeatedly delight in her beloved’s epistolary touch, even were Mont unable to drop by to share one of their customary four o’clock walks.

Combined with Special Collections, digital availability might seem to compromise the private intimacy of these personal letters. However, while electronic communications are popularly blamed for the handwritten letter’s fall from favor, the Digital Library potentially balances the direction of influence between electronic and written texts. Generally, the investment of personal time, energy, and attention valued by letter writers is deemed an unnecessary expense by digital correspondents. But a digital transcriber steadily gains an intimate appreciation of Ellie’s letters as he faithfully reconstructs them, collaboratively renewing her creative energy and attention. Any reader can likewise peruse digital images of Ellie’s letters and participate in the slower pace of time and human correspondence in which intimacy deepens.

A reader will also witness the impassioned frequency of Ellie’s letters, sometimes several in a day (see, for instance, March 12, 1880; letters 381, 382, and 383), whose impatience is necessarily tempered by the tension of time required for Mont’s response. Ellie creatively delights in these spans of time. In one instance, she opportunely poses an impromptu riddle to Mont and promises an answer for when they next meet, thereby sweetening the expectation of their intimacy. This game may seem quaint in an age of truncated text and instant messaging, when cascades of emails often overwhelm our ability to respond, let alone contemplate, our textual relationships. Here in the Digital Library, however, some of the best qualities of electronic and handwritten correspondence complement one another. Right now, everyone can repeatedly examine and enjoy any image in the collection, much as Ellie would have pored over Mont’s letters. In time, users will be able to search transcriptions for particular keywords with a virtual familiarity akin to Ellie’s attentive devotion. In the process, the digital medium will preserve and exhibit—and possibly inspire us to participate in—the kind of correspondence we can savor like an intimate walk with a companion … perhaps Ellie, Mont, or someone else we’ve been meaning to write.

As some readers may know we have been diligently working with students and staff members here at the library to provide transcriptions for handwritten letters. This project was piloted with the Sherman-Thackara collection and the number of letters transcribed continues to grow. At this point those letters are not available for viewing in the Digital Library software but excerpts have occasionally been posted to this blog.

The first long transcription project was completed last March by an undergraduate intern, Brittany Dudas. As a history major here at Villanova University she worked with the digital library on transcription during a for-credit internship. A talented transcriber, she was able to transcribe far more letters than we were able to review at any given time so it was decided that perhaps a longer project was in order.

In 1872-1873 Alexander Montgomery Thackara wrote a diary while out to sea on the USS Nipsic. His tour of duty brought him to the then “West Indies.” Among other places, he visited Key West, Samana Bay, Puerto Plata, Havana, and St. Thomas. His journey lasted roughly six months and resulted in nearly 50 pages of diary entries. This entire diary has been transcribed and reviewed, but is much too long to post here. Instead, I would like to share snippets of the diary as used in a timeline.

Dipity is an emerging software that allows users to create an online, interactive timeline. You can include links from any number of online sources, such as Google books, Wikipedia, Flickr, blogs, and much, much more. Moreover there is a feature that allows you to “map” locations on your timeline. This seemed like the perfect venue to create a resource that would allow users to experience Mont’s Journal in a completely new way.

Most entries are titled with the page upon which the text appeared in the actual diary. Next, the date was added for that entry, and usually a link to either the scanned page from the digital library, or to a Wikipedia article that helps explain the location or subject at hand. A fun addition was linking the book, as scanned in by “Google Books”, that Mont was reading while on this voyage. Locations were also added to most entries so they could be mapped and images were used to brighten things up. Dipity allows users to view timelines in four different ways, as a timeline (the standard way), a list, a flipbook, or as a map. The map feature is especially fun for this project as it allows users to “play events” and view the events as they are listed on the map. In this case it allows users to virtually sail around with Mont.

This was certainly an enjoyable project and something that could be an asset for some of our other long transcription projects. I hope that you will check out the timeline and I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

Written by Ward Barnes, Digital Library Team, Falvey Memorial Library.

I’m new to the transcription profession, having just commenced work in March as a part-time assignment with the Villanova Digital Library group. I suspect most transcribers look on their work much as the archaeologist looks at his: hours of tedium with the main reward being the pleasure one gets from deciphering and solving puzzles. But I suspect that both transcribers and archaeologists secretly harbor a belief that they will occasionally uncover a treasure, something really valuable. I was lucky enough to stumble upon such a gem–or so it seemed–just a few weeks after I began my labors.

I was working with the Nagy Collection, some documents given to the library by the family of a library employee, Andrew Nagy. The particular document was a letter written by one Henry O. Nightingale, a wounded Civil War soldier, residing in a hospital in Washington, D.C. The letter was dated April 30th, 1865, and contained a lengthy eulogy to the recently departed President Lincoln. Well into the document I deciphered these words: “I, the afternoon of the fatal day, had the pleasure of seeing the departed one. My object in going to see him was to get his autograph in my album. He, the President, took it and wrote with his own hand several lines.” My eyes popped out of my head. I suppose the moment was enhanced by the fact that I taught American History for 25 years and was a specialist in the 19th century period and a big Lincoln fan. These might be the last words Lincoln wrote! They might be profound! (In a Nightingale letter dated May 12th I found the further comment, “I do indeed prize the lines written in my book by the late President.”) This “album” could be of great historical value and public interest. All I had to do was contact the Nagy family, they would hunt out the album, and the world would receive the gift of Lincoln’s last written message.

Life should be so simple. As it turns out, Nightingale is not a relative of the Nagys. The person he was writing to is a relative, but she apparently never met Nightingale, and certainly did not have his album. Andrew Nagy’s father took considerable interest in the Lincoln news, and said he might try to find the Nightingale descendents, but neither of us hold out much hope of finding the Lincoln document. Still I derive some kind of vicarious pleasure in having transcribed the words of a man who met Lincoln hours before he was killed, and who may have possessed Lincoln’s last written words.

Images of the original letter can be seen as part of the Digital Library’s Nagy Collection. Here follows the transcription of the Nagy letter, transcribed and with annotations by Ward, and edited by Andrea Reed, Father Middleton Digital Library Intern:

[p. 1]

No 2

P.S.¹ I hope to have the

pleasure of receiving another

good letter from you before

I return to my home. please

write soon.

H.O.N.

Stanton U.S. General Hospital

Washington City, D.C.

April 30th, 1865

My gentle unknown friend:

‘Tis the afternoon of a very beautiful Sabbath day. Nature seems smiling & refreshed by a beautiful rain. Birds are singing, Bells chiming, all seems gladness except the heart of Man. And why do we mourn? because we have lost our friend our chieftian. never did a Nation lose a truer friend. his Sun set doubtless. his name will be immortal. his virtues, which I ever respected, will live to influence men in public and private life till time shall be no more. he was given us by God when we needed him most. he guided our national ship so far through the storm and dangers which surrounded and beat upon her, that he was permitted to behold a smoother sea and rejoice in sight of the port she was about to enter. then like Moses of old he fell in sight of the promised land his hearts desire. He has gone, my gentle friend to join that list of mar-

[p. 2]

2

tyrs, whose blood and forms² as they mingle with the³ dust throughout our land shall yet find a purer and holier people in all that shall strengthen our great and growing Republic.

He is dead in body but “still” as the poet says “his spirit walks abroad.”

“They never fail who die in a great cause # #

# # # # # # though years

Elapse, and others share as dark a doom,

They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts⁴

Which overpower all others, and conduct

The world at last to freedom”

My friend, he who we mourn as dead only sleepth, how grand will be his name in all future time. He will be hailed with joy when he enters those⁵ portals of eternal rest, happiness and love, as all who earned the crown given to those who “love their fellow men,” when we look upon his tomb in the far west we can with sacred reverence say Here lies, under God, the nations martyr, the nations deliverer.

But my friend pardon me for neglecting your letter. I honor you for your words when you say, “I find

[p. 3]

3

that I have been loving him all the time.

and now that he is gone I love him far

more,” tis even so. we know not the virtues of a friend, or do not prize them as we should until that friend is gone. I agree with you entirely. I had learned to love him for he was eminently the Soldiers friend. so just, for giving, unsuspecting. When the sad news of his assassination reached us, we had all retired. It seemed like an the sudden opening of a musket battery, we could not believe it. but morning came, bells sounded forth the solemn toll for his departed spirit & sadness, grief, frenzy, seized us all. Men who had stood before the enemy, their comrades falling around them without shedding a tear wept. great tears coursed down the cheeks of all. Then for the first time did I understand my comrades. Then I knew who were true. Then I discovered the great affection for “good Old Abe” concealed in the hearts of my fellow Soldiers. Terrible, fearful and tenfold more⁶ w⁷ will be the retribution. “Justice” is wide awake.

[p. 4]

they, the leaders, unarmed will find that the fruits of their labor is bitter indeed. as you so truly say “Mercy” has been shown them long enough. I, the afternoon of the fatal day, had the pleasure of seeing the departed one. my object in going to see him was to get his autograph in my album. he, the President took it and wrote with his own hand several lines. I looked with admiration upon the man whose energy had preserved us, little thinking that before morning he would be a bleeding corpse. One week ago Thursday last I looked upon all that remained of him as he lay in State in the Capitol. I will not attempt to describe my feelings. you can imagine what they were. I felt as though my best friend had gone, and turned away to weep.

Booth is dead, but his death does not avenge our loss. his name will be a terror, a shame to this fair country, a shame and curse to his avowed cause, eternal infamy. while he whom the assassin slew has his name nailed by the fatal bullet high upon the Standard of Freedom and the

[p. 5]

rights of Man. I will leave this subject now, thinking as you do that “Language cannot express my words.”

The War is virtually over, and in due time peace will make the blasted fields and ruined cities of this once happy land smile again, but who shall bring comfort to the hearts that bleed for the loved ones gone down in the storm of battle, for the vacant chair, the fireside deserted, the home in mourning! But if in our Northern homes we hear the voice of mourning for the children laid upon the altar of our Country, dying for the flag we love, to bequeath to all time a glorious heritage of freedom, what must be the anguish of those Southern wives, mothers, and sisters, who have given up their loved ones for a criminal cause! While I feel that they are but justly punished, I can but pity them. They deserve our pity, do they not?

I am not at all surprised kind friend that you despise the English, we have cause to. I am ashamed⁸ of my native land for her perfidy, but

[p. 6]

6

my friend allow me to say that ‘tis not the English people who have acted this. tis the Aristocracy, an institution which I abhor, ‘tis the breastplate of slavery. I was a true Englishman, one who loved liberty, but now I have renounced her. America I love now. America’s my home. I hope ere long to see England freed from her curse too. I mean the Aristocrats and when that struggle is being made I hope to lend a helping hand. Yes, friend Gertie I am an American now, proud of the title, proud that I am among Columbia’s sons, brothers to Columbia’s fair daughters. I left a happy home⁹ in England, now I am alone, no home, no kindred. You ask me to tell you of my adventures. I have not space now but will some other time, please excuse me now.

One word about Gen’l Sherman¹⁰. sad indeed did I feel when the rumor of his doings came, but I think he has been much mistakened. it appears however that his Armistice was genuine, but only while awaiting an answer

[p. 7]

7

to Johnson’s¹¹ propositions from the Government. Gen’l Grant¹² returned last night bringing the joyful intelligence that Johnson had surrendered on the same terms as Lee¹³, & to use his same language “Sherman was all right, the people judge too hastily in many instances. An order has been issued for the discharge of all men in the Hospitals, this is glorious news to us. We can go¹⁴ to our homes feeling that we have done our duty, accomplished our mission, a united country built upon firmer basis with the […]¹⁵ the curse of slavery abolished. You must greet the Jersey boys with a hearty welcome, nobly have they done their duty. let them know that their services have been appreciated. Will it not be a happy day when we learn no more the work of war but lay our [..ly]¹⁶ to rest to aid in the achievement of the Arts and Sciences of peace! I have a piece of poetry composed by myself just before the Battle of Gettysburg¹⁷. perhaps

[p. 8]

you would like it. I claim no merit for it but it agrees so well with the present that I will send it to you enclosed in this letter please preserve it as a momento of your Soldier friend. I should be much pleased to have the opportunity of seeing you. I always like to be perfectly acquainted with my correspondents. I heard a certain Hospital Steward of this Hospital, who I believe resides near Orange speak of your family. he is a native of New Jersey and formerly belonged to the 8th Regt. his name is Bass. another Steward also from N.J. named Jayres belongs to the Medical Staff of the Hospital. there are also many Jersey Boys here but I am acquainted with none.

My health is improving fast. In a few days I intend to go to Mount Vernon and Arlington must visit these hallowed places before I go home. will send you an account if you desire. Thanking you once more for your favors and visiting though unknown to be remembered.

I remain ever

Your Soldier friend

Henry O. Nightingale

1. Text written vertically at the top of the page, overwriting some words
2. Best guess
3. Best guess
4. Best guess
5. Best guess
6. Best guess
7. Presumably the author started to write “will”
8. Best guess
9. Best guess
10. Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
11. Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
12. Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
13. Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.
14. Best guess
15. Indecipherable word
16. Indecipherable word
17. Gettysburg (Pa.), Battle of, 1863.

After two years of work our first large personal paper collection has been fully digitized and described. A comprehensive digital finding aid is in the final development stages and should be available for use by the end of March. While the digitization and description have been completed, ongoing work still continues as a broad team of students, staff, and interns works to transcribe, and thus make keyword searchable, these handwritten texts.

Containing over 2,100 discreet items the Sherman-Thackara Collection is largely composed of correspondence containing many letters from Eleanor to her father, General William Tecumseh Sherman, frequently referring to public events and personalities. Another feature of the correspondence that calls for special attention is the local color and references to many individuals, events, and institutions of Philadelphia and the Main Line in the 1880′s and 1890′s. A unique part of the collection is A. M. Thackara’s correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia relating to his years at Annapolis up until his marriage. Here can be found an unusual first-hand picture of Naval life after the U.S. Civil War.

While the transcriptions have not yet been made available, final editing has been completed on a growing pool of letters and documents, so starting in this Blue Electrode post we will be making selected transcriptions available. Here is a part of the transcription from a letter from A.M. Thackara to his father Benjamin Thackara, April 12, 1866, from the ship the U.S. “Constitution”:

Dear-Pop,
As I have some spare time I thought I would write you again. Frank Biruey has returned from Philadelphia. He says he saw you while he was there and he brought me some paper and stamps, for which accept my thanks. It was what I wanted as I was entirely out. We went to an entertainment Friday Evening given by a party of midshipmen. It consisted of a pantomime, called “The Magic Trumpet” and an afterpiece called “The Mummy” it was very good. The magical feats were performed very well. We play ball a great deal now. Every afternoon after exercise

[p.2]

we go out and practise. We have very nice grounds over by the Hospital. We are going to play the return match, next Saturday with the 3rd classmen. I suppose they will beat us this time. I am in the First Section in “Math”. I went up this last week. I tell you it is a big thing to be there. There is a photographer coming from Philadelphia to take photographs of the Midm. He has a place in the yard built for him and I suppose he will be here in a few days. From what I can hear it is Gutekunst. I know it is him I now. I suppose You will want me get some taken. We are getting along all right here now, the even numbered crews sleep on board the Santeo. They commenced last Evening the fellows are all around me

[p.3]

sulking about leave and different things. I tell you it is very nice. During recreation hours I enjoy myself almost as well as home. Al sends his best wishes and hopes you will have a splendid time on your Journey. The Winnepec left here Yesterday for Boston, she is going there to refit for the cruises. I see by last night’s paper that the Senate has passed the Civil rights bill over the veto of the President. We have to make hammock clews and splice ropes and make grummels It leaves us a great deal, we have to make a certain amount every week. The unsatisfactory list just came, I am not on it, in fact I have not been since I have been here. I hardly expected to get up in Math. This

[p.4]

week I wish you would come down and see me before you go across the water. We will soon begin to talk about examinations as it commences next month.
I must close now,

Give my love to Mother, Julia Herarlee
From You Affec. Son,
A. M. Thackara