Series 6: Ephemera and Miscellaneous, circa 1798-circa 1895, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
This series contains a wide variety of materials principally concerning the Civil War or from the Civil War era. A small number of documents date from prior to the Civil War. It might be that some of the items were exhibited at the Brooklyn and Long Island Fair, but this is unknown. Civil War-related materials include poems; a manuscript by Capt. Samuel Whiting read to the Long Island Historical Society describing his experiences at Fort Sumter in 1861 and as U.S. Consul to the Bahamas afterward; printed remarks at the presentation of a flag to the 26th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops (raised in New York by the Union League Club); a printed solicitation by Edward Everett on behalf of Lieut. Worden of the ship "Monitor"; a sheet of tax notes from the city of Charleston, S.C.; Confederate regiment documents such as pay accounts and quartermaster requisitions; and several other documents.
Documents dating from the Civil War era include materials relating to the 1864 Presidential campaign, including the first number of The World, a newspaper supporting McClellan, covering the Democratic National Convention; orders and other documents concerning two New York State National Guard regiments, the 13th and the 26th (these documents do not relate to the regiments' service in the war); proposed alphabets for the blind (with raised lettering); commercial advertisements; and some items printed in response to Lincoln's assassination. The advertisements include two broadsheets, one documenting 1864 financial and other data for all fire insurance companies doing business in New York State and the second soliciting the general public to purchase tax-exempt U.S. government bonds. A Bradstreet's Commercial Reports circa 1865 for the New England states and eastern Canada is in the series, used in part as a scrapbook for poems.
Some of the material throughout the series relates to local Brooklyn or New York organizations, such as the articles of association for the Sewing Society of the Summerfield Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. These local connections are highlighted with notes in the container list below.
Arrangement
The series opens with a folder of pre-Civil War period material, followed by material with a Civil War connection, then material dating from the Civil War period but not directly concerning the war itself.
Pre-Civil War: Miscellany, circa 1798-1858, inclusive
General
Includes a poem written for the Fair of the Mariners' Family Industrial Society, Port of New-York (1847) and other verses; two programs for the N.Y. Fire Department Annual Ball (1848, 1850); and a newspaper clipping of Henry Ward Beecher's sermon "Men's excuses for not becoming Christians" (1858).
Civil War: Poems, 1862-1864, inclusive
Civil War: Poems (Scrapbook) / Bradstreet's Commercial Reports, 1861-1864, inclusive
General
The first several pages of a Bradstreet's Commercial Reports were used as a scrapbook for Civil War-related poems, obscuring most pages with Connecticut business reports. However, the bulk of the reports overall were not obscured. These concern businesses in the other New England states and in Eastern Canada.
Civil War: Poem (Clipping from Harper's Weekly), 1864, inclusive
Civil War: Capt. Samuel Whiting Manuscript, 1863, inclusive
Civil War: Field of Shiloh Map, circa 1862, inclusive
Civil War: Union States Miscellany, 1861-1865, inclusive
General
Includes broadside of "Mr. Jay's address on presenting the colours prepared by the ladies of New York to the second coloured regiment [26th Regiment, USCT] raised by the Union League Club"; a copy of General Orders No. 8 concerrning the 159th NY Regiment; an appeal by Edward Everett on behalf of Lieut. Worden of the "Monitor," among other items.
Civil War: Union States Miscellany (oversize), circa 1865, inclusive
General
Includes two broadsheets: Description of events at the presentation of the flag of the 149th NY Regiment to the Onondaga Historical Association and a description of the annual meeting of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin referring to Civil War collections.
Civil War: Confederate State Miscellany, 1861-1865, inclusive
General
Includes a swatch of cloth said to be from the flag at Fort Pulaski, supply requisitions for troops, caricatures of Jefferson Davis, and other documents.
Civil War: Charleston, S.C., Tax Notes, 1862, inclusive
Civil War Era: Lincoln Assassination, 1865, inclusive
Civil War Era: 13th Regiment, NY National Guard, 1861-1864, inclusive
Civil War Era: 23rd Regiment, NY National Guard, 1863-1864, inclusive
Civil War Era: Politics and Elections, 1862-1864, inclusive
Civil War Era: The World, No. 1, Campaign Edition, 1864, inclusive
Civil War Era: United States Mutual Protection Homestead Company, circa 1865, inclusive
General
One item moved to the following folder to be stored in the oversize box.
Civil War Era: Commercial Advertisements, circa 1865, inclusive
General
Includes broadsheet produced by Continental Fire Insurance Company, with 1864 financial and other data for all fire insurance companies doing business in New York State (1865), and a broadsheet advertising sales of tax-exempt U.S. government bonds to the general public.
Civil War Era: Proposed Alphabet for the Blind, 1863, inclusive
Civil War Era: Miscellany, 1863-circa 1865, inclusive
General
Includes articles of association of the Summerfield Methodist Episcopal Church (Brooklyn) Sewing Society (1861); carte-de-visite of Church of the Holy Trinity (by Barnum); Suffolk County Sabbath School Association financial report (1864-65); solicitation from the N.Y. Association for the Advancement of Science and Art" (1865); Beck Memorial solicitation, Albany Academy (1863); resolutions concerning sale of U.S. mineral lands (1864); circular of Fitchburg (Mass.) Anti-Tobacco Tract Depository (circa 1865).
