Excerpts from the diary of William Luther Bigelow Lawrence. He details joining the Nashville Guards, the scarcity of provisions, and the surrender of Nashville. He proclaims the trampling of private rights by Federal soldiers, the fleeing of his...
Front view of the castle-like structure of W. Spain's Palace of Illusions and Mirror Maze, featured in the Vanity Fair area of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, 1897. A number of men and women are standing at the entrance area, surrounded by...
Account Form No. 12 from the United States Army Quartermaster for the purchase of one iron box for the protection of Quartermaster's funds at a cost of $40.00. Item was received at Eastport, Mississippi, by Captain Simon Perkins Jr., U. S. Army...
Advertisement for bottles of Dr. Christian's Bed Bug Exterminator, priced at 25 or 50 cents, guaranteed to exterminate bed bugs for 12 months. The flyer also advertises paints, oils, drugs, medicines, and Landreth's and Ferry's Garden Seeds, all...
Broadside advertising a demonstration of "Edison's Talking Machine or Phonograph" at a cost of 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for children. It claims that the machine will repeat distinctly every word spoken for years after, and that "it is not...
A color aerial view drawing of the Tennessee Centennial of 1897 showing the various buildings, paths, and attractions. The upper left corner of the cover has a black-and-white photograph of Mrs. Van Leer Kirkman, President of the Woman's Board of...
Silver platter, dated December 25, 1870. It was given to the Reverend Richard Riley Evans (1818-1903) by Germantown (Shelby County) Presbyterian Church. The Reverend Evans saved the church building from being burned during the Civil War. It is said...
Description of the rates of postage in the Confederate States of America from pages 58-61 of the 1862 "Confederate States Almanac." Describes the amount of postage needed for various items, distances, and locations. Features images of 58...
Three separate ink design drawings contained on one piece of coated fabric that relay sectioning, framing, and elevation in depicting proposed gates and stone fencing for the Chattanooga Cemetery. Scale is 1/2 inch to 1 foot.
Proclamation issued by Governor Newton Cannon requesting 2500 volunteers from Tennessee to answer President Andrew Jackson's call for a war on the Creek Indians. It spells out the reasons for a call to arms and explains how volunteers are to be...
Pocket pistol, .36 cal., manufactured by Cooper Firearms, serial number 5344, patent date January 7, 1851; April 25, 1854; September 4, 1860; September 1, 1863; September 22, 1863
Black and white profile photograph of Joseph Baldwin Taft, Lt. Col., 143 New York. Born August 9, 1838. Died on November 25, 1863 at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Battle of Chattanooga. Buried at Chattanooga's National Cemetery. Photogropher was...
Certifies that J. W. [John Wesley] McDonough of Hickman County has permission to carry arms for "home defence." Issued by order of the governor (William G. Brownlow) and signed by his son, Tennessee Adj. Gen. James P. Brownlow.
Original manuscript of the Cumberland Compact of Government, or Articles of Agreement, entered into by settlers on the Cumberland River, May 1, 1780, at what is now Nashville, and signed May 13, 1780 by 255 inhabitants of five stations on the...
Authorized by President Lincoln in 1863, two examples of the first "greenback" paper currency backed by the authority of the federal government as legal tender. First U.S. paper money in the form of modern dollar bills.