Ambrotype of Evin Knudson (July 17, 1842- July 28, 1920). Knudson enlisted on July 5, 1861, and was discharged on May 28, 1862, because of a medical disability relating to a head wound.
Letter from Milo B. Stevens & Company attorney asking Lavina Bird, widow of David Bird, for additional support for her widow's pension application. Mrs. Bird's application was rejected by the War Department because she could not substantiate his...
6 page excerpt of Mary (Molly) Louise Pearre (of Williamson County) diary. Used in "In the Shadow of Cold Mountain" movie on A & E because the diary tells a story very similar to the book/movie "Cold Mountain." A very fine diary that offers...
Photograph of Mathew McCauley, seated and wearing a dark suit. McCauley was almost hung and his grist mill and saw mill were burned because he was a Confederate sympathizer. He fathered 13 children, the last at age 77.
Spencer carbine repeating firearm. It holds seven .52 caliber cartridges in a tubular magazine that is housed in the buttstock. It was a popular firearm for cavalrymen because they could fire several times without having to reload after each...
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...
Silver goblet, dated February 14, 1862. 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...
Misemer explains in his letter that they have 815 men and it takes a 1000 to make a regiment. He worries that "we will never have enough men because they die as fast as we recruit" them. Although "I want to see you verry [sic] bad," he cautions his...
Reproduction full-length portrait of James Hoots Call wearing double-breasted frock coat and campaign hat. Because of an arm wound sustained at Shiloh, he was discharged from service in June 1862 at age 35. Family lore states that Call carried a...
These are called General Service buttons because the shields have a vertical stripe pattern. Specific branch of service buttons have a letter on the shield instead. "I" stood for infantry, "C" was for cavalry, "A" represented artillery, etc.
Three page letter begins, "This is our eighth day in the boonies, and tomorrow we might go back to Lai Khe." He writes of having been a squad leader for several days now ("8 men including myself") because of the illness of another sergeant.
Front and side views of the Northern Bank of Alabama flying United States flag under Federal military occupation. Numerous uniformed soldiers and guards stand in front of the building.
Black and white photograph of the Memphis-Shelby County building at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. The building is in the shape of a pyramid. Surrounding the building are Egyptian columns.
Letter from Arthur H. Harris to his brother George Carroll Harris in Nashville. He writes of the pervading excitement that has surrounded the 1860 presidential election in his area. Though he is glad the contest is over, he acknowledges the death...
This nine-page letter written from Arthur H. Harris in Monroe, Louisiana, to his brother George Carroll Harris in Nashville is a conscious political treatise. The author is advocating and justifiying the secession of Louisiana at the upcoming...
Two-page letter from Elisha W. Harris to his son George Carroll Harris of Nashville. He writes from his plantation Waco Place in Louisiana of the war being upon them with bloody consequence. He has abandoned his efforts to cling to the union and...
Two-page letter from Arthur H. Harris of Monroe, Louisiana, to his brother George Carroll Harris of Nashville. He writes of his recruiting expedition and his rifle company, of recruits hankering for action, of George's desire for a chaplaincy, and...