.36 caliber Colt Navy revolver, serial number 103239. Inscription on the backstrap reads, "Presented to Colonel George G. Dibrell, 8th Tenn. Cav. by friends and citizens of Sparta, Tenn." The top flat of the barrel is marked, "ADDRESS COL. SAML...
Brass and steel physician's bleeding knife with molded paper case. Blood-letting, practiced since ancient times, was thought to prevent and cure illness. It was a common medical treatment in the United States up to the end of the 19th century. The...
Cast iron glue pot. Animal hide glue was melted in the small pot while hot water was poured into the larger pot. The hot water kept the glue in a liquid state. This type of glue was very common during the 19th through the early 20th centuries.
Double-cased studio portraits of Oliver Rodgers (ambrotype) and unidentified boy (tintype). Rodgers, Co. G, 44th Ill. Vol. Inf., USA, poses in uniform with his left hand resting inside coat at chest level. The boy, dressed in suit and tie, is...
Education; Education - Tennessee; Education - History - Tennessee; School buildings - Tennessee; Rosenwald, Julius, 1862-1932
Front and side views of Sparta Rosenwald Colored School. It is a one-story brick structure with five windows on each side of the front entrance. The yard is bare.
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) items in wooden frame. The most striking is a veteran's medal made with a silk U.S. flag suspended from a spread-eagle pin. A five-pointed star hangs from the flag. Also included are two GAR buttons, a GAR cap...
Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) pin attached to a silk ribbon. Printed on it are crossed U. S. flags and "E. D. Baker, Post No. 80, Storm Lake, Iowa." Gold fringe on bottom. Round GAR button, affixed at center of ribbon, is printed with the words,...
Half-length studio portrait of Titus Rodgers wearing his Union uniform. He enlisted in Chicago in 1861 with his brother, Oliver. The family states that Titus was on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's staff. He fought with Grant and Gen. William T. Sherman in...
History of the 83rd Ind. Vol. Inf. Regt. by J. Grecian of Co. A. Published in Cincinnati, 1865. Book belonged to Samuel Stewart, possibly of Putnam County. Family lore has it that Samuel was working in a field when he was kidnapped by Yankees and...
Leather fold-over coin purse and United States matron head one-cent coin. The purse is tattered, and has a distinct imprint from the coin. The back of the coin has been polished smooth. There is a square hole punched in the 9 o'clock position. It...
Letter (certification note) from Andrew Moore granting his son, James, age 15, permission to enlist in the U. S. Army for a period of three years. Signed Sept. 2, 1862, St. Clair, Ill.
Letter addressed to Misses [?] and Hattie Norman. Johnson laments that he has heard nothing from home and notes the many changes since the war began. "The dark and bloody tide of war has raged for four years sweeping friend & foe. But thank heaven...
Letter from Oliver Rodgers to his sister, dated April 11, 1865, Blew Springs, Tenn. Oliver writes of Gen. Lee surrendering his army to Gen. Grant. "Col. Russell was at Midway [probably Greene Co.] and heard the firing in the camp and thought that...
Letter from Pvt. William Joshua Thomas, Hale's Battery, Va. Lt. Arty., CSA, to his sister (name unknown) while Thomas was a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio. Thomas writes of his capture along with some four hundred other men. He reports on his good...
Letter from Titus Rodgers to his mother. He tells her that he is well and his company has been twelve days on the march. Titus enlisted in Chicago with his brother Oliver. Family lore states that he was on Gen. Grant's staff. He is said to have...
Letter to "Dear Dear Wife" (J. E. Harrison), written by a soldier in Wartburg, saying that he is in good health and spirits. Harrison describes the difficulty of marching "day and knight," once going "20 miles on one of those tramps stopping only...
