The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Mann, William Henry, 1835-1863?   

Title:               Letters of William H. Mann

Dates:             1859, 1863

Call No.:         Col. 1008

Acc. No.:        2019x46

Quantity:        9 items

Location:        34 J 6

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

William Henry Mann was from Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  He was born September 23, 1835, the son of Sarah Luce (1801-1883) and Samuel Mann (1797-1853), a farmer.  He had several siblings, but only two lived very long: Samuel, Jr. (1832-1917) and Harriet Maria (1826-1913).  William Henry Mann was also a farmer, when living in Petersham.  He married Susan Bancroft in 1856, but they had no children.  In September 1862, William enlisted in Company F of the Massachusetts 53d Infantry Regiment, for nine months.  Genealogy records differ as to his fate; some records indicate that he was mustered out of service on April 23, 1863, in New Iberia, Louisiana, while other records have him dying on April 23, 1865, in the same place.   He was very ill on April 17, 1863.

 

William’s sister Harriet married Peter W. Chamberlin in 1851.  Peter (1829-1905) was the son of Elbridge G. Chamberlin (1805-1876) and Mary L. Wheeler.  For some reason, in 1862, Peter Chamberlin changed his name to Frank Wheeler.  He and Harriet had three children, the eldest of whom, Arthur, is mentioned in his uncle’s letters.

 

William’s brother Samuel (1832-1917) married Maria Antoinette Luce.  Their daughter Caroline (born 1858) was mentioned in at least one letter.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Nine letters written by William Henry Mann to various family members, including his sister Harriet and brother Samuel.  The four earlier letters were written by Mann as his traveled to and worked in Colorado between May and July 1859.  He was lured by the discovery of gold in Colorado, but even before he arrived there, he had heard of the difficulties of mining and its meager results.  While in Kansas, he joined a wagon train of other men going to Colorado to seek gold.  He wrote about gathering his supplies (chiefly food and cooking gear) for the journey; about meeting Cheyanne Indians; and about the animals, especially the buffalo, they encountered on the way.  From Colorado he wrote about the futility of his, and indeed of most, mining operations.  He planned to return to Massachusetts (which eventually he did).

 

A second set of letters was written between January and April 1863, after Mann had enlisted in the Massachusetts infantry.  One letter was written on board ship while his regiment was sailing for Louisiana, and the others were written from Louisiana.  Shortly after leaving Fortress Monroe, Virginia, the regiment’s ship ran into a storm, and many were seasick.  Camp life in Louisiana was made uncomfortable because of rain and because Mann was unwell much of the time.  He regretted that he had enlisted, and he missed the comforts of home.  In April, the regiment was sent west of New Orleans, and the men heard shots and saw some action over April 11-14 [apparently the Battles of Fort Bisland and Irish Bend].   After the battle, Mann was barely able to write that he was very sick and that he thought his case was “doubtful.”

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The letters are in chronological order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Purchased from Eclectibles, Tolland, Connecticut.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

United States. Army. Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 53rd (1862-1863)

            Cheyenne Indians.

Soldiers - United States - Correspondence.

            Travel – Equipment and supplies.

            Wagon trains.

            Colorado – Gold discoveries.

            Great Plains – Description and travel.

United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Personal narratives.

United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Campaigns - Louisiana.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 J 6

 

 

All accession numbers begin with 2019x46

 

 

Folder 1 of 1:

 

.1         Mann, Sumner, Kansas, May 15, 1859, to “Dear Brother” Samuel Mann:

                        Received his letter; had gone to Leavenworth, crossing the Delaware Indian reservation on the way; did not see any of the wild horses which live on the reservation; had some difficult river fords to make; slept in their wagons on the way; purchased his “fit-out” in Leavenworth (food items, gunpowder, Colt’s water-proof caps, pots and pans, etc.); names others in the party (Mr. Merchant, Mr. Hackett, etc.); will take the Smokey Hill Fork route; many people on their way to Pikes Peak; writes about 160 acre claims in Kansas; “please keep this out of sight … let no one see it out of the family.”

 

.2         Mann, 125 miles west of Fort Riley, [Kansas], June 7, 1859, to “Dear friends,” P.W. Chamberlain & wife:

                        Now in a company of about 20 wagons and 45 men from a number of states; names their various professions; now in buffalo territory – the prairie is black with them; also seeing antelope and wolves; am meeting people returning from Pikes Peak – they report it “is a great humbug”; have to take turns watching their cattle at night

 

.3         Mann, Station 14, June 14, 1859, to “Dear friends”:

                        Am waiting for one of his party to fix a wagon wheel, and adding this to earlier letter [see above]; am in the territory of the ShyAns [i.e. Cheyenne Indians]; several of them traveled with his group yesterday and traded for food stuffs; visited their camp [not described]; “they are very filthy in their habits”; [exhibits some evidence of homesickness]; direct letters to Denver City, Kansas Territory;

                       

[letter written in pencil]

 

.4         Mann, near the Gregory diggings on a branch of Clear Creek, Nebraska Territory, July 17, 1859, to “Dear friends,” Peter W. Chamberlain, Harriet M. Chamberlain; with addition written July 22, to P.W.C., H.M.C.:

                        Is about 150 miles from Pikes Peak and about 45 from Denver City; has been prospecting around the area; few people are finding gold; many are working just for their board and no wages; prospecting with a group, but not having any luck; “don’t come to Pikes Peak if you can get a living at home”;

            July 22 addition: thinks his group will run out of funds before they find gold; might start back in another week, going the Platte route;

 

.5         Mann, near Key West, off the coast of Florida, Jan. 24, 1863, to “Dear friends”; [as there is no signature, and the letter ends abruptly, it is assumed a second sheet is missing]:

                        Will write about voyage from Fortress Monroe; quickly encountered rough seas and most were seasick; then were hit by a storm, causing more seasickness and a foul atmosphere below decks; it was two days before seas calm enough to enable the soldiers to clean the mess; wasn’t seasick but is “feverish by spells”; misses food and comforts of home [here the letter ends];

                        Mann mentions that the soldiers were “between the decks of the Continental,” that being the name of the ship

 

.6         Mann, Camp Mansfield, Carrolton, La., near New Orleans, Feb. 9, 1863, to “Dear Brother, Sister and friends”:

                        Has been too ill with fever and earache to write; six in his tent, the others being Augustus Wheeler, H. H. Lindsey, Lewis Robinson (who is also sick), C.E. Ball, and George H. Edwards; the country is low and unhealthy and many are ill; he has not been able for duty since they left New York [apparently they were in a camp on Long Island]; “there is but little comfort to be taken in this kind of life compared to what there is in farming”; found some fence rails to use as a floor in the tent so they could stay out of the water covering the ground; writes about daily rations, but he hasn’t been very hungry while he has been ill;

 

.7         Mann, Camp Kearney, La., Feb. 25, 1863, to Dear Friends:

                        Has fever and chills; have been paid from September 15; hopes his time is up 9 months from that date [i.e. in June]; has been prescribed quinine for the fever and chills; “am almost sorry that I was so foolish as to enlist”; often thinks of the good food at home, and is looking forward to returning after enlistment is up; resolves to manage his affairs better in future;

 

.8         Mann, New Orleans, March 20, 22, and 23, 1863, to Dear Brother & Sister, F. & H.M. Wheeler:

                        Am still weak from fever; longs for a Massachusetts winter, with its pleasant evenings; misses reading The Cultivator on Saturday nights; hopes Frank will not be conscripted; not much for society and was always content to stay home, although wife was not; knows that army life would not be good for Frank; hopes that their son Arthur will not have to go to war;

 

.9         Mann, opposite Brasher City, Berwicks Bay, by R.R. eighty miles west of New Orleans, April 11-14, and 17, 1863, to “Dear Friends one and all”:

                        Left New Orleans by railroad on April 9 and came to this place; did not bring knapsacks, just blanket and shelter tent; most of regiment is ailing, and he continues to be weak; has not received many letters;

                        April 12: marched 7 hours yesterday; “I look forward to another existence with pleasure at times”;

                        April 13: “expect to go into an engagement soon”;

                        April 14: in “very sharp skirmishing” all afternoon yesterday: bullets whizzed by and cannonballs flew overhead, while they lay in ditches or sheltered behind stumps; am now in pursuit of retreating rebels;

                        April 17: “I am very sick … I think my case is very doubtful.”

           

            [letter written in pencil]