Category Archives: Veterans

oysters for the vet

Posted on January 27, 2016 by SUMPTER

Even Sumpter will rouse himself for a delicious meal. Also, the following reminded me of local charity dinners nowadays. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in (probably) January 1866: DONATION TO A SOLDIER. – A donation and oyster supper … Continue reading →

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another man without a country?

Posted on December 22, 2015 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December 22, 1865: The last Confederate prisoner. –The last Confederate prisoner of war has been released, on condition that he would leave the country. The Baton Rouge Gazette of the 5th says: A letter received … Continue reading →

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hero as tour guide

Posted on November 30, 2015 by SUMPTER

Is there not a better future for these men also? The time will come when we shall at least cease to hate them. In the summer of 1865 a correspondent visited Gettysburg two years after the great battle. His very … Continue reading →

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chains into ploughshares

Posted on November 11, 2015 by SUMPTER

A poem from 150 years ago celebrated peace and the victory of freedom and free labor over slavery: From The Atlantic Monthly, VOL. XVI.—NOVEMBER, 1865.—NO. XCVII. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Our modern Veteran’s Day springs from Armistice Day: The shooting finally stopped … Continue reading →

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lest we ignore

Posted on September 30, 2015 by SUMPTER

In a September 1865 sermon advocating negro suffrage Henry Ward Beecher reportedly said that the North could take care of all the freed slaves in the South, “but the so doing would be a violation of the fundamental law of … Continue reading →

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President Lee

Posted on September 1, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times September 7, 1865: Gen. Lee Accepts the Presidency of Washington College. From the Lexington Gazette Extra. The gratifying duty of announcing to the country the acceptance by Gen. ROBERT E. LEE of the Presidency of Washington … Continue reading →

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A more northern North Carolina

Posted on August 19, 2015 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in August 1865: A large number of Union soldiers in North Carolina have made up their minds to stay in that vicinity and are marrying the widows and girls and settling on the … Continue reading →

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fleeced

Posted on August 14, 2015 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in August 1865: ANOTHER ROBBERY. – A soldier named Robert Sherman, a member of the Veteran Reserve Corps, and a resident of Rose Valley, Wayne Co., was robbed of some $800 in Albany, … Continue reading →

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clique politics

Posted on July 31, 2015 by SUMPTER

A war widow was passed over in the appointment of a Post Master in Penn Yan, New York. A Democrat paper showed that even a Republican paper disagreed with the decision. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in July … Continue reading →

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taunts

Posted on July 28, 2015 by SUMPTER

Couldn’t folks have been a little more bipartisan 150 years ago? From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in July 1865: Employment for Soldiers. The Auburn Advertiser days the scarcity of help among the farmers, should induce the returned soldiers … Continue reading →

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