Letters
United Daughters of the Confederacy-Calloway County
MS86-03 includes correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records, and reports related to the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Calloway County, Kentucky from 1903 to 1976. The UDC is a women's club that has historically promoted a Lost Cause ideology of the war, downplaying the evils of slavery and valorizing Confederate soldiers who fought to defend it. The collection contains a record ledger of the Confederate Veterans Association, Camp H. B. Lyon, no. 1259 (1903-1921), membership applications for “Cross of Honor” certificates, and various awards received or issued by the organization. Included with the records are scrapbooks, photograph albums, programs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and ephemera associated with the UDC.
A letter from Arthur Patterson to his mother and brother from May 3, 1864. The letter mentions sending it with a "flag of truce," indicating that Arthur went to fight for the Confederacy while the rest of his family remained loyal to the Union.
United Daughters of the Confederacy-Calloway County Collection: MS 86-03, Box 1, File 14.
A badly faded letter from a soldier in a prison dated Sept. 13, 1863. Both the Union and Confederate Armies took prisoners, but the only combatant to be convicted of war crimes was the commandant of the Andersonville POW Camp.
United Daughters of the Confederacy-Calloway County: MS 86-03, Box 2, File 15.
Robert McCann Collection
MS95-04 features correspondence and legal documents related to the Scott family of Calloway County from 1811 to 1882. The correspondence contains a small amount of Civil War letters, including one from a Union officer at Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 2, 1863 and another from a woman in Louisville following the Battle of Fort Donelson. The collection also includes a letter describing a tornado that struck Elkland, Missouri in April 1880. The bulk of the letters discuss family issues, crop prices, weather conditions, and political issues of the day. Most of the letters were sent or received in the states of Kentucky, Missouri or Texas. Included with the correspondence are postcards of various sites in central Kentucky.
A letter from E.L. Curtis to their sister dated April 13, 1862. Curtis explains that thousands of troops were being treated at the local hospital and that more were on the way after the recently fought Battle of Shiloh.
Robert McCann Collection: MS 95-04, Box 1, File 36.
A letter from Jon H. Perfect(?) to his family, written on July 2, 1863 from near Vicksburg Jon writes about the camp in which he's stationed, some of the other soldiers and their political allegiances, and how he believed Lincoln wouldn't be reelected president.
Robert McCann Collection: MS 95-04, Box 1, File 37.