Civil War Oddities #44

At the outbreak of the war, ex-captain U.S. Grant was a military has been who was reduced to working as a clerk in a family owned leather goods store. Nevertheless, perennial failure Grant” became the first person since George Washington to become a lieutenant general in the U. S. Army, then spent two terms as president of the United States.

Civil War Oddities #43

Brayton Ives signed up with the Fifth Connecticut Regiment in July 1861, later switched to the cavalry, and during four years of war rose to the rank of colonel. He fought at Deep Bottom, Five Forks, Sayler’s Creek, Gaines Mill, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor Opequon, and Cedar Creek. When he took off his uniform he was considered to be one of thousands of run-of-the-mill officers. Back in civilian circles, he was president of the New York Stock Exchange before winning fame in a select circle of book collectors as owner of a Gutenberg Bible.

What Was Your Ancestor's Property Worth?

Genealogists often find references to money in old deeds and other documents. Even U.S. census records frequently recorded estimates of a person's real estate. The natural question is, "I wonder what that would equal in today's dollars?" There is a Web site that can answer this question.

S. Morgan Friedman's Inflation Calculator can convert a U.S. dollar amount for any year from 1800 through 2001 into the equivalent amount, adjusted for inflation, in any other year of that range. In other words, if you find that your ancestor purchased land for $400 in 1805, the Inflation Calculator will tell you that the money he spent is equivalent to a purchase of $5735.65 in 2010. 

The Inflation Calculator only goes up to the year 2010, the last year for which inflation statistics are available. This should be sufficient for genealogy purposes. The pre-1975 data comes from the Consumer Price Index statistics published in the Historical Statistics of the United States (USGPO, 1975). All data since then is from the annual Statistical Abstracts of the United States. You can access the Inflation Calculator at: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/.

The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2012 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. 

Civil War Oddities #42

Forty-two years of age at the time of Fort Sumter, Walt Whitman of New York had failed at practically everything he tried to do. He was successively an office boy, printer’s devil, schoolteacher, typesetter, journalist and editor. After publishing the book of poems Leaves of Grass in 1855, he cringed every time he saw a review of it.

Serving as a volunteer nurse in the hospitals of Washington, he caught an occasional glimpse of Abraham Lincoln, but spent most of him time bandaging wounds. Belated recognition of his poetic genius came first in Europe, then in the United States, after his death.

Armed Forces Insignia

Shoulder insignia, the brightly colored designs worn on the left sleeve below the shoulder to denote division, corps, armies, or organizations within the U.S. Armed Forces, express a warmth and a fraternity which men of all services known from experience. Originated by the 81^st Division in 1918, the cloth patches were soon officially recognized for their value in building morale.

I found this document in my mother-in-law personal papers after she passed away. Thank you Stephanie for saving this.

Source: Sunday August 1, 1954, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Civil War Oddities #41

Frank Leslie, who was born in England in 1821, came to the United States at age twenty-seven. After working for Gleason’s Pictorial and Illustrated News, in 1854 he launched Frank Leslie’s Ladies’ Gazette of Paris, London, and New York Fashions. One year later he began putting out his own illustrated weekly newspaper, only moderately successful at first. But circulation increased dramatically when it began giving the North a battle-by-battle view of the Civil War.

Made bold by success, “the man who took the war into drawing rooms of the Union” launched numerous new publications. Soon his list included Boys and Girls Weekly Sunday Magazine, Jolly Joker, Comic Almanac, Chatterbox, Ladies Magazine, and Ladies Journal. Perhaps overextended, he was forced into bankruptcy and died as a debtor.

Today each of the more than two hundred 1861-1865 issues of the illustrated newspaper is a collector’s item, and since that time, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly has been a major source of Civil War art.

Civil War Oddities #40

Kentucky born Christopher Carson, better known as Kit, won early fame in the West. As guide to John Charles Fremont’s expeditions of 1842, 1843, and 1845, he made his name a household word.

Had he wanted a brigadiership, it would have almost certainly been Kit’s for the asking. Instead of seeking command, at age fifty-two he became lieutenant colonel of the First New Mexico Cavalry. Carson led eight companies in the February 21, 1862, battle of Valverde, where his leadership was so significant that he reluctantly accepted a brevet, or honorary promotion, as a reward.