Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Indiana, Pennsylvania in the Civil War

This is a periodical entitled, "The Acme Haversack of Song and Patriotic Eloquence." The magazine was a bi-monthly publication, and this issue is volume three, number three, May, 1889. The publisher is Comrade J.C.O. Redington, of Syracuse, New York. The magazine is in booklet format and is paperbound. It includes 71 songs and 60 other writings, along with 14 black and white illustrations, with a total of 64 pages of text. These images are of three introductory pages from the booklet.

This is an advertisement sheet for the Hotel Gettysburg. The proprietor's name is Robert H. Gilmore. On the reverse side of the sheet is advertisement for J. I. Mumper, a battlefield photographer whose studio was located on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, PA. No date is indicated on either side of the flyer, but Mumper owned the photography studio from ca. 1895 until 1911.

This is a letter from Andrew and Martha Pollock to their nephew, Robert Forsyth. They are writing from Home, PA, on November 14, 1850. The Pollocks write that they are happy to learn of Robert's arrival in the United States. They inform Robert that they live in "an excellent neighborhood for morality and other good qualities; Presbyterians, Seceders, and Associate Reformed churches are most numerous and the prospects of the Covenanters here are encouraging..." , Their religious community is a dispersed, yet well organized congregation but lacks settled pastors. They say that they have had visiting pastors who are named Hanna, Cannon, Milligan, Dodds, and Hunter. In the second part of the letter, the Pollocks mention that there is plenty of land available for sale--thirty of forty pounds sterling will buy 100 or more acres of woodland. The Pollocks describe how one can farm shares; that for horses, feed, seed, and labor, a farmer receives a third of the grain. They write that school teachers receive $20 a month. They observe that section boats cost $5 per passenger, and they warn Robert to keep inside any boats to avoid accidents. They tell Robert to come along the canal to Blairsville and wait there until he can visit them or send word that he has arrived. They also give him directions to their home informing him that it is thirty miles from Blairsville and fifteen miles from Indiana on one of the Punxsutawney roads. The letter concludes with a postscript warning that ague and fever are common in Philadelphia but that those diseases don't occur in their area.

This is a poem titled "Battle of Ceder [Cedar] Creek" written by C. A. Savage, dated October 19, 1864. C.A. Savage was a member of Company K, 8th Indiana Infantry, and was present at the battle. After the battle, he wrote this poem.

This is a certificate or diploma naming Winfield Scott Shields Postmaster of Marion Center. He was appointed Postmaster on December 26, 1890. He executed a bond and took the oath of office on January 2, 1890. The document was authorized by John Wanamaker, and bears a seal for the Post Office Department of the United States of America.

This is a Post Office Department certificate naming Winfield Scott Shields the Postmaster of Brady in Indiana, County, PA, dated February 8, 1889. It is signed by Postmaster General Don M. Dickinson.

This is a certificate of membership of the Presbyterian Church of Marion Center, PA, dated May 26, 1932. The certificate was issued to Harry A. Shields by a Reverend Waltman and a clerk named J. N. Loughry.

This is a certificate of honorable discharge issued by the John Pollock Post of the Grand Army of the Republic to Winfield S. Shields for his service in the U. S. Civil War from Feb. 22, 1864 to Dec. 13, 1897. The certificate is dated December 31, 1897 and was signed by John A. Kinter, Adjutant, and John Park, Post Commander.

A collection of letters sent by William Penn Oberlin to his wife, Anna Marie Stauffer Oberlin and his sister between August 27, 1862 and May 19, 1865. Oberlin served with the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The letters were transcribed by his great, great grandson, Dr. Allen H. Ryen. No originals are available. Oberlin writes in vivid detail about camp life in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia; the hardships of long marches and the dangers of battles in Maryland and Virginia; foraging and plundering for food and horses; encountering whole families of escaped slaves along the road; capturing dispirited, poorly equipped Rebels; the Battle of Gettysburg and the battles in Maryland and Virginia in which Oberlin fought; Abraham Lincoln's visit to the troops; the hospital tent city in City Point, Virginia where he spent the last months of the war; his dreams about returning home and seeing "the old homestead" and his family again; the process of mustering out; and his reasons for fighting.

This Common Schools of Pennsylvania Teacher's Professional Certificate was issued to Mrs. W. S. Shields on May 4, 1871.

This is a photo of a crosscut saw common in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was an important tool for felling trees. During winter months, when farmers had fewer chores, they would cut timber on the land and sell it. go Most farmers at this time, including PA farmers, had their own woodlots. In a letter Agnes Graham sent to her brother, she writes that he needed to cut logs and rail timbers on her land. It is likely either this saw or the buck saw was used for cutting that wood. Sources: The Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County, PA: Graham Collection Letter 1 (GC1); Antique Tool Historian Ron Barlow; Gates, Paul W. The Impact of the Civil War: Agriculture and the Civil War. Ed. Nevins, Allan. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1965. Print. ; Fletcher, Whitcomb W. Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life 1840-1940. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1955. Print.

This is a photograph of a horse-drawn cultivator. This cultivator probably came into use in the 18th century. During the Civil War era, it horse-drawn cultivators were preferred because they cultivated the land more quickly than cultivators drawn by oxen. Source: Fletcher, Whitcomb, W. Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life 1840-1940. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1955. Print.