This week, I searched for articles in newspaperse on microfilm pertaining to Thomas Nelson Conrad and Daniel Mountjoy Cloud. I looked through the Carlisle newspapers from June and July of 1857 and 1858 to find information about the two men’s graduations from Dickinson. I found a newspaper clipping mentioning Conrad’s speech at a July 1857 Belles Lettres Society event in the archives, so I looked for full articles about it in the Carlisle newspapers published that month. Since the Horatio King diary mentions Conrad attending a lecture by famed abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher on March 24, 1857, I read through all the local newspapers published from March 15-31st. I also read the Carlisle newspapers published in the two weeks following Conrad and Cloud’s deaths in 1905 and 1871, as local people who knew the two men may have shared their memories and reflections. Finally, I read the local newspapers from November and December of 1892, since I found excerpts of his autobiography in two November 20, 1892 newspapers in the Infotrac database and I was curious how local people would have reacted to his claims.
I found an article on Dickinson’s 1857 commencement in the Carlisle Herald which states that “we anticipate a great gathering of friends of the college and a season of unusual festivity. The article makes no mention of Conrad. On July 14, 1858 the Carlisle Herald published two articles about Dickinson’s Commencement Ceremonies and another about a Belles Lettres Society event held the previous week. One article on the ceremony stated that “the graduating class of 1858 is second to none that ever left the halls of Dickinson.” The other references that “D.M. Cloud of Baltimore Md.” read “The Moral Hero” which was “delivered well and lasted 4 minutes.” This effusive praise for the graduating class led me to wonder whether the reporter covering the ceremony or editor of the paper personally knew any of the graduates. Commencement 1858[1]
The article on the Belles Lettres event states that “the seventy-second anniversary of this society was celebrated in the First Presbyterian Church on Monday evening.” The article states that “The Moslem and the Greek was read by Daniel M. Cloud of Baltimore, Md,” and that it “was a chaste and classical oration finely delivered and the hosue rang with frequent plaudits. The gentleman reflected great credit both on himself and the society which he represented- length 13 minutes.” Since this praise was so effusive, I would be curious to know whether the reporter knew Cloud personally. I am also curious about the reporter’s political affiliations were since Cloud was a southerner and the tensions between North and South were reaching a fever pitch by 1858. Belles Lettres 1858[1]
I was puzzled fact that Cloud’s hometown was given as Baltimore in both articles, considering all the primary and secondary sources I encountered state that he was a native of Warren County, Virginia. This could either be a mistake on the part of the reporter or a result of him having family in Baltimore. I would like to locate more primary sources pertaining to the Cloud family to determine if his parents or other relatives were living in Baltimore in 1858. If this was the case, he may have publically stated his hometown as Baltimore to avoid backlash from staunch Union supporters in Carlisle.
The American Volunteer makes no mention of Cloud, Conrad, the graduations of 1857 and 1858, and Beecher’s speech. The paper seems to give far more attention to state and national events than local ones. The paper, as well as the Carlisle Herald make no reference to Cloud or Conrad after their deaths and do not mention the publication of Conrad’s autobiography. I wonder if the papers declined to reference the two men after their time at Dickinson because they had little or no permanent ties to members of the Carlisle community, or the local people were ashamed that Dickinson alumni became Confederate operatives.
Bibliography:
“Commencement Excercises.” Carlisle Herald, 14 July 1858, 2.
“Commencement Day.” Carlisle Herald, 14 July 1858, 2.
“Belles Lettres Society.” Carlisle Herald, 14 July 1858, 2.
“Commencement Week.” Carlisle Herald, 1 July 1858, 2.