History 304: Historiography and Methods

I wanted to find how the Carlisle area newspapers reported the riots and where, if any their position was on the incident.  I found two Carlisle newspapers on microfilm at the Dickinson Library: the American Volunteer and the Carlisle Herald.  I looked at the Dickinson’s Reel 8 of Carlisle Newspapers which consisted of the American Volunteer from June 3, 1847 – April 29, 1852 in Carlisle, PA.  The first instance of the riots I found was in the June 10, 1847 edition in an article titled “Alarming Riot”.  Within the article it mentions the trial that occurred on June 2^nd and the riot that followed it.  However, unlike many of the other sources I have looked at, there is no mention of Prof. McClintock at all.  The paper credits Judge Hepburn as realizing the mistake on the part of Justice Smith for issuing any paperwork that gave possession back to the slave-owners.  Up until this point, John McClintock had been the only party that had recognized the mistake and attempted to fix it, causing a riot in the process.  This account blames the riot completely on the black citizens who surrounded the courthouse.  There is even an account of a black man attempting the light the building on fire, which was not mentioned anywhere either.  Not only is there no mention of John McClintock, the paper states that they do not believe that any citizen of Carlisle had anything to do with starting the riot.  This is a marked change from the attitudes of the townspeople I have come across thus far.

Excerpt from "Alarming Riot" published in the American Volunteer on June 10, 1847

In terms of the position of the paper, phrases like “we deeply regret” and “disgraceful proceedings” repeatedly refer to the riot, which suggests a sense of embarrassment on the part of the town.

On June 17, 1847, a small article appeared in the American Volunteer announcing that the black man who had been reported to be attempting to light the courthouse on fire had been arrested in the town of Columbia in Lancaster County.  His name was Boon with an alias of Buck.

Excerpt from "Arrest" published in the American Volunteer on June 17, 1847

The next reference to the riots in the American Volunteer is immediately following the death of Mr. Kennedy who was the injured slave owner.  The article, entitled “Death of Mr. Kennedy”, appeared on July 1, 1847 and proclaimed how sorry the paper was for his family.  The paper announced an outrage at the events that unfolded and led to this death.  There is a clear rejection of the recent law that did not allow southerners to come into Pennsylvania to retrieve their slaves.  The paper states that with the addition of the new law, Pennsylvania will become a home for any slave looking to run away, which is presented as a negative idea.

Excerpt from "Death of Mr. Kennedy" publish in the American Volunteer on July 1, 1847

What might be the most interesting of the articles published in the American Volunteer that I found is the reprinting of an address that Dickinson College President Robert Emory gave to the board of trustees regarding Prof. McClintock.  Within the speech that was given on July 8^th and reprinted on July 17, 1847, he assures everyone that Prof. McClintock is not an abolitionist.  In fact, he lists five radical abolitionist ideas that he claims Prof. McClintock does not believe in.  They include feeling the United States government should intervene with slavery in southern states; the belief that states should interfere which each other; the belief that all slaves should be free; the belief that holding slaves is a sin; and finally the belief that to be in the Christian Church, you should not hold slaves.

Excerpt from "For the American Volunteer: Dickinson College" published in the American Volunteer on July 17, 1847

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.

Monday night I went looking through newspaper databases for reference to Levi Bowen. I started with the 19th Century U.S. newspapers database, and entered the name “Levi Bowen” to search in Pennsylvania newspapers between 1839 and 1899. What I found is remarkable and vexing. A brief article in the North American states Bowen is listed on the Carlisle War Memorial, even though he survived the war. The article further says he was hit in the lung at the battle of “White Oaks” and left for dead. From what I know, White Oak probably means White Oak Swamp, also known as Charles City Cross Roads, or Gaines Mill. An image of the article is below.

(courtesy, 19th Century US Newspapers Database)

I did not know what to make of the part about him being from california. I went back on ancestry and searched for him in the state of california. no hits. I suspect this is just a red herring because unless Bown went to california between the end of the war and 1870 or between other censuses (certainly possible) then he never did because each census from 1860 to 1920 is from california.

Finally, I looked for an obituary or other record of Bowen’s death. I expanded the usual Ancestry search to 1940. I found an obit from 1924, listing him as being buried at the Mount Olives cemetery in Fairview township in York county PA. An internet search of this cemetery came up empty. So instead I followed the Fairview township website to a list of cemeteries. I looked through the list until I came to a Mount Olivet cemetery. Went to the website and searched there records, and there it was, Levi Andrew Bowen, born February 3 (not sure thats accurate) 1839, died September 1st 1924 at the age of 85. Considering the hardships he endured, being shot in the lung, captured twice and surviving at least 3 of the deadliest battles of the civil war, and then to live to 85 is really remarkable. Below is an image of the headstone where he and his wife are buried.

(Courtesy, findagrave.com)                                                      http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=42204603&PIpi=21691972

Yesterday March 7 I went back to the Dickinson archives to scan some images that I feel can be very helpful in depicting what I have research so far. The first image is of the John Keggy Stayman letter. This is the letter that I found during my first trip to the archives. This letter was written by Professor John Keggy Stayman to his friend Edgar who lived in Carlisle and was present for the shelling. Stayman was traveling but upon hearing about what had happened he began traveling back to Carlisle to survey the wreckage. 

Stayman Letter pages 1 and 4. Courtesy of Dickinson Archives

The second image that I found was from The Philadelphia Inquirer July 4, 1863 edition. This edition was especially helpful because it provided a map about the invasion of Carlisle. During our class today, March 8, 2011, we talked about maps and how we could potentially display an image of the invasion to people. I think this map could be a great source to refer to or at least use it as a starting block. 

Map of Carlisle 1863. Bombardment by Confederate Forces. Courtesy of Dickinson Archives.

Both if these images can accessed by going to the Dickinson archives. The Stayman letter was discovered when I was going through the catalogue and discovered that he wrote this just days after the battle had concluded. The article was discovered when I was looking through a binder of Newspaper collections. This newspaper in particular was extremely helpful because it gives a great description of what occurred at Carlisle from an eye witness account. I have not been able to find out what citizen this is. I would believe that he/she would have had to escape Carlisle right after the bombardment occurred because of how fast they made it to Philadelphia. Both these items have certainly given me a better idea of took place and what people went through during July 1st and 2nd.

Image courtesy of the Carlisle Herald, April 19, 1861.

My first step was to check the date that the Carlisle Fencibles were created from  the American Civil War Research database. The database gave only the date of their organization at Camp Wayne.  I remembered that other sources I had seen gave different dates, so I checked both the House Divided,  searching for Robert Henderson, and the Blog Divided, searching for the Carlisle Fencibles. The Blog Divided had a post, Carlisle Fencibles, giving the date of their departure from Carlisle, as June 6, 1861.  As I began to work with the microfilm I first looked for newspapers from the week of June 6th.

I began my search for the Carlisle Fencibles in microfilm by browsing the American Democrat, Reel #2,  which had weekly issues from 1/02/1861-12/24/1862. Edited by E. Cornman, the Democrat was a pro-Douglas, Democratic newspaper. Unfortunately, as I was working with the Democrat, the scanner kept giving me problems so as of now, I do not have any scans of the articles, only notes. If time allows, I would like to get a scans of the Democrat’s articles.

On my second attempt at microfilm, in which I looked at the Republican Carlisle Herald,   from 4/26/1861-9/ 28/ 1866, I had better luck. I am familiar with the Herald from prior research and this familiarity helped to me to quickly scan each issue and identify the sections most relevant to my research.

"The Departure of Our Volunteers." Courtesy of the Carlisle Herald, June 7, 1861.

In the Herald I found a number of useful articles. One is  from June 7, 1861, entitled “The Departure of Our Volunteers.” This article chronicles the departure of troops under Captains Henderson, Todd, and McCartney, from Carlisle. According to the Herald, the three companies, although not “quite full” were “composed of the very best men in our country, taken from every avocation and pursuit.” The Democrat, in a June 12, 1861 article, echoed this sentiment. It stated that the soldiers came from the “best class of our young men, some of whom have abandoned…luxurious homes, to endure the privations of camp life.”

The Herald also describes the ceremonies that took place in Carlisle just before the troops left. These included the presentation of two flags, one “elegant satin flag…with gold fringe and tassels” from Mrs. Henderson and another flag from the girls of Carlisle. Whereas the Herald’s account of the volunteers departure stresses the ceremony of the event, the Democrat stresses patriotism, stating “the patriotism of the people of Cumberland County was… made manifest by the rush of young men into the ranks of volunteer companies.”

My next step for further research would be to find the American Volunteer article on this event and compare it with the others. Also, the CCHS has a book, Defend the Colors!, which I would like to examine in order to learn more about flags in the Civil War.

The most frustrating thing about researching Levi Bowen had been the apparent lack of good sources, both primary and secondary that reference him. I say had because on friday I went back to the beginning and took a closer look at what primary sources I had available to me at the Cumberland county archives, and that helped to clear some of the fog. I reexamined and made copies of Bowen’s company muster roll records, and his hospital and enlistment records, and after careful perusal and comparison with a timeline of the Civil War I can now deduce some of what happened to the man. That the story is compelling is an understatement.

According to a “Declaration For Pension” signed by Bowen and dated May 23, 1912 Bowen first enlisted Dec. 17, 1861 as a Private in Company H, 7th Infantry Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteers. He was honorably discharged on feb 12th, 1864. Then he reenlisted as a private in company H of the 180th pennsylvania Veterans Volunteers, which I learned earlier was a series of units many veterans reenlisted in once their original units were disbanded due to the men’s enlistments being up. He was honorably discharged again on feb 28th, 1865. Bowen lists himself as 5’5”, with dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His listed occupation is as a blacksmith. Since leaving the army he lived in Cumberland and York counties. At the time of the application he was living in Lewisberry PA in York county. He would have been 73 when this was written. The information about his enlistments is borne out by other muster roles.

Other pieces give a more detailed record of his service. These include his letter granting his pension, his hospital records, and other muster records. He was first sent to Camp Curtin in Harrisburg after enlisting. Camp Curtin served as a major training center during the war. The first battle he was in was the battle of Mechanicsville on june 26, 1862. This was the beginning of the Seven Days battles during the Peninsula campaign. Seven Days was a succession of battles from june 26th to july 2nd. For Bowen however, his struggles began on June 30th when he was apparently wounded in combat and captured by the enemy. He was taken to Richmond. I have been unable to learn which prison it was, but according to Charles Sanders’ While in the Hans of The Enemy there were several, including Libby Prison, and Gratiot Street prison. Regardless, Bowen was released on july 26th, and returned to duty from the Convalescent camp sometime in september(?) 1862. The handwriting on the documents is difficult to discerne and the month of his return is given as a 3 letter abbreviation. It appears to read october on one, september on another, and could say either on a third but appears to be september. Regardless, he returned to combat in time to be “engaged at battle of Fredricksburg Dec 13, 1862. According to the National Park Service website, the men from Pennsylvania at Fredricksburg were responsible for a daring attack that broke through the heart of the Confederate lines, only to be slaughtered before being driven back.

The final chapter is the most interesting. To add to his list of accomplishments, Bowen was present at the Battle of the Wilderness, where, according to a document that I can’t identify, but does come from the adjucant general’s office, Bowen was captured. This was after his reenlistment with the Vet. Vol. unit. He is listed on a muster roll for that unit as MIA at the Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.

A word about the documents I’m using – these are all copies of copies that the cumberland county archives had. I have not seen the originals and do not know if they exist.

 Today I located some pictures of Samuel Hepburn and his family homes. 

Judge Samuel Hepburn (Cumberland County Historical Society)

At the Cumberland County Historical Society, I researched and found the only image they had of Judge Samuel Hepburn.  This was a case photo (Catalog number ID 03-F-05 and P.2007.039) , which resembles a mirror with the image of the Judge.  A case photo is similar to a book and when you open it, the picture of Judge Hepburn is visible.  The case protects the fragile nature of the image. I could not determine when the photo was taken or by whom.  The information only indicated that it was a photo at the beginning of his career. 

The other photos I discovered were in the genealogy drop file of the Hepburn family.  Many items appeared in the drop file, but I focused only on Judge Hepburn and the time when he was alive.

Old Hepburn House on West Pomfret Street (Cumberland County Historical Society)

Front Door of Judge Hepburn's House on East High Street (Cumberland County Historical Society)

While I was looking for images, I found one photo of the front door of Judge Hepburn’s house on East High Street and an older Hepburn house on West Pomfret Street.  This house was later Lloyd Hall, a dorm for Dickinson College women and then an apartment. I continued to search for other photos such as family portraits, but to no avail.  The librarians indicated that this was the only image of Judge Hepburn or his family that they knew existed. 

The genealogy file told me that they did not have a family portrait due to the disappearance of Judge Hepburn’s son, Samuel Hepburn Jr.  This “disappearance” intrigued me and piqued my interest to keep searching for more information and images of Hepburn.

I found this image in one of the many books that I used to try and find information on Andersonville. This picture originally comes from the book “Locating Union and Confederate Records” by Nancy Justus Morebeck. However, i could not use that image because I did not have the copyright and thus was not allowed to take a picture of it This specific image that is below I found on the site civilwarhome.com  and clicking on civil war potpourri , then prisoners and prisons, then civil war prisons, then finally andersonville prison. However, it is that exact same one in the book and can be found in the book on page 64. I was just flipping threw the book to see if I could find an estimate from her on how many troops died in Andersonville, alone and while I did not find the answer to that question I did come across this picture. This picture show a number of Union soldiers waiting to get their rations for the day. One of the things that stuck out to me about this picture was how crowded the camp was. If you look you can see long lines of make shift tents and people. The overcrowding of Andersonville is one of the main complaints that is brought against Andersonville. Another thing that you can see from the picture is the basics of the outline of the camp. You can see the high fences that kept the prisoners in. You can also see the cook house in the back. Which means that the small river that ran through the camp is not to far from where the picture was taken. Furthermore, you can tell that the camp has no shade which makes the summers and the hot weather even more unbearable as well as no place besides the rough ground to sit and rest. I also found that the photographer was a confederate known as A.J. Riddle who was allowed to take 8-9 photographs. Why he choose this one is still a little puzzling.

1) courtesy of http://www.civilwarhome.com/andersonville.htm

2) Nancy Justus Morebeck, Andersonville Prison, Ga. Issuing Rations. 1864 August 17. Locating Union and Confederate Records. (Utah, North Salt Lake: Heritage Quest, 2001) 64

I came to the archives this afternoon with the intention of searching through letters, getting leads from letters, and then following those leads through to more letters, documents, ect., which will probably happen after this post.

I went to the card catalogue with the intention of looking up H.M. Johnson, who was the president of the college at this time. Since the J drawer was missing, I went to the drawer labeled ‘Carlisle’ just to see what was there. I ended up coming across 3 images that deal with the invasion of Carlisle. Each can be found under the title of the image in the Dickinson College Archives card catalogue in the drawer labeled ‘Carlisle’.

The first is a sketch donated by Boyd Waidner-Spahr to the library. It depicts the shelling of the New York Militia by the rebel guns on the main street of Carlisle. The archives date it as being from July 1, 1863.

“The rebels shelling the New York Militia in the main street of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Sketched by Mr. Thomas Nast.”

The second image I came across was a woodcut from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, dated July 18, 1863. The image depicts the burning of the Carlisle Barracks by rebel forces, and was created by the artist George Law, who was employed by the newspaper.

“Clipping from ‘Leslie’s’ with woodcut of Carlisle Barracks, destroyed by the Confederates.”

courtesy of Dickinson College Archives

The final image I came across was a broadside announcement dated July 3, 1863. It is a call to arms for the citizens of the Cumberland Valley. The flyer denounces the rebels as “ruthless invaders” “not satisfied with revolt, rebellion, and treason at home, the misguided men that have sought to tear down our government and destroy our democratic institutions.” The flyer ends with the words, “circulate through the county.”

Broadside. “Citizens of the Cumberland Valley! … Rise! Arm!”

courtesy of Dickinson College Archives

My final thoughts on these images is that they were designed to serve a purpose, namely as propaganda against the rebel army. While the flyer is obvious, the woodcut and the sketch are somewhat more subtle due to the fact that don’t outright state their intentions. Instead, they allow the depiction of fallen Union soldiers and burning Union military buildings arouse the patriotic flames within those who may join the Union army.

I’d like to end with a gracious thank you to the secretary of the Archives. She’s a lovely woman, and very helpful. I’m sure she’ll be more helpful to me yet.