Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Diary of George Templeton Strong: Sunday, January 1, 1860

New Year’s Day. God prosper the New Year to those I love. Church with Ellie and Johnny; an effective sermon by Higby. Thereafter we took a cold “constitutional” up the Fifth Avenue to Forty-second Street, a rather vigorous winter day, still and sharp. Tonight is overcast, with promise of snow tomorrow.

SOURCE: Allan Nevins and Milton Halset Thomas, Editors, Diary of George Templeton Strong, Vol. 3, p. 2

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Diary of Private Ephraim Shelby Dodd: Tuesday, February 17, 1863

Received twenty-four boxes, saddles, bridles, halters, etc. Sent to Camp. Got a detail and put them all in a house and locked them up. We took charge of the Clerk's Office to sleep in, tied our horses in Court Yard and got our forage from the farmers around. Secured boarding at Maj. Holden's, a clever gentleman and nice family; has one grown daughter, Miss Emma, a nice young lady. Remained here Wednesday, 18th-Monday, 23rd. During this time had nothing to do but write letters, visit MY GIRL THAT PAWS IVORY, and make acquaintances. Among them Miss Lou Hill I prize highest. We had prayer meeting and church. I purchased four books and left them with Miss Emma: Mormon's at Home, Pilgrim's Progress, Bayard Taylor's Travels and Bible Union Dictionary.

SOURCE: Ephraim Shelby Dodd, Diary of Ephraim Shelby Dodd: Member of Company D Terry's Texas Rangers, p. 8

Governor Rutherford B. Hayes to Benjamin F. Potts, November 8, 1869

COLUMBUS, OHIO, November 8, 1869.

DEAR GENERAL:—I congratulate you back again [—on your election to the state Senate]. Some enemy of yours reported that you would be badly beaten in any event. But I didn't believe it. I agree with you. Our lines didn't fall in the right years. The "off years," as Greeley calls them, are bad years to run for office.

The missionary story is out of whole cloth. I went to church like a good Christian on the Sunday I was reported to be ploughing with the Hamilton County Reform Members and didn't see one of them. Bishop Thompson preached a capital discourse on the text, "Be ye faithful to the end and I will give you a crown of life," or words to that effect. If you had heard it you wouldn't have thought of that infamous suspicion that I was imitating Sam Cary because I quoted scripture in my Thanksgiving proclamation. Hassaurek says the Reformers will be with us on the Fifteenth Amendment. I think so too. Lew Campbell, it is said, boasts that he will prevent the ratification in the Senate, but as both of the Reformers are perfectly sound I suppose it is safe.

Kind regards to Mrs. Potts.

Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL B. F. POTTS,
        Carrollton, Ohio.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 3, p. 69-70

Governor Rutherford B. Hayes to Unidentified, November 13, 1869

COLUMBUS, OHIO, November 13, 1869.

DEAR SAGE: I am in receipt of yours of yesterday. I will send you reports of [the] Ohio Penitentiary and Reform Farm. No report of Girls' Reformatory yet made. But the rules adopted may answer your purpose and I will try to get them for you. They were approved by me as the law required and were in the handwriting of Judge M—— [Matthews (?)].

I have the Thanksgiving proclamations of twenty-seven States all recognizing religion, nearly all the religion of the Bible, and several the Divinity of Christ. More are coming, doubtless. Our Legislature for many years has passed a joint resolution annually authorizing a thanksgiving and frequently in terms which recognized the religion of the Bible. The last Legislature omitted to do so by a mere accident this year, but in [the] Sixty-fifth volume Ohio Laws, page 306, passed one last year. If you wish to borrow my bundle of Thanksgiving proclamations I will send them to you. All state institutions have religious exercises, some of them chaplains paid under state laws. The meetings of the two houses of the General Assembly are always opened with prayer in accordance, sometimes, with resolutions (passed unanimously usually), and sometimes by common consent. The inaugurations of governors are prefaced by religious exercises.

The general proposition on which you stand is undoubtedly sound. Whether your particular relief can be granted by a court is perhaps doubtful; and if you are beaten I am not sure but the question will go before the committee in a better form for a final and correct decision by the people without the intervention of the courts in opposition to the late action of the School Board than it will with such intervention. But if I can aid you, call on me.

Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
[Unidentified.]

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 3, p. 72

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Diary of 1st Sergeant John S. Morgan, Sunday, January 1, 1865

A nice enough day, did not go to church. worked part of the day on Pay rolls. Evening spent at the house of Mr Goins in co with Mr Miller, in camp at 9, P. M. and drink Egg nog. 

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, Thirty-Third Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. XIII, No. 8, Third Series, Des Moines, April 1923, p. 570

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Diary of Private John C. West, Wednesday, April 15, 1863

I went to the supper table last night too sick to eat anything; left the table and laid down on a lounge until the hotel keeper could show me a room; I retired early and slept well; got up this morning all right, but did not go to the breakfast table; took a lunch from my own haversack; walked out in town; went to the ten-pin alley and spent an hour rolling; had not played a game before for eight years, and enjoyed it very much; smoked a cigar, a notable scarcity in these times, and returned to the hotel, where I wrote a letter to Judge Devine, and one to my dear wife; may heaven's choicest blessings rest upon her and my sweet children; went to the dinner table and found the landlady apologizing for some defect and two young females discussing the merits of the Episcopal and Baptist faith; got through dinner somehow and walked down to the quartermaster's office; got the Vicksburg Whig; stretched myself out on the counter; read and took a nap; got up; went to the armory and would have enjoyed looking over the work very much but felt sick; it produces four Mississippi rifles per day at $30.00 a piece on contract with the state; I am now sitting at the foot of the hill below the armory.

SOURCE: John Camden West, A Texan in Search of a Fight: Being the Diary and Letters of a Private Soldier in Hood’s Texas Brigade, p. 16-7

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, December 21, 1862

CAMP STEVENSON.

Sunday. A splendid day; but what a miserable-looking set of boys we are!—stiff, lame, and dirty, and hungry for more beans. We received the welcome order, "No work for three days." We went to church this morning, so there are really only two days and a half, and they will soon be gone. But we have letters to answer, trips down-town to make, for those who can get passes; and the first thing we know it will be Wednesday.

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 30

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, April 15, 1851

Marshfield, April 15, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I was very glad to receive your letter last evening, and to learn that there was nothing occurring of particular urgency at Washington. Although the weather has been cold and wet, nearly all the time I have been here, yet, I leave with regret, and should be tempted to prolong my stay, if there were not to be an occasion likely to call me from Washington again, soon. About the 10th or 15th of May the important suit between the Methodist Church and the Methodist Church South, is to come on for argument in the circuit court of the United States in the city of New York. I have been long engaged in the cause, and drew the original bill in favor of the Church South. I have been in hopes that the parties would be satisfied that Mr. Lord should take my place, with Mr. Reverdy Johnson, but they are not so inclined. Recent occurrences, perhaps, have contributed to lead to an undue estimation of the probable value of my services on the occasion. The division between North and South, you know, took place on the slavery question.

A suit, equally old, and of a similar nature, is on my hands in Massachusetts, to be tried the middle of June. It is between the Old School Quakers, and the Hicksites, so called, and the question is, which party is entitled to the funds and property.

I hope nothing may occur rendering my attention to these two things inconsistent with my public duties.

In the present state of our military means, it is to be feared we shall have trouble with Indians in the southwest. And though it is our duty to do all we can, with the means in our hands, yet it is necessary to remember also that the government will be pressed to raise volunteers, mounted men, &c., by those who would like the employment and the pay. I take it that a mounted man on the frontiers is a person exceedingly well paid for doing very little.

I go to Boston to-morrow, and expect to meet the people in Faneuil Hall on Thursday.

I am not surprised at what you say about the course of Mr. ——— and his friends. They will probably attempt a denunciation of the compromise measures, in some way, but I think they will find themselves less strong than they imagine themselves to be. The case is a curious one. These gentlemen are willing and ready to express a hearty and conscientious approbation of, or at least acquiescence in, the compromise measures, provided only that certain office-holders be not disturbed. And, on the other hand, they are equally ready and willing to denounce these measures, heartily and conscientiously, if these office-holders should be disturbed.

I lament most deeply this schism among the New York Whigs, but I do not see how it could be avoided. At the same time, I think we have friends who are not only not discreet, but who attempt to use all their influence, whatever it is, to magnify themselves and to gain a triumph over their enemies. They wish to be the administration, at least, so far as New York is concerned. They require, in my opinion, sharp looking after.

I am, dear Sir, with true regard, always yours,
DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 428-9

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, Sunday, October 5, 1862

We had a shower while on dress perade I have put in the day making out pay rools for our company & it has not been a source of much comfort to me but knowing the wants of the boys & all the other company being at it I reconcile it as a military necessity. I got K P Morrison to preach in our tent & I exorted & closed after him text ye will not come to me that ye may have life

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 91

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, October 9, 1862

Rainey nearly all day & we had a wet time of it on dress perade I visited the hospitals evening by request I preached in Capt Vermilions tent we got the Blankets for our boys today

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 91

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, Sunday, October 12, 1862

11 Oc I attended church on Exchange Street the paster preached text 126th Psalm 6th v 3 Oc I & the Miss Kelleys attended at the Chatham Square Church a discourse by Dr Sturtevant President of Ilinoise Colledge Isaiah 58th & 6th ve 5 Oc we was at dress perade the ladies took supper with us at the camps I then went home with them & attended preaching at the African church

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 92

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Diary of Captain Joseph Stockton, January 25, 1863

Went to Calvary Church today. Heard a good sermon on confirmation. First time I have been to church since I have been in the army.

SOURCE: Joseph Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Stockton, p. 8

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Colonel Henry W. Slocum to Clara Rice Slocum, July 25, 1861

[Washington Infirmary, July 25, 1861]
My Dear Clara:

I attended services at Manassas last Sunday, but before the meeting closed I was obliged to depart for this city. For particulars see the New York daily papers.

I am now bolstered up in bed, making my first attempt at writing. I am as happy as a clam in high water. My regiment covered itself with glory. It was one of the first in, and the last out. Not a man showed the white feather. They fought until all their ammunition was expended, and when the stampede commenced, General McDowell ordered the officers to form all the regiments in line so as to make another stand, or, at least, make an orderly retreat. . . . Finally, he gave up the attempt, and we were ordered to retreat.

After going a few rods the General made another attempt to check the utter rout of our troops. He again ordered the regiments to form in line, but ours was the only one that could be formed again. The General then cried out in a loud voice, "Soldiers, form on that noble regiment! We must make a stand.” . . . This same attempt was repeated a third time, with the same result. A person told me to-day that General McDowell reported all this to General Scott, with a high encomium on the regiment.

All this may appear singular in view of the accounts of the battle given in the New York papers, wherein our regiment is not even mentioned. . . . But the truth is known in quarters where I desire to have it known. It is all right.

I had almost forgotten to tell you about my wound. It is doing well, and pains me but little. I would agree to take another just like it if I could thereby secure as good conduct on the part of my regiment when it takes the field again.

SOURCE: New York (State). Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga, In Memoriam : Henry Warner Slocum, 1826-1894, p. 70

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Diary of Corporal Lawrence Van Alstyne: Sunday, October 12, 1862

Relay House Station, on the Northern Central R. R. Just where that is I haven't yet found out. We stood up or laid down in the street from noon yesterday until 3 a. M. this morning, when cars came and we went on board. They are box cars, no seats, but they have a roof, and that is what we most needed. We shivered and shook so our teeth chattered when we first got on board, and it was 5 A. M. before the train started. We were no longer curious to know where we were going. We were wet, cold, hungry and thirsty, and from lying on the pavements were so stiff we could hardly get on our feet. The major had to give it up—his leg was hurt worse than he thought. We are sorry not to have him along, for next to Colonel Smith, he is the most soldierly soldier in the regiment. Our two days' rations are gone and we are wondering when we will get another feed.

Noon. We are at Hanover Junction, Pa. We now feel sure we are after the rebel horse thieves, but unless we get a faster move on than this, they will get away with all the horses in the country before we get there. We are waiting for further orders from General Wool. The 144th N. Y. just stopped here, on their way to Baltimore. They are just out, and to hear them complain about being kept on the cars a whole day and night made us laugh.

5 p.m. We are full once more. Doesn't seem as if we could ever get hungry again after the feed we have just had. We are at Hanover, Pa. As the train stopped it seemed as if the whole population were standing beside the track, and nearly everyone had a basket of eatables or a pail of coffee. Men, women and children were there and they seemed to enjoy seeing us eat, even urging us to eat more, after we had stuffed ourselves, and then told us to put the rest in our haversacks. But they are terribly scared at the near approach of the rebel cavalry. We told them to fear no more. We were there, and the memory of the feast we had had would make us their special defenders. They distributed tracts among us, some of them printed sermons, and wound up by asking us to join them in singing the long-meter doxology. We not only sang it, we shouted it; each one took his own key and time, and some, I for one,—got through in time to hear the last line from the others. We left them with cheers and blessings that drowned the noise of the train, and I prayed that if I ever got stranded it might be in Hanover.

GETTYSBURG, PA. Night. The train has stopped outside the village, and a citizen says the Rebs are just out of the village on the opposite side. It is pitch dark and the orders are to show no lights and to keep very still. I have a candle and am squatted in the corner of the car trying to keep my diary going.

The officers are parading up and down along the train trying to enforce the order to be quiet. I am hovering over my candle so it won't be seen, for I must write, for fear I won't get a better chance.

SOURCE:  Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 48-50

Monday, September 2, 2024

Diary of Private Bartlett Yancey Malone: Sunday, May 11, 1862

was a beautyfull day indeed And we rested all day And the Reverant Mr. Stewart from Alexander preached to us again today

SOURCE: Bartlett Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 20

Diary of Private Bartlett Yancey Malone: May 12, 1862

we still stade in camp and Mr. Fossett preached for us today. And his text was in the first of Timothy 2 chapter and 8 virse

SOURCE: Bartlett Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 20

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 2, 1865

Raining. No well-authenticated news; but by many it is believed Staunton is in the hands of the enemy, and Lynchburg menaced. Nevertheless, the government is sending a portion of the archives and stores to Lynchburg!

The clergymen are at work begging supplies for the soldiers; and they say the holding of Richmond and the success of the cause depend upon the success of their efforts, the government being null! A large per cent. of these preachers is of Northern birth and some of them may possibly betray the cause if they deem it desperate. This is the history of such men in the South so far. But the President trusts them, and we must trust the President.

Hon. Wm. C. Rives has resigned his seat in Congress. Alleged causes, ill health and great age-over 70.

The Negro bill still hangs fire in Congress.

Roger A. Pryor is to be exchanged. He was the guest of Forney in Washington, and had interviews with President Lincoln.

The government is impressing horses in the streets, to collect the tobacco preparatory for its destruction in the event of the city falling into the hands of the enemy. This fact is already known in the North and published in the papers there. A pretty passport and police system, truly!

I saw a paper to-day from Mr. Benjamin, saying it had been determined, in the event of burning the tobacco, to exempt that belonging to other governments—French and Austrian; but that belonging to foreign subjects is not to be spared. This he says is with the concurrence of the British Government. Tobacco is being moved from the city with all possible expedition.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2p. 437-8

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 10, 1865

Raining and cold. This is the day appointed by the government for prayer, fasting, etc.; and the departments, shops, etc. are closed. The people, notwithstanding the bad weather, pretty generally proceeded to the churches, which will be open morning, noon, and night, for it is a solemn occasion, and thousands will supplicate Almighty God to be pleased to look upon us with compassion, and aid us, in this hour of extremity, to resist the endeavors of our enemies to reduce us to bondage.

The morning papers contain a dispatch from Lee, giving an account of a successful battle in North Carolina. I append it, as the first success chronicled for a great length of time.

"HEADQUARTERS, ETC., March 9th, 1865.

 

"HON. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.

 

"Gen. Bragg reports that he attacked the enemy, yesterday, four miles in front of Kinston, and drove him from his position. He disputed the ground obstinately, and took up a new line three miles from his first.

 

"We captured 3 pieces of artillery and 1500 prisoners.

 

"The number of the enemy's dead and wounded left on the field is large. Ours comparatively small.

 

"The troops behaved most handsomely, and Major-Gens. Hill and Hoke exhibited their usual zeal and energy.

 

R. E. LEE."


SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 444-5

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, Sunday, September 22, 1861

Inspection of arms as usual by the Field Officers L. F. Williams Officer of the Guard to day. Preaching in the camp to day by Chaplain of our Regt. at 11 o'clock Our Chaplain is a Catholic.

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 227

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, Thursday, September 26, 1861

Observance is paid to "Fast Day.[”] Services at 10 O'clock by our Chaplain― toward 10 O'clock the weather cleared off & became very pleasant. Dress Parade in the evening As usual nothing of importance has passed of in our vicinity to day

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 227