While history hiking last Saturday in Slingerlands I talked briefly about Samuel West's Civil War era letter that was found in a historic home on New Scotland Road.
Here's the article I wrote about in December of 2012.
Kiss Clara
For Me: The Civil War Era Letter of Samuel West
Susan E. Leath, Town Historian
December 2012
As town historian, a favorite inquiry is the one that starts
with “I’ve got some old letters I found in the attic. Do you want to take a look?” Mark Flood of Slingerlands uttered words to that
effect. While renovating his home on New Scotland Road he came upon a moldy,
mouse chewed pile of papers that included a Civil War era letter from Samuel
West. While admitting I am not a Civil
War expert, I agreed to see what I could find out. As always happens with old documents, one
question leads to another, and another, and another.
The Letter
Below is a transcript of the letter. In essence it is written as one long stream
of consciousness. I have kept Samuel’s spelling but added paragraphs and punctuation
for clarity.
In an envelope addressed to Mr. James H. West Clarksville
Albany Co N.Y. and post marked Washington DC Oct 1, 1862 is the following
letter:
Fort Pensylvania
Sept 30, 1862
Dear Father and mother
I now take my pen in hand to let you know that we are all
well at present and I hope that these few lines find you the Same. george got a letter from you and we was glad
to hear that you was all Well. there is
not much going on here now except drill and work on the new forts. we are putting up five new forts here within
one mile from here. we work one day and
then lay off one day then every Sunday we have general inspection and after
inspection we have church and after that we can go where we are a mind to until
1/2 past five then we have dress parade then at 1/2 past eight we have tattoo
and at nine the lights must be out. tattoo means roll call.
frank got a letter from hat day before yesterday. he sends his respects to you all. I am going to washington to morrow to get some
leather for to make the lieutenant a pair of boots. he had a pair when he came
out here but he found them to small and George got them of him. He give him $6
for them. they was sewed and a good pair at that.
I Suppose you get all
of the war news as well as me but I See by the papers that Jeff davis wants to
Settle this war and is going to Send three men to washington to arrange it. it dose not look So much like war as it did a
short time ago but we will have it pretty Soon unless we have peace as it is
said we will as the commissioners are in washington now to See if they cannot
arrange it in Some way as they are getting tired of of the fun about now. they see that we are getting to large an army
now so they want to stop the fun. I seen of piece in the paper to day how they
offer to settle it and is an honorable way so far as I can see it some old
abolitionists will not like it may be but I guess that it will Suit the
majority of us
no more at present. write as soon as you get. this Kiss
clara for me. tell her to be a good girl. give my love to all. tell till to
write me soon.
Samuel West
Privet Samuel West
Co H 113 Regt N Y S V
Washington DC
Who are the people?
My research started with the U.S. Census. Taking my cue from the letter’s addressee, I
find in the 1860 census that James H. West (age 51, shoemaker) and his wife
Leydia A (44) and their daughter Harriet (15) are living in Clarksville. A separate entry lists George West (20, farm
laborer). Another lists Samuel West (22, shoemaker), Mary E. (22) and Clara (2) all living in Clarksville.
So now I can deduce that Samuel West’s parents are James and
Lydia and that he has a younger sister Harriett. A look at the 1850 census notes that James and
Lydia are living in Rensselerville with their children Mary (13), Samuel (12)
George (9) and Harietta (6) which verifies that George is Samuel’s brother. Did you note in the 1860 census that Samuel
West is married to Mary and their daughter is Clara? Clara would have been 4 at the time the
letter was written. No wonder Samuel sends kisses her way.
Did you note that both Samuel and his father are
shoemakers? That explains the part in
the letter about getting “some leather for to make the lieutenant a pair of
boots.” The letter also states that “Frank
got a letter from Hat.” Perhaps Hat is Samuel’s sister Harriet?
What about the 113th New York Infantry?
The next avenue of exploration is finding out about the 113th
New York State Volunteers. When I first
read the letter I had some confusion about whether it read 117 or 113. I searched for Samuel West in New York’s
Muster Role Abstracts and found both him and George in the 113th.
You might be curious to know that the Muster roll Abstract lists Samuel as 5’4
½” tall with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.
It only makes sense that Samuel and George were in the 113th. The regiment was known as the Albany County
Regiment and the men were recruited principally from Albany County including
New Scotland and Bethlehem. The regimental
history at the New York State Military Museum has much information about the
113th, including the important fact that while mustered in as 113th Regiment
of Infantry on August 18, 1862, the unit was designated the 7th Regiment of Artillery
(heavy) on December 19, 1862.
This key fact was instrumental in discovering the book Carnival of Blood the Civil War Ordeal of
the Seventh New York Heavy Artillery by Robert Keating. Keating’s book conveniently has a complete
roster in the back including these two listings:
West, George – Born: Saratoga, NY. Age 22. Occupation:
farmer. Enlisted: August 12, 1862, as private in Co. H: wounded, September 30,
1864, at Petersburg; mustered out, June 16, 1865, as artificer.
West, Samuel – Born: Watervliet, NY. Age: 21. Occupation:
shoemaker. Enlisted, August 12, 1862, as private in Co. H; promoted corporal,
August 18, 1862; sergeant, December 9, 1863; first sergeant, June 1, 1864;
wounded , June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor; captured, June 16, 1864 at Petersburg;
paroled, February 27, 1865, at North East Ferry, NC; mustered out, May 21,
1865, from hospital at Albany, NY.
Did you notice the age problem? The book and the muster roll abstracts appear
to have the incorrect age for Samuel. In 1860, he was 22, so when he enlisted
in 1862 he should have been about 24. A
check of the Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served for New Scotland or
Bethlehem reveals no listing for either brother.
Remember Frank from the letter? Unfortunately, there are
several Franks in the regiment roster including Beardsley, Laurenaux, Shepard
and Treadwell. Frank will have to remain
a man of mystery.
The regimental history of the 113th/7th
includes an assortment of newspaper clippings. One describes the send off the Albany
County regiment received when, on the evening of August 20, 1862, they received
orders to embark on the steamship Hendrick Hudson at the Albany dock and head
for points south. “Ten thousand men and women lined the streets through which
the Regiment passed. No equally intense
enthusiasm has marked the departure of any Regiment since the war began; and no
finer body of men ever went to the tented field in any country.”
Upon its arrival in Washington DC, the 113th was
ordered to garrison various forts that were part of the defense of Washington,
including Fort Pennsylvania (later renamed to Fort Reno). Samuel’s letter aptly describes life at the
fort including work on the forts, drills and inspections. The men were drilling on heavy artillery,
hence their conversion in December 1862. The unit continued their work in
Washington DC until ordered to join the Army of the Potomac in May 1864. Their
first engagement was on May 19th at Spottsylvania.
During their course of the war, the 7th saw
action with the Army of the Potomac at Spotsylvania Court House, Wilderness,
North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg (assault & siege), Deep Bottom,
and Ream’s Station. The 7th
was recalled from the front on February 22, 1865 to Baltimore, MD and garrison
duty. On August 1, 1865, the unit was
mustered out and honorably discharged from service.
Their arrival in Albany was noted in the local newspapers:
“The brave heroes of the Seventh Heavy Artillery arrived on
the Norwich about five o’clock this morning. …the Steamboat landing was swarmed
with friends of the Regiment. The Citizen’s
Committee were promptly on hand to care for their wants. Some of the boys, as soon as they landed,
started for their homes; but the most remained, were formed into line, and
marched up Broadway to Sate Street, through Pearl and Columbia streets to
Broadway again, and down Broadway to Stanwix Hall. During the march, the
sidewalks and streets were thronged with a dense mass of citizens. “
677 officers and enlisted men of the 113th/7th
were killed during the Civil War, 217 “at the hands of the enemy”, the rest
from disease and other causes.
What about the war news that Samuel imparts?
It is interesting to note that on September 22, 1862 Abraham
Lincoln made clear his intention to issue the Emancipation Proclamation on
January 1, 1863. The proclamation was an
executive order based on the president’s powers as commander in chief of the
army. In his letter, Samuel speculates that the war will be over soon and that
the abolitionists will not be happy.
Knowing about the proclamation, perhaps Samuel believes it will not be issued
if peace breaks. Hence the unhappy abolitionists. As we know now, the proclamation was issued,
and the war continued.
Then what happened to Samuel?
After mustering out in May 1865, it appears that Samuel went
home to Clarksville. Going back to the census, in 1880 it is clear that Samuel
(age 42), boot and shoemaker, and his wife Mary (age 44) are living in
Clarksville. By 1880, Clara would have
been 22 and probably not living at home. The 1892 New York census has Samuel
West age 53, shoemaker, New Scotland.
How did the letter end up in Slingerlands?
In the 1870 census, Lydia A West (age 54 and Samuel’s mother)
is listed as living in Bethlehem Center.
In 1880, Lydia A West (63, keeping house) is listed with Charles Simmons
(20, son, laborer.) While the census record indicates Bethlehem Center, Lydia’s
dwelling is clearly in the hamlet of Slingerlands. Living just a few doors down are Albert and
Catherine Slingerlands (and their daughter Leah Haswell) prominent property
owners in the hamlet.
The name Simmons is key because many of the other papers
found with the letter relate to the Simmons family.
A mystery is why Lydia’s “son” does not have the same last
name, and he would have been born in 1860 (when the census has her living with
husband James in Clarksville). The 1860 census also has a William Simons, age
33 and his son Charles age 3 months living in Clarksville. Most likely, Lydia’s maiden name was Simmons
with William being her brother. Or perhaps Charles is adopted?
By the 1900 census Charles Simmons age 40 is clearly
living in Slingerlands with his wife Mary and children William D. and
Zelda. Further research is needed to
determine if Charles Simmons was one of the owners of Mark Flood’s home.
Notes on Doing Research
In this day and age, finding the information in this article
is more accessible than you might think.
Here are the ways I went about it from the comfort of my own home.
The Bethlehem Public Library makes an enormous amount of
information available on their web site (bethlehempubliclibrary.org). Click on the research tab for a listing. I
used Heritage Quest to access census records. Ancestry is available for free if
one is physically in the library (I bring my lap top and a cup of coffee and
sit at the café tables in the hallway.)
Ancestry’s New York records are available for free to New Yorkers
through the New York State Archives web page. (archives.nysed.gov). With a
little internet savvy, one can browse both the Town Clerk’s Registers of Men
Who Served Civil War, and New York’s Muster Role Abstracts.
The New York State Military Museum has a wonderful website
with detailed information including their New York State Unit History
Project. Simply go to their website (http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/mil-hist.htm)
and click on Civil War Units.
