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Text
2013.70.76
Nov 18th 63
My Daughter Mary
Accept my thanks for for [sic] your kind letter it was very pleasing after so long time to hear
from you and that darling little boy I really consideably [sic] expected you was [sic] coming to
see us in Sept. as we did not hear from you I flattered myself that you was [sic] coming they
laughed at me when I told them I was expecting you but I kept on expecting you till father said it
was too late in the season
I have thought much of you since I receid [sic] your letter I do hope you are releived [sic] of your
anxiety about your poor brother before this and it is better with him then [sic] your fears, how
many such cases there are who tell the sorrow and suffering of this dreadful war I have often
thought of your brothers when I have heard of the battles that I supposed they would be in. it
troubles me to se [sic] the list of so many of our men prisoners in Richmond suffering as reports
say they do I wonder if Walter sees the name of Neal Don among them and knows he is from
Portland Maine he has been a very noted man in the temperence [sic] cause
Page 2
it [sic] has been reported that the Rebels say he may try his water now with bread and see how he
likes it. I presume Walter has heard him on temperanc[sic] he has been in Winthrop, he is Brig
General, it will be a loss to loose such a man as he has been but not more so then [sic] others. I
presume they think they have a prize.
I was blessed to hear you little boy is geting [sic] long[sic] so finely, should like to see his
picture if I cannot see him and I should like to see his mothers quite as well perhaps his father is
so changed in this long time I should scarcely know him, I intend to send mine to you when we
have a good Artist here, we have one but he is not called good. Could you not stir up Walter to
write oftener [sic] tell him he need not be so pleased with his little son that he must forget how to
write to the home of his birth, how will he do when he has three or four more just as good, he
will not write at all then according as he now writes, but we will hope better of him. I should like
to have you see your sister Priscilla with her little family I went down to see her when her babe
was week old she was geting [sic] long[sic] finely she has writen [sic] since was doing well but
she will have quite a care on her for the present a care that she has no wish to entrust with others
when she can avoid it, by that means she is mostly at home with little ones. Franklin and
Henry’s family are both well I write to you as tho I were acquainted with you hope you will
excuse me and write me again soon Prudentia would have writen [sic] but she is preparing the
[child] to take part in a Levee for the benefit of the Sabbath [school] library, kiss Elmer for his
grandma W and accept some love yourself
from your Mother Woodward
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Description
An account of the resource
The Bittle Civil War Letter Collection includes letters written between 1861 and 1865 by brothers Robert (Bert), George and Charles Sealy, their sister Mary, and another relative, Christopher T. Dunham.
The Sealy siblings - Charles, George, Robert, and Mary Ann - were all born in Castle Cary, Somersetshire, England to Richard Sealy and Maria Louisa Champion Sealy. The family moved to Rochester, New York around 1843, finally settling in Rockford, Illinois in 1855.
When the Civil War arrived, Charles Sealy enlisted in the Company G 44th Regiment of the Illinois Infantry from Winnebago County. Meanwhile George and Robert Sealy each enlisted in the Company G 45th Illinois Volunteers. Charles was injured and eventually captured during the battle of Chickamauga. He was taken to Andersonville Prison where he died June 10, 1864.
Robert and George Sealy were present at the Battle and Fall of Vicksburg and survived to see the end of the war and beyond. George returned to Rockford, Illinois and worked for Emerson, Talcott & Co. He died in 1909. Robert moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1868. He died in 1888.
Christopher T. Dunham (connected to the Sealy family through his daughter’s marriage), lived in Freeport, Illinois starting in 1856 and worked as county surveyor. He enlisted in the 11th Illinois Regiment of the Union Army and served on and off throughout the Civil War. He and Sarah Cummings married in 1862. After the war he returned to his surveying work in Freeport, but was admitted to the Elgin Insane Asylum in 1872 where he died 6 years later.
The letters speak of their experiences serving in the army, of their camp sites, and plans, and are a record of the confusion and stress families back home felt during this time.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1861-1865
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Midway Village Museum
Title
A name given to the resource
Bittle Civil War Letter Collection
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Letter
Text
Any textual data included in the document
2013.70.76
Nov 18th 63
My Daughter Mary
Accept my thanks for for [sic] your kind letter it was very pleasing after so long time to hear from you and that darling little boy I really consideably [sic] expected you was [sic] coming to see us in Sept. as we did not hear from you I flattered myself that you was [sic] coming they laughed at me when I told them I was expecting you but I kept on expecting you till father said it was too late in the season
I have thought much of you since I receid [sic] your letter I do hope you are releived [sic] of your anxiety about your poor brother before this and it is better with him then [sic] your fears, how many such cases there are who tell the sorrow and suffering of this dreadful war I have often thought of your brothers when I have heard of the battles that I supposed they would be in. it troubles me to se [sic] the list of so many of our men prisoners in Richmond suffering as reports say they do I wonder if Walter sees the name of Neal Don among them and knows he is from Portland Maine he has been a very noted man in the temperence [sic] cause
Page 2
it [sic] has been reported that the Rebels say he may try his water now with bread and see how he likes it. I presume Walter has heard him on temperanc[sic] he has been in Winthrop, he is Brig General, it will be a loss to loose such a man as he has been but not more so then [sic] others. I presume they think they have a prize.
I was blessed to hear you little boy is geting [sic] long[sic] so finely, should like to see his picture if I cannot see him and I should like to see his mothers quite as well perhaps his father is so changed in this long time I should scarcely know him, I intend to send mine to you when we have a good Artist here, we have one but he is not called good. Could you not stir up Walter to write oftener [sic] tell him he need not be so pleased with his little son that he must forget how to write to the home of his birth, how will he do when he has three or four more just as good, he will not write at all then according as he now writes, but we will hope better of him. I should like to have you see your sister Priscilla with her little family I went down to see her when her babe was week old she was geting [sic] long[sic] finely she has writen [sic] since was doing well but she will have quite a care on her for the present a care that she has no wish to entrust with others when she can avoid it, by that means she is mostly at home with little ones. Franklin and Henry’s family are both well I write to you as tho I were acquainted with you hope you will excuse me and write me again soon Prudentia would have writen [sic] but she is preparing the [child] to take part in a Levee for the benefit of the Sabbath [school] library, kiss Elmer for his grandma W and accept some love yourself
from your Mother Woodward
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
To Mary Ann Woodward (Sealy) in Rockford, Illinois
from her mother Louisa Sealy (Champion) November 18, 1863 in Winthrop, Maine
Description
An account of the resource
Mary Ann “Mate” Sealy was born in Castle Cary, Somersetshire, England, on January 29, 1834 to Richard Sealy (born c. 1804 in South Welton, England) and Maria Louisa Champion Sealy (born c. 1803 in Wells, England). His family (including 2 brothers & 1 sister) moved to Rochester, New York around 1843. They later moved to Geneva, NY and final settled in Rockford, IL in 1855. She married Amos Walter Woodward on September 5, 1861 in Winnebago County. He went on to found Woodward Governor. She died in Rockford October 17, 1921.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
November 18, 1863
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Midway Village Museum
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Louisa Champion Sealy
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2013.70.76
Correspondence
Louisa Champion Sealy
Mary Ann Sealy Woodward
Midway Village Museum
Rockford, Illinois -- History