• Sunday-What'sUP July 8 - 03:32 pm

In our "Pasty Central Day in History" feature, several references to the Civil War over the last week prompted requests for Shoebox Memories devoted to the subject. One of the best 'shoeboxes' on the web to search for pictures from this time period (1861-1865) is the Library of Congress. Since I had been there last, a generous donor named Tom Liljenquist (pronounced "Lily-en-quist") has contributed to the archive a large collection of Union and Confederate soldier portraits, mostly unidentified. This one caught my eye, as the sergeant on the right reminds me of a guy I occasionally see in Calumet. Both of these boys could have been from the Iron Brigade, but we'll probably never know. You can read more about the collection in a recent article from the Washington Post.

Hope you're having a nice long holiday weekend. It has been a bit of a challenging one for us at Pasty.NET, as the Keweenaw has experience numerous ups and downs of power, which wreaks havoc on our broadband network. Hopefully we're getting today's Shoebox Memory published on time, and get back on track.

Have a good week :o)

Thanks for a very appropriate and interesting
Shoebox this morning Charlie!

Hope you can get some rest today! It IS the day of
rest, afterall.

We did a hay yesterday, therefore I have no problem with being lazy today! Gladly! :)

Thank you, Charlie, for today's Shoebox Memories recalling a terrible time in our country. My maternal and paternal great-grandfathers served in South.
So glad your didn't have to climb towers yesterday, but so sorry you had a 'bad' day! Hope your week is better.:)

That Washington Post link is very interesting reading! Thank You for it!

There are also some interesting photos/articles about Mr. Tom Liljenquist on Wikipedia.

Good picture, Janie T. That was in Iowa?
Keep posting please.

Tom, yes my hometown Cedar Rapids, born,raised, and still living here.

Each day old photos can be sent to you via e-mail
from www.shorpy.com. This was one I recently
received. Usually get between 3-5 photos daily.
Check it out. You may like. (It's free)

Just this morning, CBS Sunday Morning did a story on Civil War photography.

Check out the link,

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50150382n

As long as we are talking about the Civil War, this month is the 150th anniversary of 2 major battles. First, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the battle at Fort Wagner (S. Carolina) involving the 54th Massachusetts Regiment led by Col. Robert Shaw.

Ah, yes, and let's not forget the fall of Vicksburg!

What's cool about the Tom Liljenquist collection is
that every so often someone will go thru a
collection like this and recognize an ancestor.
Making one less unknown picture or two out there.

Dr. Brinton, who treated soldiers on the Spangler
Farm during & after the battle of Gettysburg, was
one of my ancestors.

I believe it was at Gettysburg is where my grandmother's great uncle Gen. John B. Hood arm was wounded to the point to where he no longer had use to it. Oh how I wish my Grandma, Janie B. Hood-Stovall and my mother, Erma Stovall-Johnson were still alive, so many questions I have about Gen. John B. Hood's legacy to that side of my family.

I have the DVD movie, "Glory", which at the end depicts that particular battle, Thomas. Even though I always 'root' for the Confederacy, the loss of the 54th Mass. Regiment was very sad. My opinion is that Colonel Shaw made a critical misjudgment in that battle.

It was Gettysburg, Janie. Gen. Hood's arm was seriously damaged in that last fateful battle, which was infamously known as "Pickett's Charge" ~ which lost it for the South.

Kathy and I have the DVD of "Glory" also, Shirley, and something pointed out was that the 54th knew it would be rough going, and I base that on the army officer who said that casualties in the leading regiment, which was the 54th, would be extreme. What's so sad is that the war never would have happened if the paragraph in Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence condemning slavery had not been removed. But that was then and this is now, and in my visits to the South I've found Southerners pretty friendly.

Yeah, Thomas, I always found that ironic, considering the fact that Jefferson owned a large number of slaves.

Unfortunately there's always been a misconception that the War started over slavery (that came later), it was about 'States Rights'~ opposed to a centralized federal government's control over the states. (which we now have)

Glad you find Southerners friendly....we are!:)

Many times it has been said Jefferson fathered children by his women slaves.....

Yeah, I know. Guess he was 'friendlier' than he should've been.:>

BTW, Janie, I made an error earlier ~ Gen. Hood wasn't injured in the actual Pickett's Charge...I think it happened the day before, when he was attempting to capture Little Round Top.

This Pasty date may contain the most posts on record. Anyway, I don't know if you've seen the movie "1776" (based on a stage musical), Shirley, but there's a scene where Jefferson is reminded that he does own slaves, and he replied that he planned on freeing them. Regarding Jefferson fathering children with his women slaves, I wouldn't be surprised, Bobbysgirl, because about 10 years ago, there was a news story about a black women who came forward and said she is (or at least claimed to be) a descendant of Jefferson.

At present I'm reading a book about John Adams ~ he and Jefferson were fairly good friends, and the author speaks of Jefferson taking a slave-couple to France with him ~ the name of the female slave was the one with whom he was supposed to have 'fathered' a child.
Nope, haven't seen "1776".
About the number of posts today ~ bet it'll be a while before Charlie brings up the War Between the States again.;)

I like old portraits. It's sad whem they are unknown.

For those of you who have an abiding interest in the Civial War, check out the C-SPAN3 website. They spent much of the 3rd thru the 7th of last week showing the various conferences held at the Gettysburg Nat'l Park, and have those programs archived on their website.

Sally Hemmings was the name of the slave Jefferson
fathered at least one child with. Her
descendants have gone through DNA studies to prove
the relationship.

Regarding the comment earlier about "states
rights" being the cause of the Civil War. That
is correct. The southern states wanted to
maintain the right to own human beings and keep
them in bondage including the rights to break up
families, own the children of slaves and the right
to inflict punishment on them up to and including
killing them. The Federal Government declared
that unacceptable and the south seceded the union.
So it was about "states rights to own slaves and
treat them less than people". That's why I always
cheer for the Union since they were doing the
right thing.

(This is Doug's wife, Karen, writing) My gg-grandfather was a private in O'Neal's 26th Alabama Infantry. I would give anything to have a photograph of him; alas, if one ever existed, we haven't found it. In July 1862, he died of typhoid in Richmond VA, leaving behind a pregnant widow and 2-year-old son. His family was decimated by the Civil War, in which they lost 3 sons and a son-in-law. His widow lost a brother, a brother-in-law, and had another brother who lost his leg and was a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio. No wonder she looked so sad in the 2 photos we have her, taken in her elderly years.

Yes, Shirley, John Bell Hood was wounded in the assault on Little Round Top late in the afternoon of July 2nd, in his own words, "twenty minutes after reaching the peach orchard." Just finished watching his scenes in one of my favorite movies, "Gettysburg."

Janie, that is fascinating about you being so closely related to John Bell Hood! I understand your feelings about wishing that your grandmother & mother were still alive so that you could ask them questions about it - I feel the same about my own grandmother. Speaking of family, I noticed in your post (if I read it correctly) that your mom was a Stovall, which was your grandmother's married name. That's really interesting to me because I have a long line of Stovall ancestors in the south; it's very possible that we could be distant cousins!

Karen, I agree with you ~ "Gettysburg" is a very good movie, and pretty factual. Another good one is "Gods and Generals"....starring Robert Duval as Gen. Robt. E. Lee. Duval says he's 'distantly' related to Lee, through his mom's ancestors.

My wife has always had a keen interest in things Civil War, Antebellum, etc. so when I told her about this topic, she read it all with great interest. Thanks, everyone, for making it such an interesting discussion.

Good one too, Shirley! I really enjoyed Robert Duvall play that role.

Civil War history is our family passion, researching our relatives who fought in it and walking that ground when possible, no matter how obscure. Finding & visiting my gg-grandfather's grave in Richmond, knowing that we were the first of his descendants to ever do so, was an emotionally powerful experience - especially since finding its location was something that had eluded my grandmother in her lifetime. I think our poor kids were in middle school before they realized that vacation destinations weren't limited to battlefields & cemeteries. We have a daughter who still prefers them, and has continued with her own writing & research.

While my favorite battlefield to visit is probably Antietam, Gettysburg has continually drawn us back because my brother lived there for 5 years. It became like a second home to us. That allowed us to focus on a different part of the battle each time, and have some wonderful opportunities to talk with local writers & historians. Despite countless trips there, the hallowed ground and its history resonated in a different way each time, always giving a new perspectives.

Karen, oh my gosh, how fascinating about the Stovall family name!!! My grandmother, Janie Stovall, married John Stovall, lived in the Oxford/Anniston, Ala. area. Never knew my grandfather Stovall, as he died around 1947-48 from a farm accident.

We've visited Gettysburg numerous times ~ the first being in the 1960s before it became a 'tourist trap' ~ like so many historical sites. It's a very beautiful, if sad, place!
Sounds like our kids had similar 'growing up' years.:) We visited many of the battlefields (Revolutionary & Civil War) as well as places prominent in this country's history, but they enjoyed it. I would have loved to have had that experience when I was a child!
Just a tidbit of info: A distant relative of mine (Sam Sweeney) travelled with Gen. Jeb Stuart during the War. He was a banjo player and Jeb loved music! :)

How interesting about your relative, Shirley!

As for Gettysburg, yes, it can be very touristy. We discovered that, if possible, it's best to visit during the off-season, when it's not so crowded. There were a few times when we almost felt that we had the battlefield all to ourselves.

Janie, working on Ancestry.com, might be able to see if we have a common Stovall ancestor somewhere. If you'd like, you can send me a way to contact you, and we can discuss it more. I think that my husband put an email link on his profile page. Thanks, Karen

Karen, should be in your in-box. Thank You!

One final note (I promise, Charlie) if I may quote from Abraham Lincoln, when he wrote in response to an article in a newspaper. Dated Aug. 22nd, 1862:
"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."
This before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation.