Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Jeremiah Stetson Papers #05028, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed November 2003) available.

• Reel 1: folders 1-2

Provenance

Received from Charles Apfelbaum of Watchung, N.J., in July 2000 (Acc. 98675).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Agriculture--Massachusetts--History--19th century.
• Enslaved persons--Maryland.
• Families--Massachusetts--Social life and customs.
• Foster, John G. (John Gray), 1823-1874.
• Goldsboro, Battle of, Goldsboro, N.C., 1862.
• Kinston, Battle of, Kinston, N.C. 1862.
• Massachusetts--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
• New Bern (N.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Soldiers--United States--Correspondence.
• South Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Stetson, Edwin Leforrest, b. 1842.
• Stetson, Jeremiah, 1810-1869.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Hospitals.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Participation, African American.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Poetry.
• United States. Army--African American troops--History--19th century.
• United States. Army--Military life--History.
• United States. Army. Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 23rd (1861-1865)

Jeremiah Stetson was born in Pembroke, Mass., on 27 June 1810. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Stetson and his oldest son, Edwin Leforrest Stetson (b. 1842), enlisted in Company E of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. In the absence of her husband and grown son, Jeremiah Stetson's wife, Abbie F. Stetson (d. 1901), called "Happy" by her husband, maintained the family's farm in Hanson, Mass., tending chickens, fruit trees, and strawberries. At home, there were three other children: Melvina Louise Stetson (b. 1844), called "Melly"; Marshall Stetson (b. 1856); and Edith Ruth Stetson (b. 1859).

Jeremiah Stetson saw action in North Carolina and South Carolina, particularly during the capture of New Bern, N.C., but his increasingly bad health apparently prevented him from taking part in most of the later fighting. When able, Jeremiah Stetson performed duties as a carpenter, building barracks for the Army. He died in Hanson, Mass., on 24 February 1869. Edwin Leforrest Stetson participated in the taking of Kinston, N.C., and in various expeditions to destroy railroads near New Bern and try to take Goldsboro, N.C.

Twenty letters and seven original poems written by Union soldierJeremiah Stetson (1810-1869) during the Civil War to his wife, Abbie F. Stetson (d. 1901), in Hanson, Mass. Letters, 15 November 1861-10 December 1863, were addressed from army camps and hospitals in Annapolis, Md.; Port Royal, S.C.; and New Bern, N.C.

In addition to accounts of battles at New Bern and Kinston, N.C., Stetson's letters and poems are full of detailed descriptions of military life and hospital life, including comments on the enlistment of African Americans, the enthusiastic reception given by slaves to Union forces entering Maryland, infantry training exercises, the construction of camps and barracks, soldiers' amusements, camp and hospital food, the uncertainty of mailing money and other valuables back to the North, and foraging in the area around New Bern. Stetson regularly sent instructions to his family on tending chickens, fruit trees, and strawberries.

Letters show that Stetson's son, Edwin Leforrest Stetson, was with his father as they left Perryville, Md., for Annapolis, Md. They were then sent south to participate in campaigns in eastern North Carolina and South Carolina. It appears, that Jeremiah Stetson's increasingly poor health and hospitalization in New Bern and Beaufort, N.C., caused him to be separated for long periods from his son and regiment. According to the letters, the son participated in General John G. Foster's expeditions from New Bern to take Kinston, N.C.; to attempt to take Goldsboro, N.C.; and to destroy railroads surrounding New Bern.

• Microfilm reel (M-5028/1)