All Series Level Scope and Content Notes

Scope and Contents Note

The bulk of the collection includes letters dated 1860-1865 written by George. E. Farmer to his family in New York City while serving as an officer in the Union Army in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The letters contain accounts of battles in which Farmer participated, descriptions of camp life and the countryside through which the army passed, Farmer’s opinions of officers and tactics of both armies, and some noteworthy insights on Northern attitudes toward former slaves. For a more detailed summary of the contents of the correspondence see Long’s description housed with the collection. Also included are various miscellaneous items relating to the Farmer family, up until 1921.

A second section of the collection includes letters dated 1865-1921 from family members, friends and associated of the Farmer family primarily concerning family matters. Correspondents include A. Fanny Alden, Edward J. Atkinson, George E. Dewey, George Farmer, George T. Jackson, Letitia James [?], Maggie McBryde, Charles N. Morgan, J. Arthur O'Toole, William Shear, and Hannah Morey Stevens.


Civil War correspondence and related items.