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- Title
- Roswell Farnham Correspondence
- Description
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An 1849 graduate of the University of Vermont, Farnham taught school in lower Canada and northern Vermont while studying law. He was admitted to the Orange County Bar in 1857 and began a private practice. Farnham was commissioned from Bradford on May 1, 1861 as a 2nd lietenant in Co.D, 1st Vt....
Show moreAn 1849 graduate of the University of Vermont, Farnham taught school in lower Canada and northern Vermont while studying law. He was admitted to the Orange County Bar in 1857 and began a private practice. Farnham was commissioned from Bradford on May 1, 1861 as a 2nd lietenant in Co.D, 1st Vt. Infantry and mustered out August 15, 1861. He was later commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the 12 Vt. on September 19, 1862. After returning to Vermont, Farnham was elected to the Vermont State Senate in 1868 and elected governor in 1880. The collection includes letters to family and friends during Farnham's service in the First and Twelfth Vermont Infantry regiments. The letters contain detailed descriptions of regimental activities, including a narrative of the Battle of Big Bethel, camp life at Wolf Run Shoals in Virginia, and the hard march to Gettysburg in June 1863. Some sketches and maps are included. Also included are four letters from Sergeant (later First Lieutenant) Ezekiel T. Johnson (Tenth Vermont Infantry) of Windsor, Vermont, three written from Camp Washburn, Brattleboro, where his regiment was mustered into U.S. service, and one (June 13, 1863) from White's Ford, Maryland, giving an account of a cavalry skirmish. A letter (May 31, 1863) to Mrs. Mary Farnham from Private Nelson J. Rogers (Twelfth Vermont Infantry) describes regimental activities and the Confederate attack on a train near the camp of the Twelfth Vermont.
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- Unidentified Map
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Map that shows major landmarks such as Fortress Monroe, Hampton, and Camp Butler on the James River; and sites having to do with the Battle of Big Bethel, e.g. Big & Little Bethel (meeting houses), "Battlefield," and "Collision between U.S. forces," just south of Little Bethel.
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- Battle of Big Bethal, Va June 10th, 1861
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Topics include a map that shows various maneuvers of Farnham's company; inaccuracies in the newspaper account of the Battle of Big Bethel; and various ailments, aches & pains endured during the march.
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- Roswell Farnham Diary, 1848-1849
- Date Created
- 1848-1849
- Description
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Roswell Farnham was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 23, 1827, the son of Roswell and Nancy Bixby Farnham. Farnham's family moved to Bradford, Vermont in 1840, and he received his education at Bradford Academy and the University of Vermont, from which he graduated in 1849. Married to Mary...
Show moreRoswell Farnham was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 23, 1827, the son of Roswell and Nancy Bixby Farnham. Farnham's family moved to Bradford, Vermont in 1840, and he received his education at Bradford Academy and the University of Vermont, from which he graduated in 1849. Married to Mary Elizabeth Johnson on December 25, 1849, Farnham taught school before gaining admittance to the Orange County bar in 1857. When the Civil War broke out, he entered the First Vermont Regiment with the Bradford Guards militia as a Second Lieutenant. Farnham served with distinction in both the First Vermont and the Twelfth Vermont, and left the Army in July of 1863 as a Lieutenant Colonel.Following the war, Farnham became general counsel for the Vermont Copper Company and continued to work as both lawyer and administrator of the VCC for the rest of his life. In addition, he held a number of local and state political offices culminating in his defeat of Democrat Edward J. Phelps for the governorship of Vermont in 1880.
After completing a single popular term as governor, Farnham returned to his law practice. In 1889 he also became president of the newly-formed New England Company, a group of Northern investors interested in developing the coal and iron deposits of northwestern Georgia. The New England Company was never a success, and Farnham spent much of the last decade of the nineteenth century trying to save it and the VCC from bankruptcy. Badly injured in a fall in November 1898, Farnham recovered sufficiently to resume some of his work but never regained full health. Roswell Farnham died at his home in Bradford on January 5, 1903, at the age of seventy-five.
Three of Farnham’s four children lived to adulthood: Charles Cyrus Farnham (1864–1937), Florence Mary Osgood (1866–1958), and William M. Farnham (1869–1927). His first child, Roswell Phelps Farnham Jr., died in infancy in 1861. Farnham was predeceased by a half-brother, Cyrus C. Farnham, in 1863.
Topics in this diary include the curriculum, faculty, and student experience at UVM in the late 1840s; Burlington and neighboring towns in the late 1840s, UVM’s Lambda Iota fraternity, Zachary Taylor and the Whig Party, and teaching in Vermont and Canada in the mid-nineteenth century. Near the end of the diary are several essays written by Farnham during his senior year at UVM. Topics in these essays include religion, natural history, and King Lear.
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- Roswell Farnham to C. H. Harding
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Farnham's regiment in Rutland gets the news that they are to leave for Fort Monroe, Va., via rail car and then boat. News of the deployment raises morale; the men are ready for a good fight (recurring theme in Farnham's letters).
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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Topics include arriving at Fort Monroe, just on the border of "the secession." Farnham briefly describes character of various officers: Capt. Andross, Col. Phelps, Lieut Stearns, and Lieut Peckett. Some discussion about how they spend their spare time. Description of overnight watch without...
Show moreTopics include arriving at Fort Monroe, just on the border of "the secession." Farnham briefly describes character of various officers: Capt. Andross, Col. Phelps, Lieut Stearns, and Lieut Peckett. Some discussion about how they spend their spare time. Description of overnight watch without shelter and being relieved the following morning. Other names: Col. Washburn, John Prichard, George Woods, George Flanders, Dan Flanders, Ben Underwood. Ships: Cumberland, Minnesota. Also: Scientific American.
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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Topics include preparing for a march with the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and a New York Regiment most likely to Sewells Point, Virginia. Farnham expresses pride in the Green Mountain Boys. Names mentioned: Officers Stearns, Andross, and Worthen.
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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Camp Butler, Newport['s] News: Farnham assesses regiment and its destiny: "We are better situated." Action at Hampton resulted in many freed slaves. Provost marshall duties involving confiscated property and "loose" slaves. Press coverage is exaggerated; Farnham's pride in the Green Mtn. Boys;...
Show moreCamp Butler, Newport['s] News: Farnham assesses regiment and its destiny: "We are better situated." Action at Hampton resulted in many freed slaves. Provost marshall duties involving confiscated property and "loose" slaves. Press coverage is exaggerated; Farnham's pride in the Green Mtn. Boys; politics among regiment officers. Apology for any offensive remarks. Heavy rain for several days; more slaves arriving. Steamer Harriet Lane fires on rebel battery at Pig Point; also commandeers ship with livestock and other foodstuffs--cheers from the troops. Mentions "Hawkins Zouaves" and "the Germans." Names: Officers Butler, Phelps, Packard, Peckett; soldiers Stebbins, Geo. Flanders, McFarland.
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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Topics include a recount of the battle at Great Bethel. Farnham remains critical of press coverage, estimating 90% is inaccurate. Some criticism of Mass. Gen. Pierce (destined to be court-martialed). First taste of battle now having an affect on Farnham and other Vermonters, no doubt.
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- Report of property found in the several companies of the 1st Vermont Regiment…
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List compiled by Farnham of items found or stolen from citizens by soldiers during a campaign.
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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Topics include recollection of the Battle of Great Bethel, especially of Maj. Winthrop, who died in battle. Further critique of newspaper accounts; mentions the number of runaway slaves he has to account for. Farnham also states that mail delivery from Vt. to Va. takes only two days!
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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Topics include two Louisiana Zouaves who were brought in by Col. Hawkins, accounts of their desertion and capture, rumors of an advancing Confederate force, and the anticipation of an enemy attack that never occurs. .
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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Topics include Laura's earache and the proximity of Newport News to the enemy.
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- Roswell Farnham to [C. H.] Harding
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July 21, 1861. Writes to his friend C. H. Harding of conjecture among the men about the order to move out but with no details given, mentions Gen. Butler, Frank Blair, Cochran of New York and 3,500 men reviewed, of some minor illness among the men, of Farnham's re-nomination of State-Attorney.
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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July 31, 1861. Topics include a description of Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in reference to the letter head picture, of the Hygeia Hotel currently be used as a hospital, of the houses once occupied by Southerners now housing officers of the army, of a minor attack by the Rebels upon picket...
Show moreJuly 31, 1861. Topics include a description of Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in reference to the letter head picture, of the Hygeia Hotel currently be used as a hospital, of the houses once occupied by Southerners now housing officers of the army, of a minor attack by the Rebels upon picket guard but none hit, a captain in the 1st N.Y. Regiment shooting one of his men believed to be drunk.
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- Roswell Farnham to ?
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A special order for the Twelfth Regiments to report to Brattleboro.
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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Topics include the expectation of being mustered, having a review and inspection, and receiving their pay.
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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Topics include Roswell Farnham being concerned about his sister Laura’s health.
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
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Topics include the accommodations in camp, Roswell Farnham’s health, and Roswell Farnham teaching the commissioned officers of the right wing.
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- Roswell Farnham to Laura
- Description
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Topics include the regiments location relative to Alexandria, Virginia and Mount Vernon, a description of G. Mason ( a Southern secessionist), troops commandeering and occupation of Mason's property, the ruins of other mansions in the area, and the continued improvement of Laura’s health (Farnham...
Show moreTopics include the regiments location relative to Alexandria, Virginia and Mount Vernon, a description of G. Mason ( a Southern secessionist), troops commandeering and occupation of Mason's property, the ruins of other mansions in the area, and the continued improvement of Laura’s health (Farnham's sister).
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