Delaware--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Thirteen letters from five Confederate soldiers imprisoned at Fort Delaware. The names of the soldiers are: Sam Spengler, Abraham Shillingburg, Joseph G. [Sager], Edward [Sheets], and Albert Snead. All were soldiers from the 10th Virginia Infantry, the 7th Virginia Cavalry, or the 23rd Virginia Infantry. Letters are written to Mrs. Nannie Sellman, or Mr. H. F. Hebb. Also included is one letter from a mother of one of the prisoners and one letter from a father of a prisoner.

Letters from Delaware resident David N. Lilley to his sister Annie, written during his period of service in the Union Army during the Civil War.

The Robert B. McKee papers consist of correspondence, military orders, medical supply inventories, casualty reports, and other material related to service as a surgeon in the 1st Delaware Calvary regiment during the Civil War.

Letters written by Union soldier Thomas M. Reynolds to his fiancee Louisa J. Seward, commenting on his relationship with Seward and his opinions about the Civil War.

The Townsend family (of Delaware) papers consists of letters, accounts, and other business records, spanning the years 1809-1920, with the majority of the material falling between 1834 and 1894. The collection mainly consists of business letters sent to Samuel and John Townsend, political and personal letters sent to Samuel Townsend, and family correspondence, including twenty letters written by Edmund Townsend during the Civil War.

The Waples Family Papers, spanning the dates 1753-1864, outline the family’s role in the economic development of Milton in Broadkill Hundred, Delaware. But the bulk of the collection, 1851-1864, focuses on Gideon B. Waples, beginning with the pre-Civil War period when he was a student at Delaware College. After he voluntarily left his studies, he became a farmer and businessman in southern Delaware; he also served as a political aide to two governors of Delaware during the Civil War.