Letter written by Union occupation soldier John Stagenwalt
date: label: Date
content: September 20, 1866
name: label: Written by
content: John Stagenwalt, American, 1843 - 1885
label: Received by
content: John Sheaffer, American, born 1802
label: Subject of
content: United States Army, American, founded 1775
notes: label: Description
content: A letter (a) with envelope (b) written by John Stagenwalt, a 1st U.S. Infantry soldier stationed at New Orleans during its occupation by the Union Army. Written in brown ink on one sheet of lined wove paper folded to form four pages, the letter is addressed to John Sheaffer, of Bareville, Leacock Township, Pennsylvania, with the salutation [My Dear Father]. At top left is [Jackson Barracks] and at top right is [Sep. 20th 1866]. In the letter, Stagenwalt asks for Sheaffer to write and send him $10, as well as asking if Sheaffer has Stagenwalt's belongings. The second interior page and the fourth page are blank, with no writing or marks. The yellow envelope (b) features a red three cents George Washington stamp on the front, is postmarked September 22, addressed to Mr. John Sheaffer, and has no markings on the reverse.
label: Transcription Center Status
content: Transcribed by digital volunteers
place: label: Place made
content: New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Bareville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Correspondence
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.16.22.3ab
objectType: label: Type
content: envelopes
label: Type
content: letters (correspondence)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on wove paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (a): 8 × 4 15/16 in. (20.3 × 12.6 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (b): 3 1/16 × 5 1/2 in. (7.7 × 13.9 cm)