Letter written by Union occupation soldier John Stagenwalt
date: label: Date
content: July 30, 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 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 [Dear Father]. At top right is [New Orleans July 30 1866]. In the letter, written on the same day as the New Orleans Massacre, Stagenwalt mentions the election writing "There is an ellection in New Orleans today. There is a great ecsitement prevails throughout camp about the result of the ellection." He signs off on the third page, "Your affectionate son." The last page has only some numerical markings in graphite.
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: American West
label: Topic
content: Correspondence
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Race riots
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
label: Topic
content: Violence
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: 2021.16.22.4
objectType: 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 (open): 9 13/16 × 15 1/2 in. (25 × 39.3 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (closed): 9 13/16 × 7 13/16 in. (25 × 19.8 cm)