Letter written by Union occupation soldier John Stagenwalt
date: label: Date
content: August 16, 1868
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 blue ink on one sheet of 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 right is [Greenville Barracks / August the 16, A.D., 1868]. In the letter, Stagenwalt asks after the family and their crops, updates them on his own health, and relates that there is no work in the city of New Orleans and that "there is a great many folks starving in this city...it is the Negroes fault as they want to work for nothing and they whites can't make anything]. The last page of the letter has Stagenwalt's return address and a sketch of a bird. The envelope is without stamp and is inscribed in graphite [Last Letter / John Stagenwalt].
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: Labor
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
label: Topic
content: Slavery
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: 2021.16.22.1ab
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 (open)): 7 15/16 × 9 7/8 in. (20.1 × 25.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (a (closed)): 7 15/16 × 4 15/16 in. (20.1 × 12.6 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (b): 3 1/8 × 5 1/4 in. (8 × 13.3 cm)