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George Washington Grant papers
George Washington Grant was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1842. He enlisted in Company G, Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers in April 1861. After three months, he reenlisted in Company B, eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers. In April 1863 he was commissioned first lieutenant. He served...
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| Collection: | George Washington Grant Papers |
| Collection Number: | 4445 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Physical Description: |
1.0 Linear feet ; 3 boxes |
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| Access: |
The collection is open for research. |
| Summary: |
George Washington Grant was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 1842. He enlisted in Company G, Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers in April 1861. After three months, he reenlisted in Company B, eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers. In April 1863 he was commissioned first lieutenant. He served for the bulk of the conflict and fought, and was captured, at Gettysburg. His prison experiences lasted twenty months starting July 1, 1863. After his capture at Gettysburg, he was first incarcerated in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. he was later moved between Confederate prison camps in Danville, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; Columbia, South Carolina.
After the war, he was elected postmaster general of Lebanon, but he eventually moved to Minnesota. Grant served as president of the National Union Ex-Prisoners of the Civil War, and, while in Minnesota, he helped establish the Minnesota chapter of this organization. Additionally, he was named the quartermaster of the Minnesota Soldiers Home. He married twice, the second time to Isabel Foster, originally of Lebanon County, in 1896. He died on April 11, 1901.
This collection contains an assortment of Grant's personal papers primarily from his time during the Civil War and from the early to late 1890s when he was living in Minnesota. Transcribed personal letters to family members written between 1861 and 1863 speak directly to Grant’s experiences during the war. In addition, there is an original handwritten diary kept by Grant during his time in captivity in Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia. February 21, 1864 – April 21, 1964. There are also three letters written from Libby Prison dated October 22, 1863 to January 4, 1864. Other items in the collection include Grant's letterbook from when he was a chief special agent in the Census Bureau in Minneapolis (1890); letters written to Grant while he was president of the National Union Ex-Prisoners of the Civil War, 1890, 1896; and his account book of the Minnesota Soldiers Home, 1893-1895. There are also a few clippings and publications, such as Grant's souvenir copy of the "Official Program of the 30th National Encampment, Grand Army of the Republic." |