New Accession
Artifacts & Ephemera of a Civil War Officer
Image: Portrait photo of Lieutenant Thomas Ellsworth, 1863 (Donated by the family of Thomas F. Ellsworth)
PMH recently received a generous donation of Civil War artifacts and ephemera from the descendants of Thomas Foulds Ellsworth (1840-1911). Ellsworth, a Union army officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor, settled in Pasadena in the 1890s. He lived across the street from the present-day Museum.
For several generations, Ellsworth's descendants carefully preserved remnants of his military service and later life, including his Civil War sword, buttons, and insignia from his uniform, as well as family photo albums. Co-curator Nick Smith first contacted the family to ask if they would consider loaning material to the exhibit When Johnny Came Marching West: How the Civil War Shaped Pasadena. The family gladly agreed, and after seeing the installation in the Museum's Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Gallery, generously decided to permanently donate the artifacts to the Museum.
For more information on Ellsworth and to see these artifacts on display, please visit our exhibit.
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Archives Feature
The Judge Who Was a Colonel
The Archives houses the Burnham-Allen-Wilson Collection, which contains an interesting letter dated September 5, 1861 addressed from the War Department to Colonel Isaac G. Wilson (1816-1891), a well-known judge in Illinois, accepting his offer of the regiment of infantry. The acceptance was with an understanding that the War Department would revoke the commission of any officer found unfit to carry their war duties. According to the theory of co-curator Nick Smith, Colonel Wilson was a "celebrity recruit," who was offered the honor of being the first colonel of the regiment but was expected to resign in favor of a better officer before the unit went into battle. According to Mr. Smith, Wilson was succeeded by Winfield Scott, who played a valuable role in the war. Interestingly, in a number of Judge Wilson's obituaries, which point out his glorious career as a lawyer, judge, and chief justice, there is no mention of this honor bestowed upon him early in the Civil War. This piece of history was brought to Pasadena by his granddaughter, Ruth Wilson Burnham, when she came here in the twentieth century.
Image:Coat of Arms, Wilson Family (Burnham-Allen-Wilson Collection, Folder 6)
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Collections Feature
G.A.R. Drum This drum was used by the members of the Pasadena G.A.R. fife and drum corps during their performances at parades, festivals, and schools. The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was the first large-scale organization for veterans in American history. The requirement for membership was to have served in the Union Army or Navy during the years 1861 to 1865. Earlier organizations for veterans were small and served mainly as social clubs for officers. By comparison, the peak membership of the G.A.R. was nearly 500,000, and there were Posts in every state and territory. In the east, these posts began forming soon after the organization's founding, but in California the posts were founded as soon as there was a concentration of interested veterans. The G.A.R. created Memorial Day and lobbied for rights for veterans, including medical benefits. Although the G.A.R. died out with the last Civil War veteran, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War became their heirs, and continue in their memory. To learn more, please visit our exhibit or read Nick Smith's blog posts, "The John F. Godfrey Post, Grand Army of the Republic" and "The Fife and the Drum." Image: Bass drum from the John F. Godfrey Post, Pasadena G.A.R., early twentieth century. Wood, metal fittings, and hide. Gift of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 43 |
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Fenyes Feature
Clara Barton's Report
  Eva Fenyes' father, Leonard Franklin Scott (1810-1895), kept a scrapbook of newspaper articles dating from the 1840s to the 1870s. Above one of the many Civil War clippings he saved-a lengthy article pasted on two pages of the scrapbook-he wrote " Clara Barton's Report." Clara Barton, the Civil War nurse who established the Missing Soldiers Office and later founded the American Red Cross, visited the infamous Andersonville prison in July and August of 1865. Her report about this expedition, which was organized by the U. S. Government, reviews the origins and purpose of her work with former Andersonville prisoner Dorence Atwater. While a prisoner, Atwater was assigned to keep a death register of those who were buried at the prison. Together Atwater and Barton worked to locate, identify, and mark the graves of nearly 13,000 Union soldiers who died there. Read about Andersonville prisoner John Ransom, who wrote Andersonville Diaries, in Nick Smith's blog post "John Ransom: An Organized Man." Images: Newspaper clipping, 1865 (Fenyes-Curtin-Paloheimo Papers, FCP.5.1.15) |
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