The Binghamton University Libraries Civil War Collections consist of seventeen individual collections of materials. Together the collections contain over 1700 letters, diaries, photographs, account books, postcards, and other ephemera which date from the early 1800s to the early 1900s, but are centered on the Civil War years 1861-1865.
Letters are by far the largest component of the collections and many of the letters were written by soldiers at the front, or in Army hospitals, to their family and friends back home. At its core the Civil War Collections are a local history resource with emphasis on collections pertaining to the counties in the immediate Binghamton, New York area, that is Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties.
Collections of particular interest from outside those counties have also been included, such as a collection from Montgomery County which consists of letters written by Ten Eyck Fonda, the grandfather of the actor Henry Fonda.
Civil War Collections and Finding Aids
Lewis H. Brown Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the letters and is accessible from
the New York Heritage Digital Collection website and through Find It!
Patrick Casey Collection
Patrick Casey, of Whitehall, Washington County, enlisted with the 104th Regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry. He served with this regiment from 1862-1865. Access the Patrick Casey Collection finding aid.
The digital collection consists of an autobiographical narrative and two diaries. This collection is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection
Ten Eyck Fonda Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the letters and is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection website and through Find It!
Maurice Leyden Collection
Maurice Leyden Collection finding aid.
The digital collection includes four diaries. The collection is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection
Ingraham P. Smith Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the letters and is accessible from
the New York Heritage Digital Collection.
Francis M. and Henry H. Stone Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the letters and is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection website.
Joseph H. Treyz Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the envelopes and is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection website.
Fred Walster Diary
The diary is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection website.
Anna E. Wilcox Collection
The digital collection includes digitized scans of the envelopes and is accessible from the New York Heritage Digital Collection website.
Grace D. Nichols Collection
The Grace D. Nichols Collection of Civil War Letters consists of sixty-eight letters written on 113 sheets of paper, fifty-seven envelopes, four postcards, and thirteen pieces of ephemera. Access the Grace D. Nichols Collection finding aid.
S. C. Pierce Collection
The S. C. Pierce Collection consists of 707 letters, written between 1869 and 1905, along with 116 other items for a total of 823 items. The majority of the letters were written in response to circulars sent out by the 3rd New York Cavalry Association announcing regimental reunions. There are 318 authors in this collection, of whom 274 were members, or representatives of members, of the 3rd Regiment of New York Cavalry. This represents about 12% of those who served in the 3rd New York Cavalry and survived. Access the S.C. Pierce Collection finding aid.
Edward I. Ford Collection
The Edward I. Ford Collection consists of two diaries, one for 1863 and one for 1866 written by Dr. Edward Ford, of Binghamton, NY. Access the Edward I. Ford Collection finding aid.
Adoniram J. Hamlin Collection
Access the Adoniram J. Hamlin Collection finding aid.