Patton Family Papers, 1859-1894
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Patton Family
Title: Papers, 1859-1894
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 0.66 cubic feet
Locator Number: Mss./A/P322
Scope and Content Note
Collection includes correspondence consisting of approximately 300 letters, between Samuel Patton and his wife, Nellie, and other family members. Samuel, 1 st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, and his brother-in-law, William Desmond, 129 th Illinois Infantry Regiment, saw action in several battles, including the Atlanta Campaign, Chickamauga, Lookout Mt. and Kennesaw Mt. Their letters provide details of their regiments’ involvement in the battles as well as several aspects of military life. Letters from Nellie describe the difficulties and challenges she faced daily while managing at home in Samuel’s absence. Typewritten and handwritten transcriptions of several letters are included in their respective folders or in two bound notebooks.
Some of the folders in this collection have been digitized. See PDF scans in the folder list below.
Biographical Note
Samuel Patton, was born in Brooke Co., Va., Sept. 3, 1833, the son of William and Susana Patton. Siblings included 5 sisters and 1 brother. At the age of 18, he began training in the blacksmith and machinist trades. In 1859 he moved to Chatsworth, Ill., as one of its first settlers, and established the first blacksmith shop. His future wife, Ellen (Nellie) Desmond, born in Mendon, New York in1842, moved to Chatsworth in 1860 and they were married 2 May 1861. A daughter, Minnie, was born in October 1862. In August 1862 Samuel enlisted in Battery ‘M’, 1 st Illinois Light Artillery Regt., and received training at Camp Douglas, Illinois. He was stationed in Kentucky from September 1862 to January 1863, seeing limited action. While Samuel was stationed in Tennessee, Minnie died 20 October 1863. His regiment saw action in the Battles of Chickamauga, where he narrowly avoided being killed, Lookout Mountain and Kennesaw Mountain. After participating in the north portion of the Atlanta Campaign and spending several months in a military hospital in Nashville, Tenn., recovering from suspected poisoning after drinking water from a rebel well, he spent the remainder of the war in east Tennessee. He was mustered out 25 July 1865 in Chicago. After the war, he returned to his blacksmith trade in Chatsworth and began working on the invention of a corn husking device for which he received a patent in 1868. Samuel and Nellie had 4 more children, none of whom survived to adulthood. In the 1880s Samuel was declared insane and lived out the remainder of his life at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C. where he died 3 February 1912. Nellie died in a Chicago nursing home 16 August 1928.
William Desmond, Nellie’s brother, enlisted in the 129th Illinois Infantry Regiment in September 1862. He saw action in the battle of Resaca and was killed by a sniper near Marietta, Georgia, 11 July 1864.
Folder List
Folder 1: Correspondence, 1859-1861, 27 items
Folder 2: Correspondence, January-September 1862, 29 items
Folder 3: Correspondence, October-December 1862, 43 items
Folder 4: Correspondence, January-February 1863, 26 items (click to access PDF)
Folder 5: Correspondence, March 1863, 22 items (click to access PDF)
Folder 6: Correspondence, April-July 1863, 45 items (click to access PDF)
Folder 7: Correspondence, August-September1863, 32 items
Folder 8: Correspondence, October-December 1863, 24 items
Folder 9: Correspondence, January-March 1864, 42 items
Folder 10: Correspondence, April-June 1864, 43 items
Folder 11: Correspondence, July 1864, 28 items
Folder 12: Correspondence, August -September 1864, 38 items
Folder 13: Correspondence, October-December 1864, 17 items
Folder 14: Correspondence, January-March 1865, 39 items
Folder 15: Correspondence, April-December 1865, 42 items
Folder 16, Correspondence, 1866-1868, 17 items
Folder 17: Correspondence, 1870-1894, 17 items
Folder 18: Undated and/or incomplete correspondence, 14 items
Folder 19: Documents, printed materials, newspaper clippings, sheet music, 28 items
Folder 20: Undated envelopes, scraps, 76 items
Folder 21: Handwritten transcriptions, 1862-1865 (bound notebook) (click to access PDF)
Folder 22: Handwritten transcriptions, 1864 (bound notebook)
Subject Headings
African Americans – Suffrage
Alcoholism – United States
Amnesty – United States
Atlanta Campaign, 1864
Camp Douglas (Ill.)
Cave Hill Cemetery (Louisville, Ky.)
Chattanooga (Tenn.) – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Chickamauga, Battle of, Ga., 1863
Confederate States of America. Army
Copperhead movement
Corn – Husking – Illinois
Dallas (Ga.) – History – Civil War, 1862-1865
Deception (Military science)
Desertion, Military – United States
Draft – New York
Education – United States – History – 19th century
Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn.
Foster home care – Illinois
Franklin (Tenn.) – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Georgia – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Gilbert, Charles Champion, 1822-1903
Granger, Gordon, 1822-1876
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Halleck, Henry Wager, 1815-1872
Horticulturists – Illinois
Illinois – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Infants – Death
Inventions – United States
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875
Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of, Ga., 1864
Kentucky – Description and travel
Kentucky – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Landscape gardening – Illinois
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Lookout Mountain, Battle of, Tenn., 1863
Louisville (Ky.) – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Methodism
Methodist Church – Clergy
Military discipline
Missionary Ridge, Battle of, Tenn., 1863
Montauk (Ship)
Mount Vernon (Va.: Estate)
Nashville (Tenn.) – Description and travel
Nursery growers – Illinois
Pardon – United States
Patriotic music – United States
Patriotic poetry, American
Peoria (Ill.) – Description and travel
Poisoning – Georgia
Presbyterian Church – Illinois
Racism – United States – History -19th century
Religious thought – 19 th century
Resaca, Battle of, Resaca, Ga., 1864
Sugar trade – United States
Tennessee – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Thompson’s Station, Battle of, Thompson’s Station, Tenn., 1863
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 -African Americans
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Campaigns
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Casualties
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Civilian relief
United States – History – Civil War, 1982-1865 – Confiscations and contributions United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Deception
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Desertions
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Draft resisters
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Hospitals
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Medical care
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Naval operations
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Participation, Foreign
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Prisoners and prisons
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Poetry
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Protest movements
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Religious aspects
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Songs and music
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Underground movements
United States Christian Commission
United States Sanitary Commission. Chicago Branch
United States. Army – African American troops
United States. Army – Artillery
United States. Army – Barracks and quarters
United States. Army – Equipment
United States. Army – Military life
United States. Army – Officers
United States. Army – Transportation
United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Reg., 129 th (1862-1865)
United States. Army. Illinois Light Artillery Reg., 1 st (1861-1865)
United States. Army. Indiana Infantry Regiment, 33 rd (1861-1865)
Wit and humor – Religious aspects
Wolford, Frank L. (Frank Lane), 1817-1895
Yates, Richard, 1815-1873
