General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Description
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers, Series F is a collection of documents, newspapers, and newspaper clippings that covers the years 1815 through 1929, as well as genealogy and ephemera from the Welsh family Bible from 1850 through 1938. The series also includes two scrapbooks - the first contains articles from the late nineteenth century pertaining to Thomas Welsh and his family; the second contains newspaper articles and ephemera related to Thomas Welsh and his family from 1854 through 1936.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Provenance: Passed down through the family, Blanton Charles Welsh to Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin to Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend.~~Acquired from: Chuck Townsend, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2016/05/15.
In Boxes 1 and 2
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
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Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Folders 1-35 organized by Richard C. Wiggin prior to donation.
This collection contains letters to and from members of the Slater Brown family. Most are to or from his daughter, Mary H. Brown. Mary and her husband, Edwin Morgan, were merchants in San Francisco from 1853-1855. The subjects of the letters range from Mary's early schooling to their time in California during the gold rush.
Admin/Biographical History
Mary H. Brown married Edwin L. Morgan, son
of James and Zillah Morgan. They lived in San Francisco, CA from 1853-1855 and then moved to Philadelphia and purchased a residence at 1608 Wallace Street. Edwin later manufactured steam engines and boilers with Morgan, Orr & Co., Callowhill Street, Philadelphia.
These letters were purchased at auction by the donor.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-754
Other Number
MG-754
Classification
MG0754
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared by SW, Spring 2016. Added to database 16 May 2021.
Articles of association of the Lancaster Reading Room to which are added, the rules and regulations of the room, and of the library; a list of the officers and subscribers, &/ together with a catalogue of the books, & belongint to the Institution
John Sanderson's name appears as above on t.-p. of v. 1-4.
Vols. 1-2 edited by John Sanderson, v. 3-6 by Robert Wain, jr. v. 7-9 are without editor's name, but were edited by Henry D. Gilpin, according to statement in Mrs. Eliza Gilpin's Memorial of Henry D. Gilpin, Phildelphia, 1860, p. 194. Volumes numbered on the half-titles.
A list of authors of the biographies (originally published in the New York times) may be found in Proc. of Mass. hist. soc., 1876-1877 [v. 15] p. 393.
Contents
John Hancock (v.1) ; Benjamin Franklin, George Wythe, Francis Hopkinson, Robert Treat Paine (v.2) ; Edward Rutledge, Lyman Hall, Oliver Wolcott, Richard Stockton, Button Gwinnett, Josiah Bartlett, Philip Livingston, Roger Sherman (v.3) ; Thomas Heyward, George Read, William Williams, Samuel Huntington, William Floyd, George Walton, George Clymer, Benjamin Rush (v.4) ; Thomas Lynch, Jr., Matthew Thornton, William Whipple, John Witherspoon, Robert Morris (v.5) ; Arthur Middleton, Abraham Clark, Francis Lewis, John Penn. James Wilson, Carter Braxton, John Morton, Stephen Hopkins, Thomas McKean (v.6) ; Thomas Jefferson, William Hooper, James Smith, Charles Carroll, Thomas Nelson Jr., Joseph Hewes (v.7) ; Elbridge Gerry, Cesar Rodney, Benjamin Harrison, William Paca, George Ross, John Adams (v.8) ; Richard Henry Lee, George Taylor, John Hart, Lewis Morris, Thomas Stone, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Samuel Chase, William Ellery, Samuel Adams (v.9).
Charter and by-laws of the Athenæum of Philadelphia, to which are added, a list of the directors, stockholders, and annual visitors, and of persons who have presented to, or deposited at the athenæum, books, maps, medals, &c. Together with a catalogue of the books, maps, &c. belonging to the institution
The dying confession of John Lechler : who was convicted for the murder of his wife Mary Lechler and sentenced to be executed on the 25th day of October, 1822, made in the presence of Samuel Carpenter, mayor of the city of Lancaster & others
The English reader : or, Pieces in prose and poetry, from the best writers; designed to assist young persons to read with propriety and effect; improve their language and sentiments, and to inculcate the most important principles of piety and virtue
