Beschreibung:

This eclectic collection relates to Cynthia Eugenie "Genie" Campbell (1846-1895) and Delia Persis Campbell Chapin (1849-1902), two sisters from Mansfield, Connecticut, and includes over 100 of their letters, diaries, compositions, recipes, lists, photographs, and printed ephemera, ca 1860s-1930s. An interesting window into the domestic lives of young ladies during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most notably, this lot features diaries kept by Genie Campbell, 1864-1866. These entries, written during her teenage years, offer a unique perspective on some of the most pivotal events of the Civil War, including the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln, his assassination, the surrender of Robert E. Lee, and the capture of Jefferson Davis. On April 15, 1865, Campbell records the circumstances of the murderous attack staged against the President by John Wilkes Booth: "[Mother] told the terrible, horrible news which this morning discloses. The President accompanied by his wife another lady and a gentleman last eve attended a theater in Washington and at 1/2 past 9 the report of a pistol was heard and immediately a man jumped from the box where the Pres. was, flourishing a dagger and shouting 'Sic semper tyrannis,' rushed off the stage and leaping onto a horse fled. . . the President died at 7 this morning. This afternoon Uncle Charles says they have caught the murderer of the Pres. It is Wilkins [sic] Booth Theater actor. . . Oh! it is awful, dreadful, terrible, Cruel!!" The following day, she describes the the somber atmosphere gripping the nation, writing in part, "This morning's Sun burst forth upon an afflicted, sorrowing Nation. The death of the Pres. seemed as though it were a personal loss to each one. A great many have their houses already draped with mourning." On April 24, 1865, Lincoln's body was ferried across the Hudson River to lie in state at New York City Hall, where some 500,000 mourners came to pay their respects: "The body of the Pres. arrived here and now lies in state at the City Hall the crowds viewing it are immense they say." The following day, she notes - somewhat petulantly - that the city held "a great parade in honor of the President, but I think they would honor him more if they would stay at home and mind their business as I do and let him go quietly home to his last resting place. As I write this, the sound of the minute guns comes booming across the city and the solemn peal of the tolling bell fills one with sadness. The bells have tolled with from 1 till about 5 the time the body left the city." Entries with happier wartime news tend to be shorter and are interspersed with family news, records of social calls, and descriptions of shopping, church sermons, sewing, and meals. Concerning Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Campbell recounts, "Lee has Surrendered! Oh what joyful tidings. I trust the war is nearly closed." On May 14, 1865, news of Davis' capture reaches Campbell, who writes excitedly, "They have caught old Jeff Davis. Glory Hallelujah."