Beschreibung:

Nathan Harden Dunphe (1815-1903) was born in Bridgewater, MA, son of Jotham and Betsey (Harden) Dunphe. He married Lucy Hayward in 1839, and they had at least 5 children (Lowell Quincy, 1840-1844; Nathan Frank, b.ca. 1842; Halah Harden, 1844-1876; Eliza Jane, 1846-1846; Valmore A., b. ca. 1850; Phanor Bosworth, 1853-1944). Lucy died in 1853, and, surely to help care for his infant son, in 1854 Nathan married Mary Jane O'Neil (Jennie) (1830-1895). He died in 1903 of "Bronchitis/Oedema of Lungs." Dunphe was a steamer captain and agent, trading between the northeast cities and the South. He apparently was in the South when war broke out and was trapped there. According to the Congressional Record of 1885, House bill 754 was for the relief of Nathan H. Dunphe of Bridgewater, MA for the loss of a quantity of sugar, seized by Union troops. The record indicates: "This day appeared before me Frederick G. Pope, a resident of Boston ... personally known to me as a gentleman whose statements are entitled to ful credit and belief, and being first duly sworn, declares that during the month of May, 1863, he held the position of captain of Company D, Third Massachusetts Cavalry, and, by special orders from the War Department, had been appointed and was then acting as seizing officer of sugar, cotton, horses, and other property found inside the rebel lines, near Barre's Landing, in the State of Louisiana, where he was stationed as such seizing officer." It goes on to track the sugar to some warehouses, some being used by troops in the area. "The steamer Laurel Hill, then in the service of the United States, came up the river to the landing for cotton, of which there was, at that time, in his charge at this point about 2,000 bales, was ordered by Major-General Banks to load the steamer with cotton. To enable her to carry 300 bales it was necessary to ballast her, and the 30 hogsheads of sugar mentioned above were also, by order of General Banks, put aboard the Laurel Hill for ballast. The Steamer with the above cargo, and with General Banks on board and in command, steamed down the river for New Orleans, and that was the last that he, the deponent, saw of the sugar or cotton. The cargo of sugar and cotton was directed to Colonel Holabird, chief quartermaster of the Department of the Gulf, at New Orleans...." The Congressional Record goes on to note: "The facts are also abundantly established by the evidence of several other witnesses. Dunphe was a loyal man, a citizen of Massachusetts, engaged in trade in Louisiana when the war broke out. He gave valuable aid and information to the United States, and suffered imprisonment at the hands of the Confederates on account of his loyalty. ... We recommend the passage of the bill." The first note is on the back of a shipping form for the Steamboat Leona. Camden (Arkansas), May 5/ 62. From J. Kirby informing Capt. Dunphe that he has sent a letter by way of a stage driver and letting him know of the departure of another steamer (Anby? Conley? Canby?) on Wednesday. With cover with one 5 cent Confederate Jefferson Davis stamp, postmarked May 7. The second is a group of letters, one from Dunphe's wife, Jennie (4pp), his sister Emma (4pp) and "Mother O'Neal," Jennie's mother. All headed Bridgewater, Aug. 3, 1863. "My own dear Husband, I received your letter of July 19th, a few minutes ago, and I have hastily taken up the pen to write you lines before the mail goes out...I was so glad to hear from you again. I received your letter written at Alexandria, and replied immediately. I was glad to hear you was well, but O, how unfortunate you have been. O, I wish you had come home long ago, I think it would [have] been better for you... I have written you a good many times and given you all the paticulars [sic], and if you had received them you could not feel uneasy about us at home... Frank came home from Ohio a year ago last Thanksgiving, and has been in Washington ever since, he gets $50 per month he is in the S