Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 109

Unsold
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
(CIVIL WAR--MARYLAND.) Group of civilian letters referring to Baltimore and the riot, including a gun store owner who lost 12 weapons. 4 items, various sizes, generally minor wear. Various places, April to August 1861
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James W. Curley, hardware store owner. Autograph Document Signed on his illustrated letterhead. A summarized list of 11 "double barrel guns" and a revolver and their values totaling $160, with his note: "Above is memorandum of guns &c taken from my store on Sunday 21st instant." The guns were either taken by rioters or loyal militia men, and this list was apparently prepared as a submission for compensation. Baltimore, 25 April 1861.

S.W. Gilbert. Autograph Letter Signed to a friend. Recalls his service a few months previous in April: "I was up to my country's call, one of the first that was willing to shed blood if necessary . . . in the first full regiment that entered Washington city from Pennsylvania. . . . Were it not for the government troops passing, Baltimore would appear more like a cemetery than Baltimore city." Samuel W. Gilbert enlisted in the 5th Pennsylvania Infantry on 20 April 1861, and eventually reached the rank of lieutenant. With typed transcript. Baltimore, MD, 30 August 1861.

Balderson, Ward, & Co., commission merchants. Autograph Letter Signed on their letterhead to Clark Partridge of Medway, MA. "Everything here is very quiet, excitement all died out in a few days, and everybody is ashamed that a mob of boys and rabble could have produced such a state of affairs. Our city and state disavow all such acts. . . . there is no truth whatever in anything we have seen in the northern papers. We do not say this to excuse the wrong committed here in firing on your troops." With original envelope and typed transcript. Baltimore, 1 May 1861.

E.J. Gassett. Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs. Badger. "Jim Knights has gone. He went out in one of the first companies. . . . It is my prayer to God that they will all return home safe." With typed transcript. Boston, 27 April 1861.

Provenance: collection of Arthur G. "Gil" Barrett.