Parker Family Papers
Scope and Content Note
The Parker Family Papers consist largely of Civil War letters to and from Moses A. Parker. Parker's letters, many of which are to his fiance and eventual wife Eliza E. Hale Parker, offer considerable detail on the daily life of the Civil War soldier. He writes about camp routines, war news and rumors, skirmishes and battles, and his impressions of the areas he passes through with his regiment. One sequence of letters dated January-February 1862 details his brother's accident, illness, and death in a military hospital. The letters to Parker contain family news, reports about friends and neighbors in Concord, and Civilian reactions to the progress of the war. The presence of both sides of the correspondence provides an unusually well-rounded look at one Vermont family's experiences during the Civil War.
The collection also contains some of Eliza E. Hale's school essays and teaching certificates from the 1850s and early 1860s, as well as a handful of post-1865 papers. The arrangement of the collection is chronological.
The Wilbur Collection acquired the Parker Family Papers at a Duane Merrill auction in Williston, Vermont, on January 31, 1987.
Dates
- 1820-1952
Creator
- Parker, Eliza E. Hale (Contributor, Person)
- Parker, Moses (Contributor, Person)
- Parker family (Creator, Family)
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Manuscripts.
Biographical Note
The Parker family settled in Concord, Vermont in 1806. Two members of the family's third Concord generation, Brothers Moses A. and Stephen Madison Parker, enlisted together in Company C, 3rd Vermont Volunteers, in July 1861. Stephen (who went by his middle name with family and friends) shot off his own thumb while on picket duty in January 1862, contracted diptheria in the hospital, and died in early February 1862. Moses Parker was wounded and captured at Savage Station on June 27, 1862; after several weeks in Libby Prison he was exchanged and received a medical discharge. Moses married Eliza E. Hale after returning to Concord, but rejoined the Army in September 1864 as a private in Company H, 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. In February 1865 he transferred to Company H, 4th Vermont Volunteers, in which he served until June 1865. After the war he returned to Concord, where he prospered as a farmer and mill-owner.
Extent
0.4 Linear Feet (One box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Parker Family Papers consist largely of Civil War letters to and from Moses A. Parker. Parker's letters, many of which are to his fiance and eventual wife Eliza E. Hale Parker, offer considerable detail on the daily life of the Civil War soldier. The Parker Family was from Concord, Vermont.
Location
Library Research Annex; contact uvmsc@uvm.edu for access.
- Title
- Guide to the Parker Family Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- 1987 May
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the University of Vermont Libraries, Special Collections Repository
Silver Special Collections Library
48 University Place, Room B201
Burlington Vermont 05405 U.S.A. US
(802) 656-2138
(802) 656-4038 (Fax)
uvmsc@uvm.edu
