Documenting the Civil War…

September 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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David Chasanow, at Americollector.com, recently did a post regarding the valuable role rare & historic newspapers play in documenting the events of the Civil War.  The post included an interview with Tim Hughes.  Please enjoy!

Battle lines: Vintage newspapers documented the Civil War as it happened

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Few things change in politics…

September 24, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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It’s interesting how, in some aspects of life, few things change over hundreds of years. Complaints about politicians not focusing on substantive issues was a problem back in 1790, in just the second year of the American federal government, as this article from the July 3, 1790 “Pennsylvania Packet“ of Philadelphia, clearly shows…

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The Civil War… September 21, 1861…

September 21, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 21, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper:

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

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Filed under: Civil War, Collecting Newspapers, Harper's Weekly, Newspaper Collecting Ideas, The Hobby, Yankee
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The Traveler… sighting of the comet… bank roberry… kill your dogs?…

September 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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In today’s travels, the Middlesex Gazette of September 19, 1811 had people looking skyward. The front page contained an article “The Comet” which “passed into the left hind leg of the Great Bear…” and “…The tail appears to separate into two branches, and is very distinguishable…”.

Inside the issue is the reporting of a bank robbery in Charleston in which the authorities were pretty certain they knew who had committed the crime. After questioning the person and not being able to obtain a confession, they then spoke to his fellow servant, a suspected aid. When told his owner was arrested — he told everything and showed them where the money was hidden as well as the items used to rob the bank!

The last page contained an advertisement that I have never seen in any other newspapers before, a real attention grabber… “Kill your Dogs”. You need to read this one!

~The Traveler

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Before he would become “infamous”…

September 17, 2011 by · 1 Comment 
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Although the front page of  “The New York Times” of Nov. 23, 1864 contains various reports on the Civil War as would be expected,  the most intriguing item in this newspaper is an inconspicuous advertisement for a theatrical performance at the Winter Garden theater on page 7.

A one night performance was set for November 25 to benefit the Shakespeare Statue Fund. The performance featured the three Booth brothers, well known in the theatrical community: Junius, Edwin, and John Wilkes. This was the only time that the Booth brothers would appear on stage together.

Of course little did anyone know that less than five months later John Wilkes Booth would become one the more infamous names in American history with his assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

It is always fascinating to find mentions of notables in American history before they would become famous—or infamous.

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Filed under: Civil War, Noteworthy Issues, Yankee
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The Civil War… September 14, 1861…

September 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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This week we continue with the our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 14, 1861.

Note:  The following commentary was written by Dr. James Robertson* as part of a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which was done at the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.  It provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting found in the original 1861 newspaper:

* The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

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Where is Polypotamia today?

September 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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The “Maryland Gazette” of April 30, 1784 includes a small yet fascinating report from Congress that ten new states cut out of the Western Territory had bee created, but none of the states are as we know them today.

Through the information provided by QalaBist.com we learn that the state of Sylvania was proposed to include much of present-day Minnesota, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and some of northern Wisconsin. The State of Michigania was proposed to include most of Wisconsin, but nothing of Michigan. The State of Chersonesus (the Greek word for peninsula) was proposed to include most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The State of Assenispia (named after the Assenisipi River, also known as the Rock River.) was proposed to include the northern part of modern-day Indiana. The State of Metropotamia was proposed to include southern Michigan and parts of northern Ohio and Illinois. The State of Illinoia was proposed to include most of Illinois. The State of Saratoga  was proposed to include most of Indiana. The State of Washington was proposed to include most of Ohio. The State of Polypotamia was proposed to include most of western Kentucky. The State of Pelisipia was proposed to include most of eastern Kentucky.

A fascinating piece of American history not known by most.

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Actual headlines…

September 10, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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We offer thanks to fellow collector Morris Brill for some of the following headlines which appeared in recent newspapers:

“Iraqi Head Seeks Arms”

“Cold Wave Linked To Temperatures”

“Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge”

“Many Antiques At Senior Citizens’ Sale”

“Lack of Brains Hinders Research””

“Prisoners Escape After Execution”

“No Cause of Death Determined Fro Beheading Victim”

“Teacher Dies; Board Accepts His Resignation”

“Experts Are Sure The Dow Will Either Rise Or Decline”

“Lucky Man Sees Friend Die”

“Voluntary Workers Strike For Higher Pay”


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The Civil War… September 7, 1861…

September 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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This week we continue with the new format for our reflection upon the Civil War events of 150 years ago… as seen through the eyes of the original readers of the Harper’s Weekly issue printed for September 7, 1861. As mentioned in a previous post, Dr. James Robertson did a weekly review for the reprint edition of the “Harper’s Weekly” which provides much insight into the events of the day and scholarly commentary on both the illustrations and reporting in the newspaper.

The Virginia Tech website provides the credentials of Dr. James Roberson:

“One of the most distinguished names in Civil War history, Dr. Robertson was Executive Director of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission and worked with Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson in marking the war’s 100th anniversary.  Today his Civil War Era course at Virginia Tech, which attracts 300 students per semester, is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The Danville, Va., native is the author or editor of more than 20 books that include such award-winning studies as “Civil War! America Becomes One Nation”, “General A.P. Hill”, and “Soldiers Blue and Gray”. His massive biography of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson won eight national awards and was used as the base for the Ted Turner/Warner Bros. mega-movie, “Gods and Generals”. Robertson was chief historical consultant for the film.”

Dr. James Roberson’s commentary:


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Escape from the zoo…

September 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 
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The “New York Herald” of Nov. 9, 1874 had a very lengthy article reporting an “Awful Calamity” “The Wild Animals Broken Loose from the Central Park” with many other one column headlines. This full page article–with considerable detail–reports that all the animals had escaped their cages & were roaming free in the park, leaving dozens of people “…mutilated, trampled, and injured…” not to mention killed.

The problem was it never happened.  At the very end the writer admits it’s a completely made up version of what might happen if conditions in the zoo aren’t improved. But how many people read all the way to the end of this very lengthy article? Apparently not many considering the panic which gripped New Yorkers that day. The entire city fell into a frenzy before finding out that it was all a hoax. (credit “Ephemeral New York”)

This much abbreviated report in this post was taken from the “New York World” issue of Jan. 13, 1888. See the hyperlink for the lengthier, original report found in the “Herald” of 1874.

A fascinating hoax issue which resulted in real-life panic:

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