civil war

Civil War Historian's Home And Belongings For Sale This Weekend

Filed under: Estates

The home and personal belongings of Civil War writer Shelby Foote are part of a sale going on in this weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. Foote, who died back in 2005 was a novelist and historian of the Civil War. He came to national attention after appearing in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990.

Foote was a collector of Civil War-era guns and swords as well as other items dating back from that era. The home itself is an English cottage style home built in 1927. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the sale includes an estimated $200,000 worth of the personal effects of Foote. Estate broker Ken Robison told the Commercial Appeal that the sale features items from other estates as well and that he expects around 3,000 people to show up at the Foote home over the weekend for the sale.

The house was appraised at $427,600 in 2010 and is being re-appraised this week to set a listing price for the sale. The home includes a small octagonally shaped "secret room" above an upstairs bedroom and accessible through a trap door in the ceiling above the bedroom closet. Check out the Robison-Finch estate sale website for more details.

Tags: civil war, Civil War History, shelby foote

Rare Civil War Photograph Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

The original photograph of Confederate Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel John Pelham of Alexandria, Alabama, a Civil War hero, is up for sale at Heritage Auctions. What makes this historic photograph particularly interesting is that it was an image that has been reproduced many times but no one was aware that that the original photograph still existed. It was tucked away for years passed down through the generations in the Mississippi family of Pelham's sister, Betty. The original photograph was made by acclaimed Civil War era photographer, Mathew Brady. It is estimated to fetch between $65,000 and $85,000 when it sells in a public auction of Civil War artifacts on June 26, 2010.

"It's a half-plate Ambrotype photo taken around 1858, about the same time Pelham began studying at West Point. He was a brilliant, brave officer known as 'The Gallant Pelham' during the Civil War," explained Dennis Lowe, director of Arms, Militaria and Civil War Auctions at Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas, the firm that will conduct the auction in Dallas and online. Pelham withdrew from West Point in 1861 to serve in the Confederate Army and fought at First Bull Run, Antietam and Kelly's Ford where he was killed while leading a cavalry charge on March 17, 1863. Pelham was buried in City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Alabama, where a statue was erected in his honor in 1905. The states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama all have towns named in his honor. The family hopes that the photograph will go "to a collector or institution with the means and facility to take care of the historic image," said Lowe.

Pelham's descendants have also consigned a handwritten, signed letter dated September 25, 1858 that Pelham sent to his family in Alabama about beginning his studies at West Point. The letter is expected to sell for $25,000 or more.

Tags: civil war, Civil War History, civil war relics, confederate army, Heritage Auction, heritage auctions, matthew brady

Smithsonian Museum Unveils Graffiti In Abraham Lincoln's Pocket Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Do you remember 1861? I know I do, and that little event at Fort Sumter that started a 'bit of a clash' here inside the United States. Well watchmaker Jonathon Dillon felt pretty strongly about it at the time living in Washington DC at the outset of the Civil war. On April 13th he happened to be in possession of President Lincoln's gold pocket watch (likely for servicing). It was a common practice for watchmakers to engrave markings inside of watch cases to memorialize that they are serviced the watch and when - similar to a graffiti tag. On this occasion however, knowing the owner of the watch and the ramifications of the Fort Sumter attack, Mr. Dillon was influenced to be prolific and felt it necessary to record the actions on the watch. "Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels [the South] on the above date [April 13, 1861]...Thank god we have a government."

No one, not even President Lincoln himself had seen this inscription until just recently when the Smithsonian Museum opened up Lincoln's pocket watch on rumors of a "secret message," communicated by a descendant of watchmaker Dillon - who was not actually the person who made the pocket watch itself. The watch was purchased over a decade earlier in the 1850's while Abraham Lincoln was a successful attorney in Illinois. Other markings where included on the watch movement face by other watchmakers, but nothing quite like Dillon's words. Lincoln's pocket watch was originally given to the Smithsonian in 1958 by a descendant of Lincoln, who decided the timepiece was important enough to be included in America's greatest historical collection.

Via the National Museum of American History.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: abraham lincoln, AbrahamLincoln, civil war, CivilWar, engraving, jonathon dillon, JonathonDillon, pocket, pocketwatch, secret message, SecretMessage, smithsonian, watch