14th Pennsylvania Cavalry CIVIL WAR LETTER From Camp Schoonmaker, Hagerstown, MD
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:205839 |
CIVIL WAR LETTER
William Edy was born in 1799 and was working as a blacksmith in Erie county, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Civil War. After his first wife, Mary Clara Morton, died in the 1850’s, he took Phebe Boa Lafferty, the widow of Herman Whipple to be his second wife. In the fall of 1862, William enlisted (at the age of 63) in Co. I, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was made a wagoner in the regiment and saw limited active duty. He sought a medical discharge when his health ...began to fail during the winter of 1862-63 and was discharged in May 1863.This letter was found in the Edwin Whipple archive. See description below to see how William Edy's fit into the family:Serving with Edwin in Co. C, 111th Pennsylvania Volunteers was his step-brother, Sgt. Benjamin Franklin Edy (1836-1917) who is mentioned frequently as “Ben” throughout Edwin’s letters. Ben’s father, William Edy (b. 1799) took Phebe B. Lafferty (widow of Herman Whipple) to be his second wife. At an advanced age, William enlisted in Co. 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry and served for several months during the winter of 1862-63 before he was discharged for disability.The letter was sent to William's wife, Phebe B. Edy of Springfield X Roads, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
TRANSCRIPTIONHagerstown [Maryland]
Camp Schoonmaker
December 3, 1862Dear wife, I will write a few lines again to you and hope this will find you well. I am well and hearty and enjoy camp life well. I had a letter from Jim last evening and he has got his discharge and will be home in a few days and am glad of it. I received yours with 3 dollars in but I did not send for any by Duane. Ask him if he got that money of English. If he had, to let me have 2 or 3 dollars of it. He said he had not but would let me have some before he went home. But he went when I did not see him.We are now in the enemy’s country and have our pickets out day and night. There is a good many soldiers in camp near here. It is all noise and confusion. I can’t write much at a time and we drill twice a day. And my turn will come tomorrow to stand guard again. I want to write to Ben [Edy] and Ed [Whipple] today but have no time and I must write to Hank [Henry Edy] soon. Tell him to be patient. He shall hear from me soon.We are not allowed to go out of camp—only 2 a day gets passes out of each company. I have wrote to George Hubbard today that I may hear from Clarissa and Lois and the rest of the friends. The weather is fine and warm here. There was a little fall of snow here last week about ½ inch but lay only 3 or 4 hours.It looks desolate here. The fences are all burned up and all the small timber that can be got. We live in tents from 5 to 6 each tent but we have clothes enough to keep warm.Write often. From your husband, — Wm. EdyDirect to Hagerstown, Md., Camp Schoonmaker, 14th Regt. Pa. Cavalry, Capt. W. Miles’ CompanyTERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00078
William Edy was born in 1799 and was working as a blacksmith in Erie county, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Civil War. After his first wife, Mary Clara Morton, died in the 1850’s, he took Phebe Boa Lafferty, the widow of Herman Whipple to be his second wife. In the fall of 1862, William enlisted (at the age of 63) in Co. I, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was made a wagoner in the regiment and saw limited active duty. He sought a medical discharge when his health ...began to fail during the winter of 1862-63 and was discharged in May 1863.This letter was found in the Edwin Whipple archive. See description below to see how William Edy's fit into the family:Serving with Edwin in Co. C, 111th Pennsylvania Volunteers was his step-brother, Sgt. Benjamin Franklin Edy (1836-1917) who is mentioned frequently as “Ben” throughout Edwin’s letters. Ben’s father, William Edy (b. 1799) took Phebe B. Lafferty (widow of Herman Whipple) to be his second wife. At an advanced age, William enlisted in Co. 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry and served for several months during the winter of 1862-63 before he was discharged for disability.The letter was sent to William's wife, Phebe B. Edy of Springfield X Roads, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
TRANSCRIPTIONHagerstown [Maryland]
Camp Schoonmaker
December 3, 1862Dear wife, I will write a few lines again to you and hope this will find you well. I am well and hearty and enjoy camp life well. I had a letter from Jim last evening and he has got his discharge and will be home in a few days and am glad of it. I received yours with 3 dollars in but I did not send for any by Duane. Ask him if he got that money of English. If he had, to let me have 2 or 3 dollars of it. He said he had not but would let me have some before he went home. But he went when I did not see him.We are now in the enemy’s country and have our pickets out day and night. There is a good many soldiers in camp near here. It is all noise and confusion. I can’t write much at a time and we drill twice a day. And my turn will come tomorrow to stand guard again. I want to write to Ben [Edy] and Ed [Whipple] today but have no time and I must write to Hank [Henry Edy] soon. Tell him to be patient. He shall hear from me soon.We are not allowed to go out of camp—only 2 a day gets passes out of each company. I have wrote to George Hubbard today that I may hear from Clarissa and Lois and the rest of the friends. The weather is fine and warm here. There was a little fall of snow here last week about ½ inch but lay only 3 or 4 hours.It looks desolate here. The fences are all burned up and all the small timber that can be got. We live in tents from 5 to 6 each tent but we have clothes enough to keep warm.Write often. From your husband, — Wm. EdyDirect to Hagerstown, Md., Camp Schoonmaker, 14th Regt. Pa. Cavalry, Capt. W. Miles’ CompanyTERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00078
