Letter written by Union occupation soldier John Stagenwalt

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A letter (a) with envelope (b) written by John Stagenwalt, a 1st U.S. Infantry soldier stationed at New Orleans during its occupation by the Union Army. Written in brown ink on one sheet of lined wove paper folded to form four pages, the letter is addressed to John Sheaffer, of Bareville, Leacock Township, Pennsylvania, with the salutation [My Dear Father]. At top left is [Jackson Barracks] and at top right is [Sep. 20th 1866]. In the letter, Stagenwalt asks for Sheaffer to write and send him $10, as well as asking if Sheaffer has Stagenwalt's belongings. The second interior page and the fourth page are blank, with no writing or marks. The yellow envelope (b) features a red three cents George Washington stamp on the front, is postmarked September 22, addressed to Mr. John Sheaffer, and has no markings on the reverse.

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