Summary Information
Benjamin Franklin Heuston Papers 1849-1894
- Heuston, Benjamin Franklin, 1823-1894
La Crosse Mss J
0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of B.F. Heuston, a Trempealeau County, Wisconsin lumberman, land speculator, general store owner, and county official, including correspondence (1850-89), diaries (1862-78), account books (1849-60, 1864-79), reminiscences, and historical notes on Trempealeau County. Most of the correspondence concerns Heuston's Civil War service with Co. C, 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The Civil War letters and diaries describe the 22nd Regiment's surroundings in Tennessee, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia; the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's march through Georgia; Heuston's wounding at Resaca and subsequent stays in army hospitals, especially at Camp Chase General Hospital (Columbus, Ohio); and racial and abolitionist concerns, including the arrest of the 22nd Regiment's officers for refusing to return slaves, Heuston's teaching experiences in a Negro school (1863), and controversies about arming Blacks, Northern education, and enlistment of Blacks. Trempealeau County materials include a typewritten history (1890), including biographical sketches of early settlers and landowners; and a typescript concerning an old French post near Trempealeau. Also includes pages for the “Fonetik Longhand Writer,” “The pronouncing system of B.F. Heuston,” and handwritten articles on temperance, prohibition, the Pan American railroad, and “The Negro problem” (1890). English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx000j
Biography/History
B.F. Heuston was one of the first settlers in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. His family migrated from Pennsylvania to Warren County, Ohio, in 1829. After teaching school for two years (1842-1843) in Rodney, Mississippi, he came northward as far as the present city of La Crosse, Wisconsin. For seven years he worked in the pineries on the Black River, rising during that time to take on small governmental tasks. In 1846, he became justice of the peace.
In 1851, in partnership with one Ira Hammond, he bought land that is now part of the town of Trempealeau, with the object of setting up a village on the site. These two men, with James Reed, laid out the town-site, naming it Monteville. From 1853 on he held various county posts, acting as county supervisor, justice of the peace, and later as probate judge, the first in the county.
In 1860, he started a business in Chicago, which was interrupted by the Civil War. In August 1862, he enlisted in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in which he served, first as private and later as corporal, until the regiment was mustered out in 1865. From that date to 1871, he worked as farmer and public official. In 1871, he became a clerk on the mail cars, retiring from the job in 1883. From that date to 1894, he lived in Winona, Minnesota, studying and writing. Some of his work concerned the history of Trempealeau County.
His papers are chiefly valuable for the collection of letters written by and to him during the Civil War period. They are especially valuable for their comments on the army hospitals and for the comments on the Northern Negro in the Civil War. Besides the war letters, there is a set of four war journals, covering the period of Heuston's service in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers. The other material includes a number of articles on subjects varying from prohibition and temperance to an analysis of racial characteristics, a course of lessons on the pronunciation of English, notes and miscellanies on the history of Trempealeau County, other correspondence, some of it dealing with county problems and difficulties, and a collection of twenty diaries, account-books, and memoranda containing information of the most varied kind.
Scope and Content Note
The main portion of the Heuston papers consists of a series of letters written to his wife while Heuston was a member of the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers, first as a private and later as a corporal. The letters cover a period of about three years from the middle of 1862 to the middle of 1865. These Civil War letters are valuable because in addition to being a rather long run of letters for the period, they contain information on the position of Northern Negroes and attempts at enlisting and educating them. The chronological list of the letters in Appendix I gives the places from which they were written and hence has value as an indication of their content. Heuston was hospitalized twice, but the information lost concerning his outfit and the war activities is made up in data about the medical care he received.
There are several additional items in the collection which offer information on the early history of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. There are twelve miscellaneous letters and documents and a number of small notebooks which, for the most part, seem to be merely memoranda. These notebooks can only be described by listing them and attempting to sum up their individual contents:
- “Report of Collections made at 'Donation' in University Hall, Galesville, June 11, 1868” (names and amounts)
- Records of Town of Monteville, now Trempealeau
- Small notebook on Town of Trempealeau
- Small notebook on Trempealeau County history, and records of early land entries
- Small leather bound ledger[?] book
- Small leather bound notebook, cover missing, miscellaneous notes
- Two small notebooks containing historical notes. Notes on Perrot Fort, etc.
- Three small memoranda books
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Myron T. Heuston, Seattle, Washington, March 1946; May 20, 1953; 1955. One item on old French post presented by Mrs. Burr Jones, December 1948.
Contents List
La Crosse Mss J
Box
1
|
Correspondence, 1850 July-1889 March 10
|
|
Box
1
|
Biographical Material
|
|
Box
1
|
Transcription of a War Journal, 1862 September 2-1863 February 9
|
|
Box
1
|
Pronouncing system
|
|
Box
1
|
Miscellaneous articles
|
|
|
Trempealeau County
|
|
Box
1
|
Antiquarian Discoveries Near Trempealeau and material relating to the history of Trempealeau County
|
|
Box
1
|
Material concerning the old French post near Trempealeau
|
|
Box
1
Volume
32
|
Original Conditions and Early History, 1890
|
|
Box
2
Volume
1
|
Perrot's Fort and Maps, Miscellaneous notes, 1888 April 17-July 18
|
|
Box
2
Volume
2
|
History of Trempealeau County; rough notes, 1885-1894
|
|
Box
2
Volume
3
|
Notes taken from books, 1886-1894
|
|
Box
2
Volume
4
|
Notes - boundaries, undated
|
|
Box
2
Volume
5
|
Rough notes, etc., undated
|
|
|
Miscellaneous accounts
|
|
Box
2
Volume
6
|
1849-1852
|
|
Box
2
Volume
7
|
1852-1860 March 17
|
|
|
Memo Books
|
|
Box
2
Volume
8
|
1852-1854
|
|
Box
2
Volume
9
|
1855 April-December
|
|
Box
2
Volume
10
|
Addresses, 1856-1857
|
|
Box
2
Volume
11
|
Memoranda and Addresses, 1861 February-July
|
|
Box
2
Volume
12
|
Miscellaneous Notes, 1860 June-October
|
|
Box
2
Volume
13
|
Report of collection made at “donation” in University Hall, Galesville, 1868 June 11
|
|
|
Diaries
|
|
Box
2
Volume
14
|
Diary, Memoranda, Addresses, 1861 January 22-February 14
|
|
|
War Journals
|
|
Box
2
Volume
15
|
With miscellaneous notes and family record, 1862 September 2-1863 February 9
|
|
Box
2
Volume
16
|
With miscellaneous notes, 1864 February 24-November 30
|
|
Box
2
Volume
17
|
1865 June 12-June 16; miscellaneous notes, , 1864 May 15-1867
|
|
Box
2
Volume
18
|
With miscellaneous notes, 1864 December 1-1865 March 24
|
|
|
Diaries and account books
|
|
Box
2
Volume
19
|
1866 January 1-December 31
|
|
Box
2
Volume
20
|
1867 January 5-December 31
|
|
Box
2
Volume
21
|
1868 January 1-December 31
|
|
Box
2
Volume
22
|
1869 January 1-December 30
|
|
Box
2
Volume
23
|
1870 January 2-December 26
|
|
Box
2
Volume
24
|
1871 February 4-December 31
|
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Box
2
Volume
25
|
1872 January 1-December 30
|
|
Box
2
Volume
26
|
1873 January 1-December 14
|
|
Box
2
Volume
27
|
1874 January 1-December 22
|
|
Box
2
Volume
28
|
1875 January 30-December 31
|
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Box
2
Volume
29
|
1876 January 1-December 31
|
|
Box
2
Volume
30
|
1877 January 1-December 31
|
|
Box
2
Volume
31
|
1878 January 1-1879 January
|
|
Appendix I: Chronological List of Letters, B.F. Heuston to His Wife
Date
|
Place
|
1862 |
August 29 |
Camp Utley, Racine, Wisconsin |
September 1 |
Camp Utley, Racine, Wisconsin |
September 12 |
Camp Utley, Racine, Wisconsin |
September 20 |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
September 21 |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
September 25 |
Camp Mitchell, Kentucky, near Cincinnati, Ohio |
October 2 |
Camp Mitchell, Kentucky, near Cincinnati, Ohio |
October 8 |
Camp Mitchell, Kentucky, near Cincinnati, Ohio |
October 23 |
Georgetown, Kentucky |
October 25 |
Lexington, Kentucky |
November 9 |
Camp Granger, near Lexington, Kentucky |
November 15 |
Nickolasville, Kentucky |
1863 |
January 4 |
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio |
January 11 |
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio |
January 18 |
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio |
February 3 |
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio |
February 24 |
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio (contains a copy of a letter B.F. Heuston received from Wisconsin state assemblyman A.W. Newman) |
March 9 |
Waynesville, Ohio |
March 15 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
March 19 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
March 24 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
April 1 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
April 7 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
Undated |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
May 10 |
Camp Chase General Hospital, Columbus, Ohio |
May 13 |
[Not given] |
May 17 |
Cincinnati |
[May 20] |
Letter from D.R. May, Captain, 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers to BFH |
May 24 |
Cairo, Illinois |
May 29 |
Camp Jackson, near St. Louis, Missouri |
June 4 |
Camp Gamble, St. Louis, Missouri |
June 8 |
Camp Gamble, St. Louis, Missouri |
June 10 |
Camp Gamble, St. Louis, Missouri |
June 16 |
[Not given] |
June 18 |
[Not given] (written on the back of a letter with the salutation: “Dear Uncle,” and signed “Hendley”) |
June 29 |
Franklin, Tennessee [inserted here was a one page printed poem “Southern Beauties...” 5x13 inches] |
July 7 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
July 7 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 4 |
[Not given, probably the same] |
August 11 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 16 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 20 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
Undated |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 24 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 27 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
August 30 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
September 16 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
September 18 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
September 20 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
September 26 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
October 2 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
October 3 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
October 25 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
October 31 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (on the back of a letter to B.F. Heuston from George M. Zell, his brother-in-law) |
November 6 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
November 15 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
November 16 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 2 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 8 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 14 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 16 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 25 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
December 27 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (on letter from his brother John) |
1864 |
January 1 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
January 14 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
January 23 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
January 23 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (on the back of a letter from Stephen Knowls to B.F. Heuston) |
February 1 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
February 8 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
February 15 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
February 19 |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
February 25 |
Lavergne, Tennessee |
March 2 |
Nashville (on the back of a letter from his brother John) |
March 5 |
Nashville |
March 5 |
Nashville |
March 13 |
Nashville |
March 14 |
On Steamer Newsboy, Nashville |
March 18 |
On Gunboat, Newsboy, Pulaski County, Kentucky |
March 23 |
Nashville |
March 29 |
Nashville |
March 30 |
Nashville |
April 5 |
Nashville |
April 9 |
Nashville |
April 15 |
Nashville |
April 17 |
Nashville |
April 23 |
Nashville |
April 25 |
Gullahoma, Tennessee |
April 29 |
Bridgeport, Alabama |
May 2 |
near Chattanooga, Tennessee |
May 4 |
Ringgold, Georgia |
May 8 |
“in field” |
May 22 |
Nashville Field Hospital (Cumberland) |
May 26 |
Nashville Field Hospital (Cumberland) |
June 1 |
Nashville Field Hospital (Cumberland) |
June 7 |
Nashville Field Hospital (Cumberland) |
June 16 |
Nashville Field Hospital (Cumberland) |
July 7 |
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri |
July 14 |
Harvey Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin |
July 18 |
Harvey Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin |
July 22 |
Harvey Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin |
August 27 |
Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin |
September 2 |
Nashville |
September 10 |
Nashville, Cumberland Hospital |
September 14 |
Nashville, Cumberland Hospital |
September |
Chattanooga, Tennessee |
September 19 |
Atlanta, Georgia [special order detailing BFH to headquarters Company C] |
September 25 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
September 28 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
October 2 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
October 9 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
October 14 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
October 21 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
October 29 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
November 5 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
November 9 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
December 14 |
5 miles NW of Savannah, Georgia |
December 27 |
Savannah, Georgia |
December 31 |
Savannah, Georgia |
1865 |
January 8 |
Rice Swamps of South Carolina, near Savannah, Georgia |
January 15 |
Scriven's Ferry, South Carolina, near Savannah, Georgia |
January 17 |
Scriven's Ferry, South Carolina, near Savannah, Georgia |
January 22 |
South Carolina |
January 24 |
Hardee' s Landing, South Carolina |
January 31 |
Robertsville, South Carolina |
March 12 |
Fayetteville, North Carolina |
March 14 |
Fayetteville, North Carolina |
March 21 |
In field 20 |
March 26 |
In field 20 |
April 2 |
In field 20 |
April 9 |
[Not given] |
April 15 |
Raleigh, South Carolina |
April 19 |
Raleigh, South Carolina |
April 29 |
Raleigh, South Carolina |
April 29 |
Raleigh, South Carolina |
May 9 |
5 miles from Richmond, Virginia |
May 21 |
Alexandria, D.C. |
May 28 |
Near Washington, D.C. |
May 29 |
[not given] |
June 3 |
Near Washington, D.C. |
June 11 |
Washington |
|