Title: Benjamin Franklin Heuston Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1849-1894

Creator:

• Heuston, Benjamin Franklin, 1823-1894

Call Number: La Crosse Mss J

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the Special Collections & Area Research Center, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections.

Archival Locations:

UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

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).

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx000j

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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.

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

Acquisition 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.

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
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
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

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