Summary Information
James Sibree Anderson Papers
1829-1926
- Anderson, James Sibree, 1842-1931
Green Bay Mss 133
0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Civil War veteran and Manitowoc attorney James S. Anderson, consisting primarily of letters, diaries, and accounts written by Anderson about his Civil War experiences in the 5th Wisconsin Infantry and his later involvement with the Manitowoc Grand Army of the Republic. Also contains records relating to his legal career consisting of letterbooks (1881-1888), a case docket book, and a collection book of monies received for clients. There are also scattered records of a more personal nature including Scottish military records of his father, John Anderson, correspondence (including letters written in 1866 while Anderson was a Lawrence College student), and a personal financial journal (1878-1879). Some correspondence relates to state and local Republican Party matters.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0133 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
James Sibree Anderson was born on Christmas day, 1841 near Glasgow, Scotland. In 1852, he settled with his family in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Anderson enlisted in April 1861 as a private in Co. A., 5th Wisconsin Infantry and served until July 1864 being thrice wounded and twice promoted, to corporal and sergeant.
An 1870 graduate from Lawrence College at Appleton, Anderson studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1871. He served as police judge and city attorney of Manitowoc, Wisconsin assemblyman in 1889, and county judge of Manitowoc County, 1895 to 1901.
Anderson was also a well known public speaker and writer as evidenced by presentations and accounts of his Civil War experiences and his work as editor of the Manitowoc Lake Shore Times from 1883-1886 and as author of Pioneer Courts and Lawyers of Manitowoc County, Wis. (1921). Anderson's paper, “Indians and Indian Remains of Manitowoc County,” was published in the Wisconsin Archeologist and also in the Wisconsin Historical Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Scope and Content Note
The James Sibree Anderson papers consist of the following groups of records: CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCE, LAW PRACTICE, and PERSONAL.
The CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCE materials constitute the collection's strength. The series contains about 135 letters written by Anderson to his parents and sisters from June 1861 when his company reached Camp Randall until his discharge in July 1864. There are also three volumes recording his Civil War service consisting of an account written by Anderson around 1864 of his experiences from April 1861 to December 1862 (most likely using his original diary which is not a part of the collection), and two diaries (Jan. 1863-July 1864). In both letters and diaries, Anderson was a careful and candid observer of a Wisconsin regiment that became a part of the Army of the Potomac and participated in some of the heaviest campaigns of the war. He was deeply interested in the movements of the whole army, the cause of slavery, the political situation, and affairs in Wisconsin.
Anderson also wrote several accounts and articles about the Civil War including a lengthy paper read before the Manitowoc Historical Society in 1911 entitled “Manitowoc County in the Civil War,” two articles about the battle of Rappahannock Station, a handwritten account of the battle of Antietam, and a history of the Horace M. Walker Post No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic. Anderson's notes, an annotated muster roll, and miscellaneous documents (ca. 1862-1913) regarding the 5th Wisconsin Infantry; and some correspondence (1880-1917) largely relating to G.A.R. matters and Anderson's written accounts complete this series.
LAW PRACTICE materials relate to Anderson's early work as an attorney and do not contain materials relating to his later work as Wisconsin Assemblyman or Manitowoc County Judge. Two letterbooks (1881-1888) are difficult to read and primarily consist of Anderson's correspondence involving client case work, including Civil War pension claims. However, there are occasional letters written by Anderson involving state and local Republican politics, G.A.R. matters, and personal affairs. A court docket book (ca. 1880-1890) of cases for which Anderson served as attorney and a collections book (1872-1876) provide additional context for the correspondence and Anderson's beginning law work.
PERSONAL documents consist of disparate papers including a personal financial journal (1878-1879); Scottish military papers of Anderson's father, John Anderson, Sr.; and scattered correspondence (1866-1926) including a few letters Anderson wrote home while a student at Lawrence College in Appleton, an 1889 letter received from a Watertown minister protesting the state's education-related Bennett law, and an 1891 letter Anderson wrote to H. C. Payne, chair of the Republican State Committee.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by May B. Young, Bloomington, Wis., 1931; Edward Schmitz through the Historical Records Survey, Manitowoc, Wis., 1937; and as a separation from Manitowoc County Court records, 1979. Accession Number: M79-202
Processed by Gayle Martinson, 1996.
Contents List
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Series: Civil War Experience
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Civil War Diaries, 1861-1864
3 volumes
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Box
1
Folder
2-3
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Civil War Correspondence, 1861-1864
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Correspondence, 1880-1917
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Civil War Accounts of Anderson, 1862, 1911, undated
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Box
1
Folder
6
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5th Wisconsin Infantry, ca. 1862-1913
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Horace M. Walker Post No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic, ca. 1920
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Miscellaneous, undated
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Series: Legal Career
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Letterbooks
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Box
1
Folder
9
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1881-1882
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1882-1888
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Court Docket (Anderson's court cases), ca. 1880-1890
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Collections Book (Monies Received by Anderson on Clients Behalf), 1872-1876
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Series: Personal
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Correspondence, 1866-1926
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Financial Journal, 1878-1879
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Box
2
Folder
6
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John Anderson, Sr. Military Service in Scotland, 1829-1860
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