The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], F. Calkins Letter, Ms1989-045, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The F. Calkins Letter was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1989.
The processing and description of the F. Calkins Letter commenced and was completed in January 2022.
Franklin George Calkins, son of George and Lucy Ann Brown Calkins, was born in Monson (Hampden County), Massachusetts, in July 1841. On July 15, 1863, he enlisted in Company B, 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He continued to serve throughout the war and was mustered out of service at Wilmington, North Carolina on September 3, 1865. He married in 1869, and the 1870 federal census lists Franklin and Belle Calkins (1846-1923) among the residents in the home of Franklin's parents. The 1920 census shows Franklin G. and Sybelle Calkins still living in Hampden County. Franklin George Calkins died in Palmer (Hampden County), Massachusetts in 1938 and was buried in East Wilbraham Cemetery, Hampden County.
This collection consists of a single letter written by F. Calkins, serving in Company B, 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery during the American Civil War. Addressed to "Dear Friend," the letter was written at Newberne, North Carolina, on September 10, 1863. Calkins exalts the power of Christ, and he despairs that his fellow soldiers care only for things that are low and devilish and seek only to gratify their lusts and passions.
The guide to the F. Calkins Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).