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[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Wylie-Tomlinson Letter Collection regarding the Civil War and Other Topics, A&M 4068, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Correspondence of Will Tomlinson, a newspaper publisher in southern Ohio, his wife Eliza Wylie Tomlinson, and their children Sarah Isabella Tomlinson and William Byers Tomlinson, as well as other family members, friends, and colleagues.
The letters range from 1834 through 1897, the bulk of which date from 1861-1863 and from 1876-1880. Prominent topics include the relationships and activities of the Wylie-Tomlinson family, life in Cincinnati and Ripley Ohio, journalism and newspaper publishing, Civil War battles, national and Ohio politics, educational practices, and religious practices, among other subjects.
The collection also contains documents and ephemera pertaining to the Wylie-Tomlinson family genealogy and history, as well as Whig party activities in Ripley, Ohio.
The collection was researched for the book "A Printer's Kiss: The Life and Letters of a Civil War Newspaperman" authored by Patricia Donahoe.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
This series contains published documents which pertain to Wylie-Tomlinson family genealogy and history, as well as Whig party activities in Ripley, Ohio.
This series consists of empty, undated envelopes used by the Wylie-Tomlinson family for correspondence.
This series contains the undated correspondence of the Wylie-Tomlinson family. Primary correspondents include Will Tomlinson (1823-1863) and his wife Eliza Wylie Tomlinson (1815-1885), as well as their daughter Sarah Isabella Tomlinson (1853-1925) and their son William Byers Tomlinson (1847-1917). These letters primarily document the relationships and activities of the Wylie-Tomlinson family.
This series contains miscellaneous manuscripts and ephemera, such as calling card, recipe, tickets, etc.
This series contains the following groupings of letters:
1. Wylie-Tomlinson Family Correspondence; 1834-1872, 1880-1893; Box 1, folder 20 through box 2, folder 39, 49-55.
2. Sarah Isabella Tomlinson to Eliza Wylie Tomlinson; 1876-1877; Box 2, folders 40-45, 50-55.
3. Alonzo Frescoln Smith to Sarah Isabella Tomlinson; 1877-1880; Box 2, folders 46-49.
The letters included in Series 5 consist primarily of correspondence between the core members of the Wylie-Tomlinson family, including Will Tomlinson (1823-1863) and his wife Eliza Wylie Tomlinson (1815-1885), as well as letters from their daughter Sarah Isabella Tomlinson (1853-1925) and their son William Byers Tomlinson (1847-1917.) Other family members, friends, and colleagues contribute some correspondence as well.
Group 1. The correspondence between Will and Eliza occurs during the period from 1834 to 1864, the bulk of which spans the earliest days of the Civil War. These letters are substantially about Will's enlistment and his participation in guerilla warfare in West Virginia; they also substantially document his involvement in Ohio politics and journalism. Many of the letters throughout the series comment on current events; both Will and Eliza make astute observations about politics and the events of the Civil War.
The correspondence between Eliza, Will, and later, William Byers, is full of insight into the politics of both Ohio and the larger national arena. Throughout the series, the inner workings and functions of the Cincinnati Gazette and the Ripley Bee are repeated subjects as Will was a newspaperman by trade. Will's fervor for politics was carried on by his son, William Byers, whose letters describe both current events and firsthand observation of Cincinnati politics.
William Byers, Sarah Isabella, and Eliza are the primary correspondents from 1864 to 1897, since Will died in 1863. Letters between William Byers and Sarah Isabella make up the bulk of the letters from 1868 to 1872. Subjects include life in Cincinnati, work at the Cincinnati Gazette, family affairs, and literature, as the siblings often write of what they are reading at the time. Specific texts written about include Charles Dicken's The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Optic's Magazine. Sarah Isabella engages in correspondence with her maternal great grandfather, John Byers from 1869 to 1870, and their letters show the close relationship between family members who have never met, have a great difference in age, yet have similar religious values.
Regular family correspondence resumes after their marriage, and the letters are included in the Wylie-Tomlinson Family Correspondence subgrouping. The primary correspondents are Alonzo, Sarah Isabella, Eliza, and William Byers. Subjects include Sarah Isabella's life in Stone Mountain, Pennsylvania, and William Byer's 1884 political career. The last letters of the series include the correspondence of Anna and W.S. Sherman.
Group 2. In the latter half of the series (1876-1880) Sarah Isabella remains a faithful correspondent to her mother, Eliza, writing to her constantly throughout her travels and career as a schoolteacher in Western Pennsylvania. These letters voluminously detail the educational practices and social and religious customs of this region. They also occasionally document fashion, through Sarah Isabella's reports of purchases to Eliza, and recipes, sometimes included in the exchanges between mother and daughter. These letters are collected in the Sarah Isabella to Eliza Wylie Tomlinson grouping.
Group 3. Sarah Isabella's future husband, a fellow schoolteacher named Alonzo Frescoln Smith, or "Fritz," also contributes a great many letters in his courtship of Sarah Isabella from 1879 to 1880. His letters to Sarah Isabella are tender and almost obsessive, and are occasionally written in a secret code. Their correspondence is collected in the Alonzo Frescoln Smith to Sarah Isabella Tomlinson grouping.
Letters of Interest by Subject Include:
Abolition: 1860/12/12, 1861/01/13.
Battles of the Civil War: 1862/04/04, 1862/07/15, 1863/02/13, 1863/14/19, 1863/05/07.
Camp Dennison and Camp Harrison (Cincinnati, Ohio): 1861/06/12, 1861/06/22.
Cincinnati (Ohio): box 1, folder 20 through box 2, folder 38.
Duties of a Quartermaster Sergeant: 1861/08/09, 1861/09/02.
Education -- Curricula -- United States -- History --19th century: box 2, folder 39-49.
Iowa -- Politics and government -- 19th century: 1860/06/24, 1861/10/07.
Journalism -- 19th century: box 1, folder 20 through box 2, folder 27.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Public opinion: 1861/02/12, 1863/04/09.
Medicine -- United States -- History -- 19th century: 1863/04/15, 1866/11/04, 1880/07/25.
Ohio Infantry -- 5th Regiment, 1861-1864: 1861/06/22, 1861/08/09, 1861/09/02, 1861/09/10.
Ohio -- Politics and government --19th century: 1861/10/07, 1863/04/19, 1863/05/07, 1863/10/29.
Ohio River (Ohio): 1861/03/03, 1861/09/02.
Peace Democrats (Copperhead movement): 1863/05/07, 1863/10/29.
Presbyterian Church: box 1, folder 37 through box 2, folder 38, 42-46, 51.
Women and children -- Social conditions -- 19th century: box 2; 39-53.
Temperance -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- History -- 19th century: 1863/06/28, 1864/10/23.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 - Participation, African American: 1863/02/13, 1863/04/09, 1863/04/15.
United States -- History - Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories -- Morgan's Cavalry Division (C.S.A.): 1862/07/15, 1862/07/18.
West Virginia -- History -- Farnsworth Blues: 1861/10/01, 1861/10/16, 1861/10/28.
West Virginia -- History -- Guerrilla warfare: 1861/08/09, 1861/09/10.
West Virginia -- History -- Civil War -- Union campaigns: 1861/08/09, 1861/09/10, 1861/10/01, 1861/10/28.
West Virginia -- History -- Squirrel Hunter Campaign, 1862: 1862/09/22.
Principal Letter Writers include:
Will Tomlinson (1823-1863): newspaper publisher and editor.
Eliza Wylie Tomlinson (1815-1885): Will's wife; writer and homemaker.
William Byers Tomlinson (1847-1917): Will and Eliza's son; newspaper publisher and editor.
Sarah Isabella Tomlinson (1853-1925): Will and Eliza's daughter; teacher and homemaker.
Other Family Members and Correspondents include:
Dr. Adam Wylie II (1785-1839): Eliza's father; medical doctor.
Sarah Byers Wylie (1788-1880): Eliza's mother.
Dr. Thomas Byers Wylie (1811-1864): Eliza's brother; medical doctor.
Dr. Adam Newton Wylie (1813-1891): Eliza's brother; medical doctor.
William B. Franklin Wylie (1824-1860): Eliza's brother; attorney at law.
Margaret Shannon Wylie (1826-1846): Eliza's sister.
Anne Tomlinson Hunter Skinner (1810-n.d.): Will's sister.
This series consists of oversize materials moved from Series 1.