Trella Romine transcribed the Civil War letters of Lucius Carhart – here is her introduction to the project:
THE LUCIUS CARHART CIVIL WAR LETTERS
A call from my friend Ruth Carhart, Marion, Ohio, launched me into one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. She told me she had “some Civil War letters that Ralph had treasured” and ask if I would like to see them. When I visited her she handed me a 12 x 15″ box. When I opened it I found it crammed with envelopes, all 5 x 3″–over 100 of them (125 final count). She told me they were from Ralph’s grandfather, Lucius Carhart to his family in Tanktown, Delaware County. (descent line: Ralph, Fred, Lucius, Isaac). Most of them were addressed to Isaac Carhart but I also noticed some addressed to Miss Mary Crawford, Berkshire, Delaware Co., Ohio.
When I carefully drew a letter from the tiny envelope and started reading I felt that these were exceptional letters. Ruth related that Lucius in later life moved to Marion and lived on Mt. Vernon Avenue across from the Harding Home, (living there alone except for the apartment on the second floor (the one that Ruth Ruhlman was living in when she died!) until he was past 100 years old. One day a neighbor called Fred and said, “You’d better get over here. Your dad is up on the roof repairing the shingles.” Later, as I read Lu’s letters and realized the extent of his Civil War service I was glad to know that he had survived, and had lived a long and useful life. This also tied him to Marion County history and census records show that he had moved to Marion by 1900. Ruth told me that her son-in-law, Richard Borland, wanted to keep the original letters but she loaned them to me to copy and transcribe. This has taken about three months as I worked around my busy schedule.
I also researched the census records for the Carhart family in Berlin Township, and found the relationship of those mentioned in the letters. The family consisted of three sons, George, Lucius, and Orville. The only daughter was Almeda.
From the letters I learned that Lucius had enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 9, 1861, and had reported to Columbus, Ohio and soon was sent to Covington, Kentucky. His last letter dated June 7, 1865 from Mobile, Alabama indicates that he expects to be released by the end of August. The 1883 Marion County History includes the history of the 96th Regiment OVI and notes that they were mustered out on July 7, 1865. Many of these letters were written under fire of battle, and I soon felt that I knew Lu Carhart pretty well. He loved his family, he was alert to political issues, he was observant of his surroundings, and he had firm opinions.
I also learned that punctuation and capitalization was evidently not an important part of grammar instruction in the mid 1800’s, even though penmanship was prized.
The letters were easily divided into two groups–the ones addressed to Isaac Carhart (at Tanktown, Delaware County https://maps.app.goo.gl/3p7eTE4PF1NfsFgL6 and members of his family–and the ones addressed to Miss Mary Crawford. These were written by Orloff Norton and have their own story to tell of love blighted by distance and the war. Why were these letters in the Carhart family? They do not know who they were. The census of 1880 shows Lucius Carhart with a wife named Mary, but I found he did not marry Mary Crawford. His wife was Mary Tory. The original letters have been placed in archival sleeves along with envelopes, and placed in a notebook. These will be returned to Ruth Carhart. Five copies have been made of the originals and the transcriptions. One will be kept in the archives of The Marion County Historical Society, three will be given to Ruth Carhart for herself and her two daughters, and I will keep one to use in compiling this material for future use. I feel these letters should be published in some form, and hope my transcriptions can be the basis for that publishing. As I transcribed I used an outline of the major Civil War battles, and that verified what Lucius was writing. These letters of personal history deserve a place in our local, state, and national history with footnotes relating them to the history of the war.
July 7, 1998 (revised January, 1999)
I have not corrected spelling or punctuation. However to make reading easier I have inserted paragraphs.
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