Sale 2455 - Printed & Manuscript Americana, September 28, 2017

182 180 c   (NAVY.) Thompson, Ebenezer. Archive of 50 letters home by a naval carpenter during and after the Civil War. 50 Autograph Letters Signed to his wife and children; minor to moderate wear, a few with closed tears. Vp, 1862-71 [400/600] Ebenezer Thompson (1817-1912) was a native of Portsmouth, VA, and joined the United States Navy in 1849, eventually reaching the rank of chief carpenter. He settled his family in Philadelphia before the war, and served in the Union Navy. 11 of these letters were written during his Civil War service aboard the USS Minnesota and USS Fort Jackson, mostly to his daughter Ida Thompson (1844-1922) These letters are full of tender fatherly advice, but contain very little on his naval service. After the war, he wrote 7 letters from the USS Brooklyn, 1866-67 and 32 from the USS Richmond, 1868-71.These later letters are more interesting. In the first post-war letter to Ida, he hints of resent- ment among his Virginian family for his Union service: “I am truly sorry to learn that your uncles Robert & John have nothing to do. . . . I fear they have lost a propper simpathy towards me but as I am concious of no wrong towards any of them . . . therefore feel very much grieved at the coldness shown to me and your dear mother” (12 April 1866).Two long letters from mid-1867 give detailed descriptions of Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding countryside. Most of the letters written from the USS Richmond are addressed to his wife Ann Eliza Carter Thompson (1825-1895) while stationed in France and Italy. Four letters are also addressed to son Carter S.Thompson (1855-1912). with —two leaves of family records removed from a family Bible, spanning from 1791-1934 * and 4 letters from son Carter Thompson while a student at the University of Virginia, 1872. 181