TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1855-1895
Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1856-1895
Series 3: Correspondence, Others, 1836-1905
Series 4: Writings of Ephraim C. Dawes, 1849-1894
Series 5: Writings of Others, 1851-1865
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Inventory of the Ephraim C. Dawes Papers, 1836-1905, bulk 1855-1895
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Joy L. Austria, 2008. ©2008. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Dawes, E. C. (Ephraim Cutler), b. 1840 |
| Title | Ephraim C. Dawes Papers |
| Dates | 1836-1905 |
| Dates | bulk 1855-1895 |
| Extent | 4 cubic ft. (9 boxes and 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Letters, diaries, scrapbooks and writings of Dawes and others, miscellaneous personal and military items, relating to Dawes’s service in the United States Civil War as adjutant and major in the 53rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Also material relating to his historical interests and his subsequent activities in the rail and coal industries in the Midwest. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Dawes |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 38 10 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Ephraim C. Dawes Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Mary D. Beach, 1951.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith, 2007.
Access
The Ephraim C. Dawes Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Ephraim C. Dawes Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Ephraim C. Dawes
Ohio businessman, Civil War soldier and military historian.
Ephraim Cutler Dawes, born near Marietta, Ohio, on May 27, 1840, was the youngest of the six children of Henry and Sarah Cutler Dawes: Henry, who died in 1860, Rufus, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg with the Wisconsin 6th Volunteer Infantry, and his three sisters, Jane, Kate and Lucy, to whom he wrote regularly during his Civil War service. His ancestors were prominent in Ohio history, as his great-grandfather, Manasseh Cutler, was one of the organizers of the Ohio Company, and his uncle, William P. Cutler, was a Member of Congress. First a student at the State University of Wisconsin, Dawes graduated from Marietta College in 1861, and soon enlisted in the 53rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry as First Lieutenant and Adjutant. Dawes served for three years and one month, from September 26, 1861 to October 25, 1864.
The Ohio 53rd took part of some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War, a few of which were the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and battles of Resaca and Atlanta. In January 1863, Dawes was promoted over the Captains of the line to be Major of his regiment. With this rank he served in the campaign under General Grant, which ended in the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He next took part in General Sherman’s advance against Jackson, Mississippi, and by early 1864 his regiment was with Sherman’s army in the advance against Atlanta, engaging in the battles at Resaca and Dallas, Georgia. It was during the action at Dallas that Dawes was severely wounded. The lower part of his jaw was shot off, and for months he remained disfigured, in terrible pain and unable to talk. Luckily, a Cincinnati surgeon, Dr. George C. Blackman, was able to reconstruct his jaw with a lower lip and teeth, and eventually Dawes recovered, living another thirty years.
Dawes was honorably discharged from the military in October 1854, and the following year he was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel. After his discharge, Dawes began his business career working for the Cincinnati railroad companies, and by 1867 he was engaged in extensive railroad construction and operation in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. The economic panic of 1873 sent him into bankruptcy, but Dawes started again, dealing in railroad supplies such as pig iron and oils, and working to develop the coal fields of Southern Illinois. He was able to establish a large and growing trade in St. Louis and Chicago and became president of the St. Louis and Big Muddy Coal Company, one of the largest mining companies in Illinois.
Notwithstanding his close attention to business, Dawes always found time for research, writing, publishing and even speaking on Civil War topics. He was intensely interested in everything connected with the war, and devoted the rest of his life to obtaining all the publications of historical or illustrative value that he could find on the subject. He accumulated a large and important collection of manuscripts, books, and pamphlets, making sure his collection would reflect both Union and Confederate points of view. Dawes was a member of numerous historical and literary societies and also published and sometimes spoke on other historical subjects.
In 1866, Ephraim Dawes married Frances Bosworth and they settled in Cincinnati. They had no children. Dawes died in 1895.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Letters mainly to family, diaries, scrapbooks, writings by Dawes and others, miscellaneous personal and military items, much of which relates to Dawes’s service in the Civil War as an officer in the 53rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Other material concerns Dawes’s college years and his later life as an historical scholar and writer, and businessman in the railroad and coal companies of the Midwest.
Information on the history of Dawes’s military service can be found in History of the Fifty-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry During the War of the Rebellion, by John K. Duke, Blade Printing Company, Portsmouth, Ohio, 1900.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
Papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1855-1895. Box(es) 1
- Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1856-1895. Box(es) 2
- Series 3: Correspondence, Others, 1836-1905. Box(es) 2
- Series 4: Writings of Ephraim C. Dawes, 1849-1894 . Box(es) 2-5
- Series 5: Writings of Others, 1851-1865 . Box(es) 5
- Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1864-1895. Box(es) 6
- Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1847-1899. Box(es) 7-9
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Blackman, George Curtis, 1819-1871
- Cutler, William Parker, 1812-1889
- Dawes family
- Dawes, E. C. (Ephraim Cutler), b. 1840
- Dawes, Rufus R. (Rufus Robinson), 1838-1899
- Marietta College
- United States. Army. Ohio 53rd Volunteer Infantry (1861-1865)
- United States. Army. -- Military life -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- University of Wisconsin
Subjects
- Amateur journalism -- Ohio -- Warren -- Specimens
- Atlanta Campaign, 1864 -- Personal narratives
- Brothers and sisters -- United States -- Correspondence
- Businessmen -- Middle West -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- Coal mines and mining -- Middle West
- College students -- United States -- Correspondence
- Correspondence -- Southern States -- 1861-1864
- Diaries -- 1860-1891
- Jackson (Miss.) -- History -- Siege, 1863 -- Personal narratives
- Manuscripts, American
- Parent and child -- Correspondence
- Physicians -- Ohio
- Railroads -- Middle West -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- Scrapbooks -- 1847-1899
- Shiloh, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 -- Personal narratives
- Soldiers -- Ohio -- Correspondence
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Correspondence
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
- Vicksburg (Miss.) -- History -- Siege, 1863 -- Personal narratives
- War wounds -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
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Container List
Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1855-1895 |
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| The outgoing correspondence consists of letters Dawes wrote while a student at the State University at Madison, Wisconsin, and Marietta College in Ohio, which reflect the interests and attitudes of an intelligent, articulate and politically-minded young man. Beginning in January, 1861, enrolled in the 53rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Dawes wrote regularly and often to his mother and siblings relating vivid details of his daily military life, including graphic descriptions of battles he has been in including Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Missionary Ridge, Resaca and Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, as well as observations on the behavior of soldiers in camp and in combat, his thoughts and opinions on the progress of the war and the future of the country, and many other topics that were on his mind. Dawes’s army career was over in May of 1864 because he was seriously wounded in the face, and his letters record this occurrence and the operations and painful recovery that followed. The post-war letters concern Dawes’s historical interests, family and business matters. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by correspondent. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Anderson, Charles, April 8, 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Andrews, I.W., Oct. 24, 1881-Jan. 31, 1888 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3-6 | Cutler, Julia (aunt), Nov. 20, 1856-Feb. 16, 1894 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Cutler, William P. (uncle), July 6, 1861-Dec. 19, 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Cutler, William P., June 20, 1866-Feb. 10, 1888 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Dawes, Charles G. (nephew), Nov. 22, 1884-May 18, 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Dawes, Frances B. (wife), Nov. 6, 1867-May 26, 1894 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Dawes, Henry (brother), March 23, 1855-March 9, 1857 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Dawes, Henry (father), June 12, 1857-July 17, 1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13-19 | Dawes, Kate (sister), Feb. 12, 1855-May 12, 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Dawes, Kate and Lucy (sisters), April 4, 1862-Oct. 20, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21-27 | Dawes, Lucy (sister), March 23, 1855-March 13, 1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 28-29 | Dawes, Rufus R. (brother), May 15, 1856-Feb. 2, 1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 30-32 | Dawes, Sarah Cutler (mother), July 21, 1855-Feb. 27, 1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Dawes, "Sister", April 13, 1862; Dec. 29, 1867 | |||||||||
| 1 | 34 | "Ephie" (nephew), Nov. 15, 1880 | |||||||||
| 1 | 35-38 | Folks, Feb. 20, 1862-Dec. 12, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 39 | Palmer, Major Jewett, March 24-28, 1888 | |||||||||
| 1 | 40-41 | Shedd, Jane Dawes (sister), March 1, 1855-Oct. 11, 1888 | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Shedd, John C. (nephew), Aug. 12, 1891-Jan. 20, 1895 | |||||||||
| 1 | 43-44 | Stephenson, William B. (friend), Oct. 28, 1861-July 18, 1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 45 | Stone, Frederick Dawson, Nov. 10, 1889 | |||||||||
| 1 | 46 | Miscellaneous, 1862-1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 47 | Miscellaneous, 1881-1884 and undated | |||||||||
Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1856-1895 |
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| The incoming letters to Dawes are varied, from army contacts, friends, family, historical organizations and business associates. | |||||||||||
| Letters arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 48 | Allen, J.V.H. to Ephraim C. Dawes, June 21, 1882 | |||||||||
| 2 | 49 | B (4 letters), 1889-1894 | |||||||||
| 2 | 50 | C (4 letters), 1856-1891 | |||||||||
| 2 | 51 | Cushing, Wade to Ephraim C. Dawes, 1893-1894 | |||||||||
| 2 | 52 | D (5 letters), 1856-1894 | |||||||||
| 2 | 53 | Ellison, Jas. E., March 24, 1895 | |||||||||
| 2 | 54 | F (6 letters), 1861-1893 | |||||||||
| 2 | 55 | G (3 letters), 1864, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 56 | Hipp, Charles, April 16, 1889 | |||||||||
| 2 | 57 | J-K (3 letters), 1887-1893 | |||||||||
| 2 | 58 | Jones, Wells S., 1864 | |||||||||
| 2 | 59 | M-P (4 letters), 1864-1894 | |||||||||
| 2 | 60 | R (4 letters), 1867-1893 | |||||||||
| 2 | 61 | S (4 letters), 1859-1870 | |||||||||
| 2 | 62 | T-W (3 letters), 1865-1891 | |||||||||
Series 3: Correspondence, Others, 1836-1905 |
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| A selection of letters written to or from other people, including a group of letters written by Dawes’s aunt, Julia Cutler, to members of the Dawes family, which contain transcriptions of Ephraim Dawes’s war letters. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 63 | A-B (3 letters), 1864-1905 | |||||||||
| 2 | 64 | C (5 letters), 1862-1865 | |||||||||
| 2 | 65 | Cockerill, J.R., 1863-1865 | |||||||||
| 2 | 66 | D (2 letters), 1861 | |||||||||
| 2 | 67 | Dawes family general correspondence, 1836-1894, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 68 | Dawes family war reports correspondence, 1860-1862 | |||||||||
| 2 | 69 | Fulton, J.W., July 15, 1861 | |||||||||
| 2 | 70 | G-L (4 letters), 1858-1875 | |||||||||
| 2 | 71 | M-P (2 letters), 1862-1864 | |||||||||
| 2 | 72 | R-V (7 letters), 1858-1876 | |||||||||
Series 4: Writings of Ephraim C. Dawes, 1849-1894 |
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| Student writings, diaries, bound transcriptions of diaries and letters, essays and speeches with topics from his first day under fire, the Battle of Shiloh and the Army of the Potomac, with many notes and fragments for historic articles and narratives. Also, a bound volume containing an inventory of Dawes’s book collection. The diaries consist of twenty-five pocket diaries Dawes kept from 1860-1891 and two bound volumes of copies of diaries and letters transcribed both by Dawes and his wife. Dawes’s writings include college material, and essay by Dawes entitled “My First Day Under Fire,” many miscellaneous notes and fragments for writing on historic and military topics, and a speech on the Army of the Potomac. There is also a bound volume titled “The War Library of Lieutenant-Colonel E.C. Dawes, 1885-1895”. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by subject matter or title. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 73 | Catalog of the War Library of Lt. Col. E. C. Dawes, 1885-1895 (See Case MS f F834.218) | |||||||||
| 2 | 74 | Compositions and stories, 1850-1861, undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 75 | Copies of diaries and letters (bound volume, formerly Case MS E5 .D32414), Oct. 9, 1861-May 14, 1863 | |||||||||
| 2 | 76 | Copies of diaries, letters and essays (bound volume, formerly Case MS E5 .D32416), 1862-1866, 1881 | |||||||||
| 3 | 77-86 | Pocket diaries, 1860-1882 | |||||||||
| 4 | 87-98 | Pocket diaries, 1882-1891 | |||||||||
| 5 | 99 | Essay: "Some Educational Notions", March 13, 1861 | |||||||||
| 5 | 100 | Essay: "Constitutional Intendments", ca. 1870s | |||||||||
| 5 | 101 | Essay: "First Day Under Fire", undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 102 | Letters to editors (2 letters), 1861-1865 | |||||||||
| 5 | 103 | Military history notes and fragments, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 104 | Notes and fragments, 1849, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 105 | Notes for narratives, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 106 | Ohio Company history notes and fragment, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 107 | Oration for commencement, "The True Reformer", June, 1861 | |||||||||
| 5 | 108 | Oration in behalf of the Psi Gamma Society contest, June 26,1860 | |||||||||
| 5 | 109 | Shiloh, April, 1862 | |||||||||
| 5 | 110 | Speech: Chapel speech, ca. 1861 | |||||||||
| 5 | 111 | Speech: Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, "The Army of the Potomac", undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 112 | Tribute of Eustace Ball, 1894, undated | |||||||||
Series 5: Writings of Others, 1851-1865 |
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| The writings of others include battle reports regarding Antietam, Gettysburg, Resaca, Spotsylvania, Kenesaw Mountain and Franklin (mostly by unknown authors), several narratives and military histories and copies of general orders and material regarding the Wisconsin 6th Volunteers, the Army of the Potomac and particular battle scenes. Also, two amateur newspapers of 1851, and some excerpts from the journals of Julia P. Cutler and John C. Hall. | |||||||||||
| Arranged by type of material, with military writings first | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 5 | 113 | Battle report: Antietam, author unknown, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 114 | Battle report: Battle of Franklin, Dec. 2, 1864 | |||||||||
| 5 | 115 | Battle report: Battle of Gettysburg, Wisconsin 6th Vols., July, 1863 | |||||||||
| 5 | 116 | Battle report: Battle of Gettysburg, Michigan 24th Vols., July, 1863 | |||||||||
| 5 | 117 | Battle report: Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 28, 1864 | |||||||||
| 5 | 118 | Battle report: Battle near Resaca, May 20, 1864 | |||||||||
| 5 | 119 | Battle report: Battles at Spotsylvania and Petersburg, May, June, 1864 | |||||||||
| 5 | 120 | General Orders, 1862-1865 | |||||||||
| 5 | 121 | Military history: Wisconsin 6th Volunteers ("Iron Brigade"), 1864; undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 122 | Narrative: Army of the Potomac, Dec., 1862-May, 1863 | |||||||||
| 5 | 123 | Narrative notes: "South Mountain", "Lost in the Woods", undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 124 | Amateur newspaper: "The Chip Basket"; "The Will-with-the- Wisp", 1851 | |||||||||
| 5 | 125 | Journal: Cutler, Julia P., 1862 | |||||||||
| 5 | 126 | Journal: Hall, John C., 6th Wisconsin Vols., 1863 | |||||||||
Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1864-1895 |
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| The miscellaneous material consists of some printed items such as the by-laws and membership of the Ohio Society of New York, the Sixth Annual Report of the St. Louis Southern Railroad Company, 1893, the roster of the Shiloh Battlefield Association, 1893, a copy of the 1877 supplement to the newspaper Observer, and a copy of the Abolitionist paper, The Christian Press, October, 1856. Also, a broadside calling for a miners’ strike and a few pieces of railroad material. Miscellaneous military items include Ephraim Dawes’s muster-in and muster-out documents, and official appointment as Lieutenant-Colonel, as well as a collection of items concerning his war wound in 1864. Also, an undated carte de visite of Dawes and a group of condolence letters and memorials following his death in 1895. | |||||||||||
| Arranged by type of material. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 6 | 127 | Articles "Operations of the Union Right", 1882 "Shiloh's First Day", 1886 | |||||||||
| 6 | 128 | Broadside: Shiloh Battlefield Association, 1893 | |||||||||
| 6 | 129 | Broadside: "Miners, Take Notice!", June 3, 1893; St. Louis and Big Muddy Coal Company, Carterville, IL | |||||||||
| 6 | 130 | The Literary Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882-1883 | |||||||||
| 6 | 131 | Memorabilia, 1865-1895 | |||||||||
| 6 | 132 | Military material: Dawes's Muster-In Roll (See Oversize), Sept. 26, 1861 | |||||||||
| 6 | 133 | Military material: Dawes's (first) Muster-out roll, June 29, 1863 (See Oversize) | |||||||||
| 6 | 134 | Military material: Dawes's appointment as Lt. Col. (See Oversize), March 13, 1865 | |||||||||
| 6 | 135 | Military material: Miscellany, 1861-1865; undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 136 | Newspaper: "The Christian Press" (See Oversize), October, 1856 | |||||||||
| 6 | 137 | Newspaper: "Observer Supplement" (See Oversize), 1877 | |||||||||
| 6 | 138 | Ohio Society of New York: By-laws, Constitution, Membership, etc. (See Oversize), May 1, 1886 | |||||||||
| 6 | 139 | Railroads material: Agreements, 1866-1870 | |||||||||
| 6 | 140 | Railroads material: 6th Annual Report, St. Louis Southern Railroad Company, 1893; Stock Committee, 1887 | |||||||||
| 6 | 141 | Photograph: Ephraim C. Dawes, undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 142 | Photographs: 2 buildings; the 6th president of University of Wisconsin, undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 143 | War wound material, 1864 | |||||||||
| 6 | 144 | Condolence letters and memorials, 1895 | |||||||||
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1847-1899 |
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| Four scrapbooks composed almost entirely of newspaper clippings, none of which are arranged in strict chronological order. Contents which range from 1847 to 1899, are roughly organized in each volume by interests of Dawes: his college life, his family, the Civil War and its aftermath, historical and military activities and societies, the railroad and coal industries, and other miscellaneous topics. Includes an 1895 obituary of Rufus R. Dawes. | |||||||||||
| Arranged in three boxes. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 7 | 145 | Scrapbook, 1847-1888 | |||||||||
| 7 | 146 | Scrapbook, 1849-1859 | |||||||||
| 8 | 147 | Scrapbook, 1851-1881 | |||||||||
| 9 | 148 | Scrapbook, 1864-1899 | |||||||||