Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Week

News from 150 years ago

this is the end …

Posted on June 17, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times June 22, 1865: THE SUICIDE OF RUFFIN.; The Man who Fired the First Gun on Fort Sumter Blows His Brains Out He Prefers Death to Living Under the Government of the United States. Correspondence of the … Continue reading →

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no war, no work

Posted on June 15, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today The Chicago Times reprinted a report from the one-time capital of the Confederacy. Richmond was swarming with former rebel soldiers unable to find work: The Chicago editors had a hunch that the war’s end meant bounty-jumpers … Continue reading →

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Elmira bound

Posted on June 13, 2015 by SUMPTER

Three from Seneca County, New York newspapers in June 1865: There are 50,000 sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals throughout the country. It is estimated that 120,000 men will be mustered out of the service of the United States … Continue reading →

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patriots’ monuments

Posted on June 11, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today two monuments were dedicated on the Bull Run battlefields. It seems to have been an all Yankee occasion on Virginia soil. Well, the North lost both the battles but won the war. You can view a … Continue reading →

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European vacation

Posted on June 9, 2015 by SUMPTER

The June 7, 1865 issue of The New-York Times devoted two-thirds of its front page to publicizing steamship lines that offered Americans pleasant postbellum getaways: The Way to Europe. Enterprise and Prosperity of the Transatlantic Steamship Companies. Great Ferries Across … Continue reading →

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“dislocating his already swollen wrist”

Posted on June 8, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago yesterday Gotham “was in a blaze of excitement” – Lieutenant-General Grant was in town! (and by the way there was a monster meeting at the Cooper Institute to show support for President Johnson and his administration; the … Continue reading →

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southern social war?

Posted on June 6, 2015 by SUMPTER

The National Government “has freed the four millions of slaves by its own deliberate acts, and it is bound to take care that this freedom shall benefit, and not injure them.” – hopefully with the support of the state governments … Continue reading →

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how big the burden?

Posted on June 4, 2015 by SUMPTER

The June 4, 1865 issue of The New-York Times headlined the huge national debt that Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch reported. The following article (which we know was published sometime in May) argued that the burden of a nation’s … Continue reading →

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General Grant agrees

Posted on June 3, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago yesterday General Grant issued a congratulatory order to the troops. He zeroed in on slavery as the “the cause and pretext of the rebellion.” From The New-York Times June 5, 1865: THE LIEUT.-GENERAL TO OUR ARMIES.; Grant … Continue reading →

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“perhaps necessary that we should pass through this last ordeal”

Posted on June 2, 2015 by SUMPTER

Things are thankfully winding down here but wanted to mention that 150 years ago today I could have read all about the June 1st Day of Humiliation and Prayer called by President Johnson for the purpose of mourning the assassination … Continue reading →

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