Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78036459
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of O. M. Poe, United States army officer and civil engineer, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Eleanor Carroll Poe, between 1910 and 1915. Additional material was given to the Library by Mrs. Henry Fitzhugh between 1928 and 1982 and by Mary F. Bell between 1982 and 1995.
The papers of O. M. Poe were arranged and described in 1984 and 1994. The finding aid was revised in 2008.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Some photographs, drawings, and a steel engraving plate have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Some printed materials have been transferred to the Serial and Government Publications Division and to the general collections of the Library. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the O. M. Poe papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of O. M. Poe in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of O. M. Poe are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site, and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, O. M. Poe Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Orlando Metcalfe Poe (1832-1895) span the years 1852-1922. The bulk of the collection relates to Poe's Civil War service, his friendship and service as aide-de-camp to General William T. Sherman, and his postwar military and engineering career during 1863-1885. The papers are arranged as Diaries and Notebooks , Family Correspondence , General Correspondence , Special Correspondence , Letterbooks , Miscellany , Addition , Oversize , and Artifacts .
The papers include three diaries and a combination notebook-diary kept by Poe during the Civil War that document progressively more responsible chief engineer service with several commands beginning with the Army of Ohio and eventually encompassing the Western theater under Sherman during campaigns in Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The letterbooks provide Poe's daily record of the Civil War period, his postwar engineering career, and his service from 1873 to 1884 as aide-de-camp to Sherman.
The Family Correspondence includes correspondence of family members Henry Fitzhugh and Rebecca Wise and correspondence relating to the death of Winnifred Poe.
General Correspondence includes letters exchanged with Hartman Bache, Zachariah Chandler, Jacob M. Howard, William F. Raynolds, Charles N. Turnbull, and Robert S. Williamson.
The Special Correspondence consists of letters between Poe and his family and William T. Sherman and his family, including approximately one hundred postwar letters from Sherman to Poe. Included are photocopies of annotations made by Sherman on letters found in the General Correspondence.
The Miscellany includes maps, drawings, reports, and clippings relating to engineering projects Poe supervised after the Civil War, including the Spectacle Reef lighthouse on Lake Huron, the Illinois and Mississippi Canal in Illinois, and the Soo canals at Saulte Ste. Marie, Michigan. Biographical data on Poe can be found in the clippings as well as the biographical material file.
The Addition relates to the deaths of Poe and his son Charles in 1895.
This collection is arranged in eight series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78036459
Commonplace book, wartime diaries, and record notebooks.
Arranged chronologically.
Incoming and outgoing letters of Poe family members.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent and chronologically thereunder.
Incoming and outgoing letters.
Arranged chronologically.
Primarily incoming letters of William T. Sherman and Sherman family members.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent and chronologically thereunder.
Letterpress volumes containing copies of incoming and outgoing letters. Includes an index for 1865-1867.
Arranged chronologically.
Speeches and essays, letters of recommendation, military reports and documents, maps and blueprints, scrapbooks, biographical material, newspaper clippings, checks and receipts, correspondence, and other papers.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Correspondence, clippings, calling cards, and miscellaneous material related to the deaths of Poe and his son.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Maps, plans, newspapers, and newspaper clippings.
Organized and described according to the series from which they were removed.
Military insignia.
Organized and arranged according to the series from which it was removed.