Biographical notice of Henry Mears Sr., 1873

File — Box: 4294.001, Folder: 05

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The collection contains one travel diary that Virginia Mears kept while she and her husband were on a trip from Philadelphia to New Orleans in February and March 1861, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. The first portion of their trip was by train through Pittsburgh and Chicago to Cairo, Illinois, where they boarded a boat on the Mississippi River. Mears describes the cities and towns they visited on the Mississippi on their journey to New Orleans, including Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. The conservative Mears did not enjoy their evening at a New Orleans opera house where she “must have been the only lady in the place with a high necked dress on . . .” While in the South she mentions seeing plantations and enslaved persons, both at work and at rest on Sundays. She suffered from an illness while on the journey,

In addition to the Virginia Mears travel diary, the collection contains family marriage licenses, Mears children education records, family history materials, and funeral records. There are fifty-three photographs, most of which are unidentified cartes des visite (CDV).

Dates

1873

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.