Leander Gage King papers, 1861-1933.

The collection contains 116 letters written by Captain Leander Gage King, a Union officer serving with Company C 16th Massachusetts Regiment, to his wife Sarah Fannie Frances Brown (1835-1933) between August 1861 and June 1863. Topics include the movement of the regiment, morale, picketing drills, gun battles (specifically a shell battle at Newport News, Virginia, and the destruction of the USS Cumberland followed by the arrival of the USS Monitor), a tour of the USS Minnesota and Merrimac, furlough requests, and a visit by his wife and daughter at Camp Hamilton. There are numerous letters concerning King having been taken prisoner (eventually paroled in Richmond, Virginia) and the regiments involvement in the Battle of Bull Run. Also included is a sketch on the back of a letter of Kings camp quarters and garden with pathways named after city streets such as Middlesex Ave and Massachusetts Ave. Other correspondence includes five letters by Sarah Frances (Brown) King to her husband, a letter to Captain King by his brother Daniel L. King from New Orleans, four letters from other Company officers to Captain King, three letters by Company officers to Mrs. King, and two letters by George L. Day to Mrs. King.

The collection contains more than 130 original documents relating to Leander Gage King's command of Company C: five military commission certificates for Leander G. King 1851-1861; company order book 1861-1862; roll of enlistment; monthly returns concerning present, absent, and status-altered company members 1861-1863; quarterly returns, invoices and lists of ordnance and ordnance stores for weapons, instruments, and accessories 1861-1863; quarterly returns, invoices, inventory, and lists of clothing, camp & garrison equipage / Quartermaster stores; two lists of camp and garrison equipage ... inspected ... for condemnation; allotment roll of wages to be reserved for later distribution to assigned persons (1862); and a certificate of disability for discharge issued by Capt King for Private Milan A. Stiles (1862). Other documents include Expenses of O. N. Wing in recovering the remains of Capt. L. G. King and Sergt. Jerome S. Parker from Gettysburg, Pa. (1863); resolution of Caleb Butler Lodge Free Accepted Masons (1863), paperwork concerning a burial plot at Woodlawn Cemetery (Ayer, Mass.); pension allocation for Sarah Frances (Brown) King and an application for reimbursement for Florence (King) Vermille of Ocean Park, Calif. after her mother's death (1933).