Powerful collection of thirty-two ALSs from Ohioan newspaper editor Jonathan Frank Harmon, all signed “Frank,” dated between 1861 and 1887, the majority are addressed to his future wife, Cecilia C. Viles. One letter, dated February 6, 1961, in part: “The excitement in the political world of the United States is very great. It seems hardly possible now to prevent a dissolution of the Union. I believe that we have got to have civil war any way and that it will be some time before it is settled. But right will eventually triumph, and wrong and oppression, though, at first it may appear to have the advantage, must fall”; another, dated April 11, 1861, in part: “Our latest Southern news make things in that direction look quite warlike. I am glad that the Administration are determined to keep Maj. Anderson in Fort Sumter, and supply him with men and provisions”; and a third, dated April 18, 1861, in part: “The war spirit is very high here and I am thinking some about going. A company is being formed here that will go if necessary. I have partly pledged to go…It is a terrible thing to be engaged in civil war, especially in a country like ours, the most intelligent and enlightened on the earth, but one part has rebelled, and appear determined to destroy this government…those who go will have to endure privations and hardships which they never dreamed of here; many will never return, while many will return maimed for life. But none of these things should have the least weight on one who feels it to be his duty to go. Every man should feel like making any sacrifice, even of his life if necessary, for the government that protects him.” Includes a calling card for his wife Cecilia, as well as a furlough for Harmon, dated December 23, 1861. In overall very good to fine condition. All but one of the letters are accompanied by original mailing envelopes, each postmarked a day or two after the letter was written. Harmon was the editor of the Lorain County News in Oberlin, Ohio, prior to the Civil war. He enlisted into the Union Army and joined the 7th Ohio Infantry, Company C, and earned appointment as a postmaster in 1865.
