TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary of the Collection

Administrative Information

Biographies of Francema and Otis Mason

Scope and Content of the Collection

Arrangement

Selected Search Terms

Container List

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Inventory of the Francema Mason - Otis Mason Correspondence, 1863-1876, bulk 1863-1868 The Newberry Library Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections 60 West Walton Street Chicago, Illinois 60610-7324 USA Phone: 312-255-3506 Fax: 312-255-3646 E-Mail: specialcolls@newberry.org URL: http://www.newberry.org Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Claudette Rocan, 2003. ©2003.

Administrative Information

Cite As

Francema Mason - Otis Mason Correspondence, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Provenance

Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum Rare Manuscripts and Archives, October 2002, Accession No. 2002103007.

Processed by

Claudette Rocan, 2003.

Access

The Francema Mason - Otis Mason Correspondence is open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum, and items in each folder will be counted before and after delivery to the patron (Priority I).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Francema Mason - Otis Mason Correspondence is the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

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Biographies of Francema and Otis Mason

Illinois Union soldier and his spouse, whose families originated in New York and Vermont.

Francema Agnes Smith was born on January 18, 1837 at Orwell, Addison County, Vermont. Otis Sylvester Mason was born September 2, 1833 in Rural, Steuben County, New York. Francema Smith and Otis Mason married on August 15, 1862 in Pontiac, Livingston County, Illinois. Otis Mason enlisted with Company E of the 129th Illinois Infantry on August 9, 1862; and he served in the Civil War as a sergeant. He was wounded and subsequently discharged May 25, 1865.

Otis and Francema Mason had six children: William Burnside (1864), Laura Elizabeth (1868), Ora Smith (1870), Fannie Adelia (1873), Arminta (1875), and Earl Arthur (1880). By 1870, the Mason family had moved to Pawnee City, Nebraska, and by the late 1870s, they moved again to Tecumseh, Nebraska. Francema and Otis Mason died in Tecumseh, Nebraska: Francema on September 6, 1911, and Otis Mason on May 25, 1919.

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Scope and Content of the Collection

Correspondence, mainly addressed to Francema Mason, including letters from Otis Mason during his Civil War service with the 129th Illinois Infantry in the South.

Otis Mason's Civil War letters indicate that he marched to Bowling Green, Kentucky in November, 1862. The 129th Regiment reached Mitchellville, Tennessee as a garrison unit in December, 1862, and they reached Nashville, Tennessee by October, 1863. Otis Mason marched across Georgia in 1864 to join the army under the command of General Sherman. The letters largely consist of his concerns for his wife's well-being and details of his daily routine. Otis Mason also discusses the regiment's movements and comments on Union generals such as Sherman and Rosecrans. Many of the letters are cross-written.

Unless otherwise specified, all other letters from friends and family are addressed to Francema Mason. A friend originally from Fairbury, Illinois and who had moved to Topeka, Kansas writes of the women's suffrage movement in Kansas in 1876. A relative writes about Native Americans and the gold rush from Deadwood, South Dakota in July, 1876. A wedding invitation for the 1873 wedding of Daniel Crompsey and Nora Caldwell is also included.

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Arrangement

Letters arranged alphabetically.

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Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.

Names

• Brown, Olympia, 1835-1926
• Mason family
• Mason, Francema A., 1837-1911 -- Correspondence
• Mason, Otis S., 1833-1919 -- Correspondence
• Rosecrans, William, 1819-1898 -- Public opinion
• Sherman, William Tecumseh, 1820-1891 -- Public opinion
• United States. Army -- Officers -- Correspondence
• United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 129th (1862-1865)

Subjects

• Correspondence -- Kansas -- 1851-1900
• Correspondence -- South Dakota -- Deadwood -- 1851-1900
• Correspondence -- Southern States -- 1851-1900
• Deadwood (S.D.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Georgia -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Husband and wife -- Correspondence
• Illinois -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Kansas -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Kentucky -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Livingston County (Ill.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Madison (Ind.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Manuscripts, American
• Michigan -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Mississippi -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Soldiers -- Illinois -- Fairbury -- Correspondence
• Soldiers -- Kansas -- Correspondence
• Soldiers -- Southern States -- Correspondence
• Soldiers writings, American
• Tennessee -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• Topeka (Kan.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military Life
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
• Women -- Suffrage -- Kansas -- History -- 19th century -- Sources

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