This collection contains five letters relating to Abram Clendening, a soldier in the 5th Independent Company, Ohio Sharpshooters during the American Civil War, and other members of his family. Included is a single letter written by Clendening at Port Clinton, [Ohio], on December 16, 1863, in which he provides his reasons for enlisting and notes that he will be home for Christmas on a 20-day furlough. Most of the remaining letters relate to events surrounding Clendening's death, the disposition of his personal effects and money, and the location of his grave. Included are letters from George P. Shook and Merella E. Shook of Port Clinton; A. Tilotson [Augustus Tillotson] of the 5th Ohio Sharpshooters; Jacob Hopkins and Eli Doil, the sexton and assistant sexton, respectively, at the U. S. Post Hospital, Bridgeport, Alabama; and A. [Andrew] Clendening, Mill Creek (Berkeley County), West Virginia. The collection also contains a single letter from Boyd Clendening at Johnson's Island, Ohio, to J. H. C. [James H. Clendening], attempting to convince the Clendenings to leave "that rebble country" in West Virginia and move to Ohio. The collection also includes a stamped envelope addressed to James H. Clendening, Mill Creek, Berkeley Co., W. Va.