William T. Morgans Diary
Scope and Content
This collection contains a diary maintained by Union officer William T. Morgans in 1865 during the American Civil War. The diary has daily accounts of the weather and Morgans' life, as well as detailed military happenings as his regiment moved from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. He mentions the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and his promotion from Sergeant Major to Lieutenant, all in April 1865.
Dates
- 1865
Creator
- Morgans, William T. , 1844-1882 (Person)
Language of Materials
The material in this collection is in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions
may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for
assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or
digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using
our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can
be requested using our publication/exhibition form:
http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Biographical Note
William Thomas Morgans (also Morgan) was born to Eleazer and Mary J. Morgans in New York in 1844. He enlisted in the Union Army as a Sergeant on August 21, 1862, to fight in the American Civil War. Morgans was placed in the 143rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and worked his way up to First Lieutenant, earning the honorary rank of Brevet Captain and mustering out on July 22, 1865. After the war, Morgans married Sofia Inderlied (1844-1918), and they had nine children.
After the war, Morgans is listed as a printer and type maker in the U.S. Federal Censuses. He established the Callicoon Recorder in Callicoon, New York, then the Liberty Register in Liberty, New York.
Around this time, Morgans also created his own printing press and a type-cutting machine. He and George Young formed the Youngs & Morgans Manufacturing Company in 1876 in Napanoch, New York, but their factory burned down in 1880. That same year, Morgans and H. K. Wilcox formed Morgans & Wilcox Manufacturing Company in Middletown, New York. Hamilton Wood Type Co. acquired the business in 1897.
Morgans died of pneumonia on April 14, 1882, and is buried alongside his wife in the Liberty Cemetery in Liberty, New York.
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census, 1850-1900
"William T. Morgans", Findagrave.com,https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54309299/william_t-morgans, accessed January 24, 2025.
"Morgan, William T.", National Park Service's Civil War Soldier Database, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=3E7F7ABC-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A, accessed January 29, 2025.
"Just As His Success Came, the Story of the Lad who Printed the Calicoon [sic] Recorder on a Press Made from a Maple Log and an Old Tombstone", the New York Sun, May 1, 1882, available online from the Library of Congress's Chronicling America database, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1882-05-01/ed-1/seq-4/, accessed January 29, 2025.
"William T Morgan" in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/1555/records/327662, accessed January 29, 2025.
"Morgans & Wilcox Proving Press", Howard Iron Works Printing Museum, https://howardironworks.org/assets/img/collection/hiw-pr-morgan-wilcox.html, accessed January 29, 2025.
"What Is Wood Type?", Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, https://woodtype.org/pages/what-is-wood-type, accessed January 29, 2025.
Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder)
Abstract
This collection contains a diary maintained by Union officer William T. Morgans in 1865 during the American Civil War. The diary has daily accounts of the weather and Morgans' life, as well as detailed military happenings as his regiment moved from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. He mentions the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and his promotion from Sergeant Major to Lieutenant, all in April 1865. After the war, Morgans (1844-1882) of New York was a newspaper publisher and inventor.
Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased by Special Collection and University Archives in 2017.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the William T. Morgans Diary by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the William T. Morgans Diary was completed in January 2025.
- Title
- William T. Morgans Diary, 1865
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Vibeka JensenOyaski, Student Assistant
- Date
- 2025 (CC0 1.0)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu