- Collection:
- America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia
- Title:
- Harriss family letters 1864-1865
- Creator:
- Harriss family
- Date of Original:
- 1864/1865
- Subject:
- Andersonville Prison
Camp Lawton (Prison stockade)
Prisoners of war - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Jenkins County, Millen, 32.80405, -81.94928
United States, Georgia, Sumter County, Andersonville, 32.19599, -84.13991 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/x-djvu
application/pdf - Description:
- This collection contains letters between members of the Harriss family dated 1864 to 1865. The first letter, dated 12 November 1864 was rewritten on 27 November 1863(4) by a messenger after the original was damaged in route to Illinois. It was originally written from Corp. Jordan Carroll Harriss while at Camp Lawton Prison in Millen, Georgia, to his wife, Eliza Harriss, of Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois. It mentions prison and the conditions under which he is living. His wife's reply, dated 23 December 1864 is also included in the collection. In it, she describes the joy she feels knowing that he is alive. The last letter in the collection is dated 4 May 1865 and is from Corp. Edward M. Harriss and Jordan Harriss to their parents and relatives in Jacksonville, Florida. In this letter they express the hardships of prison life and mention the deaths of both Richard Wilks and Orson Thornton (Jordon's brother-in-law).
Jordan Carroll Harriss was born circa 1841 in Illinois and was married to Eliza Harriss. He enlisted as a Corporal in the Union Army on 7 August 1862 while living in Perry County, Illinois. He served in Company A, 81st Infantry Regiment Illinois and was promoted to Full Sergeant by the time he mustered out on 17 June 1865. Jordan's brother, Edward M. Harriss enlisted in the Union Army on 8 January 1862 while living in Perry County, Illinois. He also served in Company A, 81st Infantry Regiment Illinois and was promoted to Full Corporal. Both brothers were captured after a battle near Guntown, Mississippi, on 10 June 1864. For the remainder of the war they were held as prisoners of war throughout the South including Andersonville Prison and Camp Lawton, both located in Georgia.
America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia received support from a Digitizing Historical Records grant awarded to the Atlanta History Center, Georgia Historical Society, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Digital Library of Georgia by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. - External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_turningpoint_ghs2260-001
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ghs/turningpoint/do:ghs2260-001
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia Historical Society
- Rights:
-
