A group of 6 works related to the prominent Ewing family of Ohio.

General Sherman's life was tightly intertwined with the Ewing Family of Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing, Sr. (1789-1871) was a prominent Whig and later Republican politician, serving as a US Senator (1850-1851), the Secretary of the Treasury (1841), and as the first Secretary of the Interior (1849-1850). He served as foster father to William Tecumseh Sherman, who would marry Ewing's daughter, Ellen. These books written by, and about, Ewing family members were an important collection in the Sherman family's library.

The lot includes:

1. Memorial of Thomas Ewing, of Ohio. New York: The Catholic Publication Society, 1873. INSCRIBED: "For my little son Philemon T. Sherman with the devoted love his mother Ellen Ewing Sherman. Washington D.C. Jan 7th 1874." to front free end paper. P. Tecumseh Sherman bookplate. Full morocco.

2. The Letter from the Hon. Thomas Ewing (1789-1871) on the Protection of the Lands of the Lower Mississippi Valley by Waste Weirs. Published in the Cincinnati Commercial July 4, 1870. [Manassas, Virginia]: [Journal], 1870.

3. In Memoriam. Charles Ewing. "By His Youngest Corporal". Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1888. With "W.T. Sherman" and "P. Tecumseh Sherman" bookplates. Original blue cloth.

4. Discourse by Monsignor Peter Guilday on the occasion of the reinterment, with military honors, of General Charles Ewing and of his infant daughter Elizabeth at Arlington National Cemetery. October 17, 1935. [Washington, D.C.], 1935.

5. [Thomas Ewing]. Lincoln and the General Land Office, 1849. Reprinted from The Illinois State Historical Society. Vol. XXV, No. 3, October 1932.

6. Thomas Ewing, Jr. Hon. Thomas Ewing. Gen. Thomas Ewing. Chicago: The Century Publishing and Engraving Company, n.d.


PROVENANCE:

The Sherman-Fitch Library

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases, where General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not always affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.


[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Books, Politics]