"When the President was in the city lying in state, Cousin William took us to see him. The Hall where he lay was beautifully draped with black. The coffin was one nest[?] of flowers. I had never seen [Lincoln] before, but they say he looked very natural."

Letter archive of the Brooke Family of Pennsylvania, comprising eight letters and additional document fragments from the 19th century. Of the eight letters, three date from before the war, between 1829 and 1843. The other five letters date from the Civil War, including three penned by Captain Benjamin Brooke. Features interesting war-time and abolitionist content from both the soldier's and homefront perspectives. Of particular note is an eyewitness account of Lincoln's Philadelphia Funeral.

The patriarch of the Brooke family was Hugo Jones Brooke (1805-1876) of Radnor, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. A gentleman farmer, the early letters included in the archive are from his correspondence from his nascent political career in the Pennsylvania statehouse. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Whig in 1843 & 1844. He then represented Radnor in the Pennsylvania State Senate as a Whig in 1849 and 1851, before returning from 1870 to 1873 as a Republican. He married Jemima Elizabeth Longmire (1809-1888) in 1829, and together they had 9 children, including Benjamin Brooke (1840-1902), who served in Company B of the 203rd Pennsylvania Infantry and penned three of the letters included here. Benjamin Brooke is not to be confused with his Uncle Benjamin (1812-1880), who penned the 24 January 1843 letter included in this archive.

The Civil War letters offer a compelling perspective of the War from both the front and the homefront. Included is an incomplete letter by a member of the Brooke family, addressed to a "cousin," the author expresses deep emotion engendered by the ongoing Civil War: "But great as is our grief when our loved ones are dying surrounded by loving hearts + hands + all the comforts of home, how much greater must be that grief for those young loved + loving sons who fall in the thick of Battle or wounded on the field after days of neglect or in hospitals far from home with no loving looks, + cares + far, far, worse + more grievous the poor prisoners...in Rebel prisons how fiend like + inhumane, language has no power to depict such barbarity." The author, obviously an abolitionist, continues with comments on the future of the formerly enslaved: "...the cause of the war (slavery) may be forever destroyed and the Freedman cared for, educated, and elevated as a balance of Power against the vile Copperhead + Traitor North + South. Mary Tyler + Myself returned yesterday from attending the 2 day, of the 3rd decade of the American Anti-Slavery Society (+ its last) + one day The Pennsylvania A.S.S. in /43 I was at the 1st. I cannot describe the meeting suffice to say it was all that Talent + Eloquence continued could do, to, Interest, please + delight..."

Captain Benjamin Brooke (1840-1902), the son of Hugh Jones and Jemima, enlisted on 12 September 1864 as a captain and was commissioned into Company B of the 203rd Pennsylvania Infantry. While in the field, he wrote to one of his brothers: "George Fildes came here yesterday he is wounded in the hand with a bull..was struck on the leg with a piece of shell but did not break the flesh only bruising. John Chambers of Co. A came home yesterday he is wounded in his arse it is only a flesh wound he was on the ground at the time it happened." Several other letters written by Brooke are included and feature war content.

The final letter included is written by Sarah Brooke to her brother Benjamin, still with his regiment, on 10 May 1865. She provides her account of the Philadelphia funeral for Abraham Lincoln which she attended with their cousin: "When the President was in the city lying in state, Cousin William took us to see him. The Hall where he lay was beautifully draped with black. The coffin was one nest[?] of flowers. I had never seen him before but they say he looked very natural. We were not in the line but Cousin William took us in at a private entrance. The crowd down Chestnut St. was terrible. At one time the line extended from the State House up as afar as 20th. The day that the body arrived in the city, I saw the procession." She continues with an remarkable story of mistaken identity: "On that Sunday two men from Norristown went to Cousin William and asked him if it was so that Nate had been arrested for Booth the assassin of the President. That very evening Nate went down Chestnut St, and as he was coming up Chestnut a woman in the line said to some one near by, 'My heavens but don't that man look like Booth!'"

Pre-war letters and fragment, most affixed to later scrapbook leaves, include: Autograph letter signed by H. Jones Brooke to his wife Jemima. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 11 February 1829. 3 pages, 4to. A lengthy meditation on his relationship with religion. -- Autograph letter signed by Benjamin Brooke (1812-1880), to his brother H. Jones Brooke. Radnor, [Pennsylvania], 24 January 1843. 2 pages, 4to, with integral address panel to verso. -- Autograph letter to H. Jones Brooke. Spread Eagle, [Pennsylvania], 20 February 1843. 1 page, 4to, with integral address panel to verso. Addressed to Brooke at the House of Representatives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A business letter. -- Fragments of a letter by Mary Brooke (1785-1853), to her daughter-in-law Jemima Brook. N.p., 1840s-1850s? Incomplete, 2 fragments from an 1 page letter, 4to.

Civil War letters: Autograph letter to Cousin. [Delaware County, Pennsylvania], 186?. 4 pages, 8vo, incomplete. -- Autograph letter signed by Benjamin Brooke, to his brother. Aquia Creek, Virginia, 4 May 1863. 3 pages, 8vo. -- ALS by Benjamin Brooke to his brother. [Chaffin's?] Farm, 6 & 8 October 1864. 4 pages, 8vo. -- ALS by Benjamin to his Brother. In the Field Before Rich[mond], 21 November 1864. 2 pages, 4to. -- ALS by Sarah Brooke [Lewis] to her brother Benjamin Brooke. Media, Pennsylvania 10 May 1865. 5 pages (on 4 leaves, overlapping), 8vo, with original envelope with red 3 cent postage stamp, and 2 Media stamps (affixed to later album leaf).

Also includes, 3 additional manuscripts: Autograph document. 4 pages, 12mo, 4 1/2 x 7 in. Lists Brooke family genealogy from the 17th century, paper and hand suggest that it was written in the mid 19th century. -- Homestead partly printed document. Platte, Nebraska, 16 October 1884. 1 page. Completed in manuscripts. John H. Abbott purchased land for $18. -- Autograph letters signed by "Cousin Dora" to Helen. Crystal Lake, Illinois, 24 January 1922. 8 pages. An account of family history, including that of Sarah Sproule and Joshua Maxwell of Nova Scotia, and David Maxwell and Lucy Bollins of New Orleans during the Civil War.

A fascinating letter archive.

Condition: Some letters affixed to antique scrapbook leaves, occasional separations along old folds. A complete condition report is available upon request.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Assassination, John Wilkes Booth, Manuscripts, Letters, Documents, Ephemera, Pennsylvania]