Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Folder Listing
Cataloging Information
Processed
by:
Ellen Swain
8 July 1992
Updated 14 May 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 3 folders and 1 oversized folder
COLLECTION DATES: 1862-1865, 1895
PROVENANCE: Luella Finkenbiner, Franklin, IN, December 1962
RESTRICTIONS: None
COPYRIGHT: Held by Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMAT: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: See card catalogue under United States History - Civil War, 1861-1865 and Indiana History - Civil
War, 1861-1865
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1962.1201
James H. Kelly, son of Madison and Eliza Paterson Kelly, was born in Franklin Township, Johnson County, Indiana on September 12, 1838. He was mustered into Company I Seventieth Indiana Infantry on August 1, 1862 and served with that regiment for the duration of the War. The Seventieth spent practically all of its enlistment in the South where it fought in the battles of Russellville, Resaca, Cassville, New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, Kenesaw, Marietta, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, and Savannah. Kelly was mustered out on June 8, 1865 as First Sergeant. After participating in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., he returned to Johnson County where he married Mary A. Henderson. After a career in farming, he spent his last years at home on East Pearl Street, Greenwood, Indiana.
Source:
Branigan, Elba L. History of Johnson County, Indiana, Indianapolis: B.F.Bowen, 1913.
Terrell, W.H.H. Report of W.H.H. Terrell Adjutant General, Indiana, vol. VI Indianapolis: Samuel M. Douglass, 1866.
Material found in the collection.
The collection contains the autobiographical account of James H. Kelly's Civil War experiences. Written from his letters after the war, Kelly describes in great detail the Seventieth Indiana Infantry's involvement in various battles. He provides an especially rich account of happenings at Resaca, Cassville, Marietta, Peach Tree Creek, and the siege of Atlanta. Kelly also discusses soldiers' living conditions, sore feet, lack of warm clothing, bad food, hospital experiences, and encounters with southern families on the plantation. In addition, he provides personal stories about the men of the Seventieth and comments on slavery and the southern lifestyle The one hundred ten page journal is stored in two folders. A third folder contains a transcript of the journal. OM 0278 contains Kelly's printed pictorial record of service broadside published in 1895 by J.P. Calvert, Mooresville, IN.
FOLDER CONTENTS
1 Journal, 1862-1865 part 1
2 Journal, 1862-1865 part 2
3 Transcript of Journal
4 (OM 0278) Pictorial Record of Service Broadside, 1862-1865
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC0900).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.