Collection #
M 0198
BV 0271

JOHN SNYDER McPHEETERS
CORRESPONDENCE AND RECORDS, 1863–1910

Processed By:
Paul Brockman
15 July 1997
Updated 9 December 2004

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 box, 1 bound volume

COLLECTION DATES: 1863-1910

PROVENANCE: Helen M. Rice, Indianapolis, IN, September 1949; February 1953

RESTRICTIONS: None

REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE FORMATS: None

RELATED HOLDINGS: Alexander McPheeters (SC 2621, BV 0229)

ACCESSION NUMBERS: 1949.0909, 1953.0220

NOTES:

John Snyder McPheeters (1837-1918) was born in Fredricksburg, Washington County, Indiana to Dr. Alexander and Louisa Snyder McPheeters and moved with his parents to Livonia, Washington County, in 1852. He attended Hanover College for a short time then entered the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery where he received his medical degree in 1860. He then returned to Livonia where he practiced medicine. It was also in 1860 that McPheeters married Mary J. Holmes and they later had one child. In 1862 McPheeters was commissioned a second lieutenant and assistant surgeon in the 23rd Indiana Regiment, and in 1864 he was promoted to the rank of full surgeon. After the war he returned to his Livonia practice and remained there until 1881 when he retired and moved to Hardinsburg, Washington County, where he farmed and was active in the community. Mary McPheeters died in 1879 and in 1880 he married Mary F. (McIntosh) Raney and they produced one child. John McPheeters was a member of the Republican Party and the Presbyterian Church.

Sources: Stevens, Centennial History of Washington County, Indiana (1916), pp. 976-978.
Indiana Biography Series, vol. 5, p. 90 (clipped from Salem Democrat, 3 June 1931).

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection consists primarily of McPheeters' Civil War correspondence, May, 1863-May, 1865. The bulk of the letters are between John McPheeters with the 23rd Indiana Regiment in Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and his wife, Mary (Mollie), in Livonia and Fredricksburg, Indiana, but there are also letters from his parents and siblings. Subjects discussed in the letters include family news, health, and life as a Civil War surgeon both in camps and divisional hospitals. John McPheeters also discusses living with local families and attending to the civilian population. Transcripts of the letters, compiled and edited by Helen McPheeters Rice in 1949, are included in the papers. Other items in the collection are McPheeters' two page handwritten history of the 23rd Indiana (n.d), and his ledger book, 1875-1910. The ledger, primarily patient accounts, also includes his notes on pension claims of soldiers he had attended as an Assistant Surgeon with the 23rd Indiana, 1883-1904, as well as a list of soldiers buried from his G.A.R. Post in local cemeteries, n.d.; accounts of estates 1894, 1898; and accounts of a special school fund from the Hardinsburg Board of School Trustees, 1891-1898.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING

BOX 1: Correspondence and Records, 1863-1910
FOLDER CONTENTS

1	Correspondence, May, 1863-June, 1863
2	Correspondence, July, 1863
3	Correspondence, August, 1863
4	Correspondence, September, 1863-October, 1863
5	Correspondence, November, 1863-December, 1863
6	Correspondence, January, 1864-February, 1864
7	Correspondence, May, 1864
8	Correspondence, June, 1864
9	Correspondence, July, 1864
10	Correspondence, August, 1864-September, 1864
11	Correspondence, October, 1864-December, 1864
12	Correspondence, January, 1865-May, 1865
13	Brief History of the 23rd Regiment, Ind. Vols., n.d.
14	Transcriptions of Letters, 1949, Folder 1
15	Transcriptions of Letters, 1949, Folder 2
16	Transcriptions of Letters, 1949, Folder 3
17	(BV 0271) Ledger, 1875-1910

CATALOGING INFORMATION

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, M 0198).

5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.

Collection # M 0198 BV 0271