CIVIL WAR LIEUT. SETH A. RANLETT 1902-1905 END OF LIFE JOURNAL &LETTER & POEMS for Sale

CIVIL WAR LIEUT. SETH A. RANLETT 1902-1905 END OF LIFE JOURNAL &LETTER & POEMS For Sale

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CIVIL WAR LIEUT. SETH A. RANLETT 1902-1905 END OF LIFE JOURNAL &LETTER & POEMS:
$650.00

We are offering a 1902-1905 journal written by former Civil War Lieutenant Seth Alonzo Ranlett [Co. B, 36th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Army of the Potomac Brigade]. Journal entries begin on January 1, 1902, with the last entry on May 7, 1905. [Seth Ranlett died on May 21, 1905, just two weeks after his last journal entry] **NOTE** - S. A. Ranlett was one of the writers of the \"History of the Thirty-sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers 1862-1865\", published in 1884 - of which we have Ranlett\'s personal unbound copy on at the present time ( item #186399774879). In this journal, Ranlett wrote about some of the events of his regiment during the war, his get-togethers with his war-time buddies, and many personal things about himself and his family. It is our wish to present him here, not just as a soldier and veteran, but as a person who had hopes and dreams, strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, made some bad decisions, while always trying to make a better life for himself, and one who finds comfort and camaraderie in the shared experiences of those he served with. There are also a few things inserted loosely in between the pages which we will mention later. [**NOTE** - the journal has over 100 pages, all of which we have not read. We have skimmed through most of it, trying to pick out things of interest, but obviously there is much more than we could possibly mention.]
In the January 21, 1902 entry -Ranlett writes that on that day he is celebrating his 38th anniversary of his marriage (which meant he was married on Jan. 21, 1864). He writes, \"On this day, in the uniform of an Officer, I stood up with Ellen and we pledged our life-time vows to each other\", then their wedding trip to New York and Brooklyn, and back to Boston where they settled down in their home on Springfield St. Then he writes about the birth of his daughter Katherine and says, \"Those were the last days of the great war and though I was at work in the Washington Lane office, I was restless and dissatisfied to be out of the service. I longed to be with my regiment all that last bloody year. Only the condition of my health kept me out of it, for I was utterly broken down when I came home from Tennessee on furlough, fully expecting to return to service after a short rest. But it seems as if it was fate that I should not return, because when I was to go back, Knoxville was under siege by Longstreet, but I could not get there. If I had not left my regiment just when I did, I should not have left at all, for we were in winter quarters. We did not know of the disaster of Chickamauga and that Longstreet was on the way to drive us out of E. Tennessee\". Ranlett mentions the Battle at Blue Springs \"where we entirely drove the Confederate forces from the state. Col. Morrison of the 79the New York, our Brigade Commander, advised me to go home on my leave [because of his illness], but I had hardly left when the company was ordered to London, and then came the Battle of Campbell\'s Station and the Siege of Knoxville which I should have fought in, but for the reason above, and my marriage would not have taken place in January \'64, or possibly not for a long time - if ever. After my marriage, for a long time, I was under medical treatment, my blood badly poisoned by the MississippiYazoo River, and for some weeks my left arm was helpless, with sores, such as many of my regiment suffered from, and some died from after we came up the river. The doctor calls it a form of scurvy\". Ranlett writes that his daughter, Katherine, suffered all her life from the inherited condition of his poisoned system of that time.
Seth Ranlett, was a sensitive man who took comfort in nature and riding his \"wheel\" (a bicycle with a large wheel in front and little one in the back, referred to as a high wheel). He was trying to make a home on his farm away from the city in Billerica. He turned to inspirational quotes from the writings of Walt Whitman and Thoreau, often quoting them in his journal, and looked to God for strength. He was often depressed and filled with despair over life\'s battles and sadness, as his wife and daughter were often sick and went down south for the winters to Washington D.C. or Atlanta, GA, leaving him alone.As City Treasurer for the City of Newton, Ranlett writes, \"I detest the work of collecting taxes, am mentally wrecked and very depressed\".He no longer enjoyed the Loyal Legion meetings and had not been in a church for 2-3 years. Cold weather, neuralgia of his left lung, and seeds and plants that had not come up prevented him from making a successful home on his farm. At one point he says, \"I have little hope of every attaining my ideal life\".
Ranlett celebrates the 40th anniversary of his enlistment in the army with some of his comrades of the 36th Regt, singing war songs and telling stories of their soldier days, with Ranlett wearing his army cap and carrying his musket - \"it felt like the old days\". Ranlett writes about when they were camped at White Sulphur Springs in November 1862 - \"we were hurriedly marching to Fredericksburg and every day we heard the firing of the advanced guard and the horse artillery, and at times caught a glimpse of the Confederate Cavalry as they fell back before our heavy columns\". On January 21, 1903, Ranlett, along with some of his comrades, attended the funeral of Col. T. L. Barker of the 36th. Ranlett was depressed that so few of the officers were left, and those that were had grown so old.On March 26, 1903, Ranlett attended \"Veterans Night\" at the Middlesex Club -where he was asked to take charge of Captain B. P. Lamberton, Admiral Dewey\'s Chief of Staff at Manila; others present were General Young and Colonel John L. Tiernon, commander of the Defense of Boston during the Civil War, and veteran of Spanish American War.June 21 was the Dedication of the Statue of General Hooker, where Seth Ranlett paraded with the Society of the Army of the Potomac, with 15,000 that included all the veteran bodies of the state of Massachusetts.
In the January 21, 1904 entry - Ranlett writes that forty years ago he and his wife were married, and that they had lived in Boston for one year. \"Then I made the biggest mistake of my life - giving up that little home and going to New York, into the shipping business on Wall St.\" He stayed there for a year, while his wife was living at her father\'s house in Massachusetts on Worcester St. where their son, Foster, was born. After Ranlett came back to Massachusetts they lived in Melrose, then moved to Jamaica Plain, a section of Boston, then lived in Newtonville in a house he had bought which he later sold and then regretted selling it. \"That was the last real home we have had\"; and then writes that since then they had spent their summers on the farm, while boarding in Newton during the colder months. Looking back, he appears to have been sorry for his actions and for taking such radical steps in his life. Perhaps, his wife was always ill from not having a stable home, moving so many times, and ending up in a boarding house, which Ranlett says was improperly heated and always cold.In February 1904 - Ranlett attended a Reunion of Co. B, 36th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers - \"where Hodgkins [one of the contributors to the book we referred to above] gave a full account of the dedication of our Monument at Vicksburg\". In March he attended a Loyal Legion meeting where General Draper read a paper on \"The Ninth Corps. at Vicksburg\" - \"in which he quoted literally from my historical account of the campaign from our Regiment History [the book we referenced above that was in part written by Seth Ranlett], and he gave me credit for the quotes\". March 24 was Veterans Night at Middlesex Club, and Ranlett names the many generals in attendance. August 16 - the National Encampment of GAR met in Boston - \"the first time since 1890 and probably for the last time. I turned out with Post 62 of Newton - over 25,000 veterans\". October 10 - he had sold their cow and hens and doesn\'t think they will be able to spend much time at the farm the next year, he needs to cut expenses, is paying laborers $13/week to plant and cultivate vegetables - \"it cost me more than it would have if I had bought the vegetables\". Ranlett decides to rent an apartment in a furnace-heated home rather than remaining in the cold boarding house. He sells most of the furniture from the farm at sale and on October 27 - \"we moved to our \"Suite\" at 19 Putnam St., West Newton\". November 8 (Election Day) - \"I voted the straight Republican Ticket, as I always have. Roosevelt and Fairbanks were elected by an immense majority\".
During the months in 1905 prior to his death on May 21, Ranlett enjoys his new home, his wife and daughter are always in ill health, and he dreams of buying a small home in Newton with a few acres so he can grow a garden and have a cow and hens again. [Always the dreamer] He owns other houses which he leases but is having difficulty collecting the rent from the tenants. He is also helping his son, Charles, with his expenses, which is difficult for him to do. February 22, 1905 - Ranlett attended the Annual Reunion of Co. B, 36th Regt not knowing it would be the last he would attend]. He writes, \"As the years pass, I am privileged to join in such reminiscing - I am more than ever proud to be one of the \"old boys\" of \'61 and I cherish the memories of those heroic days and the companionship of the men who went forth with me to fight for the union. As I said to the comrades, I always rejoice twice at such gatherings: 1st - that I went to the war, and 2nd - that I was spared to return and that have lived to join in these reunions\". March 8 - \"Katherine still in bed much of the time and wife is worn out with the care of her\". [Ranlett is always anxious that his wife will give out entirely]March 18 - his 65th birthday (just two months before his death) - he writes he is able to ride his wheel hard, eats well and sleeps soundly. He writes, \"I must keep up my good health as I am the keystone on which my family now rests\". March 30 - Veterans Night - with General Miles, Admiral Wilde, Captain Eaton and some army and navy officers. \"Army songs and bugle calls that made me young again. These events confirm my pride in being one of the veterans.\" April 19 - \"a bad sore on my left foot which has troubled me for some time - trying to heal it.\"
May 7, 1905 - Seth Ranlett\'s last journal entry - he attended the funeral of Major Morse as a delegate of the Loyal Legion. \"My foot does not yet heal, and I am troubled very much to walk and can hardly ride my wheel at all\". **NOTE** -We don\'t know what caused his death on May 21, but speculate if complications from the sore on his foot, possibly infection, caused his death. [Ranlett always worried that his wife would succumb to illness and die, yet she died on January 12, 1914, about 8 years after his death]
OTHER THINGS THAT WERE PLACED IN THE JOURNAL: a letter addressed to S. A. Ranlett; a poem about death he had written on the back side of his personal City Treasurer, City of Newton letterhead; a small card from his wife and daughter when they gave him a book by Walt Whitman for his 61st birthday on March 18, 1901; a poem written by him \"What is the Use?\"; a small lithograph \"A Scene on the Southern Railway\"; a dried spray of a flower from Mary, his son Charlie\'s wife; and affirmations he had written about God, Love, and Life.