Title: Grand Army of the Republic, Henry Lincoln Post #364 Records, 1862-1934

ID: RG 30/140

Extent: 1.24 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1883-1932

The Grand Army of the Republic, begun nationally in 1866, was an organization for Union veterans of the Civil War intended to give mutual aid to members and to assist veterans’ widows and orphans. Individual posts were operated following military procedure. Oberlin had a post the following year (Lorain County News, March 6, 1867), but it apparently did not last very long.

Then, in 1883, Oberlin’s eventual post of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Henry Lincoln Post #364, was formed. The post was named for an Oberlin resident who had served with Company C., Seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Henry W. Lincoln, who had risen to the rank of Lieutenant while participating in all the engagements of his company from Cross Lanes through Antietam, had been discharged for disability in January, 1863, and died in Oberlin the following July 1. Oberlin’s post #364 was instrumental in providing support and a social outlet for Oberlin Civil War veterans from its first year until 1935. In its founding year, 23 members of Elyria’s GAR post (the Richard Allen Post) who were residents of Oberlin began to find the distance between the two cities a hardship, and decided to start their own post. The group met for the first time in August of 1883. Their bylaws were approved by the Ohio GAR headquarters by September of that year, and afterwards they became an official post of the GAR. For the next fifty years, the Henry Lincoln Post was active in the Oberlin community, giving money to relief funds and commemorating veterans and their families through grave markers and memorial services. Membership reached a peak at around 1891, with 86 names on the roster (though only 57 members were in regular attendance). Since the Henry Lincoln Post only admitted members who were veterans of the Civil War, after 1895, the membership began to decline as members died or moved away. In 1935, the Post’s last active member remaining in Oberlin, George H. Houghton, passed on, and with his death came the end of the Henry Lincoln Post.

Sources Consulted

William E. Bigglestone’s unpublished “[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives,” which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.

Nicholas Gliserman’s research paper concerning the Grand Army of the Republic’s Henry Lincoln Post #364 (Oberlin, Ohio), written in the fall of 2006.

Author: Emma Anderson

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Scope and Contents:

The records of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Henry Lincoln Post #364 document its 50-year history as an organization that supported Civil War veterans in Oberlin. The series contained herein describe the operations of the group, events and meetings held, income and expenses, and the passing of its members. The collection spans many years and many functions of the group.

The collection is divided into six record series: I. Bylaws and Regulations; II. Journals; III. Membership; IV. Financial Records; V. Historical Records; and VI. Clippings. Within each series, files are arranged either chronologically or alphabetically.

The first series in the collection holds three copies of the bylaws approved by the Ohio GAR headquarters in September of 1883, documenting the establishment of the Oberlin GAR post. Two copies are identical published leaflets, and the final copy is handwritten in a bound journal.

The journals (Series II) contain minutes of meetings of the Henry Lincoln Post of the GAR, and provide a consecutive record of the actions of the group from 1883 to 1931. From this part of the collection, the researcher is able to get a very real sense of the day to day actions of the Post.

The membership series, along with the member lists contained in the journals, is extremely valuable, as it possesses many individual member histories, and could possibly be used for genealogical research. The papers contained in these folders give information on what becoming a member of the organization entailed, and the extent of the sense of fraternity within the post.

Central to the financial series is the set of five ledgers, which give a comprehensive account of the expenditures and income of the Post. Also important are the thorough Quartermaster’s reports. Lastly, the historical records and clippings series contain a wealth of information about how the Henry Lincoln Post and its members influenced the Oberlin community, through planned events and the lives of individuals.

Note: In the fall of 2006, Oberlin student Nick Gliserman did extensive research on this collection. He found that there were discrepancies within the records, especially concerning individual member histories. The researcher should be aware that these inconsistencies exist.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Bylaws and Regulations, c. 1883

This series consists of two published leaflets listing the bylaws of the GAR, and a bound, undated volume with pages of handwritten rules and regulations. This book also includes a listing of member names.

Series II. Journals, 1883-1931

Filed here are eight (8) bound journals, containing primarily minutes of meetings, but also names of members and officers, financial records, adjutant’s reports, and clippings.

Series III. Membership, 1882-1934, n.d.

Contained here are many lists of members spanning the history of the organization. Also included are transfer cards of members, memorial notices and orders, applications for membership, and a “black book” of members rejected from the order. Lastly, the membership series holds a large bound book of personal war sketches. This book lists 110 names, and the records associated with them. Some records are more complete than others. Anne W. Lincoln, wife of Henry Lincoln, donated the book to the Henry Lincoln Post #364 in 1891.

Series IV. Financial Records, 1883-1910

The financial records series is comprised of five ledgers, outlining the income and expenses of the group. The expenses included in these volumes provide details of each fund that the organization sponsored, as well as each headstone and plot purchased in Westwood Cemetery (Oberlin, Ohio), and the collected dues from each member. This series also includes the Quartermaster’s financial reports, check stubs, and receipts.

Series V. Historical Records, 1862-1922

The historical records include printed matter – programs from speeches and other events, catalogues of grave markers, and other leaflets released by the GAR. Two noteworthy files in this series contain the certificate of appointment of Henry Lincoln to the post of Orderly Sergeant of the Seventh Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and materials relating to the Old Soldier’s Musical Festival of 1888.

Series VI. Clippings, 1895-1932

This series contains newspaper clippings relating to the Henry Lincoln Post of the GAR and its members. Many of the pieces are obituaries of members or relatives of members. The bulk of the clippings are photocopies of originals that are found in one of the organization’s bound journals. Some original newsprint exists (pasted onto paper), with handwritten comments in the side margins.

INVENTORY

Series I. Bylaws and Regulations, c. 1883

Box 1

Bylaws, 1883

Rules and Regulations (bound journal), c. 1883

Series II. Journals, 1883-1931

Box 1

Journals, 1883-1911 (5 volumes)

Box 2

Journals, 1912-31 (3 volumes)

Series III. Membership, 1882-1934, n.d.

Box 3

Black Book, 1889-90

Memorial Resolutions, 1885-1910

Applications for membership, c. 1910

Membership forms (blank), 1923

Memorial Histories, 1890-1934

Miscellaneous lists of members, n.d.

Transfer cards, A-Y, 1882-1908 (2f)

Box 4 (oversize)

Grand Army of the Republic, Personal War

Sketches of the Members of the Henry

Lincoln Post #364 of Oberlin, 1891

Series IV. Financial Records, 1883-1910

Box 3

Check stubs, 1883-89, 1911-12

Financial forms (blank), c.1904-10

Quartermaster’s reports, 1885-1921

Box 5

Financial ledgers, 1883-1921 (5 volumes)

Receipts, 1885-1923

Series V. Historical Records 1862-1922

Box 5

Certificate of Appointment, Henry Lincoln, 1862

Leases, 1906-22

Musical Festival, 1888

Printed Matter, 1863, 1868, 1880, 1885, 1889,

1895, 1907

Series VI. Clippings, 1895-1932

Box 5

Clippings, 1895, 1905, 1909-10, 1930-32