The collection is open to research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], George J. Whitman Letters, Ms1988-084, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The George J. Whitman Letters were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1988.
The processing and description of the George J. Whitman Letters commenced and was completed in May, 2021.
George J. Whitman, son of Peter and Sarah Bennett Whitman, was born in West Bainbridge (Chenango County), New York, on April 2, 1834. He married Ruth Hackett (1834-1918), and the couple would have six children. During the American Civil War, Whitman served in Company L, 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry; Company G, 53rd Pennsylvania Infantry, and 2nd Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps. (Note: his name is recorded in pension records as George J.
This collection contains three letters written by George J. Whitman, of the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry, during the Civil War. The letters, written to Whitman's wife Ruth, focus largely on personal matters. Whitman provides instruction on managing their personal financial/legal affairs and having work done on their farm but eventually concedes the impracticality of his long-distance advice, writing, "[Y]ou must do with things as you think best I leeve evrything in your care and what you think best to do with our thinges you moust do it dont wate to aske my advise about it becaus you no that it takes so long to get leters from home ..." Elsewhere, Whitman defends his decision not to request a discharge: "[Y]ou no that I can do beter hear torge geting a living than I can to work a farm ... you dont want me to make a hog of my self think I had or to do some duty fore our counery fore what I have had you no that our countery needs all that can be spared ..."
The guide to the George J. Whitman Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).