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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Charles Newtin Denison Letter, Ms1991-020, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Charles Newtin Denison Letter was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1991.
The processing and arrangement of the Charles Newtin Denison Letter commenced and was completed in October, 2022.
Charles N. Denison was born in Middlesex County, Connecticut, on September 15, 1836. The 1850 federal census lists a 13-year-old Charles N. Denison in the Middlesex County home of Charles and Azubah Denison. At the age of 18, Denison moved to Bloomington, Illinois, then to Macon County, where he taught school for a few years and studied medicine under Dr. W. J. Chenoweth of Decatur. Around 1861, Denison completed a two-year course at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. On October 15, 1862, he joined the 8th Illinois Infantry as second assistant surgeon and was later promoted to regimental surgeon, a position in which he served through the end of the American Civil War. Following the war, Denison returned to Illinois and practiced medicine in Cerro Gordo. In 1867, he married Drusilla A. Ellis (1843-1886); the couple moved to Newberg, Illinois, and had one son. Later, the Denisons moved to Argenta, then, in 1881, to Decatur. Following the death of his wife, Denison returned to Argenta, where he retired from medical practice and took up farming. He married Mary McNeal (1858-1916) and in 1907, he retired from farming, as well. Charles Denison died in Argenta on July 25, 1910, and was buried in Friends Creek Cemetery, Argenta.
This collection consists of a single, four-page letter written by Charles Newtin Denison, a student at Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. Written on Union patriotic stationery, the letter is dated Cincinnati, Ohio, December 22, 1861, and is addressed to "Brother Willmore." Denison writes that he is busy with the second course of classes in medical school and notes that his is a "fine looking class of young men" with "not a drunken one in the class." Denison writes briefly of the class's experiences in dissecting cadavers, and he reports seeing many operations performed, including a recent one in which chloroform was employed. He concludes with a few words about the upcoming Christmas vacation, writing that he "will not have time to get tite [sic]" as he will be working on his thesis.
The guide to the Charles Newtin Denison Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).