The collection is open to research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], George W. Bonsall Diaries, Ms1997-015, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The George W. Bonsall Diaries were donated to Special Collections prior to 1998.
Two pages of this diary has been digitized and is available online.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the George W. Bonsall Diaries commenced and was completed in 1997. Additional description was completed prior to 2008 and in 2010.
George W. Bonsall was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1845. He served as a corporal in the 138th Regiment Ohio National Guard (originally formed as the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Reserve Militia) during the American Civil War. He returned to Cincinnati after the war and worked as a carpenter. He died in 1910 and is buried in the Wesleyan Cemetery in Cincinatti.
External Source: "Corp George W. Bonsall" entry, Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17823824/george-w-bonsall, accessed Feb. 2, 2023.
The collection consists of two volumes of a manuscript diary, copied in 1865 of entries that George W. Bonsall wrote between May 23, 1861 (his 16th birthday) and 1865, during the American Civil War. He continues the diary sporatically after the war, with entries indicating his marriage in 1876 and the birth of his daughter in 1877. Bonsall writes in detail about his regiment's movements throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia during the war (particularly 1863 and 1864), but they never engaged in a battle with the Confederates. Bonsall also writes about working as a mason building dormitories for a new college in Berea, Kentucky, in 1869.
The collection is arranged chronologically.
The guide to the George W. Bonsall Diaries by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).