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Finding Aid To The Collection Of Charles Henry Smith Materials, Charles Henry Smith, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

Charles Henry Smith was born on November 1, 1827 in Hollis, Maine. He graduated from Waterville (Colby) College in 1856, and became the principal of Eastport High School until 1860. After the call for Volunteers to serve in the Civil War, Smith enlisted and was recruited Captain of Company D of the 1st Maine Cavalry in 1861. He was made Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and then Colonel in 1863. He was in command of the 1st Maine Cavalry at Gettysburg. He was mustered out of the 1st Maine Cavalry in August of 1865. After discharge from the Civil War, he was …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Henry Clay Merriam Materials, Henry Clay Merriam, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

Henry Clay Merriam (1837-1912) was born in Houlton in 1837 and entered Waterville College (now Colby College) in 1860. He enlisted in the 20th Maine Regiment in the spring of 1862 and served under Joshua Chamberlain. After the Union Army decided to allow black troops to fight, Maine men were solicited to lead black units. Merriam was one of those willing to do so and in March 1863, he was made commander of the Third Colored Infantry of Louisiana. The 3rd Infantry, later the 73rd Infantry Corps d'Afrique, was considered an excellent fighting unit under Merriam's leadership.

Merriam led his …

Finding Aid To The Collection Of Harriet Beecher Stowe Materials, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Colby College Special Collections

Finding Aids

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was an influential author and novelist, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in a household of ardent theologians and abolitionists which included her parents, Lyman and Roxana Beecher, and many of her thirteen siblings, notably her brother, Henry Ward Beecher. She received an advanced education for a woman of her time at the local seminary for girls run by her sister Catharine. In 1836, she married the abolitionist Calvin Ellis Stowe; the couple supported the Underground Railroad and sheltered fugitive slaves. In 1850, Stowe began writing installments of her best-known work, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which had a profound …

In Their Footsteps, In Their Words: Special Section, 1864-1913

Colby Magazine

In Their Footsteps and In Their Words: Colby explores the second 50 years, 1864-1913.

When The Confederates Terrorized Maine: The Battle Of Portland Harbor, Carter Stevens

Honors Theses

Saturday, June 27, 1863, dawned brightly over Portland, Maine. As the city’s residents began to go about their weekend business, they suddenly realized that the Caleb Cushing, the United States Revenue Cutter (U.S.R.C.) which had been stationed in Portland Harbor on and off again since 1853, was missing. Rumors flew about a traitorous Southerner on board, the work of pirates on the coast, and more. Before the day was over, the revenue cutter would be destroyed and the Casco Bay area would be transformed forever, a victim of one of the northernmost events of the Civil War on the periphery. …