MC 139
1 Hollinger box
About the Barrus Family:
William J. Barrus, Ira Marshall Barrus, and John W. Barrus, all of Richmond, NH, served in Massachusetts regiments during the Civil War. William J. Barrus (b.1835), a resident of Royalston, MA, served in Company D, 36th Massachusetts Infantry, from June 3, 1862 to June 29, 1864. He was wounded at Cold Harbor, VA on June 3, 1864 and discharged a year later. He received a furlough in April 1864, when his wife and child died at home in Massachusetts. Ira Marshall Burns (1837-1868) and John W. Barrus (b.1840) joined Company I, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry on May 25, 1861. Marshall, who was wounded at Chancellorsville, VA on May 3, 1863, was transferred to the Invalid Corps in January 1864 and mustered out in July 1865. He resided in Orange, NH until his death in 1868. John W. Barrus was wounded at Gettysburg in July 1863 and discharged from service the following May.
About the Barrus Family collection:
Primarily consists of the war-time correspondence of William J. Barrus, Ira Marshall Barrus, and John W. Barrus. The three corresponded with their brother, Ebenezar P. Barrus, a resident of Hinsdale, NH. Marshall and John W. Barrus frequently wrote letters on the same pages. The three wrote from encampments in Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as from various military hospitals. In addition to numerous family concerns and political observations, they included descriptions of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign (May-June 1862), the aftermath of the Antietam Campaign (Fall 1862), the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 1862), the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863), and the Battle of Cold Harbor (June 1864). The collection also includes limited pre- and post-war correspondence from William J. Barrus and from various friends and relatives, as well as photocopies of the brothers’ service records.
Sources:
Ayling, Augustus D. Revised Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1866. Concord, NH: Ira C. Evans, 1895.
Bassett, William. History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, From Its first Settlement, to 1882. Boston: C.W. Calkins & Co., 1884.
Photocopies of service records from the National Archives and Records Administration.
Folder Listing:
| Names have been abbreviated as follows: John W. Barrus (JWB); Ira Marshall Barrus (MB); and William J. Barrus (WJB). |
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| f.1 | Letters from JWB and MB, June-September 1861 (6 letters). |
| f.2 | Letters from JWB and MB, October-December 1861 (6 letters). |
| f.3 | Letters from JWB and MB, January-March 1862 (9 letters). |
| f.4 | Letters from JWB and MB, April-June 1862 (8 letters). |
| f.5 | Letters from JWB and MB, July-September 1862 (7 letters). |
| f.6 | Letters from JWB, MB and WJB, October-December 1862 (6 letters). |
| f.7 | Letters from MB and WJB, February-June 1863 (4 letters). |
| f.8 | Letters from JWB, MB and WJB, July-September 1863 (9 letters). |
| f.9 | Letters from JWB and MB, October-December 1863 (6 letters). |
| f.10 | Letters from JWB, MB and WJB, January-April 1864 (7 letters). |
| f.11 | Letters from WJB, June-December 1864 (9 letters). |
| f.12 | Letters from WJB, February-April 1865 (6 letters). |
| f.13 | Undated letters from JWB and MB, [1861-1864?] (3 letters). |
| f.14 | Post-war letters from MB, March-December 1866 (5 letters). |
| f.15 | Miscellaneous correspondence from others, 1861-1868, n.d. (9 letters). |
| f.16 | Photocopied service records,1862-1885. |