Dunno if this should be under Books or Ephemera...

but this diary about serving in the Civil War might be interesting to some people. Wonder how it wound up in my neck of the woods...
http://www.lunds.com/Auctions/RecordedHistory/2458/Imaged/2147431688/

 

That does seem strange, Wendy. But even stranger is the condition - how did it stay so darned clean??

 

Your guess is as good as mine -- I'm wondering if they were written after the war or maybe copied from diaries kept during the war.

 

It seems to be written in a 19th-century hand.

 

Thanks, Fig. However, it does look like he had enough "leisure" time to write. I shall check to see if it comes near the auction estimate.

 

The last couple of pages look like more of what I'd expect, with some age toning and foxing. The other pages look incredibly white. Unless the photography is distorting the color?

 

I really don't know, Pat, as I haven't seen them in the flesh. However, knowing the auction house, they use an "in-house" photographer, so the colour could be distorted.

 

I remember when I first started selling antique paper items, I bought some small lots on eBay to resell as individual items. Boy, was I annoyed with the sellers when they're photography made the items look much lighter and whiter than they actually were.

 

Fortunately, there are lots of good computer photo programs that can help you make the colours in your pix look close to the original.

 

Yup, to make sure my photos look close to my items, I often edit the photos to make the items look worse rather than better!

 

>Wonder how it wound up in my neck of the woods...<

If he had been from a Confederate state, I could understand the diary ending up in Canada. Many die-hard Southerners migrated to Mexico and to Canada after the war sooo not to live under northern, Yankee, rule. Remember me telling you about someone from the upper reaches of Saskatchewan(sp??) visiting us and only wanted to see Elvis' Graceland? Welll, his great great grandfather was a cotton merchant in Memphis and fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side. By 1870 he had moved his family to Canada - I think originally to Ontario and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

As this solder was in the 28th Wisconsin Infantry, it is a bit more unusual. With Wisconsin almost bordering Canada, it does touch Lake Superior. There is a good chance he or descendants moved on up over the border for more or better land to farm.

Here's a little info on Private Agen Bevin Dingman of the 28th Wisconsin infantry:
http://civil-war-soldiers.findthebest.com/l/1442290/Agen-Bevin-Dingman
http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-...oldierId=EE589C96-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A

Archbald Dingman was a noted Canadian known for oil wells... "oilfields surrounding Turner Valley, with the famed Dingman No. 1 well that hit pay dirt in 1914 heralding Alberta's first petroleum boom. ... Dingman formed the Calgary Petroleum Products Company in 1913, which drilled the Dingman No.1."

--- Susan

 

Ah, so there's the connection! Thanks, Susan, you are a terrific researcher. I will post here later to see what the diaries sold for. Not only is the border between Canada and the US the longest undefended one in the world, it is also rather "permeable" in the flow of people between the two countries -- we truly are cousins, kissing or not!

 

Hi,
Border may be unfended but not policed. I went on a spending spree at yard sales in Canada one fall. I rented the car from a company in NYC called Rent-a-wreck. It was cheap since the cars are all banged up and looks like hell. Any way coming back over the border I was stopped because the entire car was packed with newspapered bundles and boxes of stuff all the way to the roof in the back. I am sure they thought I was a crazy hoarder. As the car was being prodded they discovered my leather raincoat was lined with fur (coyote) and they questioned me about where I got it, why I was not declaring it and then they assumed I stole it. I showed them the label and my initials sewen into the coat. It was Bloomingdales. Then they decided I was rich and trying to get away with something. As they went through more wrapped bundles, there would be maybe three saucers and a book and a few coins. After a half hour of nonsense they decided that I was crazy and let me through.
greg

 

Well...

 

Greg, if you had come over the border in the central U.S. (let's say North Dakota) you may not have had as many issues. -- I could be completely wrong about that, though. Haven't tried it.

 

DH and I have watched a series called "Border Security" about people entering Canada via Vancouver and Toronto -- quite entertaining at times. There is also an Australian version. It's funny how many people make a wrong turn and wind up at the border!

 

When I went up to BC and back by car recently, I got more of grilling by far going into Canada than I got from the friendly US Border guy coming home.

 

>I got more of a grilling by far going into Canada than I got from the friendly US Border guy coming home.<

Ditto here! Last time we got north of the border, 2010, we got quite a "grilling" crossing at Detroit. They didn't make us get out of the car, but did get very very inquisitive asking all kinds of questions about weapons. Gee, here we were obvious senior citizens with handicap license plate wondering if we were carrying guns and knives!! I was tempted to say, gee no, we didn't think we needed our Uzi and AK-47 on a trip to Quebec City, around the Gaspe Peninsular, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and down into Maine!! We later chalked up that treatment for being from Mississippi. The Canadian border officers probably think everyone from the deep south are born and bred skin heads, a member of the Hatfield or McCoy family, or a raving KKK. Gee, many northern states are littered with skin heads. Several years ago we were falling all over them in the northern areas of Idaho, Montana and Minnesota.

3 weeks later crossed back into the states in Maine just outside of St. johns, New Brunswick. The US border officers just smiled and waved us through. I have crossed back and forth between the countries many many times especially back in '50s & '60s. Never was I or anyone I was with ever been drilled like that before on either side of the border.

--- Susan

 

I hate crossing the border. Always some problem. I must look shifty.

Someone told me put a bible on the seat beside you and things will go a lot more smoothly.

 

Well, going one way, you are a foreigner entering another country, going the other way, you are returning home, so I think the attitudes are a bit different. Gun laws are much stricter here in Canada, and many Americans (not including you, Susan!) are unaware of gun laws in Canada. After 9-11, American asked Canada to "beef" things up at airports and other points of entry which we did apparently. Also, Canadians used to be able to cross the border with just our driver's license as proof of ID; now we must have our passports. So, although I'm sorry that some get grilled, there are reasons for it. I don't take any offense if a customs agent wherever I travel asks me questions. They are doing their job. However, once through customs, I hope that attitudes were much friendlier!