(CIVIL WAR--VERMONT.) Cooper, Lorinda. Diary by the wife of a Civil War soldier....

(CIVIL WAR--VERMONT.) Cooper, Lorinda. Diary by the wife of a Civil War soldier. [122] manuscript diary pages plus 6 pages of memoranda. 12mo, original limp calf, remnants of a later newspaper wrapper, minor wear; minor foxing. Vermont, 1 January to 31 December 1863

Lorinda I. Lazell Cooper (1838-1897) was the wife of farmer John Tyler Cooper (1841-1919). They had been married in Wilmington, VT for just over a year when John enlisted in the 16th Vermont Infantry, a 9-month regiment. Lorinda's terse diary records her anxiety during his final months of service: "Report came that the 16th Regiment were taken prisoners. I know not the truth of it. I could not sleep very well" (9 January). "I had a letter from John. The Rebels this side of the Rappahannock River" (11 June). The week after the Battle of Gettysburg was toughest, from 6-14 July: "News came, the Union force beat Lee's army. . . . I had a letter from John written July 2 after being ordered into battle. . . . I had a letter from John written July 4th after the battle. . . . News came Lieut. Lorton died in Gettysburg by a shell shot hitting his arm. Had to be taken off. Down in battle on July 3rd. . . . Had a letter from John. They are now 50 miles from where they were at the fight in Gettysburg." His term of service soon expired, and he returned home on 23 July, "about sick and all tired out." Other entries record Lorinda's life on the home front: "I went to the Lyceum. The question is whether women should be allowed to vote or not" (31 January). While soldiers faced gunfire on the front, Lorinda's town faced a brutal diphtheria epidemic which claimed many lives, first mentioned on 3 March. More than a dozen deaths are recorded in the diary, although the cause is not always given. The disease nearly felled her husband John after his return from the war: "John's throat is white with diptheria. Grew sick fast and at night he was out of his head." He survived the disease as well as he had survived Gettysburg. Also included (tucked into the rear pocket) is an 1892 land agreement from Dummerston, VT, just north of Brattleboro. Additional notes on the contents are available upon request.