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Letters, documents and photographs, 1862-1967
Manuscript Collection 1228
INFORMATION ABOUT JESSE C. BLISS
Jesse C. Bliss (1833-1911) enrolled in the Union Army on August 1, 1861 and received a commission as second lieutenant in the 44th Illinois Infantry. He served for the next three years as his regiment was moved to various locations in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Bliss saw action at the battles of Pea Ridge, Perryville, Nolansville, and Murfreesboro before he was discharged at Atlanta on September 15, 1864. He and his family eventually moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where his granddaughter, Jesse Elizabeth Hill, married Joseph J. Durrett, a Spanish-American War veteran in 1908.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION
The papers consist of fourteen letters written by Bliss from 1862 to 1864 while serving in the Union Army; genealogical documents pertaining to the Bliss family; a small collection of documents gathered by Elizabeth Durrett to supplement her claim to a widow's pension; photographs of Bliss, the Durretts, and unidentified family members and acquaintances. Letters marked with an asterisk (*) have been published by Paul R. Cooper and Ted R. Worley in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, volume 6 (1947), pp. 462-471. The documents have been chronologically arranged in four folders. Photographs have been arranged by subject in the remaining four folders.
Letters, documents, and photographs created or collected by Jesse C. Bliss or his granddaughter, Jesse Elizabeth Hill Durrett, were purchased by Special Collections from Charles Apfelbaum, Valley Stream, New York, in December, 1992.
Processed by Kim Allen Scott, Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in November 1992.
CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION (63
items)
Folder 1. Letters, 1862
1. Jesse C. Bliss (Camp near Rolla) to "Dear Sisters,"
January 23, 1862.
2. Jesse C. Bliss (Camp in Sugar Creek Bottom, Arkansas)
to Dr. H.B. Lucas (Richview, Illinois) March 13, 1862.
3. Jesse C. Bliss (Camp Hofmann, Near Keithville, Missouri)
to Dr. H.B. Lucas (Richview, Illinois) March 22, 1862.*
4. Jesse C. Bliss (Camp Hofmann, Near Keithville, Missouri)
to Dr. H.B. Lucas (Richview, Illinois) March 28, 1862.*
5. Jesse C. Bliss (Rienzi, Mississippi) to "Sister Luna,"
July 3, 1862.
Folder 2. Letters, 1862-1863
1. Jesse C. Bliss (Rienzi, Mississippi) to "Sister Luna,"
August 7, 1862.
2. Jesse C. Bliss [Rienzi, Mississippi] to "Sister Luna,"
August 25, 1862.*
3. Jesse C. Bliss (Near Nashville, Tennessee) to "Sister
Luna," November 10, 1862.*
4. Jesse C. Bliss [Tennessee] to unidentified sisters
or brothers, November 27, [1862].*
5. Jesse C. Bliss (Near Murfreesboro, Tennessee) to "Dear
Sister," January 8, 1863.*
Folder 3. Letters, 1863-1864
1. Jesse C. Bliss (Camp Harrington, Alabama) to "Sister
Luna," August 26, 1863.*
2. Jesse C. Bliss (In the field) to "Sister Luna," August
28, 1864.
3. Jesse C. Bliss [no place, no date, labeled "Page 3"]
to "Dear Sister."*
4. Jesse C. Bliss [no place, no date, labeled "Page 5"]
to Harriet Bliss.
Folder 4. Documents, 1864-ca. 1940s
1. Discharge, Jesse C. Bliss, September 15, 1864.
2. Funeral notice, Jesse Bliss [Jr.], July 18, 1867.
3. Manuscript poem, "Apostrophe to the Flag," ca. 1880s.
4. Bliss family Bible leaf, ca. 1860-1940s.
5. Bliss family Bible leaf, ca. 1860-1940s.
6. Obituary clipping, Eliza Bliss Holcomb, 1898.
Folder 5. Documents, 1908-1967
1. Wedding announcement, Elizabeth and Joseph J. Durrett,
1908.
2. Marriage license, Elizabeth and Joseph J. Durrett,
1908.
3. Obituary clipping, John [Jesse] C. Bliss, 1911.
4. Manuscript speech, "Tribute to the Dead," 1916.
5. Deed, Oakland Cemetery, burial lot for Elizabeth Durrett,
1917; (transferred 1928).
6. Obituary clipping, Harriet Bliss, 1924.
7. Letter, Elizabeth Durrett (Little Rock) to the Adjutant
General, June 18, 1925.
8. Discharge (in lieu of lost or destroyed original) Joseph
J. Durrett, August 15, 1925.
9. Postcard, Pension Bureau (Washington, D.C.) to Elizabeth
Durrett, September 8, 1925.
10. Postcard, Pension Bureau (Washington, D.C.) to Elizabeth
Durrett, September 19, 1925.
11. Pension certificate, Elizabeth Durrett, March 8, 1926.
12. Transmittal receipt for pension certificate, March 8, 1926.
13. Deed transfer, Oakland Cemetery, 1928.
14. Postcard, Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington,
D.C.) to Elizabeth Durrett, April 13, 1935.
15. Birth certificate (duplicate), Elizabeth Hill [Durrett],
issued March 8, 1935.
16. Demit certificate, Order of the Eastern Star to Elizabeth
Durrett, 1963.
17. Receipt, Oakland Cemetery to Elizabeth Durrett, 1967.
18. Donation in trust to Oakland Cemetery by Elizabeth Durrett,
1967.
Folder 6. Photographs 1-7
1. Jesse C. Bliss, ca. 1861.
2. Jesse C. Bliss, ca. 1880s.
3. Luna Louise Bliss, ca. 1867.
4. Luna Louise Bliss, ca. 1868.
5. Luna Louise Bliss, ca. 1879.
5a. (cropped image)
6. Luna Louise Bliss and George F. Hill, ca. 1880s.
7. Luna Louise Bliss, ca. 1880s.
Folder 7. Photographs 8-15
8. Jesse Elizabeth Hill, ca. 1880.
9. Jesse Elizabeth Hill, ca. 1900
10. Jesse Elizabeth Hill, ca. 1900 [four miniature images]
11. Jesse Elizabeth Hill and unidentified woman, ca. 1900.
12. Jesse Elizabeth Hill and Joseph J. Durrett, 1908.
13. Jesse Elizabeth Hill and Joseph J. Durrett, 1908
14. Jesse Elizabeth Hill and Joseph J. Durrett and son,
ca. 1915.
15. Jesse Elizabeth Hill Durrett and son, ca. 1915.
Folder 8. Photographs 16-25
16-25. Unidentified people.
Folder 9. Case for photograph #1.