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Colonel Cyrus Burnet Smith U.S. Civil War papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0411
Finding aid note: Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Scope and Contents

The Cyrus B. Smith Civil War papers include Smith's diary, military passes, induction and discharge papers, correspondence, photographs, hospital reports, bills of lading relating to the cotton trade in 1850's and Smith's thesis from Medical School.

Dates

  • Creation: 1856-1958

Creator

Access Restrictions

No access restrictions; this material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Col. Cyrus B. Smith U.S. Civil War papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical Note

Cyrus Burnet Smith was born in 1839 in South Hadley, Massachusetts, the son of Cyrus Smith Senior and Julie Warner.

He attended medical school at Berkshire Medical School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, graduating in 1858.

Dr. Smith joined the 34th Massachusetts Volunteers in 1862 as Assistant Surgeon. On March 15, 1865, he accepted a commission as Surgeon in the 11th Massachusetts Volunteers, spending most of the Civil War in hospitals in Virginia and the Maryland/D. C. area. He was discharged in Washington D. C. July 31, 1865.

After his first wife Mary Hulbert died, shortly after the end of the Civil War, he married Louisa J. Aldrich in 1869. They were the parents of two children. Their son Cyrus Smith was born in 1872 and died in 1892 from hemorrhaging of the lungs. Mary was born in 1873 and graduated from Smith College in 1896. She was a teacher of English and the head of the English Department at Punchard High School in Andover, Massachusetts.

Dr. Smith lived in Granby, Massachusetts for many years. His obituary stated: "Dr. Smith was not simply a friend of a favored few, but was as fully alive to the interest of the poor and lowly, the class upon which society too frequently frowns as to those who esteem themselves higher in the social scale." Dr. Smith died in a fire in 1879, when his house was struck by lightening. He was 40 years of age. His wife Louise Aldrich Smith died in 1923 at the age of 84 years old.

Extent

1.25 Linear Feet ( (3 boxes) )

Language of Materials

English

Abstract:

Dr. Cyrus Smith served as a surgeon in the U.S. Civil War. His papers include his diary, military passes, induction and discharge papers, correspondence, photographs, hospital reports, bills of lading relating to the cotton trade in 1850's and Smith's thesis from Medical School.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into five series:

Missing Title

  1. Series I: Personal, 1856-1955, 5 linear inches
  2. Series II: Correspondence, 1856-1958, 5 linear inches
  3. Series III: Military, 1862-1875, 11.75 linear inches
  4. Series IV: Photographs, 1862-1896, 0.25 linear inches
  5. Series V: Oversize Certificates, 1864-1896

Acquisition Information

The papers were a gift of Bruce and Merrill Aldrich, distant relatives of Cyrus B. Smith.

Processing Information

This finding aid was reviewed for harmful, offensive, and aggrandizing language in July 2021. Published titles and names of organizations with this language are not edited. Legacy finding aids are available by request. If you have suggestions, please email woodson@rice.edu.

Title
Guide to Colonel Cyrus Burnet Smith U.S. Civil War papers, 1856-1958, bulk 1856-1896
Status
Completed
Author
Sharon Link (originally prepared by Lois Morris 1995)
Date
2002
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA
713-348-2586