Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None

Use Restrictions

Consult repository for information

Preferred Citation

Oliver C. Benton Letters, MSS 06-31, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lewis Leigh, Jr., 1996

Processing Information

Mark F. Hall, May 2024
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2024

Historical and Biographical Information

Oliver C. Benton was born in Orleans County, New York in 1836. He enlisted in the 17th New York Light Artillery in 1862. He camped with his unit at Fairfax Courthouse for a time during the Civil War. Benton also served in the Richmond, Petersburg, and Appomattox campaigns. After the war he returned to New York. Benton died in 1907 and is buried in Mount Albion Cemetery in Albion, NY.

Scope and Content

The Oliver C. Benton Letters consist of .25 linear feet and span the years 1862-1865 and consist of four folders of photocopies of typed transcriptions of correspondence. The correspondence primarily consists of letters Oliver wrote to his wife, Cora, regarding his experiences in the Union Army during the Civil War, as well as his reactions and responses to her letters and the topics therein. Letters written between February and December 1863 are written from various locations in Fairfax County, including “Miners Hill,” Annandale, “Centerville,” and Fairfax Court House. Letters written between January and May 1864 were written from Fairfax Court House. The collection also includes transcripts of letters from Cora to Oliver dated March 20, April 4, April 18, May 22, June 22, July 3, and July 11 of 1864; one letter to Cora from Julia Fuller (undated but filed in October 1862); one letter from Oliver to his daughter Belle, dated February 4, 1863 and another dated February 10, 1864 (which also includes a short note to a Mr. Holt addressed to Miss Emma Belle Benton); one letter from Cora’s brother C.H. Beach to her, dated June 11, 1863; and one letter dated August 14, 1864 that contains both a letter from C.H. Beach to his father, Elias S. Beach, and one from Cora to Oliver. All of the letters from Cora to Oliver appear in the 2003 book Hard Breathing Days: The Civil War Letters of Cora Beach Benton, however, there appears to be some difference in deciphering the dates as the April 18 letter appears in the book as April 10 and the July 11 letter appears as July 17.

Related Material

Cora Benton’s letters to Oliver C. Benton have been published as Hard Breathing Days: The Civil War Letters of Cora Beach Benton. Albion, N.Y.: Almeron Press, c2003

Separated Material

None

Index Terms

• Beach, Charles Howard, 1846-1901
• Beach, Elias S., 1793-1875
• Benton family -- Correspondence
• Benton, Cora Beach, 1838-1902
• Benton, Oliver Charles, 1836-1907
• Fairfax County (Va.) -- History -- 1861-1865, Civil War
• Fuller, Julia
• Rogers, Emma Belle Benton, 1858-1918
• Soldiers -- Correspondence
• Virginia -- History -- 1861-1865, Civil War

Adjunct Descriptive Data