“LETTERS HOME….” The Woodman Institute Museum this year commerates Dover area citizens who served 150 years ago in what became our nation’s bloodiest war.
A special exhibit in the first floor gallery of the Woodman House will introduce visitors to a few of these men through photographs, letters, and other artifacts. There’s a sword that was presented by the citizens of Dover to 2nd Lt. Henry W. Twombly, age 26, with the 11th N.H. Co. K: a colt revolver, canteen and original ambrotype portrait of Alvah Kimball, a carte de visite photograph of Levi Newall Sawyer next to his canteen and letter home to his mother, an ambrotype photograph of Joseph Fountain, 6th N.H. Co. H, his canvas sack, canteen and letter to his dear wife. Also represented are Nicholas Tolmay, General Guppey, and Dr. John R. Ham
Letters home offer the reader a sense of the soldiers daily life hundreds of miles from Dover and his family. They fought in states like Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas; cities like Richmond, Fredericksburg, Atlanta and Petersburg. Men like Henry Twombly, age 26, who joined the 11th N.H. Co. K and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in September 1862; Joseph Fountain, age 44, who joined the 6th N.H. Co. H in December 1861; Levi Newall Sawyer, age 21, who enlisted in August 1862 in the 11th N.H. Co. K; Alvah Kimball, age 32, from Rochester, 6th N.H. Co. K, enlisted November 15, 1861; James Tolmay, age 21, of the 11th N.H. Co. K enlisting in August 1862. 
Andrew Young writes to his wife on July 2, 1863, “Events of the most momentous maganitude are transpiring all around us – a campaign the likes of which we have not yet had & on which hang the destinies of the country.” This was written at Westminster, Md., thirty minutes from Gettysburg.
Levi Newal Sawyer writes to his mother from Spotsylvania, Va. on May 19, 1864, and tells of 175 killed or wounded. “Ben Webster is safe and well….tell his mother,” he writes, signing his letter “your affectionate son.”
In addition to the soldiers letters and artifacts, there is a special exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1912-2012) located in front of the Dover library and a “Photography in the Nineteenth Century display showing cameras and samples of various types of photographs available in the 1860s including a large studio wet plate camera, posing chair and neck brace used in Civil War era skylight studios.
The exhibts will be available for viewing from April through November 2012 as part of the museum’s regular tour. We suggest visitors allow 1 1/2 – 2 hours for an educational and entertaining nineteenth century museum experience. Reservations are requested for special guided group tours.
The WOODMAN is a natural science, local history and art museum with exhibits for all age levels and interests…… displayed in three historic buildings.
OPEN / Wednesday – Sunday at 12:30….closing at 4:30
THE CIVIL WAR EXHIBIT IS SPONSORED BY
DERMATOLOGY & SKIN HEALTH / DOVER, N.H.
