Letter signed by Charles Stebbins to Miss Helen and Mr. Chapelle. St. Louis, 23 February 1863. 1 page, 4to, on United States Military Telegraph Assistant Quartermaster’s Office letterhead.

This wartime letter was written by Captain R.C. Clowry on behalf of Charles M. Stebbins. Stebbins informs the letter recipients that “Dr. Nichols tells me that among others, he sent you several of my photographs, which possibly you may have retouched. If so and you will send them to me by Express, I shall be very glad to get them, and will promptly remit the amount of your bill, if you will be kind enough to send that also.” The message does not include the subject of Stebbins’s photographs, but it is clear that he wanted them to be returned.

The director of the Missouri Western and St. Louis, Mo. River Telegraph Co., Stebbins swore an oath of loyalty to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Missouri on 10 September 1862. Following the Civil War, Stebbins moved to Denver, where he and Henry Porter founded the Porter and Stebbins Telegraph Company.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]