Scope of collection

The collection contains six letters written during and immediately after the Civil War, the first five addressed to Frank Metcalf serving in the Union Army and the last to a man named John.

Letters to Frank were sent from former students, his sister, and his cousin to where he was stationed in the South. Those from his students focus primarily on their schooling (they either attend or plan on attending the Rome Academy) and the state of local education. Family and friends alike inform Frank of a new teacher's institute, new programs and teachers at the Seminary and the Academy, as well as of the facilities. Also mentioned are small pieces of news from around town. One letter from his cousin mentions marriages and the recent Mass she attended, making her respect the priest for the abolitionist tones of the sermon.

Very little is mentioned about the war or Frank's life as a soldier, save for a few words here and there about the weather and mud in the South. In one letter written to Frank during January of 1863 by former student Ella, she observes "...the life of a soldier is irksome at the best -- but at least you may console yourselves with the thought that you are not mere lookers on in this great struggle but, rather, that you are acting the noble parts of heroes in the strife."

Finally, the collection includes a single letter from Hannah J. McLintock to her brother, John, written in 1866. In it she addresses her "very Dear Brother," who is living elsewhere with his wife, children, and their brother David. The letter is written in response to a bottle of wine that John sent to his mother, who is ill, and requests that he try to write to her more often. It is not clear what, if any, connection there is between Frank Metcalf and the McLintocks.