Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a photocopy of a letter written by John R. Thomas to his mother following the Civil War. John R. Thomas served in Company I of the 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry from 1862 to 1865, mustering out as captain of the unit.
The letter was written by John R. Thomas on May 25, 1865 and May 26, 1865 in Montgomery, Alabama, to his mother. In the letter, Thomas recounted troubles caused by his first lieutenant (whose loss of company property when Thomas was hospitalized made him liable for $50), complained of falling ill the day before, and worried about the safety of sending his pay home. Thomas also expressed regret at the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Josephine F. Moeller donated this item to the Illinois Historical Survey, predecessor of the Illinois History and Lincoln Collection, in 1999.