Digitized Content from E. M. Bails Collection | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

The digitized content of the E. M. (Ellwyn Miller) Bails Collection of Letters, 1864-1959 consists of a letter belonging to E. M. Bails. The letter was written by Homer Lyman (H. L.) Bosworth. It describes Abraham Lincoln’s attendance at a church service in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War.

E. M. Bails was from Rockford, Illinois. He attended Oberlin College in the 1930s and would later live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. H. L. Bosworth (1834-1924) was from Otis, Massachusetts. Bosworth worked as a clerk in the Fifth Auditor’s Office of the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D. C. during the Civil War.

The digitized content includes a letter and its envelope. The letter is from H. L. Bosworth to his cousin Mary, written on August 6, 1864. The letter describes a church service at the Second Presbyterian Church. The letter details Lincoln’s arrival in the middle of the church service, Bosworth’s hopes for Lincoln’s reelection, and personal matters such as matrimony and a sick family member. Bosworth also mentioned the training of government department clerks as reserve Union soldiers.

The E. M. Bails Collection of Letters, 1864-1959 was partially digitized in 2024. Items are available online at the University of Illinois Digital Library. A preservation copy of the items is available to IHLC and digital preservation staff at the Library Digital Repository: https://medusa.library.illinois.edu/collections/2186.