American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Two leather bound diaries measuring 3 1/4 x 6 x 3/4 in and 3 1/4 x 6 x 1/2 in. and a tintype measuring 2 x 3 1/2 (toning to all pages, some flaking at the edges, cracking to the leather and paper bindings, abrasions over all edges, splits to corners. Tintype shows some light dents overall with some residues and mars).

Two leather journals with entries spanning 1866 to 1872 describing remarkable and mundane events in the post-war life of Harland A. Durand. A search of Civil War Database suggests that he was a veteran of the Union Army who served with the 20th Iowa Infantry Regiment from August 25, 1862 until July 8, 1865. Harland A. Durand was born in Westfield, New York, on 9 September 1840, though in much of his official correspondence his year of birth could only be listed as "about 1841. In the three years that Durand served the 20th Iowa, his unit had participated in the Battle of Prairie Grove, the Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Sterling's Plantation, and in the Siege of Fort Morgan. After the war, Durand traveled west, remaining in Osage, Iowa as a druggist before finally settling in Los Angeles, California. Durand joined the GAR after the war, and participated in various fundraisers championed by that organization. On May 1, 1907, Harlan Durand died. He was survived by his wife, Mary, who had remained by his side through thirty-three years of marriage.

Durand's diary entries cover a wide range of events in his life, including joining the GAR, the nomination of Ulysses S. Grant for President of the United States, contributing to a Freedmen's Aid Society fundraiser, and relates the story of a mishap when Durand was thrown from his horse during the GAR's July 4th celebrations. Taken together, these diary entries provide a window into the everyday life of a veteran of the American Civil War during the crucial years of Reconstruction, and amidst the backdrop of the American West. Included with the diaries is a tintype of two children with a paper label on the obverse reading "Laura Anne, Samuel P. Durand in their play clothes Osage Iowa 1878".