American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Quarter plate tintype full standing portrait of Newcomer and a younger male family member. Newcomer wears a 9-button frock coat and holds a slouch hat with officer's hat cord down to his side. (Image a bit dark, some scratches; unsealed.) Housed in a floral Union case (soiling, nicking to edges/corners, velvet pad loose). Accompanied by a scrap of paper with penciled identification: "Pappa & Uncle Joe Newcome[r]." -- And 4 ninth plate ambrotypes and tintypes of what appears to be the same woman, identified on accompanying scrap of paper as "Ma Angie," likely Angie Newcomer, the wife of Levi L. Newcomer. -- Together, 5 cased images.

A pair of double bordered captain of infantry shoulder straps, each 4 x 1 1/2 in., featuring gold bullion embroidery, blue velvet centers, and open backs with visible stitching (light wear to velvet, some soiling and wear to embroidery). -- A silk burgundy officer's sash, approx. 113 1/2 in. lg. including acorns and tassels (scattered mothing, staining). -- A pair of binoculars of likely French manufacture, approx. 4 x 4 1/2 in. (right adjustable barrel missing leather covering).

Recruitment broadside announcing: "WAR! The Preside[nt of] the United States has called for 75,000 Troops. Westville is about to raise a Volunteer Company, to assist in the glorious cause. COME FOWARD!" Westville, IN: Herald Print, 1861. 12 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (losses, stains, chipping to edges, folds).

Manuscript document, "Special Orders No 4" instructing Levi L. Newcomer, "having been promoted to Capt 'B' Co 13th Iowa Infty Vols" to assume the command of Co. E, relieving 1st Lieutenant John E. Forsyth. Savannah, GA, 4 January 1865. Given by the order of J. C. Kennedy in command of the regiment. -- Partly-printed appointment to Postmaster of the newly established Thomas Post Office in Routt County, Colorado for Levi L. Newcomer. Washington, DC, 25 July 1888.

2 CDV albums, one identified to "Capt Levi L. Newcomer" on front free endpaper, containing 75+ CDV and tintype portraits of Levi, his wife Angie, other family members and acquaintances, engravings of important Civil War era figures including the Lincoln family, and other subjects. Highlights include: CDV of the courthouse in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg, MS: D. P. Barr, n.d. (corners clipped, minor soiling). Verso with Barr's "Army Photographer" imprint and period ink inscription: "C. H. Vicksburg Miss." -- CDV of a pontoon bridge at Decatur, AL. N.p.: n.p., ca 1864 (toning, light spotting, few losses to corners of print and clipping to corners and edges of mount). The bridge featured here was built under the command of General Philip Sherman when his army marched to relieve Chattanooga. -- A pair 1 3/8 x 2 in. tintype portraits of Levi and Angie Newcomer, each housed in a CDV-sized paper sleeve with embossed floral wreath.

[With:] A collection of books and manuals including: a pocket New Testament with pencil inscription identifying it to "Angie [?] Romans, La Porte, June the 15th, 1856." London: G. E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode, 1855. -- Soldiers' Hand Book, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC: Louis K. Gillson & Co., 1886. -- An illustrated dictionary with ink inscription identifying it to "Frank Newcomer, Toponas Colorado, Nov. 2nd 1889." New York: Ivison, Blakeman & Company, 1877. -- And 5 others. -- Together, 8 books and manuals.

[Also with:] Numerous newspaper clippings incl. an obituary for Angie Newcomer (née Romans), who remarried and is thus listed as "Mrs. Angie C. Romans Love," a marriage announcement for Levi and Angie's son, Francis "Frank" Newcomer, news of Levi's death, poetry, and more.

[Also With:] A small woven box containing raw cotton, a camp spoon, and a few dug relics. -- A small leather purse with metal clasps containing a few articles including a clipped signature/calling card for "Mrs. L. L. Newcomer."

Levi L. Newcomer enlisted as a private on 4 October 1861 and mustered into Company B of the 13th Iowa Infantry Regiment later that month. After the regiment sustained heavy losses at the Battle of Shiloh, Newcomer was promoted to the rank of corporal on 28 April 1862. The regiment took part in the Battle of Corinth in October of that year, and spent the following year engaging in Grant's operations in Mississippi leading up to Vicksburg including at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Big Black River. The regiment remained on duty in Vicksburg from its surrender in July until February of 1864. The regiment took part in the Atlanta Campaign later that year, including operations against Kenesaw Mountain, Nickajack Creek, Bald Hill, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Siege of Atlanta from 22 July to 25 August. They partook in the March to the Sea from November to December, and Newcomer was promoted to captain on the first of January in 1865. The 13th joined the Carolina Campaign from January to April, including engagement at the famed Battle of Bentonville on March 20-21. The regiment finally mustered out in Louisville, KY in July.

The 13th Iowa Volunteers spent most of their war service attached to the XVII Army Corps, Department of the Tennessee, with various divisional assignments.

Levi married Angie Romans in Perry, Iowa some time after the war, and the two had a son, Francis "Frank" Newcomer, who was born on 11 October 1876. The family moved to Colorado in 1879, where Levi was appointed Postmaster in Routt County in 1888. He passed away in Castle Rock on 7 June 1896. One newspaper clipping noting the captain's death remembered him as "an honorable and upright gentleman."