MS-041: Thomas Meiser, Company F, 93rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers

Processed by: Christine M. Ameduri
February 2003

Download Finding Aid - Adobe PDF (18 KB)

Provenance:
Purchased September 2002 from Charles Apfelbaum

Biography:
Thomas Meiser was born on April 9, 1846. His parents died very early in his life and he was raised by his maternal grandmother and grandfather, John and Maria Person (or Parson), on his father's farmstead in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania. He first enlisted at the age of 17 with Lee's Invasion of Pennsylvania and was mustered into Company H of the 31st Pennsylvania Regiment (Emergency) around June 17-30, 1863. He was discharged, after the invasion failed, on August 8, 1863. Thomas Meiser reenlisted with Company F of the 93rd Pennsylvania Regiment on March 7, 1864 and was mustered in the next day. While in the 93rd regiment, he participated in the Wilderness Campaign. In July 1864, Meiser was detailed to the Provost Guard. On December 1, 1864, Meiser was admitted to the hospital with an abscess in his arm. He spent nearly the rest of the war in the hospital, mostly at McKim's Mansion in Baltimore. Discharged from the hospital in April, he was mustered out on June 27, 1865. After the war, he returned to the house where he was born and lived there until his death on August 29, 1923.

Scope and Content Notes:
The bulk of the collection consists of letters written by Thomas to his grandfather and grandmother. It includes miscellaneous correspondence including four letters written to Thomas from his grandparents during his service in the 31st Regiment (Emergency). The collection also includes various bonds, receipts and subpoenas as well as business correspondence relating to George Person (or Parson), Thomas's grandfather. It contains various tintype photos, mainly of Thomas's descendents, and a wallet from a bank in Lebanon. Lastly, it contains copies of research relating to Thomas Meiser, transcriptions of his letters as well as a Senior Paper written by Christopher Culig, class of 2007, on Meiser's Civil War service and genealogy.