Series 5 - Charles Locke letters

257pp

Kerby A. Miller created his transcripts of the Locke letters from copies provided by the National Library of Ireland per letter of 4 November 1981. The original letters are held in the National Library of Ireland [call number MS 49597]. Reproductions of the Shea family letters were received in the same package; the originals are also held in the National Library of Ireland [call number MS 17799].

Materials pertaining to letters written by or concerning Charles Locke between 1853 and 1863.
Charles H. Locke was a native of Dublin who had emigrated to Upper Canada. A bookbinder by trade, Locke was reduced to itinerant farm labour in order to provide for his six children. Locke eventually moved to the United States where one of his adult daughters had settled; by 1860 he was in Buffalo, New York, During the American Civil War, Locke enlisted with the Confederate Army at Iberville, Louisiana in February 1862. At the time he enlisted, he was an overseer on a plantation 50 miles below New Orleans (‘I enlisted whilst under the influence of liquor.’) In March 1863 he deserted alone while in charge of some rebel deserters. Locke reached the federal line 9 miles from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He became a United States prisoner of war and switched his allegiance to the United States at the point. Enrolling in the Union Army later in the year, Locke joined the 34th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, pretending to be 43 instead of 52 and concealing a leg wound he suffered while served with the Confederates. His motive was likely financial in order to support his family. Locke was killed at the Battle of Pine Knob, 16 June 1864.
The series consists of: abstracts, transcripts, and reproductions of the Locke letters; reproductions of four unrelated letters written to Eliza and Edward Shea in County Wexford in the late 19th century which were received alongside the Locke letters; biographical notes on Charles Locke; Kerby A. Miller's correspondence with historical organisations while researching Locke; and photocopies of historical publications pertaining to mid-19th century southern Ontario used by Miller for historical context.