Processed in September of 2015
This collection was purchased from Michael Vinson in 2014 by the Friends of the Merrill-Cazier Library.
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Frank Godfrey letters must
be obtained from the
Little is immediately known about Frank Godfrey outside of what can be gleaned from these letters. In 1858 he was a seaman on the Bark Salacia under Captain J.S. Higgins, before being released at Buenos Aires on December 13. After conducting some sort of business in Argentina, he returned to the States when the Civil War began and served in the Union Army under Generals Butler and Banks. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry before he resigned for health reasons. In 1865 he moved West, passing through Fort Dodge, Iowa; Sioux City, Iowa; Boulder Valley, Montana; and Virginia City, Montana. He speaks of quartz and gold mining while in Montana, but by 1866 he is trying to return East. The last letter, from 1876, shows him living in San Francisco and looking for a job as a lawyer. It appears that he is from Maine, and he also talks of his wife, Mary, whom he divorces in 1866.
This collection contains letters from Frank Godfrey to his parents. The bulk of the correspondence dates from 1865 and 1866, with additional letters from 1858 and 1876. This results in a relatively incomplete history of Godfrey’s experience, though the letters individually touch on some interesting events he experienced. Of particular interest is his discussion of mining around Virginia City, Montana, as well as least one conflict with Native Americans while traveling with a “Yellowstone Party.”
Typed transcriptions are foldered together with the original letter. They were prepared by the vendor who sold the collection to USU in 2014.
The letters are organized chronolgically.