Amos W. Avery was born in Jo Davies County, Illinois, on June 27, 1841. He spent his childhood on the family farm in Galena and attended public school and Mount Morris seminary. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted voluntarily with the Union on September 23, 1861. His brother, George S. Avery, had enlisted two days prior. As the quota for Illinois had already been filled, Amos and George joined the Third Missouri Cavalry, Company I.
Amos mustered out on December 31, 1864 at Little Rock, Arkansas. George mustered out on March 18, 1865. Following the war, Amos Avery attended the Bryant and Stratton’s business college. He moved to Nevada in 1871, and was married in Ploche to Sarah E. Baldwin. During the early 1870s he was an engineer on the Comstock Lode at Virginia City, Nevada.
Amos Avery moved to Butte, Montana, about 1885. By 1893 he was living part of the time in Stevensville, Montana, where his wife died on April 28, 1893. By 1900 Avery was living in Missoula. His obituary indicates he contracted rheumatism around 1910 and ‘had spent some time in California and Arizona in search of health.’ Amos Avery died in Missoula on September 9, 1914. He was survived by four children: Charles E., Esther M., H. B. Avery and Amos M. Avery.
The leather-bound diary of Amos W. Avery, entitled “Union Forever” on its front cover, documents Avery’s experiences from September 29, 1861 to March 23, 1863. Avery and his brother, George S., are assigned to the Third Missouri Cavalry, Company “I”. Amos was appointed Corporal and his brother Lieutenant. The diary documents Amos’ experiences as his Company moves from St. Louis to Hannibal and Palmyra in Northeastern Missouri, to Rolla and Springfield in Central and Western Missouri, to Batesville and Evening Shade in Northern Arkansas, to Ironton and Pilot Knob in Eastern Missouri, and finally to St. Genevieve on the Mississippi River in Southern Missouri. Details of daily life, the weather, hijinks, troop movements, battles, illness and death are a part of the diary’s narrative. His brother is frequently mentioned.
The war entries end on March 23, 1863, but they are followed a list of 'money expended,' likely from 1865. The narrative picks up again in Beloit, Wisconsin in on July 1 of 1865 and has short daily entries documenting the weather, class lessons, and work. The diary ends on September 12, 1865. The diary was transcribed in full by Daniel Smith in 1983. A copy of Smith’s typed transcription, as well as a typescript a presentation given by Smith to various civic groups in Missoula about Avery and his Civil War diary, is included with this collection.
Materials have been maintained in original order
The diary has been digitized and made available online.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive copyright to Daniel Smith's work transferred to the University of Montana.
Avery W. Amos Diary, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
The early chain of custody of this item is currently unknown. The diary was discovered, along with a number of valuable books, in a steam tunnel at the University of Montana in 1983 and was delivered to the office of then president Neil Bucklew. Bucklew entrusted the diary to his assistant, Daniel Smith, for eventual placement at the university's archives.
Amos Avery's diary, a transcript of the diary, and biographical information about Avery was given to the Archives by Daniel Smith in 2014.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.