[CIVIL WAR] Archive of 105th Illinois Soldier & Family

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Day 2: The American Civil War

By Fleischer's Auctions

Apr 25, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-04-25 09:00:00 2026-04-25 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Day 2: The American Civil War https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-2-the-american-civil-war-22127
Featuring rare artifacts, documents, ephemera, photography, and weaponry relating to the American Civil War. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com

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• Lot Description

  This multi-generational family archive centers on Abraham Vanderbilt Stevens of the 105th Illinois, a distant cousin of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and preserves his Civil War service, illness, death, and family memory across decades. Included are several of Stevens’s personal effects from the war, among them his inscribed Soldier’s Hymn Book and an identified knife, fork, and spoon set. These are complimented by three important autograph letters written during Stevens enlistment in 1862, tracing his decision to volunteer, the hardships of army life, and his visible decline in Kentucky, and are given tragic finality by a hospital letter reporting his death from tuberculosis in December 1862. The archive is further enhanced by later family materials connected to his half-sister’s Anderson relations in New Jersey, including a political newspaper clipping, family record pages, postcards, and a 1943 family letter preserving oral history. 

   

  This lot includes: 

   

  1. Folding magnifying glass loupe. Hard rubber. Rochester, New York: Bausch & Lomb, [mid- to late-19th century]. Approx. 3 3/4 in. fully extended. 

   

  2. Knife, fork and spoon set, belonging to A. Vanderbilt Stevens. Cast steel. Boston: W.H. Richards, 23 July 1861. Both parts approx. 8 in. long. 

   

  Provenance: Miss Ruth Anderson

   

  3. The Soldier’s Hymn Book. Chicago Young Men’s Christian Association, [1861]. 

   

  Approx. 2 1/2 x 4 in. Inscription to inside front cover identifying owner as A. Vanderbilt Stevens. 64 pages. Original board covers with remnants of tape binding. Front cover separated. 

   

  Provenance: Miss Ruth Anderson

   

  4. Autograph letter signed by A.V. Stevens. Somonauk, [Illinois], 25 August 1862. 3 pages, 8vo, on patriotic letterhead of a guard standing next to an American flag and the Capitol. 

   

  Here, Abraham writes to his parents and family, telling them that he and someone named Mike had enlisted in the U.S. Army just two days earlier. He writes: “This may be quite unexpected to you all we thought it was our duty to as citizens of the united states, and as there is to be a draft to be made here in 5 days, we thought we would go with our own free will we were a coming home 2 or 3 weeks ago but they put marshel [sic] law in force so we could go no where. If we can get a furlow [sic] for 10 days we will come home.” 

   

  5. Autograph letter signed by A.V. Stevens. Louisville, Kentucky, 31 October 1862. 4 pages, 8vo, on patriotic letterhead with eagle carrying an American flag. 

   

  Here, Abraham writes to his brother about being “unwell for 2 weeks [he] thought [he] could not stand the march [to Bowling Green].” He also discusses his friend Mike being sent to the hospital because he was too sick. Apparently, Abraham’s brother was interested in enlisting, but Abraham quickly attempts to dissuade him: “there is men here and lots of them to which would give all they are worth to be home… I dont believe you would stand it two months and my advise is to stay home.” 

   

  6. Autograph letter signed by A.V. Stevens. Bowling Green, [Kentucky], 18 November 1862. 4 pages, 3 3/4 x 6 in., on illustrated Lady Liberty holding a Union sword letterhead. 

   

  In this letter, Abraham writes to his parents about how he is “quite some better now so as [he can] walk around” and that while being in Bowling Green the past nine days, four men have died, including one “with the same disease [he] had only his was a little worse”. On the last page of his letter, he writes that “there is about 3000 sick here and they are a dying off very fast every day,” a foreboding message to his parents. It is likely that the men were sick with tuberculosis, which is what Abraham would die of the following month. 

   

  7. Autograph letter signed by E.C. Moffat, Ward Master Hospt No 12. Bowling Green, Kentucky, 4 January 1863. 1 page, 7 1/4 x 7 3/4 in. 

   

  Moffat writes to the Agent of Ohio Soldiers Claims about how A.V. Stevens passed away on 18 December 1862 from “Phthises Pulm,” or tuberculosis. The ward master plans to send Abraham’s things, plus items he received from a recent delivery, back to his father. 

   

  8. Somerset Unionist. Somerville, New Jersey: 1 November 1866. 1 page clipping, 2 1/2 x 19 in. In cover addressed in type to Mr. James H. Post, 129 Front Street, New York, N.Y. and inscribed identifying the article and that it was found in June 1933 in an old family Bible. 

   

  An article from the Somerset Unionist discussing who is running for office in the upcoming election occurring on 6 November 1866. Mentioned in the article is John Anderson, whom “the Democratic Party have placed on their ticket for State Senator.” Anderson was distantly related to Abraham through the latter’s father, John Vanderbilt Stevens (one of his daughters with his second wife married John Lewis Anderson, whose father was the John Anderson in this article). 

   

  9. Partly printed document completed in manuscript. [New Jersey], 1849-1891. 3 pages, 9 1/2 x 11 7/8 in. 

   

  A family record showing the marriages, births and deaths of the Stevens family. It includes the birth of Sarah Vanderbilt (2 November 1780); the birth of John Vanderbilt Stevens (6 August 1804); the marriage of Sarah Vanderbilt to Henry Stevens (10 December 1799); the marriages of John Vanderbilt Stevens first to Ann Doty (16 June 1831), who was Abraham's mother, then Hannah Winne (28 December 1843); the death of Ann Doty (8 January 1841); and the death of Sarah Vanderbilt (17 October 1849). 

   

  10. Autograph postcard signed by Maggie Anderson, possibly the sister or daughter of John Lewis Anderson. N.p., n.d. 2 pages, 5 3/8 x 3 3/8 in., on postcard with photograph of presumably the same house as the postcard addressed to Mrs. John Lewis Anderson. 

   

  Although there is no date on this postcard, it was most likely written in the winter due to Maggie writing “with best wishes for a Happy Christmas.” 

   

  11. Autograph postcard addressed to Mrs. J. L. Anderson, Morristown, New Jersey. Bernardsville, New Jersey, [17 December 1918]. 2 pages, 5 3/8 x 3 3/8 in., on postcard with a photograph of the Residence of F. P. Magown, Bernardsville, New Jersey. With Bernardsville cancel and two-cent red stamp. 

   

  While it is unclear who wrote this postcard to Mrs. John Lewis Anderson, daughter of John Vanderbilt Stevens, the inscription on the side with the photograph indicates that house was the one “Grandfather Anderson,” most likely John Anderson from the newspaper clipping, finished in 1856. 

   

  12. Autograph letter to Susan Stevens Anderson, possibly from Mary Frances Anderson. Basking Ridge, New Jersey, 25 July 1943. 2 pages, 6 x 6 3/4 in., on P.O. Box letterhead. 

   

  The letter writer says they asked Maggie, the sister of Sue, when their grandfather, John Anderson, finished building his house. The letter then mentions stories from Aunt Eliza and Aunt Margaret about John working on the house, including a separate note at the top that says Aunt Margaret knocked a wall out with an ax between the sitting room and the cellar because she wanted a dining room. 

   

  A wonderful archive spanning generations from a family. 

   

  [Civil War, Union, Confederate]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Relics, Militaria] [Books, Bibles, Soldiers' Bibles, Prayer Books, Ephemera, Pamphlets, Publications, Booklets, Memoirs]

  Condition

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  Conditions vary. 

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