Information Sheet

 

 

R         Self, Jesse N., 1838‑1863.

304                  Letters, 1860‑1863.

                                    One folder, photocopies.

 

 

 

These are letters to his family by Jesse N. Self, a schoolteacher at Irondale, Missouri, and cap­tain of Co. F, 32^nd Missouri Infantry.  The collection includes letters from Irondale, 1860, and from camps in Rolla and Benton Barracks in St. Louis, 1861‑1862.  Capt. Self died of ery­sipelas at Memphis, Tennessee, on 25 February 1863.

 

Jesse N. Self was born on 1 December 1838 in Washington County, Missouri.  He was the grand­son of Fountain and Sarah (Williams) Self, both of whom were residents of New Madrid in 1812.  Jesse’s father, Lemuel Self, was born in New Madrid and lived there until 1828, when he located in Washington County.  He married Sarah Eaton in 1836.  He relocated again in 1840, moving his family to Cherry Valley, now known as Cherryville, southeast of Steelville.

 

Jesse N. Self grew up in Crawford County, but by 1860 he was a schoolteacher in Iron­dale in Washington County.  He enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War.  He served initially with Phelps’s Regiment Missouri Infantry, a six-month unit, and then enlisted in Co. F, 32^nd Missouri Infantry.  Company F was one of four companies in the 32^nd which were raised in Crawford County in the fall of 1862.  The men elected Self as captain.  The 32^nd completed its organization at Benton Barracks in St. Louis before being assigned to Union forces operat­ing against Vicks­burg.  Capt. Self fell sick soon after leaving Missouri, and was never again well.  He died on 25 February 1863 of erysipelas, a streptococcal disease, at the officer’s hospi­tal in Memphis, Tennes­see.

 

The Self collection includes two ante-bellum letters written from Irondale, Missouri, and twelve written during Civil War service.  The last letter, by Assistant Surgeon William Grin­stead, an­nounces Self’s death in Memphis.  The letters include comments on crops and local events at Irondale, camp life at Rolla during the winter of 1861‑1862, and the organization of the 32^nd Mis­souri at Benton Barracks and its voyage down river toward Vicksburg aboard the steamer Sucker State in late 1862 and early 1863.

 

 

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