Small Manuscript Collections, Eckles Papers, Civil War Correspondence
James N. Eckles served in the first Delaware Calvary unit as a private during the Civil War. He would later be discharged from the same unit as First Lieutenant in January of 1865. Lieutenant Eckles and the First Delaware Calvary served in the Battle of Westminster in Maryland, where they engaged a Confederate Calvary unit […]
Memorial Day Parade and Soldiers and Sailors Monument
NCC-250: On May 30, 1868, Wilmington residents placed flowers at the graves of Civil War soldiers in response to Gen. John A. Logan’s General Order 11, which called for a national day of remembrance. Honoring the sacrifices of those who died in the Civil War and later wars, May 30 became an annual tradition that […]
Civil War Motion Pictures
RG 8005.046 Department of Public Instruction Motion Pictures“Delaware in the Civil War: Splitting of the Diamond.” A black-and-white film, approximately 15 minutes long, focusing on Delaware’s duality as a border state. The film discusses both the Union and Confederate factions in the state, the resulting debates in the state legislature, the disarming of southern […]
New Digital Collection: The Abram H. Draper Letters
The Abram H. Draper Collection consists of 34 unique pieces of correspondence, including letters and poetry from Sergeant Abram H. Draper to his wife Anna M. Wiley Draper during the American Civil War.
The Abram H. Draper Collection
DuPont Powder Mills
NC-60: Reinstallation Text 2023: Located at this site on land purchased by French immigrant Eleuthere Irenee du Pont in 1802, the du Pont Powder Mills manufactured black powder at three sites along the Brandywine Creek north of Wilmington. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company manufactured powder throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming […]
Town of Kenton
KC-66: The origin of this community can be traced to the mid-18th century, when growing travel between Dover and the head of the Chester River resulted in the establishment of a Public House here to support the needs of travelers. Increasing commerce led to the growth of settlement. First known as Grog-Town and Lewis’ Cross […]
Seaford
SC-5: Town laid out, 1799. Then called “Hooper’s Landing.” First incorporated 1865. Seaford Academy located here from 1819 until some time before Civil War. Rev. Leonidas Polk, later Episcopal Bishop and Major General in Confederate Army was student at Academy. Home of William H. Ross, thirty-seventh Governor of Delaware. Installed in 1932. Reinstalled in 1966. […]
Site of Milford’s First Methodist Church
KC-65: The beginning of Methodism in this community can be traced to the organization of a local “society” in 1777. Early meetings were held in the homes of its members. On December 3, 1787, Joseph Oliver conveyed a lot of ground at this location for the purpose of “building a preaching house or church” for […]
General Alfred T.A. Torbert
SC-96: Born in Georgetown on July 1, 1833, Torbert attended local schools prior to his appointment to the West Point Class of 1855. After the out-break of the Civil War he rose rapidly in rank, serving as a regimental and brigade commander of New Jersey troops, then as Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of […]
