“Dear Brother”: Letters of the Jones Brothers (Contoocook)

ARCHIVES:

Thanksgiving Letter (B K Jones, Dec 2d 1860, #3) (Guest Post)

1860: Burleigh sends news about his family’s Thanksgiving activities…

Thanksgiving Letter (B K Jones, Dec 2d 1860, #2) (Guest Post)

1860: Burleigh relates a classic NH Thanksgiving… (Drawn by guest artist Dan Haines of Hopkinton)

Thanksgiving Letter (B K Jones, Dec 2d 1860, #1)

1860: Burleigh’s recently back from the 1860 Republican convention in Chicago, and he can’t wait to tell his brother all about the celebrations back…

Mayflowers (B K Jones, April 25th 1858) (Guest Post)

1858: Burleigh K. Jones has some fun times planned for May Day, but life around the capital still seems unbearably dull… (Drawn by guest…

I am Pedling Buttons (B K Jones, March 6th 1858) (Guest Post)

1858: Be careful what you wish for! Burleigh K. Jones just can’t get rid of those buttons he had his brother send him from…

They Have Discovered a Cave! (B K Jones, April 1st 1855) (Guest Post)

1855: Contoocook’s Burleigh K. Jones shares news from home (and demonstrates his sense of humor) in an exciting letter to his brother Sullivan. (Drawn…

I Will Pledge Myself (Jones, June 13th 1862, #3)

1862: The Union armies stand at the gates of Richmond, and to Burleigh, the war seems all but won. He couldn’t be more wrong…

Company B Fall in for Dinner (Jones, June 13th 1862, #2)

1862: Burleigh K. Jones takes a break from letter writing to observe dinnertime; then he continues with some ghastly details from the Fair Oaks…

Dear Brother (Jones, June 13th 1862)

Contoocook’s Burleigh K. Jones writes to his brother following the Battle of Seven Pines …

Who are the Jones brothers?

Burleigh

• Enlisted September 1861 with Company B, 2nd NH Regiment.
• Wounded & died near Richmond, 1862.
• Wrote many letters to Sullivan throughout the 1850s & during his Civil War service.

Luther

• Enlisted (with Burleigh) September 1861 with Company B, 2nd NH Regiment.
• Mustered out August 1864.

Sullivan

• Oldest brother
• Worked in Chicago & Boston during 1850s & 1860s.

The Hopkinton Historical Society has preserved many of the brothers’ letters and papers dating from 1855-1864 and beyond. The collection contains no photographs of the brothers.