Sons of Temperance Civil War Letter

1861

 Collection Overview
Title: Sons of Temperance Civil War Letter
Dates: 1861
Creator: Sons of Temperance
Call Numbers:  DAL.SMS.057
Accession Number: Found in Collection
Repository: Drew Archival Library
Quantity:  1 folder
Language: English

 
Administrative Information:
Access Restriction: The Sons of Temperance Civil War Letter is open to researchers.  There are no restricted materials in the Collection.
Acquisition Information: The Sons of Temperance Letter was donated to the DRHS prior to the establishment of the Drew Archival Library in 2007.
Preferred form of citation: DAL.SMS.057, Sons of Temperance Letter in the Drew Archival Library of the Duxbury Rural & Historical Society.
Finding Aid Prepared by: Carolyn Ravenscroft, May 2013

Scope and Content:
One handwritten copy of a letter written by Gershom B. Weston on behalf of the “Division” of the Sons of Temperance in Duxbury to the “Duxbury Volunteers” of the 18^th Massachusetts Regiment, Company E, dated January 1, 1862.

Biographical Information:
The “Division” was the local chapter of the Sons of Temperance.  The Sons of Temperance was formed nationally in 1842 but membership spread quickly throughout the United States.  The Sons of Temperance not only promoted total abstinence from alcohol, it also acted as a mutual benefit society.

Gershom B. Weston, the son of Ezra “King Caesar” Weston II of Duxbury was a leader in the local temperance movement and the author of the letter on behalf of the Duxbury Division.

The letter was used in the blog article “The Division of Duxbury: Soldiering and Temperance.”