Civil War-Era Letters From Dedham Brothers Published In New Book

DEDHAM, MA — The first-hand account of three brothers from Dedham who fought in the Civil War is now available in a book.

The Lathrop brothers wrote scores of letters home to their mother Marie and three sisters. More than 150 years later, the Lathrop letters come to life in the new book, "My Dear Mother: Civil War Letters to Dedham from the Lathrop Brothers."

Transcribed for the Dedham Historical Society & Museum and published by Damianos Publishing, the letters tell of the fierce battles, long marches, camp life and constant yearning for home and family.

As the letters arrived in Dedham, Marie Lathrop and her daughters saved them. In 1928, a descendant donated a package of some 100 letters to the Dedham Historical Society. Three years ago, volunteers began the painstaking process of transcribing the letters for publication.

Between them the Lathrop brothers saw action across the breadth of the war, from Antietam and Fredericksburg in the East to Port Hudson in the West. When the war ended, only two brothers came home. A year before the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Julius Lathrop was mortally wounded in the Battle of Cane River in Louisiana. Of the two surviving brothers, John Lathrop pursued a career in law, rising to become an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

“The three Lathrop brothers exemplified the Union cause,” said transcriber Stuart Christie, a former DHSM Board member. “Battle after battle, day after day in the camps, they pressed ahead with whatever it took to preserve the Union.”

Along with photographs of the brothers, the book includes images of battlefield maps hand-drawn by John and Julius in their letters.

With its unique perspective from three siblings, My Dear Mother: Civil War Letters to Dedham from the Lathrop Brothers is an important addition to the library of Civil War letters and diaries. The book is available from silverstreetmedia.com and amazon.com

The project received financial support from the Society’s Pagliuca Fund in memory of longtime member Joe Pagliuca, as well as from DHSM Board member Bill Flanagan.