Civil War artifacts preserved with NCCC’s help

WINSTED — This year marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of the conclusion of the Civil War. After four brutal years of fighting, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Courthouse, Va., on April 9, 1865.This event triggered the successive surrendering of Confederate troops in the following months, with the last Confederate general surrendering on June 23, 1865.The Civil War helped to shape how the United States grew into the nation that it is today.Now, 150 years since the final shot was fired, new discoveries are still being made that are shedding more light on the war, as well as the men who fought in it. One such discovery took place by a dentist in the attic of his home in Torrington.Torrington resident James Smith came into possession of an old trunk in 2000 after the passing of his parents. Smith had taken ownership of it after the death of his mother, Kate, of New Hartford. The trunk was bequeathed to her by her uncle, James T. Smith, who passed away in Colorado in 1925.James T. Smith, an Irish immigrant, was born in the midst of the Irish Potato Famine in 1846.He emigrated to America with his family as a child and settled in New Hartford. He enlisted as a private in the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry out of New Britain the first year of the War in 1861.He re-enlisted later and was promoted to a Second Lieutenant in the First Louisiana Infantry in New Orleans in 1862. The trunk sat in Smith’s attic for many years until 2011, when he talked to his neighbor Todd Bryda, who is a professor of history at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.Bryda, who participates in Civil War re-enactments, said that he jumped at the opportunity.“His hands were actually shaking when he opened the trunk,” Smith said.Inside the trunk were over 150 different items ranging from field manuals to an officer’s library, an album of 19th century carte de visites, daily rosters of troops, autographed letters and a dress saber that was a gift from Smith’s regiment of men who had taken up a collection to present to him. “I had gone over to Jim’s house expecting a few old papers,” Bryda said. “Instead, I found a Ph.D. in a box. I was very excited and overwhelmed by what Jim had.”Not only were the century-and-a-half-old items in the trunk, but Bryda said they had remained in incredibly amazing condition.Some of the government documents were still wrapped in the original red tape they had been sealed with, which was the practice that brought about the phrase “cutting through red tape.”Smith described the trunk and the contents staying in that condition as “quite fortuitous, surviving without damage from mice or the elements.”The contents of the trunk revealed more details about Smith.According to his official discharge papers from 1865, found in the trunk, Smith participated in more than half a dozen different notable military actions during the War, including the First Battle of Bull Run. Upon returning to civilian life after his extensive participation in the War, Mr. Smith went on to aid in Reconstruction, help to found the Colorado School of Mines, help to found the first paid fire department in Denver, served as city auditor in Denver for two years, and served as editor and reporter for the Rocky Mountain News for the 50 years up to his death, among his other endeavors and accomplishments.After the trunk was opened, Smith said the question came up of what to do with the trunk and all of the precious items it contained. Both Smith and Bryda decided to contact Jim Patterson, director of Library Services at the college.Upon becoming familiar with the collection, Patterson realized that the small community college simply would not have the resources required to take on such an extensive and historically important project to preserve the items.“It would do these things a disservice to not get them into the best, most apt hands possible,” Patterson said.Inquiries were then made to multiple institutions as possible homes for the collection, and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut was then selected the best possible fit. With significant resources and expertise with similarly significant collections, the Dodd Center has started the process of carefully unpacking the items, processing them through their conservation lab and digitally archiving everything with the intent of making it available to the public through their national bibliographic utility.“This collection will become readily available to people in perpetuity,” Patterson said. “It will be preserved today, but also made available to generations to come, living on regardless of where technology goes in the future.”Smith echoed these sentiments.“UConn will keep it together and get it out there, and to me, that is what was most important,” Smith said. “I think it is very important to recognize the effect of Jim and Todd along with Northwestern Connecticut Community College on making sure this got to the right place.”