AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND POEMS by Elizabeth A. Walton. Published in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1905 by P.J. Judge. 53 pages. Walton was born Elizabeth A. Barnes in Watertown, Massachusetts on July 8, 1828, and lived in West Cambridge during her earliest years. She later married Joseph Locke Walton, and he would later go on to serve near the end of the Civil War in Company C, 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, under the 23rd Army Corp under the command of General O.O. Howard, after which Howard University is named. Howard was a storied Union general who, during Reconstruction, took a special interest in helping former slaves adjust to freedom. Elizabeth Walton relates a brief family history including her husband's service, and then includes several poems some of which are addressed to children. The rear of the volume is a quite detailed ("Joseph had a touch of diarrhea") diary of Walton's vigil at her husband's side as he grew sick and died; this diary is followed by a list of those who called to see Joseph at his bedside (the list is divided into visitors from the "G.A.R." (Grand Army of the Republic) and the "Baptist Church"). Book bound in green paper covered boards with light green cloth backstrip. A simple, short, and in some ways quite odd early 20th century autobiography. Quite rare. Probably no more than 25 or 50 of these were ever printed. Book is in VERY GOOD condition. Bumped corners. At one time, it appears that something was glued onto the copyright page and its facing page, perhaps a picture of some sort, but now all that remains is a trace of glue where it was affixed.


Worldcat lists only 1 copy at Brown