John McConihe, Correspondence
Title: John McConihe,
Correspondence
Creator: McConihe, John, 1834-1864
Dates: 1856-1865
Quantity: 1 box, (0.2 linear
feet)
Collection Number: MS 0308
Language: English
Restrictions: None.
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Historical Records Statement: Please see our statement on historical records and materials.
Preferred Citation: John McConihe, Papers (MS 0308). Archives & Special Collections, University
of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.
Biography:
John McConihe was born on 4 September 1834 in Troy, New York. His parents were Isaac
and Sarah Strong McConihe. He moved to Omaha in Nebraska Territory in 1857. The
following year he became a private secretary to territorial governors William A.
Richardson and later, Samuel W. Black. In 1861, McConihe was appointed to the post
of Adjutant General of Nebraska Territory. In this position, he led a military
expedition against the Pawnee American Indians. At the start of the Civil War, he
developed the 1st Nebraska Regiment. During his service, he contracted typhoid fever
and was wounded in battle. He became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 169th New York
Regiment after his recovery. McConihe was killed in action on 1 June 1864. Two of
his brothers also participated in the Civil War - Colonel Samuel McConihe and Major
William McConihe.
Scope and Content:
The collection consists of 121 letters and miscellaneous items relating to McConihe's
business in Nebraska Territory. The majority of letters are those McConihe sent to
his business partner and friend, John B. Kellogg, in Troy, New York. McConihe's
letters touch upon topics such as land sales, currency, railroads, and the
development of the territory and the city of Omaha. He writes about the expedition
against the Pawnee and his opinions about the Civil War. Included among the
correspondence is a letter from J. Sterling Morton dated 2 May 1861. The final
letter in the collection is to Kellogg from Byron Reed, written on 20 March 1865,
after McConihe's death. The collection includes financial records of warranties
purchased and sold by McConihe for Kellogg. For contextual information about the
McConihe papers and transcriptions of the letters in the collection, visit Speculating on the
Frontier: The John McConihe Correspondence.
Subjects:
Nebraska -- History
Frontier and pioneer life
Surveying -- Nebraska
United States Army -- Military life
Container List:
Box 1. Folder 1. Correspondence, 1856, Mar.-Dec.
Box 1. Folder 2. Correspondence, 1857
Box 1. Folder 3. Correspondence, 1858, May-Dec.
Box 1. Folder 4. Correspondence, 1859, Jan.-Aug.
Box 1. Folder 5. Correspondence, 1859, Aug.-Dec.
Box 1. Folder 6. Correspondence, 1859
Box 1. Folder 7. Correspondence, 1860, Jan.-Dec.
Box 1. Folder 8. Correspondence, 1861, Jan.-Sept.
Box 1. Folder 9. Correspondence, 1862, Nov. 25
Box 1. Folder 10. Correspondence, 1863, June-Dec.
Box 1. Folder 11. Correspondence, 1865, undated
Box 1. Folder 12. Land warrants, records, 1858
Box 1. Folder 13. Land warrants, records, 1859
Box 1. Folder 14. Land warrants, records, undated
Box 1. Folder 15. Obituary, 1864
Related Material and Resources: Morton, J. Sterling (Julius Sterling), 1832-1902. Illustrated
History of Nebraska; a History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the
trans-Mississippi Region, with Steel Engravings, Photogravures, Copper Plates,
Maps, and Tables. Lincoln, J. North, 1905-13 |