W. TECUMSEH SHERMAN'S OWN BOOKS ON HIS NAMESAKE, TECUMSEH.

A group of three books on the Shawnee chief and warrior Tecumseh, owned by General William Tecumseh Sherman. All with W. T. Sherman and P. Tecumseh Sherman bookplates:

1. Colonel William Stanley Hatch. A Chapter of the History of the War of 1812 in the Northwest....With a Description and Biographical Sketch of the Celebrated Indian Chief Tecumseh. Cincinnati: Miami Printing and Publishing Company, 1872. 12mo. Calf. First edition. Sabin 30840. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR to front free endpaper: "Written a few years since from Records Made at the time and mostly on the spot. W.S.H."

2. Frank Moore. American Eloquence: A Collection Speeches and Addresses by the Most Eminent Orators of America. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1872. 2 volumes. Original brick cloth. 4to. With chapter on "Tecumseh," noted by annotation on front interior board.

3. Edward Eggleston and Lillie Eggleston Seelye. Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1878. First edition. BAL 5114. Signed "Philemon Tecumseh Sherman Boston Feb 6th 1881". With "W.T. Sherman" and "P. Tecumseh Sherman" bookplates to interior front board.

The General's given name "Tecumseh" has always provoked discussion. Its origin lies with William's father, Charles R. Sherman, a circuit lawyer who settled in Lancaster, Ohio c. 1810. William writes in his memoirs: "The War of 1812 caused great alarm and distress in all Ohio...Nearly every man had to be somewhat of a soldier, but I think my father was only a commissary; still he seems to have caught a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees, “Tecumseh.'" The General continues with his father's naming saga: "When, in 1816, my brother James was born, he insisted on engrafting the Indian name 'Tecumseh' on the usual family list. My mother had already named her first son after her own brother Charles; and insisted on the second son taking the name of her other brother James, and when I came along, on the 8th of February, 1820, mother having no more brothers, my father succeeded in his original purpose, and named me William Tecumseh." (vol. I, p. 11).

William Tecumseh appears to have been quite fond of his name, known to his family and friends as "Cump," a shortening of "Tecumseh." He passed the name on to his first born son, William Tecumseh "Willie" Sherman, Jr. (1854-1863), who traveled with his father in Mississippi during the Civil War and was a favorite of soldiers, who dubbed him "little sergeant.” Tragically, Willie died of typhoid fever in Memphis at just age 9. The General then bestowed the name "Tecumseh" on his youngest son, born after the war, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941), who inherited his father's library. He, too. seems to have had great affection for the moniker as his bookplates relegate Philemon to an initial, emphasizing “Tecumseh.”

An interesting group of books on the namesake of the great General and his sons.

PROVENANCE:

The Sherman-Fitch Library

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases, where General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not always affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, War of 1812, Shawnee, Native Americans, Tecumseh, Books, Ephemera]