Surgeon Numon N. Horton, 47th USCT, Manuscript Archive 

8 items.

Archive of assorted immediate post-war letters received by Capt. Robert M. Campbell of the 47th Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Primarily from Dr. Numon Norris Horton (1838-1892), Assistant Surgeon of the 47th, but also including some correspondence from Capt. Emanuel W. Hershe, who led Company "K" of the 47th. Hershe, a confirmed bachelor, pleads with Campbell not to abandon his old comrade for married life, but Remember Blakely & like one of your ebonys make the resolve “to shoulder your musket & rally ‘round the flag boys”.

Dr. Horton, who settled in Kansas immediately after the 47th USCT was mustered out in Texas on January 5, 1866, was an inventor as well as a physician, patenting a popular swiveling and reclining chair for railroad cars. Horton Chair Cars filled a demand between buying a sleeping berth, and attempting to sleep in a regular seat.

Two interesting letters by Horton include one dated January 7, 1867, describing how their former Colonel, Ferdinand E. Peebles, had swindled Horton and another partner in a business in Mobile, AL, and had also absconded with the fund that the colored troops had donated to build a memorial to President Lincoln. Another was written in March of that year, extolling the virtues of Fort Scott, and trying to entice Campbell to move there. This 3pp letter is written on a circular describing Fort Scott and Bourbon County in glowing terms.