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Benjamin Franklin Fisher enlisted in the 3rd regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve
Corps, in April 1861, was commissioned as 1st Leiutenant and transferred to
the Signal Corps in the same year. He was captured on June 17, 1863 and confined
at Libby Prison until February 9, 1864. Mustered out in 1866 with the rank of
Brevet Brigadier General, after the war Fisher practiced law in Montgomery County.
These papers consists primarily of original correspondence (1862-1881) concerning
personal and family matters and the war in general. The correspondents are Fisher,
his wife Alice, and his father, Peter. Also present are typed transcripts of
correspondence, 1862-1876; an address Fisher delivered to the United States
Signal Corps Association, 1892; newsclippings and papers regarding Fisher's
death in 1915; and several undated photographs.
An inventory for all of the known Benjamin Franklin Fisher letters, both at
the State Archives and in private collections or the holdings of other institutions,
is available for review in the Archives Search Room or is available in electronic
format (seven pdf files) by contacting an archivist at ra-statearchives@state.pa.us
. This inventory was prepared by Colonel David S. Kyle and is letter coded to
identify the location of various materials as follows:
A - Typescript letters belonging to Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV (originals were probably destroyed in a fire in 1952).
B - Original letters and transcripts proofed by Colonel Kyle that are held in this manuscript group at the Pennsylvania State Archives.
C - Original letters and transcripts proofed by Colonel Kyle now held by the U.S. Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks.
D - Letter Book at the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
F - Private Collection, proofed by Colonel Kyle.
J - Private Collection, proofed by Colonel Kyle.
L - Private Collection, proofed by Colonel Kyle.
M - Missing (referenced in another letter but so far not located).
N - National Archives Record Group 111, Records of the Office of the Chief
Signal Officer, Letters and Telegrams, 1861-1869.
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