By Adrienne Lang, Alicia Hyman and Laura Indick, Pratt Institute, School of Information
Title: Captian Samuel Harris Sims Collection, 1846 -ca. 1960
Extent: 2.0 Boxes
Arrangement: Series Arranagement.
Subjects: Caroline Dayton, Charles Sims, Civil War, Lucretia Sims, Palin Sims, Samuel Harris Sims, Veterans - Civil War
Languages: English
The Captain Samuel H. Sims Collection consists of materials related to the life of Samuel H. Sims and his family. Sims’ military career is reflected both in his military records and in military-related correspondence. There is also a significant amount of personal correspondence written during his military service in the Civil War, both to his sister Lucretia and his fiancee, Carrie Dayton. The pension-related records of Sims’ brothers, Palin and Charles, are also represented. The family of Sims’ fiancee, Carrie, is represented in a small number of photographs and postcards. A series of newspaper clippings describes Sims’ Civil War service, his death, and a memorial service at Green-Wood Cemetery on the occasion of the erection of a monument at his grave.
Some materials are photocopies without corresponding originals. Also, oversized materials are indicated with separation sheets.
Additional sources of information on this collection:
1. Green-Wood Cemetery blog post by Jeff Richman: https://www.green-wood.com/2016/just-in-a-nick-of-time-one-more-captain-sims-photo/
2.“The Gallant Sims”: A Civil War Hero Rediscovered, by Jeffrey I. Richman
Samuel Harris Sims (1829-1864) was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he worked as a professional artist and glass stainer before enlisting in the Union Army at age thirty-two. He served three months in the 13th New York State Militia as a second lieutenant, during which time he served in combat and as a spy in Baltimore. After his discharge, he reenlisted in the 51st New York Volunteers where he served as a recruiter and commander for the next three years. He had one wife, Mary Ann Titus, who died in 1860, with whom he had two children, Samuel A. Sims (1851-1920) and Harriet Frances Sims King (1857-1923). During the war, he was engaged to Caroline (Carrie) Dayton. He was killed in combat at the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864, in Petersburg, Virginia, and was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, in section 53, lot 12512, grave 648.
Prior to the war, Sims worked for glass stainer Henry Bloor, as did his younger brother Charles Sims (1836-1899). Samuel Sims was close with Bloor and his brother, and he wrote to Henry during the war.
Lucretia Sims (1830-1899), the fourth child of Palin and Hannah Sims, was born in New York City in 1830, one year after her brother Samuel. When Sims enlisted and left New York on April 23, 1861, he left his three young children in the care of Lucretia, as his wife had died the previous year. Sims and Lucretia wrote many letters to each other over the course of the war. Sims addressed his letters, a number of which are in the Green-Wood collection, to “Sister Lucretia.” Just over a year after Sims’ death, on October 31, 1865, Lucretia sought and was granted guardianship for for his three orphaned children, Samuel, Lucy, and Henry, who were 13, 12, and 6 years old at the time. She died on November 30, 1899, in Brooklyn.
Palin Harris Sims (1822-1908), the second child of Palin and Hannah Sims, was born in New York City in 1822. He served as a first lieutenant in the 51st New York Infantry (the same regiment as Samuel Sims) during the Civil War. He was captured at Poplar Springs Church, Virginia, in September 1864, and was imprisoned at a Confederate prisoner of war camp for months, along with Captain George Washington Whitman (poet Walt Whitman’s brother). When he was released in February 1865, he was, by his own description, “suffering from Physical & Mental disabilities,” including kidney disease, rheumatism, fever, and starvation. Although he survived for 44 years after his brother Sam’s battlefield death, he was traumatized by his wartime experience.
Charles Harris Sims (1837-1899), the fifth child of Palin and Hannah Sims, was born in New York City in 1837. Although Samuel Sims wrote in an 1862 letter that it would be “utmost folly for [Charles] to join the army,” as he had had multiple attacks of typhoid fever, on August 20, 1862, Charles H. Sims enlisted in the 48th New York Volunteer Infantry, Company H. At the time of his enlistment, he was recorded to be a 25-year-old native of New York City who worked as a glass stainer for Henry Bloor, like his brother Sam. He served as a private until June 27, 1865, and his service was largely uneventful. He last lived at the New York State Home for Soldiers and Sailors in Bath, New York.
Caroline (Carrie) Eliza Dayton (1838-1911) was born in New York City to a well-off family and grew up in Brooklyn. She led a quiet life, living with family throughout her life and not working outside the home. She was 26 years old when Samuel Sims died and she never married. She kept newspaper clippings pertaining to Sims, both before and after his death. She died in Brooklyn and is also interred at Green-Wood Cemetery, in lot 8275.
Elliott F. Shepard (1833-1893) was a lawyer, banker, and newspaper owner, who, as aide-de-camp to New York State Governor Edwin D. Morgan, helped organize the 51st New York Volunteer Infantry.[1] He corresponded with Sims during the war, and with Sims’ fiancee, Carrie Dayton, after Sims’ death, providing a list of the battles Captain Sims had fought in. After the war, he organized the New York State Bar Association and was its first president.
Repository: Historical Collections
Processing Information: Accession # 009-2019
Other Note: Accession # 009-2019
