G.A.R. Records Move Online

Earlier this year, the Meeker County Museum was excited to join the Minnesota Digital Library. This free, online library includes photos and archives from across the state. As we considered what the Museum wanted to contribute, the historic Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hall seemed the logical place to start. We brought a dozen photographs and three original G.A.R. account books to the library’s staff, who scanned the photos and over 600 pages before returning the items to the Museum.

Alongside the G.A.R. record books, you can also find some historic photos of the G.A.R. Hall.

Not only are the photos and books now available to a larger audience, but the high-quality scans mean anyone can easily “page” through the original G.A.R. minute books without risk of damaging the pages.

The earliest book begins in 1896 and mentions some items still at the G.A.R. Hall today. From the minutes dated February 8, 1896, “Post Commander F.E. Bissell presented to the post, the section of a Dogwood tree with two one ounce musket balls imbedded in it.” It was taken from the Chickamauga Battlefield and remains on display today. A couple of weeks later, the editor of the Litchfield Independent gave the G.A.R. an engraving of Ulysses S Grant. The Post voted to have the picture and the Hall’s original subscription list framed and hung in the Hall where they can still be found.

Other 1896 entries include an $11 rebate from Litchfield for the “cement side walk in front of the G.A.R. Hall.” The quartermaster was instructed to order more membership ballots as well as six spittoons. The meeting held on October 24 would have been memorable as it was “the first night Memorial G.A.R. Hall has been lighted by electricity.” There were eleven lights, and the electricity was provided by the village of Litchfield for $5 per year.

While most of the pages are handwritten, there are some pages that were typed. Not only are these pages easier to read, but they also include more detailed accounts. Such was the case in recounting an Oyster supper held at the G.A.R. Hall in 1908. The food had been prepared by the Woman’s Relief Corp and enjoyed by all, especially Virgil Harris “who had eaten so many oysters that he was too full for utterance, and with an oyster hanging out of each corner of his mouth…. As the tears coursed down his cheeks he was heard to have remark ‘Boys I love you all and would like to stay with you but if I die to night, I have a last request to make, just put a quart of those oysters in my coffin in place of the flag. It is not that I love my county less, but Oysters more.’”

The Minnesota Digital Library is made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Visit mndigital.org and search or “browse by contributor” to find these G.A.R. books and so much more!