Barnard and Lamb Letters: Bolivar Reuben Lamb and Mary Elizabeth Barnard Lamb Hardcover – January 20, 2025

As a child I recall going up to my grandmother Mary Manning Miller’s attic. One intriguing trunk contained letters from the Civil War, written to my great-great grandfather, Bolivar Lamb and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Barnard Lamb. As I have been educated as a historian, I had always longed to view them and unpack whatever information they contained. Recently, they have come into my hands and I’ve done my best to transcribe the faded words, using color-enhanced scans, a magnifying glass, and bright lights.We have heartwarming and heart-wrenching accounts of the hardships of the Civil War, and of the horrible loss of life. There is much more I’d like to know and add. For one, we only have one side of the conversation. While Bolivar and Mary Elizabeth Barnard Lamb kept the letters they received, for our sakes, we don’t have the letters they wrote to the Barnard family or the neighboring men and women who corresponded with Bolivar and Mary Lamb. Read more