Comments on: Martha Derby Perry: Eyewitness to the 1863 New York City Draft Riots http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher Sun, 19 May 2013 02:58:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Margot van Vliet http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm#comment-1100334 Margot van Vliet Thu, 09 May 2013 06:12:31 +0000 #comment-1100334 It isn't a matter of one or two data points going missing. If a subject doesn't show up in the US Census, that's nothing; if there's no record of death or burial, that's not surprising. But if a colonel appears neither in the military records nor in any city directory for the period, and the only thing you have to go on is sensationalist newspaper squibs from 150 years ago ... then the character is fictional or at least untraceable. It isn't a matter of one or two data points going missing. If a subject doesn't show up in the US Census, that's nothing; if there's no record of death or burial, that's not surprising. But if a colonel appears neither in the military records nor in any city directory for the period, and the only thing you have to go on is sensationalist newspaper squibs from 150 years ago … then the character is fictional or at least untraceable.

]]> By: Loretta Layman http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm#comment-889790 Loretta Layman Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:14:46 +0000 #comment-889790 I've been doing genealogy for over 30 years, and there are ancestors I still can't find in the places I know they lived at a particular time. Only by contacting a cemetery in Dayton, Ohio did I find the proof that my great-grandfather had lived in Dayton. He never appeared there in the census, and his wife's obituary is not in surviving Dayton newspapers. Only his name on a cemetery deed and his wife's name in the burial record survive to prove what I know to be true. I've been doing genealogy for over 30 years, and there are ancestors I still can't find in the places I know they lived at a particular time. Only by contacting a cemetery in Dayton, Ohio did I find the proof that my great-grandfather had lived in Dayton. He never appeared there in the census, and his wife's obituary is not in surviving Dayton newspapers. Only his name on a cemetery deed and his wife's name in the burial record survive to prove what I know to be true.

]]> By: rob http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm#comment-827450 rob Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:12:18 +0000 #comment-827450 Lincoln did not want the traitors form the civil war hung, and he wanted to get them back in the union asap after the civil war, so it seems you are wrong Lincoln did not want the traitors form the civil war hung, and he wanted to get them back in the union asap after the civil war, so it seems you are wrong

]]> By: Margot van Vliet http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm#comment-826084 Margot van Vliet Mon, 03 Dec 2012 05:29:43 +0000 #comment-826084 My understanding is that most of the "Draft Riots" newspaper stories were fictitious or highly embellished, and that the actual protests were quite orderly (and in fact successful, as the draft was suspended and political prisoners were released). If you try to track down the hard facts in these stories you will find little of substance. For example, the tragic Col. Henry O'Brien (supposedly murdered by the mob) never existed, according to fold3.com and ancestry.com. Likewise with most of the negroes who are said to have been lynched. The 233 inmates of the Colored Orphan Asylum were evacuated, and the building emptied of furniture and valuables, BEFORE someone was allowed to start the fire. We don't know who started it. But the people who profited from the fire were local property owners, very likely Union League people. My understanding is that most of the "Draft Riots" newspaper stories were fictitious or highly embellished, and that the actual protests were quite orderly (and in fact successful, as the draft was suspended and political prisoners were released).

If you try to track down the hard facts in these stories you will find little of substance. For example, the tragic Col. Henry O'Brien (supposedly murdered by the mob) never existed, according to fold3.com and ancestry.com. Likewise with most of the negroes who are said to have been lynched.

The 233 inmates of the Colored Orphan Asylum were evacuated, and the building emptied of furniture and valuables, BEFORE someone was allowed to start the fire. We don't know who started it. But the people who profited from the fire were local property owners, very likely Union League people.

]]> By: Nick Griffin http://www.historynet.com/martha-derby-perry-eyewitness-to-the-1863-new-york-city-draft-riots.htm#comment-825501 Nick Griffin Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:13:39 +0000 #comment-825501 My understanding is that Lincoln ordered the draft protesters shot and 100 or so were killed. Why no mention of this? My understanding is that Lincoln ordered the draft protesters shot and 100 or so were killed. Why no mention of this?

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