The Neville Blog

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner we wanted to share a love letter from Fort Howard written in 1826. Unfortunately, this letter isn’t all hugs and kisses. Lt. Loring’s “dear Caroline” never received this letter that was given to John Lawe for delivery. Caroline, the 16-year-old daughter of the fort’s Commanding Officer, Major William Whistler, was being courted not only by Lt. Loring, but also Lt. Bloodgood.   In the end, Caroline never received the letter and married Lt. Bloodgood.   This water stained letter in our collection is all that remains of Lt. Loring and Caroline Whistler's short-lived romance.     Read the letter for yourself below!   Fort Howard, Sunday morning My dear Caroline,    A short time before I left this place I mentioned to you that Mr. Bloodgood had said to me that he was desirous of speaking to me on a particular subject & that I thought it was concerning you and myself this turned out to be the fa...

In the Generations Gallery, you can get lost in all the stories and artifacts between the mastodon and the 1908 Holsman Car. But the stories untold in the exhibit are even more remarkable. There is one storied blue military coat tucked in a drawer in the Exposed Collections wall. The story of the coat owner's fate is captivating.   Painting of Fort Howard from 1889 by B. Ostertac 189 years ago, Lt. Amos Foster was shot and killed by one of his own soldiers, Private Patrick Doyle.    In February 1832, Doyle was detained in the guardhouse for being drunk and disorderly.    Alcohol consumption was a real problem at Fort Howard, especially since part of the soldier’s rations included two gills of whiskey or rum (the equivalent of four shots today).    After a few days, on February 7, 1832, Doyle persuaded a guard to escort him to Lt. Foster’s quarters to talk to him.   After harsh words and a scuffle, Doyle stole the guard’s musket and killed Lt. Fo...

200 years ago a cheerful holiday feast was held just across the street from the museum near Leicht Park at Fort Howard.   Once a fort officer, Col. McNeil (later commander of Fort Howard 1824-1825), found out how important it was to the French residents of the area to celebrate Christmas, he planned an elaborate party.   The officers invited the French, the Americans, and native people living in the area.   The 4’ o’clock dinner is said to have fed a hundred people.   The evening included a feast of fish, bear, and porcupine along with a dance that lasted late into the night.   An Invitation addressed to Mrs. Lawe for a ball at Fort Howard in 1820. A local land surveyor who attended the fort’s Christmas dinner/dance in 1823 describes the evening...    The hall was well filled… men and women, were attired in all the grades of dress, from the highest partisan down to the buck-skin coats, pants, petticoat, and moccasins of the aboriginals.   Ye...