Digital vs. Paper

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Last week, Pew Research Center issued a report on America’s reading habits.  The study found that 65% of Americans read a print book in the last year. Pew found that 28% of Americans read an e-book and 14% listened to a audio-book in the previous year.

Although the share of e-book readers on tablets more than tripled since 2011 and the number of readers on smartphones has more than doubled over that time, e-book readership only increased from 17% in 2011 to 28% in 2014 and has not changed in the last two years.

Other highlights from Pew’s report Book Reading 2016:

  • Americans read an average of twelve books per year
  • Twenty-eight percent of Americans read books in both digital and print formats
  • Age does not seem to matter, and 6% of 18-29 year-olds only read digital books, 7% of 30-49  year-olds, and  5% of those 50 and older
  • Young people read more than seniors. Eighty percent of 18-29 year-olds read a book in the past year compared with 67% of those 65 and older.

For more information, see Book Reading 2016.

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Charles A. Marvin – “One Year, Six Months, and Eleven Days”

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Allen Mesch

I took a writing detour last week to work on a history of my wife’s ancestor Charles A. Marvin. As far as I can determine, Mr. Marvin is the only relative who fought in the American Civil War. As the title on the blog entry reflects, the “working title” is Charles A. Marvin – A Brief Interruption. The interruption referred to is Marvin’s one-year, six-month, and eleven-day time in the Union Army. Charles was a private in Company L of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Charles was a farmer in Covington, Pennsylvania when the war broke out in 1861. The 1860 US Census indicates that six people were members of the Marvin household: Charles (31), his wife Olive (28), Charles Elis (listed as Elis C.) (7), Emma J. (5), Elisabeth (4), and Hattie (1).

Charles was thirty-four when he enlisted for three years on February 12, 1864. The Regiment was originally formed in December 1861 and, during the course of the war, added new companies like Company  L to its ranks.  The company was probably organized and trained at Camp Cameron about 1 1/2 miles east of Harrisburg.  It was one of twelve camps in Harrisburg and vicinity. The company was raised in Berks County.

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The Seventh Cavalry Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers Monument at Chickamauga, Georgia

The regiment fought in General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign in 1864. After the capture of Atlanta, the Seventh went to Louisville, Kentucky to obtain new mounts and equipment. The Army sent the regiment to Gravelly Springs, Alabama, on the Tennessee River, where it drilled and completed its organization  for the spring campaign of 1865. On March 22, it joined the command of General James H. Wilson on the expedition from Eastport, Mississippi across the Gulf States. Under Wilson, the regiment fought at Selma and Macon. The Seventh occupied Macon in April and performed duties in Nashville until mustered out of service in August 23, 1865.

After he returned home, he continued to farm in northern Pennsylvania until his death on October 2, 1898 in East Smithfield.

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Your Affectionate Father on Kindle

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith is now available on the Kindle platform. The price is $5.49.

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Reviews of Your Affectionate Father

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Cover_Your_Affectionate_FatherI am looking for some Amazon reviews for Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith. Please contact me, if you would be interested in reading and reviewing this book.

In that regard, William MacKinnon has offered to review the book for the Utah Historical Quarterly in Salt Lake City. Mr. MacKinnon has written two books on the Mormon Campaign: At Sword’s Point: Volumes 1 and 2. Bill is an authority on the Mormon Campaign and was intrigued by the new information on the campaign contained in General Smith’s letters to his daughter, Fanny.

According to Bill’s Wikipedia page,  he is the author of At Sword’s Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858. MacKinnon has published over thirty articles on the history of the American West. In 2008, the Mormon History Association awarded MacKinnon its Thomas L. Kane Award. In 2010, he contributed an article to Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. Please check out Bill’s books on Amazon.

I hope you will join Bill in lending your support to Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith.

 

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Future Presentations

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Allen Mesch

This October will be busy with three presentations. I hope that you will be able to attend one of these talks.

  • October 2, 2016 – G.A. R. Civil War Museum & Library – Philadelphia, PA
  • October 8, 2016 – Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall – Carnegie, PA
  • October 20, 2016 – Dover Civil War Roundtable – Dover, TN

 

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Presentation at Allen Library on May 12, 2016

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Thank you to Allen Public Library for inviting me to speak about Major General C. F. Smith.  Also thanks to those who attended the talk and bought books.

It is wonderful to tell people about this fine gentleman, soldier, and Teacher of Civil War Generals.

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Review of Teacher of Civil War Generals in America’s Civil War

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Allen Mesch

During a book signing at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Plymouth Meeting, PA, I picked up the July 2016 edition of America’s Civil War. I was delighted to find an excellent review of Teacher of Civil War Generals written by Allen Barra. Barra wrote, “Teacher of Civil War Generals is a fine biographical history, compact and concise, complete with maps of major battles that are models of clarity.”

Barra recognized my intent in writing Smith’s history.

“It is also a plea for giving a great man his due.” “Should the Academy [US Military Academy] ever raise a statue in Charles Smith’s honor, Grant [General U. S. Grant] long ago supplied its dedication: ‘A better soldier or truer man does not live.'”

Thank you Allen Barra for your review.

 

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Author Events in May 2016

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Allen Mesch

The first half of May is busy with a book signing and two presentations.

On May 2, 2016, I will be signing books at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Plymouth Meeting, PA from 6:00 till 9:00 p.m.

The following evening, I will be talking about “Philadelphia’s Forgotten Soldier – General Charles F. Smith” at the Bucks County Civil War Roundtable in Doylestown, PA.  The program will be from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Be sure to visit the Bucks County Civil War Museum & Library. Please note that the meetings are held at the Doylestown Borough Hall, 57 W. Court Street, Doylestown, PA.

Then it’s off to the US Military Academy to present a copy of Teacher of Civil War Generals to the Academy library.

On Sunday, we will spend Mother’s Day with my 97-year-old mother-in-law Helen in Binghamton, NY.

On Monday morning, we begin our 1,500 mile drive back to Plano, TX.

The busy month closes with a program on Teacher of Civil War Generals at the Onstage at the Allen Public Library program. The program will be from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Please see the video on the program.

I hope that you can join us for one of these events.

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March-April Book Tour and Presentations

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Allen Mesch

My wife and I left Plano, TX early on March 23, 2016 on our first book tour for Teacher of Civil War Generals. We made it as far as Milan, TN that night.

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Lloyd Tilghman House and Museum

The following day we drove to Paducah, KY and arrived at the Lloyd Tilghman House and Museum where we were met by curator Bill Baxter and his able assistant Baxter Baxter. Bill gave us a wonderful tour of the museum and its treasures. The Tilghman House is the site of the event that nearly resulted in C. F. Smith’s removal from command.

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Bill Baxter and Allen

Following our tour, Bill and Patricia Baxter treated us to a lovely lunch in downtown Paducah. After lunch Patricia drove us back to the Tilghman House and Bill took us across the street to the McCracken County Library. We met our host for the evening, Bobbie Winkle, and dropped off some books.

 

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Gen. Lloyd Tilghman

John Cashon met us at the library for a Civil War tour of the city. John showed us where Smith’s headquarters was located and the place on the river where Smith built Fort Anderson. John is writing a Civil War history of Paducah and was a perfect choice to point out the places from the book. The tour concluded with a visit to the statue of General Tilghman.

 

Before we left Texas, Todd Hatton of WKMS did a radio interview about General Smith to advertise the program at the McCracken County Library.

 

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That evening, I presented an overview of Maj. Gen. Smith’s life at the McCracken County Library. The talk emphasized his time in charge of the US forces in the city . I read several letters from the book including Smith’s version of events at the Tilghman House. The evening concluded with a Q&A session and book signing. Bobbie Winkle gave me several remembrances from the library and Bill Baxter presented me with a series of medals commemorating Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s attack on the city.

I hope you will add Paducah to your Kentucky travel plans.

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Barnes & Noble Book Signing Louisville, KY

We left early the next morning to drive to Louisville, KY for an afternoon book signing at Barnes & Noble at The Shoppes at Plainview. We met a number of people at the book signings. Some purchased books, others asked about Gen. Smith, and a few just said hello and hurried to get a Starbuck’s Coffee.

 

 

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Barnes & Noble Book Signing Elizabethtown, KY

We didn’t have much time to relax because we had a Saturday book signing at the Barnes & Noble at the Elizabethtown Mall in Elizabethtown, KY.  That night we stopped in Bardstown, KY. The next day was Easter Sunday and the museums were closed for the holiday.

 

 

 

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Civil War Fort at Boonesboro, KY

On  Sunday March 27 we drove from Bardstown, KY to Morgantown, WV, the home of West Virginia University. On our way, we discovered a Civil War fort.  The earthen works fort at Boonesboro was built to defend the Kentucky River.

 

 

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Barnes & Noble Book Signing Morgantown, WV

On Monday, we did another book signing at Barnes & Noble at University Park Central in Morgantown, WV. We had a delightful dinner with Dave McGill, our daughter’s father-in-law.

 

 

 

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Vestal Museum

 

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AHEC Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday morning we traveled to Binghamton, NY to spend several days with my wife’s mother. On the way, we stopped at the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center in Carlisle, PA. I began my research for Teacher of Civil War Generals at Carlisle and we wanted to present a copy of the book to the library. I just received notice that the Center has accepted my donation. I hope you will visit Carlisle and take a moment to honor the people who helped defend our freedom. The museum and library are excellent.

LG_Phone_Pics 747We schedule three events while in the Binghamton area. On Thursday night we had a reading at the RiverRead Bookstore in downtown Binghamton.

 

 

 

 

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Barnes & Nobles – Arena Hub – Wilkes-Barre, PA

On Saturday, April 2 we drove down to the Barnes & Noble at the Arena Hub in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

 

 

 

 

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Allen at Vestal Historical Society

On Sunday, April 3 I gave a presentation at the Vestal Historical Society in Vestal, NY.

 

 

 

 

 

Our trip was a success, not only for the number of books sold, but for the people we met and the opportunity to tell Maj. Gen. Smith’s story. Thanks to all of you who took the time to attend a talk, buy a book, or listen to the story of the  Teacher of Civil War Generals.

 

 

 

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Civil War Monitor Review

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Thanks to Robert Grandchamp for his review on the Civil War Monitor web page.

Grandchamp wrote, “In conclusion, this is a solid, well-written book about a Union general who did much to contribute to the results of the Civil War through his term of service at West Point.” “The book is well researched and sourced from a variety of primary and secondary documents, including the Charles F. Smith Papers at the West Point Archives.”

Please see MESCH: Teacher of Civil War Generals (2015) at civilwarmonitor.com.

 

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