Letter written by A. Steele from Washington District of Columbia to H.V. Welton on July 2, 1865 -- Correspondence

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PAGE IMAGEWashington CityD.C. (District of Columbia) (Washington, District of Columbia)
July 2d 1865. H. V. Welton  Esq. (Welton, H.V. (Esquire))
Dear Sir,

your letter of
the 20th ultimo came duly to hand,
and I immediately commenced
making inquiries as you requested.
Indeed on reading your letter, we all
felt anxious to do the best one could
in the matter.

I have delayed writing to you until
to day, hoping each day to see, or hear
of some one in Washington (Washington, District of Columbia) from Macon (Macon, Georgia)
or Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia) . But, though persons had
been here from those places, or from that
part of the Country, I could hear
of none after the receipt of your anxious
inquiry. I next inquired of & consulted
the Agents of the Sanitary Commissions,
who have intercourse with all important

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PAGE IMAGE places in the Southern country. No information
however could to obtained
from that source.

At General Howard (Howard, O. O. (General)) 's Office, who was
in command of a division at Atlanta, I
could hear of nothing to the purpose.
Next I called on the General who
has charge of the Department in relation
to prisoners - all military prisoners, &c,
but he could give no information in
this case.

At the War Department I met
with no better success; nor could I
hear of any one, who could give, in
any way the desired information
respecting your Brother, or how
I could obtain such information.

Finally, it was suggested, that,
as no regular mails were yet forwarded
to those places, perhaps I could
send letters, through the Military
department & write the War office

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PAGE IMAGE letters, to the military Commanders,
both at Macon (Macon, Georgia) and Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia) .

Accordingly I wrote yesterday
& handed to the mail Clerk at the
Adjutant General's Office, a letter
addressed to each of those Commanders;
the rough draft of which
I herewith enclose to you.

It is briefly what I supposed you
would have me write, & it was
the same addressed to each Commander
And I requested answers to be
directed to me, in the Internal
Revenue Bureau, thorugh the War office.

This seems to be the best that
I can do; I can truly join with
you in hoping for some favorable
result. Still all this is so uncertain
that any other opportunities of inquiry,
I think, should not be neglected.

Aside from the above deeply
interesting subject of inquiry, both myself

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PAGE IMAGE & Mrs. S. (S. (Mrs.)) were glad to hear from
you & yours, & by your own hand.

What you wrote respecting
my Son Floridus S. (S., Floridus) & his wife, was
indeed more than we had heard
through them, as you intimated
might be the case; and coming from
you, it was the more gratifying to
his Parents.

We shall ever remember
the kind hospitality which we experienced
in your family, when last in
Connecticut (Connecticut) .

My general health is much better than
it was last year, but I need some relaxation. Still,
my duties in Office are
pleasanter than ever before. For which,
and all other mercies Gods Holy
Name be praised.

Remember us in love to each of
your family --
Yours truly - A. Steele (Steele, A.) P.S.

My daughter is going north to recruit & gain
strength & may pay a short visit to her Brother & Wife
I may have leave of absence for a short visit, for the same
purpose.