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William Henry Sterling was born December 4, 1828, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Matilda Louisa Farquhar (known as "Tillie") was born January 14, 1841 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Her father, Edwin Yorke Farquhar, born circa 1808, and her mother, Anna Virginia Farquhar, born ca. 1805-1813, were both natives of Pennsylvania. Will Sterling was already in the Army when he married Tillie Farquhar. At the time of their marriage, through May 5, 1862, Will was "on recruiting service," probably in Philadelphia. From May 1862 until February 1863 he was stationed in Plattsburgh, New York, where he and Tillie lived. From February 1863 to February 1864, Will was stationed in Annapolis; for the last half of this period he was on mustering duty with the regiment there. Tillie again moved with Will, this time to Annapolis. The correspondence in this digital repository comes from this time period. While they were in Annapolis, on July 2, 1863, Will received his third promotion, to Captain. The letters are mainly accounts of day-to-day events combined with expressions of affection. Topics of discussion include military affairs (the mustering of troops, prisoners and prisoner exchanges, and changes in offers and duties), personal matters (lodgings, travel, entertaining), and subjects of general interest (slaves and slavery, secessionists, disease and vaccination, and unusual events). Complete information may be found in the finding aid to the collection at: http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/1295.
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