Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Burbank-Van Voorhis families span the years 1814-1913 and consist of diaries, transcripts of letters, military papers, and a copy of an August 1912 issue of the Filipino newspaper, El Heraldo Bico.
The diary of a Captain Samuel Burbank, dated 1814-1823, discusses his duty at forts in New York state and the Detroit area during the War of 1812. Included are mentions of troop movements and ships, American and British, that pass by and an Indian council held at General Winfield Scott’s headquarters. Most of the diary contains short entries about arrivals and departures, deaths and desertions. One section of the dairy was used as a personal account book and lists expenditures as well as money owed him by other officers.
The diaries of Brigadier General Sidney Burbank begin in 1839 when he took command of New York recruits destined for Florida. Topics include descriptions of the terrain and negotiations with Indians, travels north during the removal of the Winnebago Indians from the Illinois territory to the western side of the Mississippi River, and his command of the Jefferson barracks in Missouri during the Mexican War. Also cited are journeys afterward to New Orleans and Texas and family visits to Massachusetts. Later diary entries concern his role in the Civil War, including in the battles of Fredricksburg and Gettysburg and his command of Newport barracks in Kentucky.
The military papers of Daniel Van Voorhis contain a file of reports and correspondence of Major Van Voorhis during a posting with the Philippine Scouts at Regan Barracks, Albay, Philippines, 1911-1913. A main topic of significance involves incidences of hostility or conflict between American troops and the populace.