Beach Family Papers

According to the family history written by Alvira Robinson which was edited and submitted with the collection by Sarah Robinson, the family came, as did so many North Country settlers, from Vermont by way of the Paradise Road. They settled near Brockville, but moved to Canton at the time of the War of 1812 to avoid fighting against the U.S. By the time of the Civil War, they had moved to Russell. The bulk of the letters were written by two brothers, Alvah and Enos Beach. Figures involved with the collection are: Mrs. Eliza Beach, Alvah, Enos and Alvira Beach, George and Abigail Robinson, David, Lindley, Lydia, Chloe, John and Inatha Robinson, and the children of Alvira Beach and David Robinson, Sarah, Charles and Willie Robinson.

This collection, numbering about 100 items, was donated to St. Lawrence University by Atwood Manley who had received it from Sarah Robinson, niece of Alvah and Enos Beach. (The records of the invalid pension which Alvah Beach received after his service with the N.Y. 16th were donated by Carter Faulkener, a student who used the collection for a class project.) It consists primarily of letters written by Alvah and Enos Beach of Russell, N.Y. while they were in the Union Army during the Civil War. Also included are two ambrotype photos of Alvah Beach and some material relating to David Robinson, father of Sarah and brother-in-law of the Beach brothers. The Enos Beach letters run from December 12, 1861 - July 3, 1863; the Alvah Beach letters run from May 5, 1861 - June 18, 1864. Some of these letters were printed in the Plaindealer circa 1935.