Series I: Correspondence, 1857-1880

The Oscar D. Ladley Papers consist primarily of letters written to his mother and sisters in Yellow Springs, Ohio, telling of his Civil Was experiences, and later, his life as a frontier army officer. Also included are some Civil War military records. The collection is arranged into 2 series.

Series I, Correspondence, contains letters written to and from Oscar Ladley, his mother, Catherine Ladley (see also MS-117), and his two younger sisters, Mary and Alice Ladley. Oscar wrote mainly about his experiences in the Civil War and later, his life as a frontier Army officer in the Dakota Territory. Ladley's mother and sisters wrote of friends and events back home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, politics, friends in the Army, marriages, deaths and activities at Antioch College. The correspondence in this series is arranged chronologically within each file folders and covers the years 1857-1880. All Civil War-era letters from this series (159 items) have been digitized and are available online in Wright State University's Campus Online Repository (CORE Scholar): http:corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms138/.

Series II, Military Records and Papers, contains a collection papers concerning Ladley's Civil War service. Included are his commission papers, some routine quartermaster's reports, copies of orders and announcements. The documents in this series span the Civil War years, 1861-1865.