WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1861.
Another wet misty day. Splashy sidewalks and mudy crossings. Letter from Frank today through Chas dated Fort Kearney, N.T., attached to the U.S. Army acting as comdt clerk, well & healthy. The “Secession fever” seems to me to be rather subsiding. The “Secession” Clerks in the Census Bureau were notified today that they could resign, otherwise they would be dismissed. The same thing should be done in all the Departments of the Govt. Went to the Assemblys church tonight to hear Mr. Collins Lecture on Japan, but the Lecture was on So. America. It was not uninteresting. There was also a Lecture at the “Smithsonian” on the Polarization of light, but it is too far off and the walking was too bad for wife.
The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of Congress.