Manuscripts Collection
Alexander Ramsey Nininger was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on August 2, 1864, the son of John and Catherine Ramsey Nininger and the nephew of Minnesota governor Alexander Ramsey. The family moved to Minnesota Territory in 1855, but Alexander was educated in Pennsylvania, at the Mount Joy Academy in Lancaster County, and at the Churchill Military Academy, where he served as the academy adjunct.
Nininger apparently fled from the academy in November 1861 to join the army and fight in the Civil War. He was mustered as a second lieutenant into the 84th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in March 1862 and was discharged in January 1863 with a medical disability. Afterward, Nininger served as a clerk and inspector in the Mankato (Minnesota) provost marshall general's office (1863-1864) and as an assistant adjutant general in the U.S. Volunteers (1864-1866), serving in Tennessee and Alabama and mustering out with a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel.
Nininger was commissioned as a captain in the 28th U.S. Infantry in March 1867, serving in Kentucky and Arkansas during the early Reconstruction years. He was honorably discharged in October 1870 and returned to Minnesota, where he apparently pursued a business career. He also served as a U.S. Marshall for the northern district of Alabama during the early 1890s. Nininger died in 1918.
Correspondence, military papers, and miscellany documenting Nininger's education at the Churchill Military Academy in Sing Sing, New York (1859-1861); his Civil War service in the 84th Pennsylvania Volunteers (1862-1863) and as provost marshall's and adjutant general's assistant in Minnesota (1863-1864) and in the South (1864-1866); various post-war military assignments (1867-1870); and miscellany from his civilian life (1872-1897), including public service appointments in Minnesota and Alabama. The collection includes a number of letters from his uncle, Alexander Ramsey.
Nininger's papers consist mainly of correspondence and military orders, passes, transport papers, and reports dealing primarily with his years at the Churchill Military Academy in Sing Sing, New York (1856-1861) and in service with the United States military (1862-1870). Originally housed in two scrapbooks complied by Nininger, the collection was removed from the volumes in January 1984 due to their rapidly deteriorating condition. Although Nininger had maintained no discernible order within the volumes, the dismantled materials were found to form a chronological set and were organized accordingly.
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Accession numbers: 5808; 15916
Processed by: Cheryl N. Thies, February 1984
Digitized by: Christopher G. Welter, January 2012
Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 001732613
Included are Nininger's conduct and merit rolls; his recommendation as a Junior Sons of America member (August 1860); letters from Nininger to his mother stating that he had requested Ramsey's aid in securing a Minnesota militia commission (February 1861), to Ramsey stating that he now felt he was too young to join the military (June 1861), and from Marlborough Churchill, headmaster, to Mrs. Nininger, describing Nininger's flight from school to join the army (Nov.-Dec. 1861); and two essays by Nininger (1861). A series of orders issued through Nininger as the academy adjutant (Oct. 1860-Oct. 1861), contain directives on such subjects as dormitory rules and inspection hours, drill companies, gymnasium and dancing lessons, Saturday evening schedules, village visitation privileges, suspensions and confinements, gymnasium and dormitory transfers, and study assignments. There is also a letter from Nininger at Mount Joy Academy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to his mother and sister (June 1852).
Nininger was mustered into the 84th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in March 1862 with the rank of second lieutenant. He was discharged on January 17, 1863 under a surgeon's certificate of disability. Along with general military orders and correspondence, this section contains orders relating directly to Nininger, including his organization and operation of the Altoona and Pottsville, Pennsylvania recruiting stations (March-July); his movement of recruits to Culpepper, Virginia and assignment for duty there (Aug.); his commission as first lieutenant (September 29); his hospitalization in Georgetown (November 1); and his readiness to return to duty (November 12). There are letters from Ramsey stating that he feels Nininger is too young to join the military (March 3) and that he has talked to the Secretary of War concerning Nininger's obtaining a regular army commission (July 30); from John Nininger giving his son permission to join the army (March 4); and from Colonel S. M. Bowman, Warrenton, Virginia concerning Nininger's resignation (November 13, January 11, 1863).
Includes letters from Ramsey concerning his efforts to obtain a military position for Nininger (February 19, April 8); Nininger's assignments in Mankato as clerk (March 20) and inspector (August 15) under Captain T. M. Saunders, 3rd Artillery, Acting Provost Marshall General; and a letter from Ramsey to Nininger (February 3, 1864) explaining that Nininger was considered too young to replace Saunders, who had died in January.
Nininger was commissioned as assistant adjutant general in the U.S. Volunteers on June 7, 1864 and was honorably discharged on September 1, 1866. During that time he rose from the rank of captain to brevet lieutenant colonel.
This section contains numerous general orders and reports, plus some notices of officers' meetings and court martial proceedings. Those that pertain directly to Nininger are his appointment as assistant to the provost marshall of Philadelphia (Feb.-April 1865); assignments to the Military Division of the Mississippi in Edgefield, Tennessee (April-June 1865) and the Department of Alabama in Mobile (July 1865); appointment as acting aide-de-camp to General Charles R. Woods, Department of Alabama commander (August 1865); relief from duty in Alabama (November 1865); reassignment to General Woods, then commander of the Department of the South in Mobile (March 1866) and the department's move to Macon, Georgia (June 1866); a second relief from duty (August 1866); his September 1, 1866 muster-out; and subsequent commissions as brevet major and brevet lieutenant colonel (Oct. 1866).
The correspondence deals mainly with Ramsey's various efforts as U.S. senator to obtain promotions or commissions for Nininger. A letter from Nininger to the Secretary of War recapitulates his military career (August 1866), and one from General Woods to Nininger expresses his regret over Nininger's resignation (August 1866).
Nininger appointed "Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, with the rank of Captain." Signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
Digital version
Commissioned as a captain in the 28th U.S. Infantry on March 28, 1867, Nininger served until he was honorably discharged on October 1, 1870. His orders detail his examination for the captaincy (March 1867); assignments to Newport Barracks, Kentucky and Little Rock, Arkansas (April 1867) and to command of Company I at Camden, Arkansas (May 1867-April 1869); several directives to act as an escort (1867) and peacekeeping force, particularly at a hanging at Camden (February 1868) and a reconstruction election at Eldorado, Arkansas (March 1868); appearance on the list of infantry officers rendered supernumerary by consolidation (April 1869); assignment to the recruiting service in Cincinnati (May 1868-February 1870), to the command of C Troop, Unassigned Recruits, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (March-May 1870), and to the cavalry recruiting station at Des Moines, Iowa (May 1870); and the acceptance of his discharge request (September 1870).
The majority of the correspondence is again from Ramsey concerning his efforts to secure Nininger's captaincy and further promotions, including discussions with the Secretary of War William W. Belknap, commanding general of the U.S. Army William T. Sherman, and President Ulysses S. Grant (November 1869).
Also contained in this section are a number of ordinances and clothing reports, and returns and notices of court martial proceedings.
Includes Nininger's Ramsey County, Minnesota notary public commission (Nov. 1872) and St. Paul Academy of Natural Sciences membership certificate (Nov. 1875); admission card to the 1881 presidential inaugural reception; his St. Paul Board of Trade membership certificate (August 1882); correspondence with Secretary of War Robert Lincoln concerning right-of-way problems at Fort Snelling (March 1881), with the Chicago Stock Exchange (November 1882), and with the U.S. Treasury Department about the final settlement of his military account (July 1884); receipts for Republican National Committee reserve fund contributions (January 1890); correspondence and clippings detailing his appointment and service as U.S. Marshal for the northern district of Alabama (1890, 1893); tickets to the Republican national convention in Minneapolis (June 1892); and the seventh anniversary program of the Minnesota Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S., held in St. Paul (June 1892).