The primary recipient of these letters is Anna E. "Annie" Wilcox of Smyrna, Chenango County, New York. She was born October 7, 1847 to Thomas and Catherine (Stover) Wilcox. She married Benjamin J. Cone in 1872 and lived in Columbus, Chenango County, New York. She died November 8, 1882, as noted on the gravestone marking the burial place of both her and her husband in St. Andrews Cemetery, New Berlin, Chenango County, New York.

All of the soldier letter-writers were first cousins of Anna Wilcox, and all four were residents of Niagara County, New York at the time of their enlistment. During the Civil War regiments were raised regionally: the men for a regiment were drawn from specific counties, in this case Genesee, Niagara, and Orleans Counties; the companies within the regiments were recruited at the township level. This meant that three of the four: William S. Pike, Emory Wilcox, and Leroy B. Pike, were members of the 8th Regiment New York Volunteer Heavy Artillery, Company B, as all members of that company were from the town of Lockport, Niagara County, NY. William S. Pike and Emory Wilcox, the first of the letter-writers to join the army, were originally in the 129th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry. In December 1862 the 129th Infantry became the 8th Artillery. Leroy B. Pike enlisted directly into the 8th Artillery, but completed his enlistment in the 10th Regiment New York Veteran Infantry, after the 8th Artillery was mustered out. John Pike was drafted in the last months of the war and served his time, as far as can be determined from the letters, in Elmira, New York. It is unlikely that he was part of the 8th Artillery.

The 8th Artillery spent most of the early part of the war on garrison duty in and around Baltimore, Marlyand. Most of their time was spent in Fort Federal Hill, Fort Marshall, Fort McHenry, and the small earthen works around the north and west sides of the city. Part of the regiment, Company B included, went on a mission to Harper’s Ferry in July 1863. On May 15, 1864, the 8th Artillery left Baltimore and joined the Army of the Potomac. After joining the Army of the Potomac the 8th Artillery served as infantry and participated in every action of that army until the end of the war.

William S. Pike (1843 - 1890). Son of Jarvis and Ruth (Stover) Pike; first cousin to Anna E. Wilcox and Emory Wilcox, and older brother of John E. and Benjamin Leroy Pike. Born in Cortland County, New York; grew up near Smyrna, Chenango County, New York; by 1860 the family had removed to Pekin, Niagara County, New York. He is listed as a musician in the original muster of the 129th Regiment NY Volunteers Infantry, Company B, on August 22, 1862. The 129th Infantry was converted into the 8th NY Volunteers Heavy Artillery on December 19, 1862. As a drummer for Company B William describes his duties as being fairly light. Although he never mentions any change in his duties the company muster roll printed in May 1864 no longer carries William and his brother, Leroy, wrote, on April 4, 1864, that William was then the commander of the regimental drum corps and therefore would no longer have been part of the Company B. Wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, and spent the rest of his service recovering from his wound in a hospital in Alexandria, VA. Seventeen of William's twenty-four letters to Anna Wilcox were written from Alexandria, fifteen of them from the Washington Street Hospital. His last surviving letter to Anna was written from the Washington Street Hospital on January 24, 1865. After the Civil War William operated a store in Charlotte, or Charlotteville, just east of the village of Newfane, Niagara County, New York. At first he ran the store with his brother, John E. Pike; in late 1866 John Pike sold his interest in the store to their father, Jarvis Pike, and moved back to the farm in Pekin. William did not remain a merchant for long. Within a few years he had left the store and became a hotel-keeper: the 1874 Lockport City Directory lists William as the proprietor of the Mansion House hotel on the corner of West Main and Transit streets. In 1877 or 1878 he apparently sold the Mansion House and began operating the Revere House hotel on the corner of Canal and Transit streets. By 1882 he had sold out to H. N. Walters, who renamed the hotel, calling it the Delavan House. William married Sarah E. [?], the widow of Frank Gifford, around 1890. The couple are buried together in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.

John E. Pike (1844 - 1879), younger brother of William S. Pike. Drafted late in the Civil War, from Niagara County, New York. He had only been in the Army a little more than a month when he first wrote Anna Wilcox from Elmira, New York, on April 11, 1865. In 1866 John was operating the store in Charlotte, or Charlotteville, with his brother William, but by November of that year he sold his share to his father, Jarvis Pike, and joined his other brother, Leroy, on the family farm. John married Emma Rose, apparently also in 1866. The partnership with Leroy did not last long. From Mary Jeanette Pike Farley’s 1868 letter we learn that at that time John owned a farm in Cedar Falls, Iowa. By 1870 the couple lived in Rutland, Montgomery County, Kansas, and John died in 1879 in Whitley, Indiana. There is a grave marker for him and his daugther Flora in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.

Benjamin Leroy Pike (1845 - 1903), younger William S. and John E. Pike. Name also frequently given as Leroy Benjamin. Leroy joined his brother William in the drum corps of Company B, 8th Artillery, enlisting about August 1863. Leroy was the only one of letter-writers in this collection to participate in all the actions of the 8th Artillery. When the 8th Heavies were mustered out, on June 5,1865, Leroy was one of the few members transferred to the 10th New York Volunteer Infantry. On June 30, 1865, Leroy was honorably discharged. He returned to the family farm in Pekin, Niagara County, New York and worked there until 1871, when he moved to the town of Lebanon, Madison County to operate a store. That same year Leroy married Almeda Sornberger, with whom he had one child, William J. Pike, in 1872. 1883 he moved to the hamlet of Sanborn in the town of Lewiston, Niagara County, and soon after opened a store. This general store was called “L. B. Pike & Son” and was still operated by Leroy in 1897. In 1902 Leroy was the postmaster for Sanborn. He died in 1903, and is buried with his wife and son in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.

Emory Wilcox (1844 - 1864). Son of Russell and Susan (Stover) Wilcox; first cousin (doubly) to Anna E. Wilcox, and first cousin to the Pike brothers: his mother, Susan Stover Wilcox, was the oldest sister of Anna’s mother, Catherine Stover Wilcox, and Emory’s father, Russell Wilcox was a younger brother of Anna’s father, Thomas L. Wilcox. Born on March 21, 1844, probably near Smyrna in Chenango County, New York. There is no record of the Wilcox family living in Niagara County, New York before 1860. In one of his letters Emory mentions wanting to hear from his friends in Smyrna. Emory is mentioned by William Pike early in the series of letters, Letter 7, and was one of the original members of Company B of the 129th New York State Volunteers Infantry, later the 8th NYSV Heavy Artillery. His first letter in the collection is dated February 18, 1863, and written from Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, Maryland. Naomi B. Baker includes a letter from Emory to Captain Joel B. Baker, then captain of Company B, 8th Artillery, in her book of Civil War letters, Letters Home; Joel B. Baker. Emory Wilcox was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor on June 6, 1864.

Other letter-writers represented in this collection:

Benjamin Stover (about 1814 - 1883), older brother of Ruth Stover Pike and Catherine Stover Wilcox; uncle to Emory Wilcox, Anna E. Wilcox, and the Pike children. By late 1867 he had removed from Chenango County, New York to Milford, Kent County, Delaware.

Ruth Stover Pike (1815 - 1884), mother of the Pike brothers; aunt to Anna E. Wilcox. Wife of Jarvis Pike. The family removed to Niagara County, New York before 1860. She is buried with her husband and several of their children in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.

Mary Jeanette Pike (1842 - 1925), older sister of the Pike brothers. She married John Christopher Farley in 1866 and lived in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1870 before returning to Niagara County, New York. The couple is buried in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.

Corintha Pike (1855 - 1927), younger sister of the Pike brothers. She married George Edward Schweitzer in 1874 and lived in Niagara County, New York. The couple had at least five children. The family is buried in Mount View Cemetery, Pekin, Niagara County, New York.