28-03-2025
Sheldon Prairie Museum's military collection includes Philo Woods' Civil War diary
SHELDON, Iowa (KCAU) — The Sheldon Prairie Museum features an amazing collection of history and artifacts.
The museum building opened in 1908 as a Carnegie Library. Museum director Millie Vos and a group of volunteers are there to share the history of Sheldon with visitors. One fact is that Sheldon is named after Israel Sheldon, a stockholder in the railroad, which played a big part in the city's early growth.
The museum has many different collections — in fact, about half the basement is dedicated to military service throughout the years, including the hand-written diary of an Iowa soldier serving in the Civil War.
Philo Woods was born in Pennsylvania but moved with his parents to Auburn, Iowa (north of Carroll) in 1854. The Civil War broke out during his freshman year in college, and he enlisted in Company C of the 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment. Woods started writing a diary in the early fall of 1861 and continued to write throughout his Civil War involvement.
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'When he was there, it was his job to write what they did every day and what happened with everything,' Vols said. 'It happened to be that they were found here at a place in Sheldon.'
'Each day, what they did, what they ate, what activity was going on in the war,' historian and author Tom Whorley said. 'It's a true historical artifact we're happy to have here in our museum.'
The actual diaries are kept in a locked vault. It's believed the museum is also home to the only remaining 1837 cannon: the 12-pound bronze mountain howitzer cannon, one of 12 ordered by the U.S. War Department.
The museum has detailed exhibits for nearly every American conflict.
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