Delaware's First Draft -- August 1863

This post will be a little different than most, as it won't focus on a particular place, person, or family. Instead, it's actually a result of my problem with gift for tending to wander off track while researching. See, I was actually writing what should be the next post, but whilst doing so realized that the deed I had for its origin was wrong -- it was for a nearby, but similar, site. So I went back to find it, and also tried to find the earliest newspaper mention of it that I could. Turns out that was in the August 18, 1863 edition of the Delaware State Journal and Statesman. But while reading the brief mention of my intended site I happened to notice, on the same page, a listing of names. And since the most recent post included two clippings of parties (complete with a list of guests), I thought this might be the same type of thing. It was not.

What I was actually seeing was part of the list of names selected in the first draft done in Delaware, which had been performed the week before. In information you don't need to know but which I'll tell you anyway, I recently found a history podcast I like called History That Doesn't Suck. It's actually been around since 2017, but I just started listening to it a few months back and I've been following through the old episodes, which cover American history chronologically, beginning with the Revolutionary War. As luck would have it, I happen to currently be in 1863, having just listened to an episode about the Battle of Gettysburg, which took place on July 1-3, 1863. A previous episode focused on the draft and the resistance to it (including the New York City Draft Riots). The point is, when I realized what I was seeing on the page it fully resonated with me. I felt like I was reading a current newspaper.