Uniform of Major William S. Harlan
Ohio 159^th Infantry (National Guard)

 Bill Harlan served for two years in the Ohio 78^th Infantry  before joining the 159^th. He went from 1^st Sergeant to Captain in the 78^th and joined the 159^th as a Major. Interestingly, his wife was a Milhous and related to Hannah Milhous, mother of President Richard Milhous Nixon. An interesting aspect of this coat was its discovery and cleaning. The coat and many other personal articles were found in the attic of an old home in Nashville, Tennessee. It hung on a wooden hanger for one hundred years. When the coat came to me, it had so much accumulated dirt and crust it could literally stand by itself. It had to be cleaned or the grit would eventually destroy the fibers. The coat was sent to the Smithsonian Institute’s historic garment cleaner. They employed cleaning techniques similar to the period. Five pounds of silt were removed during the cleaning process. After the procedure, a fine quality uniform emerged.