Carte de
visite of Col. Lafayette Gregg,
circa
1864. Photo by William Brown,
"Photographer of the Army of Arkansas."
(Source: Gregg Family Collection, MC 1000)
51.
Jeff Davis.
Papers, 1849-1986;
6 linear feet.
Correspondence, literary
productions, scrapbooks, printed materials, and other documents pertaining to
Jeff Davis (1862-1913), governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907 and United States
senator from 1907 to 1913. Davis was born at Rocky Comfort to a former Confederate
army chaplain who named him for the Southern president. Civil War related materials
can be found in both the personal and the political papers in the Davis collection.
In the family correspondence are twelve letters written between 1859 and 1862
by relatives of Davis's wife, Ina McKenzie Thatch Davis. These letters were written
to Ina's mother, Jane E. Norment of Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) from her brother,
Wilbur F. Norment, and her future husband, Duncan G. L. McKenzie. Wilbur was a
resident of Washington, D.C., and wrote to Jane from that place on December 9,
1859, and on July 16, 1861. A third letter from Wilbur was written from Camden
(Ouachita County) in 1861. Duncan McKenzie was a preacher and wrote nine letters
to Jane from Little Rock (Pulaski County) between September 7, 1860, and January
11, 1862, while he was in the city attending religious conferences. Although many
of Duncan's letters are personal in nature, he did describe the city's mood during
the secession convention of 1861. Among the political papers in the Jeff Davis
collection are case files concerning Arkansas residents who asked for the senator's
assistance in reparation claims against the Federal government for confiscated
and destroyed property during the Civil War. Finding
aid available online.
52.
Archibald S. Dobbins.
Collection,
1852-1965; 47 items.
Correspondence, military
commission, land and legal records, photographs, and other records pertaining
to Colonel Archibald S. Dobbins, First (Dobbins) Arkansas Cavalry. Originally
from Tennessee, Dobbins entered the Confederate service at Phillips County in
late 1862 as an aide-de-camp to Major General Thomas C. Hindman and later became
colonel of his own regiment of cavalry. Involved in the squabble between generals
Walker and Marmaduke during the capture of Little Rock, Dobbins was court-martialled
and relieved of command on November 23, 1863. He finished out the war in the Trans-Mississippi,
and following his surrender on July 15, 1865, at Galveston, Texas, Dobbins made
plans to emigrate to Brazil. He settled near Santarem, Brazil, in 1867 and made
arrangements for his family to follow him in exile before his disappearance sometime
after 1870. Of the twenty-one letters in the collection, only two were written
during the war, one dated February 3, 1862, from merchants Coleman and Withirs
of New Orleans to Dobbins discussing produce prices, and another dated August
10, 1864, from O. H. Oates, Washington (Hempstead County), to B. W. Green, (Phillips
County), discussing election procedures for county and state races. The balance
of the letters are from Dobbins to his wife immediately following the war outlining
his plans to move to Brazil, and letters from Dobbins while residing in Brazil.
Post-war correspondence also includes twentieth-century letters from parties interested
in Dobbins's ultimate fate in South America and the disposition of his property.
53.
Albert Dunlap.
Ledger and
journal, 1861-1870; 2 volumes.
Financial records
and medical notes of Dr. Albert Dunlap regarding his medical practice as a Confederate
army surgeon at Monticello (Drew County) and Washington (Hempstead County), and
as a Fort Smith (Sebastian County) private physician from 1867 to 1870. Dunlap's
Civil War volume has detailed reports of purchases and rations distributed in
the hospitals under his charge, and some individual patient records.
54.
Fontaine Richard Earle.
Letters, 1861-1908;
87 items.
Positive photocopies
of letters written or received by Reverend Fontaine Richard Earle, or his wife,
Amanda Buchanan Earle, of Cane Hill (Washington County). Earle was a Cumberland
Presbyterian minister who initially enlisted in the Arkansas state troops at the
outbreak of hostilities and saw action at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in 1861. He
was mustered out shortly after the battle and returned to Cane Hill, but in 1862
Earle raised a company of volunteers from the area which became designated as
Company B, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry. He fought at Prairie Grove (Washington
County), Helena (Phillips County) and Jenkins' Ferry (Grant County) during the
war, eventually attaining the rank of major. Following the end of the war, Earle
returned to Cane Hill where he assumed the presidency of Cane Hill College and
for many years was the highest ranking Confederate veteran living in northwest
Arkansas. Much of the wartime correspondence in this collection has been published
by Robert E. Waterman and Thomas Rothrock in "The Earle-Buchanan Letters, 1861-1877,"
Arkansas Historical Quarterly 33 (Summer 1974): 99-174. Finding
aid available online.
55.
Fontaine Richard Earle.
Military and
other records, 1858-1908; 1 roll.
Microfilm copy of
twelve items including muster rolls, rosters, clothing and pay accounts, and reports
written by Major Fontaine Richard Earle, Company B, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry.
The collection also includes an autobiographical sketch written by Earle in 1893
and a memorial prepared by local Confederate veterans following Earle's death
in 1908.
56.
Clyde T. Ellis.
Papers, 1939-1941;
50 items.
Letters between U.
S. Congressman Clyde T. Ellis and the National Park Service pertaining to the
development of a military park on the site of the Pea Ridge (Benton County) battlefield.
Some letters mention site analysis in relation to historical events. Finding
aid available online.
57.
Clara B. Eno.
Papers, 1852-1871;
1 roll.
This collection includes
letters, statements, forms, receipts, account ledger sheets, and clippings pertaining
to the Van Buren (Crawford County) business establishments of David C. Williams,
1852-1871, and Dr. Henri Pernot, 1852-1870. Microfilm copy of original documents
held by the Arkansas History Commission.
58.
Clara Bertha Eno.
Papers, 1830-1947;
176 items.
Correspondence, bills
of lading, statements, receipts, legal documents, reminiscences, and other papers
collected by Clara B. Eno. Among the papers is an undated manuscript essay, "Reconstruction
Days in Arkansas," and wartime financial documents mentioning David Walker, J.
Henry Williams, and Jesse Turner of Washington and Crawford counties.
59.
Faucette Family.
Genealogical
information, 1700s-1987; 4 volumes.
Four notebooks consisting
of positive photocopies of family charts, wills, legal documents, photographs,
letters, newspaper clippings and other materials pertaining to the Faucette, Old,
Leard, Peck, and related families of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arkansas.
Among the Civil War papers are: an October 29, 1863, letter from Sergeant Thomas
Ray Faucette, Company F, Sixth North Carolina Infantry, then stationed near Culpepper
Court House, Virginia; a surrender release signed on May 24, 1865, by Private
George C. Faucette, Thirty-first North Carolina Infantry; enlistment record of
Private Sanders Walkers Leard, Company A, First Arkansas Mounted Rifles; service
record and pension claims of Private John C. Sagely, Company L, Second Arkansas
Cavalry (Union); and service record of Private Joseph M. Sagely, Company G, First
Arkansas Infantry (King's Regiment of Arkansas Infantry). Finding
aid available online.
60.
Homer F. Fellows.
Commission
and bond, 1861; 2 items.
Commission issued
to Fellows on July 17, 1861, as a register of the United States Land Office in
Springfield, Missouri, bearing the autograph of President Abraham Lincoln; unsigned
performance bond partially executed by Fellows, undated.
61.
First Arkansas Mounted Rifles. Company D.
Account book,
1861-1862; 1 roll.
Book showing the names
of soldiers, articles of clothing issued, and cost, along with an alphabetical
index of names. Microfilm copies of original documents held by the National Archives,
Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
62.
Harris Flanagin.
Papers, 1861-1874;
1 roll.
The selected documents
on this film include many letters written to Harris Flanagin during the war from
David Walker, Gradison D. Royston, William E. Woodruff, Jr., and Albert Pike.
Post-war correspondence pertains to many Reconstruction events, including the
Brooks-Baxter war of 1874. Flanagin was an attorney, soldier, and the seventh
governor of Arkansas. Originally from New Jersey, he moved to Arkansas in 1839,
eventually settling in Arkadelphia (Clark County). When the war broke out he accepted
a commission as captain of Company E, Second Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and saw
combat at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge (Benton County). Flanagin's regiment was
transferred east of the Mississippi in 1862 and he was elected its colonel. He
was nominated for governor during the election of 1862 and easily defeated Henry
Massey Rector for the post. During his administration, the Federals occupied Little
Rock and forced Flanagin to establish a government in exile in Washington (Hempstead
County) for the remainder of the war. Microfilm copies of original documents held
by the Arkansas History Commission.
63.
Susan Bricelin Fletcher.
Memoir, circa
1908; 1 item.
Mrs. Fletcher's typewritten
account of Arkansas civilian war experiences from a Southern viewpoint contains
a detailed description of her neighborhood in Little Rock. Topics covered in the
manuscript are slavery, medicine, civilian hardships, the Brooks-Baxter war, and
the behavior of Union troops. Persons mentioned include Major General Frederick
Steele and Mrs. Powell Clayton. After the enlistment of her husband in the Confederate
service, Mrs. Fletcher was left alone on her Pulaski County plantation to manage
the home with the assistance of the family slaves. During the course of the war,
the Fletcher plantation was visited on numerous occasions by Union troops, and
the pilfering she endured forced her eventual removal to Little Rock by May 1864.
She remained in the city for only a few months before securing a pass to visit
her husband in Washington (Hempstead County) and spent the balance of the war
south of Camden (Ouachita County). The Fletcher plantation was burned during the
conflict, and the family lived on the outskirts of Little Rock after the war.
64.
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Documents and
papers, 1848-1908; 28 items.
Register, lists, certificate,
clippings, statements, promissory notes, and other documents pertaining to the
commercial, social, political, and military history of Fort Smith (Sebastian County)
and vicinity. Included is a printed invitation to a "secession ball" to honor
Robert Ward Johnson, representative to the Confederate Congress, to be held at
Fort Smith on April 22, 1861. This invitation was sent to Van Buren attorney Jesse
Turner, who added marginalia to the envelope.
65.
Fort Smith National Historic Site.
Records, 1953-1976;
165 items.
Correspondence, reports,
and photographs pertaining to the establishment of the Fort Smith National Historic
Site (Sebastian County) in 1961 and its restoration in the 1970s. The collection
contains historical reports on the site, including its Civil War record, by Paul
Wolfe and J. C. Harrington. Finding
aid available online.
66.
Futrall Family.
Papers, 1831-1985;
3 1/2 linear feet.
Correspondence, papers,
and photographs pertaining to the John C. Futrall family of Fayetteville (Washington
County). Futrall was president of the University of Arkansas from 1913 to 1939.
The collection consists of papers created or collected by himself, his ancestors,
and his descendants and include four letters written during the Civil War to his
mother, Emma R. Headen Futrall, by a friend identified only as "Mollie" living
near Pittsburg, North Carolina. The letters, dated from July 12, 1864, to March
25, 1865, allude to North Carolina politics and war rumors. Finding
aid available online.
67.
Charles William Fry.
Notebook, 1863-1883;
1 item.
Positive photocopy
of a transcription of a notebook kept by Captain Charles William Fry, Fry's Company
of Virginia Light Artillery (Orange Artillery). Captain Fry took part in many
fights in Virginia during the war and kept a record of ordinance expenditures,
officer's mess accounts, poetry, and engineering computations. Included is a roster
of officers and men of Fry's unit.
68.
James A. Garfield.
Papers, 1839-1884;
177 rolls.
James A. Garfield
was twentieth president of the United States. During the Civil War he served as
colonel of the Forty-second Ohio Infantry until his promotion to brigadier general
in January 1862. The following year he obtained the rank of major general but
resigned on December 5 when he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives.
During his military career, Garfield participated in the battles of Shiloh, Tennessee,
and Middle Creek and Pound Gap, Kentucky. This extensive collection consists of
diaries, correspondence, legal papers, financial records, shorthand notebooks,
speeches, articles, scrapbooks, and memorabilia covering Garfield's life and career.
A printed index of correspondence is included. Microfilm copy of original documents
held by the Library of Congress.
69.
John R. Gibbons.
Diary and letter,
1862-1863; 2 items.
The diary consists
of brief entries kept by Private John R. Gibbons, Company I, First (Rockbridge)
Virginia Cavalry, while on duty from January 1 to October 16, 1862, in northern
Virginia. The entries pertain to places such as Culpepper Court House and Brandy
Station, Virginia, and are very terse. For example, Gibbons describes the battle
of Antietam, Maryland, as "a very hard fight" with no further elaboration. A copy
of a letter, dated Mount Solon, Augusta County, Virginia, October 3, 1863, is
also included. Written by a cousin identified only as "Sue," the letter describes
local gossip, Sue's teaching activities, and a reaction to Gibbons's assertion
of trading with Union soldiers while on picket duty. Typed transcript.
70.
Orville Gillet.
Diary, 1861-1865;
1 roll.
The collection consists
of three diaries: October 11, 1861, to May 9, 1862; January 1 to December 31,
1864; and January 1 to October 25, 1865. Sergeant Orville Gillet's entries are
extremely terse, providing little description of combat activities. However, the
volumes also contain photographs of soldiers from the Third Michigan, steamboats
operating in Arkansas, and buildings at DuVall's Bluff (Prairie County) and Little
Rock (Pulaski County). Gillet also drew two maps of the New Madrid area and kept
notations of some of his expenses in 1862. Typed transcripts of the last two diaries
are included. Gillet, Company B, Third Michigan Cavalry, enlisted in the Union
army in October 1861 at Grand Rapids, Michigan. He left with his regiment for
St. Louis on November 28 and was stationed at Benton Barracks until February 1862,
when the Third Michigan was called into duty to assist in the siege of New Madrid,
Missouri, and the capture of Island Number 10. Orville next accompanied his regiment
during the advance to Corinth, Mississippi, in early May. Sergeant Gillet stayed
with the Third Michigan until October 1864, when he resigned to accept a commission
as a second lieutenant of Company G, Third Arkansas Cavalry (Union). While in
Arkansas, Gillet was stationed at Little Rock, Lewisburg, Cadron (Conway County),
Brownsville (Prairie County), and DuVall's Bluff. Microfilm copy of originals
held by the Arkansas History Commission.
71.
Ariel Idella Hottel Gist.
Papers, 1892-1898,
1923-1932; 63 items.
Journals, correspondence,
photographs, and papers created or collected by Ariel Idella Hottel Gist of Marianna
(Lee County). Mrs. Gist was a governess to the U. S. consul in the Danish West
Indies from 1892 to 1893, and the daughter of William F. Hottel (1841-1923), a
former private in Company E, Eleventh Virginia Cavalry. The collection includes
a printed roster of Company E and newspaper obituaries of Hottel.
72.
Ulysses S. Grant.
Papers, 1844-1883;
32 rolls.
Ulysses S. Grant was
eighteenth president of the United States and, during the Civil War, colonel of
the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry, and general-in-chief of the Armies of the
United States. The papers have been organized into seven series and include personal
correspondence, general correspondence, military headquarters records, speeches,
and scrapbooks. A printed index of correspondents is included. Microfilm copy
of original documents held by the Library of Congress.
73.
L. H. Graves.
Diaries, May
1, 1861-April 1, 1864; 1 roll.
First Lieutenant L.
H. Graves, Company K, Sixth Texas Cavalry, began keeping his diary when he first
set out from Texas to join the command of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch
in 1861. He was present at the battle of Pea Ridge (Benton County) on March 6-7,
1862, and followed his regiment east of the Mississippi during the weeks following
the engagement. Seriously wounded in the fighting at Corinth, Mississippi, on
October 3-4, 1862, Graves spent the next months recuperating as a prisoner of
the Federals at Iuka, Mississippi. He did not rejoin his regiment until May 1,
1863, at Shelbyville, Tennessee. The diary contains descriptions of the two battles,
of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch, and glimpses of Graves's home life prior
to his enlistment at McKinney, Texas. Microfilm copy of a typed transcript.
74.
Gregg Family.
Papers, 1853-1983;
2 linear feet.
Family correspondence,
legal files, and photographs pertaining to the Lafayette Gregg family of Fayetteville
(Washington County). Lafayette Gregg (1825-1891) was an attorney, soldier, Arkansas
Supreme Court justice, president of the Bank of Fayetteville, and one of the founding
fathers of the Arkansas Industrial University (University of Arkansas). Most of
the materials in this collection pertain to Lafayette's descendents in the early
twentieth century, but a small group of records concern his service as colonel
commanding the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry (Union). These records include the following:
a medical statement dated January 1863, exempting Lafayette from service in the
local militia; a travel pass and bond issued to Lafayette for a trip to Little
Rock (Pulaski County) to consult with Governor Harris Flanagin in May 1863; two
orders pertaining to the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry and its operations around Little
Rock; and an offical discharge certificate issued to Lafayette Gregg in June 1865.
Finding aid
available online.
75.
Haney Family.
Papers, 1845-1887;
67 items.
Positive photocopies
of letters, legal documents, financial documents, and miscellaneous papers pertaining
to the Samuel Haney family of Huntsville (Madison County). Included in the correspondence
are seven letters written to Haney between 1863 and 1865. Five of the letters
are from Haney's brother-in-law, John W. Bowen, a corporal in Company B, First
Arkansas Infantry (Union). Bowen was stationed in the Fort Smith (Sebastian County)
area and Madison County during the war. Another letter is from Josephus Upton,
a private in Company B who was also from Madison County. The last Civil War letter
is from W. M. Hale, a young carpenter from Huntsville who was detained by Federal
troops in December 1863 when he was passing through Fayetteville (Washington County)
on the way to Fort Smith. The collection also contains Haney's 1863 oath of allegiance
to the Federal government. Finding aid available online.
76.
Albert Harris.
Letters, 1864-1866;
35 items.
Albert Harris, a civilian
employee of the Office of Chief Quartermaster, Department of Arkansas, United
States Army, wrote to his relations in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, while working in
Little Rock (Pulaski County). The letters, which date from August 7, 1864, to
May 21, 1866, discuss in detail his activities in organizing laborers, his relationships
with civilians, and living conditions in the city. Of particular interest are
his comments concerning black workers and soldiers in the area. While some letters
mention military movements, Harris was not an eyewitness to any of them. The last
letter in the collection was sent from Fort Smith (Sebastian County) where Harris
had stopped temporarily while accompanying a government wagon train to Santa Fe,
New Mexico. Positive photocopies of original letters held by the Vermont Historical
Society.
77.
Benjamin Harrison.
Papers, 1787-1901;
134 rolls.
Benjamin Harrison
was twenty-third president of the United States and, during the Civil War, colonel
of the Seventieth Indiana Infantry. This extensive collection consists of correspondence,
legal papers, financial records, shorthand notebooks, speeches, articles, scrapbooks,
and memorabilia. Included are letters he wrote to his wife and family while serving
in the Union army from 1861 to 1865. A printed index of correspondence is included.
Microfilm copy of original documents held by the Library of Congress.
78.
James M. Harrison.
Letters, 1861-1865;
1 roll.
Third Lieutenant James
M. Harrison, Company H, Fifteenth (McRae's/Hobb's) Arkansas Infantry, was from
a Washington County family living in the Cane Hill area. He enlisted early in
the conflict with the Third Regiment, First Corps, Army of Arkansas, under the
command of Colonel John R. Gratiot. This unit saw combat at Wilson's Creek, Missouri,
on August 10, 1861, and subsequently disbanded when integrated into units of the
regular Confederate army. Harrison again faced the enemy's fire at the battle
of Pea Ridge (Benton County) on March 6-7, 1862. After that fight, he marched
with his unit to Des Arc (Prairie County) where they boarded the steamboat Sovereign,
landing in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 11, 1862. The next destination for the
Fifteenth was Corinth, Mississippi, and the regiment saw the balance of its service
in that state. Harrison became seriously ill in the fall of 1862 and was not present
with his command at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, on October 3-4, 1862,
but he did rejoin them for operations on the Mississippi Central Rail Road from
Bolivar, Tennessee, to Coffeeville, Mississippi (Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign),
October 31, 1862, to January 10, 1863. Lieutenant Harrison was seriously wounded
at the battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi, May 1, 1863, and captured by the enemy
after the retreat of his regiment. He never fully recovered from the wound, and
he died after the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. His body was returned
to Washington County and buried at the Confederate Cemetery at Fayetteville. Private
Richard P. Harrison, Company K, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, was the younger
brother of James. He entered the Confederate service in 1862 when many Cane Hill
residents enlisted in a company raised by Fontaine Richard Earle. Private Harrison
participated in the battle of Prairie Grove (Washington County), December 7, 1862,
and spent the next year of his military service in central Arkansas. He participated
in the battle of Helena (Phillips County) July 4, 1863, and helped defend Little
Rock (Pulaski County) prior to its capture later that year. In 1864, Private Harrison
transferred to the Fourth Confederate Engineer Corps and spent the remainder of
the war repairing bridges in the extreme southwest corner of Arkansas. The collection
contains letters from both Harrison brothers during the war, along with two written
in Little Rock during 1863 by Private W. T. Dyer, Company K, Thirty-fourth Arkansas
Infantry, and one from Miss Fannie Harrison, Green Grove (Conway County), dated
March 8, 1863. Microfilm copies of original letters, origin unknown.
79.
Eugene B. Henry.
Commission,
1874; 1 item.
Military commission
signed by Governor Elisha Baxter, appointing Henry a colonel in the Arkansas State
Guards, April 21, 1874.
80.
John D. Henry.
Papers, 1861-1881;
6 items.
The earliest letter
in this collection is from Private John L. Russell, Company C, Sixth Arkansas
Infantry, dated July 7, 1861, from Pocahontas (Randolph County). Russell was a
volunteer, probably from Dallas County, who may have been related to the John
D. Henry family, the principal subjects of this collection. The letter describes
camp life, food, visitations from civilians, and rumors. Finding
aid available online.
81.
Daniel Harvey Hill.
Papers, 1816-1924;
4 rolls.
Daniel Harvey Hill
began his Civil War career as colonel of the First North Carolina Infantry, was
promoted to brigadier general on March 26, 1862, and finished the war as a major
general. He took part in the battles of Big Bethel, Seven Pines, South Mountain,
Antietam, and Chickamauga, among many others. In 1877, Hill assumed the presidency
of the Arkansas Industrial University (University of Arkansas). Microfilm copies
of original letters, maps, clippings, and speeches held by the North Carolina
Department of Archives and History.
82.
Thomas Carmichael Hindman.
Prairie Grove
and northwest Arkansas maps, 1862; 2 items.
Maps showing the position
of troops at the battle of Prairie Grove (Washington County) December 7, 1862,
and principal towns and roadways in northwest Arkansas, 1862, drawn by a member
of General Hindman's staff. Negative photocopies of two original manuscript maps
held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
83.
Theophilus Hunter Holmes.
Military documents,
1862-1865; 1 roll.
Lieutenant General
Theophilus H. Holmes began his Civil War service as a brigadier general commanding
the Southern Department of Coastal Defense. He was present at the first battle
of Bull Run and Malvern Hill, Virginia. In October 1862, he received a promotion
to major general and was placed in command of the Trans-Mississippi Department.
After the battle of Helena (Phillips County) on July 3, 1863, Holmes was sent
back to North Carolina where he remained for the rest of the war. Microfilm copy
of thiry-five original documents held by Duke University.
84.
Theophilus Hunter Holmes.
Private correspondence,
1861-1864; 1 roll.
These papers consist
mainly of copies of letters sent to other officers and Confederate government
officials from Major General Theophilus H. Holmes. There are very few letters
received, and all are arranged chronologically. Microfilm copy of original documents
held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
85.
Michael A. Hughes.
Research study;
2 items.
Statistical study,
completed in 1984, of Arkansas Union army volunteers, including ages, occupations,
birthplaces, and place of enlistment.
86.
Hughes-McDonald Family.
Papers, 1820-1900;
1 linear foot.
Letters, documents,
and photographs pertaining to the Moses Hughes-Allen McDonald families of Franklin
County. Moses Hughes (1797-1865) was a farmer and sometime justice of the peace.
Among his eight children were George P. Hughes, who served as a private in Company
H, Second Arkansas Cavalry (Union), and Polly Ann Hughes, whose stepson, Samuel
C. Howell, lived in western Missouri during the late 1850s and may have enlisted
in the Southern army when the war broke out. Although none of the correspondence
is dated during the war years, the collection does include letters from Howell
describing the border strife in his part of Missouri (circa 1856), an ambrotype
believed to be of George Hughes (circa 1864), and several civilian travel passes
issued by Federal soldiers stationed in Sebastian and Franklin counties to Moses
and members of his family. Other pre-war letters from relatives living in Alabama
describe farming and slavery in that state during the late 1850s. Finding
aid available online.
87.
R. M. T. Hunter.
Papers, 1817-1887;
13 rolls.
These selections comprise
a segment of the Hunter-Garnett Collection at the University of Virginia and consist
of Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter's speeches, letters, business papers, and those
of his immediate family. Hunter (1809-1887) was a Virginia politician. He served
as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate, as the
Confederate secretary of state, and as a senator in the Confederate Congress.
A complete finding aid, with an extensive index of correspondence, is included.
Microfilm copy of selected documents held by the University of Virginia.
88.
Huntington Library
Nineteenth-century
Arkansas letters and documents, 1821-1896; 36 items.
The wartime documents
in this collection include the following: a handwritten copy of an unpublished
ordinance passed by the Arkansas Secession Convention, May 22, 1861, providing
for the defence of the state's western border and signed by David Walker and Elias
C. Boudinot; letters written by Major General Theophilus Holmes from Virginia
and North Carolina, 1862; a telegram from Robert Ward Johnson to Thomas C. Hindman;
and a series of letters to Missouri Governor Thomas C. Reynolds from John R. Eakin,
a Washington (Hempstead County), attorney, 1864-1865. Post-war correspondence,
some of which relates to Civil War activities, includes letters from Isaac Murphy,
Powell Clayton, James R. Berry, Elias C. Boudinot, Thomas J. Churchill, Hugh F.
Thomason, W. W. Watkins, and N. B. Pearce. Positive photocopies from originals
held by the Huntington Library. Finding
aid available online.
89.
Roy G. Hutcheson.
Diary, 1837,
1845, and letters, 1864-1865; 14 items.
Diary fragment kept
by an unknown Illinois woman and letters written by members of the M. E. Barnes
family of Lee County, Illinois. Nine letters in this collection, dated from April
28, 1864, to April 22, 1865, were written by Private Melzar E. Barnes, a musician
serving in Company D, Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry, to his parents in Lee County,
Illinois. Barnes's letters were sent from different locations in Tennessee, Georgia,
and North Carolina while he accompanied forces under Lieutenant General William
T. Sherman on his famous "march to the sea." The collection also includes a letter
from Private Henry M. Barnes, Melzar's brother, also of Company D, Thirty-fourth
Illinois Infantry, dated March 12, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and another
from a sister, Frankie Barnes, who was living at Lee's Centre, Illinois, in 1864.
Henry Barnes died of disease at Ackworth, Georgia, on June 24, 1864. Finding
aid available online.
The collection includes
thirty letters written during November and December 1862 by Colonel William Ward
Orme, Ninety-fourth Illinois Infantry, to his wife, Nancy. Ward wrote the letters
from various points in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, and one, dated
December 9, 1862, Prairie Grove (Washington County), contains a description of
the battle at that place on December 2. Orme's letters also include one received
from David Davis, an employee at the U. S. Marshall's office in Washington, D.C.,
December 9, 1862, and a copy of an order dated December 19, 1862, Water Valley,
Mississippi, pertaining to the Fourth Illinois Cavalry. Other Civil War materials
are twelve letters written by Private Henry M. Newhall, Company H, Fourth Iowa
Cavalry, from various points in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and
Missouri during the years 1862 to 1865. One of Newhall's letters, dated June 15,
1864, Memphis, recounts his experiences during the battle of Brice's Cross Roads
(Guntown; Tishomingo Creek), Mississippi on June 10, 1864. Letters written from
various parties to Major Isaac Reed, a Confederate officer from an unidentified
regiment stationed in Little Rock (Pulaski County) during the summer of 1863,
are also found in this collection, along with an April 11, 1862, letter written
to South Carolina Governor W. F. Peckins from Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector,
and a January 1, 1865, letter from General Ulysses S. Grant to Major General H.
W. Halleck. Negative and positive photocopies of original letters held by the
Illinois State Historical Library.
91.
Sidney D. Jackman.
Memoir, 1883;
1 item.
Typewritten carbon
copy entitled "Campaign and Battle of Lone Jack, 1862, 1863, 1864," by Colonel
Sidney D. Jackman of Bates County, Missouri. Jackman commanded a company of mounted
Southern irregulars during the war and participated in many raids and fights in
southern Missouri and northwest Arkansas. Of particular interest is his description
of the battle of Lone Jack, Missouri, on August 16, 1862. Jackman not only detailed
his own activities during the fight but also identified one of the two men responsible
for setting fire to a hotel at Lone Jack which killed all of the Union defenders.
Jackman's essay also includes transcriptions of his post-war correspondence with
Joseph O. Shelby and other Confederate veterans. Finding
aid available online.
92.
Thomas Jefferson Jobe.
Diary, May
25-August 6, 1861; 1 roll.
The entries are detailed
glimpses of camp life in the opening weeks of the war. Private Thomas Jefferson
Jobe's diary ends with the encampment of his regiment at Wilson's Creek, Missouri,
just prior to the battle of August 10. The diary also includes what appears to
be a complete roster of officers and enlisted men of Company B. Jobe, Company
B, First Arkansas Mounted Rifles, was a lawyer from Des Arc (Prairie County) who
enlisted in the Southern army in May 1861. He began his diary with his enlistment
and kept a faithful record of his activities during his first months of service.
Jobe followed his company from their initial muster at Des Arc to Brownsville
(Prairie County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County),
Evansville and Cincinnati (Washington County), and Maysville and Camp Walker (Benton
County) near the extreme northwest corner of Arkansas. Microfilm copy of an original
volume held by the Arkansas History Commission.
93.
Andrew Johnson.
Papers, 1814-1900;
55 rolls.
Andrew Johnson was
seventeenth president of the United States and, during the Civil War, U. S. senator
and military governor of Tennessee. The papers include the following: military
documents of organizations commanded by Colonel Robert Johnson, First Tennessee
Cavalry, 1862-1865; courtmartial and amnesty records, 1864-1869; and general correspondence,
1841-1891. A printed index of correspondents is included and lists virtually every
important political personality connected with the early Reconstruction era. Microfilm
copy of original documents held by the Library of Congress.
94.
Charles B. Johnson.
Papers, 1859-1865;
47 items.
Letters, contracts,
receipts, invoices, military orders, and other documents pertaining to Charles
B. Johnson, a civilian contractor with the Confederate States Army for provisioning
Reserve Indians and troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Johnson, in partnership
with Marshall Grimes, was engaged in trade in the Indian Territory prior to the
war and continued his business operations once the area passed into Confederate
hands. He also worked at various locations in Arkansas and Texas. Correspondents
and persons to whom the documents relate include Brigadier General Albert Pike,
Major William Quesenbury, Major Thomas Lanigan, Colonel Robert C. Newton, Major
General Thomas C. Hindman, and Major General Theophilus H. Holmes. Places to which
the documents relate include Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Little Rock (Pulaski
County), Prairie Grove (Washington County), Van Buren (Crawford County), and Waldron
(Scott County); Bonham, Mansfield, Paris, and Sherman, Texas; Washington, D.C.;
and Fort Washita, Indian Territory.
95.
Andrew Johnston.
Letter, February
1, 1863; 1 item.
Letter written by
Johnston from Helena (Phillips County) to an unidentified "Dear Sir." Andrew Johnston
was captain of Company G, 29th Iowa Infantry, which moved from Columbus, Kentucky,
in January 1863. On January 14, 1862, Johnson was assigned to accompany troops
under Brigadier General Willis Gorman on an expedition up the White River to St.
Charles (Arkansas County) and DuVall's Bluff (Prairie County). In his letter,
Johnston describes the expedition, along with his earlier impressions of Memphis,
Tennessee, where he stopped for a few hours prior to arriving in Arkansas. [Note:
This entry was updated on 2/17/05 per Kim Allen Scott's instructions.]
96.
Joseph Hubbard Jones.
Memoir; 1 item.
Positive photocopy
of reminiscences entitled "Sketch of My Army Life from 1861 to 1865," by Corporal
Joseph Hubbard Jones, Company D, First Arkansas Infantry. Apparently written in
the late nineteenth century, this autobiographical essay by Jones is a thumbnail
sketch of his military experiences during the war and includes very little detail.
97.
G. A. Koerner.
Collection,
1865; 3 items.
This collection includes
an account record book kept by Captain Joseph F. Fuess, Forty-third Illinois Infantry,
recording the expenses of the regiment's officer's mess in Little Rock (Pulaski
County) from May to October 1865. Finding aid available
online.
98.
Matthew Leeper.
Letter, 1861;
1 item.
Letter, dated October
31, 1861, from Indian Agent Matthew Leeper to J. J. Sturm, Wichita Agency Commissary,
regarding ration issues to the reserve Indians.
99.
Walter John Lemke.
Papers, 1821-1969;
23 linear feet.
Correspondence, scrapbooks,
photographs, maps, bulletins, newspapers, and other materials created, received,
or collected by Walter J. Lemke (1891-1968), a University of Arkansas journalism
professor. In addition to his career as a teacher, Lemke was an avid historian
who helped establish the Washington County Historical Society and the Prairie
Grove Battlefield Commission. Most of the material in the Lemke collection directly
relates to his activities as a teacher and journalist, but also included are:
research files concerning the battles of Fayetteville (Washington County), Pea
Ridge (Benton County), and Prairie Grove (Washington County); copies of miscellaneous
letters, reports, diaries and newspaper accounts written from 1861 to 1866; and
notes concerning the Southern Memorial Association of Washington County. Among
the hundreds of photographs in the collection are portraits of Thomas C. Hindman,
Elias C. Boudinot, members of the David Walker family, and Mrs. Jefferson Davis.
Among the copies of original correspondence are letters from Brigadier General
Benjamin McCulloch and his aide, Major John Henry Brown.