University of Arkansas home page Special Collections
  bullet Library Home  Special Collections Home  Manuscripts Home
Manuscript Resources
for the Civil War

(continued)

Entries 151 - 200

(Go directly to index)

Painting, Mustered Out
"Mustered Out." Black Volunteers at Little Rock, May 19, 1866. Painting by Robert Guillemin
"Sidewalk Sam" reproduced as a postcard. (Source:  Postcard Collection) 
151. Slavery.
Papers, 1826-1857; 11 items.
Facsimile broadside, original certificate and bills of sale pertaining to the sale, purchase, and manumission of slaves in Van Buren (Crawford County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County), and in Texas, South Carolina, and Louisiana.
152. Jacob M. J. Smith.
Journals, 1844-1886; 2 volumes.
Daily weather and horticultural journals kept by Fayetteville (Washington County) resident Jacob M. J. Smith and an unknown successor. The volumes record temperatures and weather and botanical observations. The second volume covers the years 1852-1886, including much of the Civil War period.
153. Sara Jane Smith.
Records, 1864-1865; 4 items.
Sara Jane Smith was a resident of Washington County during the Civil War. After her father enlisted in the Confederate army, she went to Springfield, Missouri, to stay with relatives. Sara apparently became involved with a band of guerrillas and participated in the destruction of telegraph lines along the road from Springfield to Lebanon, Missouri. She was captured and tried at St. Louis on November 16, 1864. Although convicted and sentenced to death by the military court, Sara's sentence was reduced to imprisonment at Alton, Illinois, for the remainder of the war. The proceedings include two statements by the accused and listings of all officers involved in the trial. Positive photocopies of trial proceedings held by the National Archives. Finding aid available online.
154. William J. Smith.
Muster roll, 1864; 1 item.
Completed muster roll prepared by Captain William J. Smith for the members of Company B, Fristoe's Battalion, Arkansas Mounted Men of the Missouri Cavalry, February 29, 1864.
155. South by Southwest.
Miscellaneous Arkansania materials, 1828-1958; 4 linear feet.
Letters, diaries, ledgers, legal documents and printed items dealing with a wide variety of Arkansas subjects. This collection has been divided into series based on subjects, one of which concerns Reconstruction in Arkansas. Included are nine letters, written from 1866 to 1876 from Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Fayetteville (Washington County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), and Washington, D.C., by James E. Trott, George William Sellers, Charles Whiting Walker, Elias C. Boudinot, Margaret Waterson, James M. Pittman, Thomas Boles, Jesse Turner, and William W. Belknap. The Reconstruction series also contains a printed song pamphlet for the Republican Party (circa 1867) and general orders for the Franklin County State Guards dated November 2, 1872. Represented in an additonal series for biographical materials are essays dealing with Hugh H. Thomason of Van Buren (Crawford County) and "The Old Knapsack," written in 1893 by Lieutenant Samuel Pinckney Pittman, Company K, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, relating his experiences on the march to the battle of Prairie Grove (Washington County).
157. Southern Memorial Association.
Records, 1872-1934; 3 volumes.
Two record books and a scrapbook pertaining to the Southern Memorial Society (SMA) of Washington County. In 1872, prominent women of Washington County organized an association to procure a resting place for the deceased Confederate soldiers buried at Pea Ridge (Benton County), Prairie Grove (Washington County), and other locations in Benton, Washington, and Crawford counties. They eventually raised enough money to purchase a small parcel on the southwest slope of Fayetteville's Mount Sequoyah and began the reinterrment of the deceased at what became known as the Confederate Cemetery. It was officially dedicated on June 10, 1873, and the SMA has assumed responsibility for the upkeep of the cemetery up to the present day. The record books contain the constitution, bylaws, membership lists, and minutes of meetings, 1872-1921. The scrapbook contains necrology and eulogies of deceased members of the SMA, 1898-1934.
156. Mitchell Sparks.
Papers, 1835-1909; 1 1/2 linear feet.
Letters, memoranda, financial documents, legal papers, and other materials pertaining to the business, commercial, and legal affairs of Mitchell Sparks, a prominent Fort Smith (Sebastian County) merchant of the early nineteenth century. Most of the material dates after Sparks's death and pertains to the affairs of his surviving relatives in settling his estate. Included in the papers are several letters written in 1861 to Sparks from businessman Jacob Brock of Memphis, Tennessee, describing his efforts to supply the Confederate army with bread. There are also receipts and statements from civilian purchases in Fort Smith during the war years.
158. Florence Cypert Spore.
Papers, 1854-1975; 14 linear feet and 7 volumes.
Letters, papers, scrapbooks, and photographs pertaining to the Seat-Cypert-Hardy-Spore families of Searcy (White County). Most of the materials in this collection pertain to the twentieth-century descendants of Jesse Newton Cypert and Benton Bell Seat. Judge Cypert was a member of the Arkansas Secession Convention of 1861 as a delegate from White County. The only wartime documents concerning him consist of a receipt dated August 29, 1864, for a carriage and harness taken from Cypert by the Ninth Kansas Cavalry, and an amnesty oath signed by Cypert on August 1, 1865. Captain Benton Bell Seat was a Tennessee native who enlisted in Sibley's Texas Brigade and the Fifth Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. He participated in the New Mexico Campaign where he was wounded during the battle of Valverde and in operations in the state of Louisiana. After the war Seat lived in Nicaragua where he practiced law and speculated in the banana business. He lived out the last years of his life in Searcy in his daughter's home where, due to her insistence, he wrote his own autobiography in four school notebooks. Seat's narrative contains a great deal of information on the New Mexico theatre of the war. A typed transcription of Seat's handwritten volumes is included in the collection, along with some materials dealing with the United Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Searcy. Finding aid available online.
159. James H. Starr.
Letter, 1865; 1 item.
Positive photocopy of an original letter dated May 18, 1865, Marshall, Texas, written by James H. Starr, Confederate agent for the postal service west of the Mississippi River; it advocates public aid for mail transportation.
160. Frederick Steele.
Selected documents, 1863-1865; 3 rolls.
These Frederick Steele Papers pertain to military campaigns, policy, and governmental affairs in Arkansas. Major General Frederick Steele commanded troops of the Army of the Southwest in Helena (Phillips County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County) and led the Arkansas troops during the Camden Expedition of 1864. The documents include the following: letters to and from Steele, President Abraham Lincoln, Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, and other officers; an unpublished biographical manuscript on Steele; and copies of several newspapers published in Little Rock in 1864 and 1865. Microfilm copy of documents held by Stanford University.
161. Frederick Steele.
Papers, 1862-1863; 2 items.
Deposition, dated December 26, 1862, signed and notarized by Chaplain J. G. Foreman, Third Missouri Infantry, accusing Major General Frederick Steele of returning fugitive slaves to their owners near Helena (Phillips County) in September 1862. Additional statement of charges and specifications (circa January 1863) accusing Steele of drunkenness and of protecting the property of high-ranking Confederates. Steele does not appear to have answered these charges in any recorded courtmartial proceedings.
162. Alexander H. Stephens.
Papers, 1834-1872; 6 rolls.
Extensive correspondence consisting of 3,035 letters between Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president of the Confederate States of America, and his brother, Lieutenant Colonel Linton Stephens of the Fifteenth Georgia Infantry, Colonel Stephens's widow, Hershel V. Johnson, and others. The letters have been arranged chronologically. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the Brady Memorial Library, Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, New York City.
163. Thomas R. Stone.
Diary, May 5, 1861-July, 1862; 1 roll.
The diary is actually a handwritten copy made in 1911 by W. E. Bevins. Like Private Thomas R. Stone, Bevins was a member of Company G, First Arkansas Infantry, and copied the original diary and a few letters of Stone written during July 1862. Stone enlisted with a company of volunteers at Jacksonport (Jackson County) on May 5, 1861. The regiment was assigned duty first in Virginia, and Stone accompanied his comrades on a long journey through Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville, Tennessee, to arrive at camp on Aquarie Creek near Richmond, Virginia, in June 1861. Stone's regiment did not participate in the battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, but it did observe some skirmishing with Union gunboats prior to the fight. The First Arkansas transferred back to the west during the fall of 1861 and participated in the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, on April 6 and 7, 1862. This is the only battle Stone describes in any detail in his diary, although he briefly mentions an action at Farmington, Mississippi, and the advance of the Union army to Corinth. Stone became seriously ill after the evacuation of Corinth and spent several weeks recuperating near Grenada, Mississippi. On July 1, 1862, Private Stone transferred to the Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry (McRae's) and assumed the responsibilities of an ordnance clerk. Microfilm copy of an original volume held by the Arkansas History Commission.
164. W. John Swor.
Letters, 1859-1869; 36 items.
Correspondence from W. John Swor while he was on mining expeditions in California and other parts of the western United States to his wife, Elizabeth Peel Swor, and brother-in-law, James W. Peel, both of Carrollton (Carroll County). The letters pertain mostly to Swor's experiences in the west and reactions to family news from home. The collection includes three letters written in April 1861 from Redwood City, California, which contain Swor's reaction to the opening of the Civil War and comments on the local response.
165. Thomas E. Tappan, Jr.
Collection, 1811-1982; 218 items and 12 volumes.
Scrapbooks, photographs, and other material pertaining to steamboats on the Mississippi River, particularly in the Helena (Phillips County) and Memphis areas. Included are images copied from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Harper's Weekly, and photographs from unidentifed sources. Among the vessels represented are the USS Cairo, the USS Mound City, the USS Cincinnati, and the USS Pittsburg. Operations on the Mississippi River near Helena (Phillips County), Vicksburg, and Nashville are also included. Finding aid available online.
166. David Yancey Thomas.
Papers, 1872-1943; 1 1/2 linear feet.
Correspondence and research materials created or collected by David Yancey Thomas, a University of Arkansas professor of history during the first half of the twentieth century. Most of the materials relate to Thomas's academic career, but one series contains records pertaining to his historical research and publications, including correspondence with the United Daughters of the Confederacy from 1923 to 1925 regarding his writing of Arkansas in War and Reconstruction (Little Rock: Arkansas Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1926), and source materials on Isaac Murphy.
167. Jesse Turner.
Papers, 1831-1887; 30 items.
Letters, receipt, judicial writ, and a eulogy pertaining to Jesse Turner, lawyer, jurist, legislator, and pioneer settler of Van Buren (Crawford County). Among his many accomplishments during Turner's sixty-three years of professional life in Arkansas were election to the Arkansas Secession Convention in 1861 and appointment as associate justice to the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1878. The material in this collection pertains to Turner's law practice, railroad development, the Arkansas secession convention, and Reconstruction policies. One letter, dated January 29, 1861, was sent to Turner from Pittsburg resident S. I. Howell discussing the question of secession.
168. U. S. Army.
General and special orders, 1863-1865; 1 roll.
The documents concern troop movements, regulations, foraging, escaped slaves, pillaging, passing of counterfeit money, and other matters. Federal troops involved were from Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. The documents originated as follows: Headquarters, Second Brigade, July, 1863, Chalk Bluff; Headquarters, First Division, Seventh Army Corps, 1863-1865, Brownsville (Prairie County), Clarendon (Monroe County), Wittsburg, L'Anguille (St. Francis County), and Little Rock (Pulaski County); Headquarters, Twenty-fifth Ohio Battery, 1863-1864, Bloomfield, Missouri, and Little Rock; Headquarters, Post of Little Rock, April 5, 1864; Headquarters, Company K, Second Missouri Artillery; U. S. Army General Hospital, Little Rock, December 4, 1864. Microfilm copy of thirty-seven original documents.
169. U. S. Attorney General.
Letters received from Arkansas, 1826-1868; 1 roll.
These selections are routine correspondence received in Washington from Federal judges and marshals stationed in Arkansas. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 60.
170. U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Letters received, 1824-1881; 125 rolls.
Selected records of correspondence from tribal agencies in the Indian Territory and Arkansas, including those pertaining to the "five civilized tribes" of Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Seminoles, and Chickasaws. Although the Indian Territory was under Confederate control for much of the Civil War, some letters dated from the war years can be found concerning the general situation of the Indians, their population, education, health, medical care, agriculture, and subsistence. The materials have been arranged by tribal agency. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 75.
171. U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Letters sent, 1824-1882; 125 rolls.
Correspondence sent to all tribal agencies in the United States, including the Indian Territory and Arkansas. Although the Indian Territory was under Confederate control for much of the Civil War, some letters dated from the war years can be found acknowledging and replying to incoming letters concerning all aspects of the operations of the Office of Indian Affairs. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 75.
172. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Records of the Arkansas superintendent of education, 1865-1871; 4 rolls.
Records include letters sent, 1866-1870; endorsements, 1866-1870; and school reports, 1865-1871. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
173. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Records of the assistant commissioner for the state of Arkansas, 1865- 1869; 52 rolls.
The records consist of twenty-four volumes and some unbound documents. The volumes include the following: letters, telegrams, and endorsements sent; circulars and special orders issued; registers of letters and telegrams received; bound letters sent and received; a register of abandoned and confiscated lands in Arkansas; and a station book of officers and civilians employed by the Bureau. The unbound documents consist primarily of letters and reports received. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
174. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Records of the Education Division, 1865-1871; 35 rolls.
Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
175. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Records of field offices [Arkansas], 1865-1874; 21 rolls.
These selected records are from the various field offices in the district of Arkansas which include locations in Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
176. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Registers and letters received by the commissioner, 1865-1872; 74 rolls.
Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
177. U. S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Selected series of records issued by the commissioner, 1865-1872; 7 rolls.
Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 105.
178. U. S. Congress. House.
Petitions for the removal of the political disabilities of residents of the state of Arkansas and papers relating to Arkansas, 1867-1872; 1 roll.
Correspondence, petitions, legislative bills, ordinances, affidavits, military orders, clippings, reports, resolutions, and memoranda from the Fortieth and Forty-first sessions of the United States House of Representatives which deal with the Arkansas constitutional convention of 1868 and the general affairs of Reconstruction in Arkansas. Persons to whom the materials relate include Elisha Baxter, Thomas H. Boles, Thomas Mead Bowen, Joseph Brooks, Benjamin T. DuVal, John R. Eakin, Elbert Hartwell English, Alvan Cullom Gillem, W. P. Grace, Lafayette Gregg, James Milander Hanks, William M. Harrison, Asa Hodges, James Augustus Johnson, John Andrew Logan, John McClure, Alexander McDonald, William R. Miller, Isaac Murphy, Robert C. Newton, Henry Page, John G. Price, Benjamin Franklin Rice, Anthony Astley Cooper Rogers, Logan Holt Roots, William Furgeson Slemons, Oliver P. Snyder, Theodore F. Sorrels, Samuel Wright Williams, William Wallace Wilshire, and William E. Woodruff, Jr. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives.
179. U. S. Congress. Senate.
Resolutions to expel certain senators from the Senate and papers of the select committee on removal of political disabilities, 1861-1876; 1 roll.
Correspondence, petitions, affidavits, reports, resolutions, memorials, certificates, telegrams,and receipts pertaining to the actions of the United States Senate during the Reconstruction period in Arkansas. The documents have been arranged into five series. The first series concerns the resolution of the Thirty-seventh Congress to expel certain senators in July 1861. Series two contains the records of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 1867-1877, which relate to the restoration of civil and political rights to residents of Arkansas. Series three holds the records of the Select Committee on Removal of Political Disabilities, 1864-1872, which relates to restoring full citizenship to Arkansas residents. The papers of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, 1875-1876, have been placed in series four and concern the petition of the heirs of William K. Sebastian, late senator from Arkansas. The last series contains the records of the Forty-second and Forty-third congresses regarding civil rights and political disabilities of residents of Arkansas. Persons to whom this collection relates include Elisha Baxter, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, Thomas Boles, Thomas Mead Bowen, Joseph Brooks, Ambrose Everett Burnside, Powell Clayton, Francis Marion Cockrell, George Franklin Edmunds, Elbert Hartwell English, Thomas White Ferry, James Milander Hanks, Lizzie Sebastian Harris, Robert Ward Johnson, John McClure, Alexander McDonald, John Sappington Marmaduke, Isaac Murphy, Alfred Osborne Nicholson, John G. Price, Joseph Jones Reynolds, Benjamin Franklin Rice, Thomas James Robertson, Charles P. Sebastian, Edward L. Sebastian, John Sherman, Volney V. Smith, Oliver P. Snyder, Edward Davis Townsend, Clara Sebastian Walker, Caldwaller Colden Washburn, and Samuel Wright Williams. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives.
180. U. S. Internal Revenue Service.
Assessment lists for Arkansas, 1865-1866; 2 rolls.
These records are tax assessment lists of the three districts established for the state of Arkansas by executive order dated July 13, 1866. Microfilm copy of original bound volumes held by the National Archives.
181. U. S. Military Posts Returns.
Selected Arkansas records, 1820-1916; 32 rolls.
These records include personnel reports showing units stationed at the posts and their strength, names and duties of officers, listings of official communications received, and a record of events. Records on the following Arkansas and Indian Territory posts are included: Batesville (Independence County), Camden (Ouachita County), Fort Coffee (Indian Territory), Dover (Pope County), Fayetteville (Washington County), Fort Gibson (Indian Territory), Hot Springs Army and Navy Hospital (Garland County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), Fort Logan Roots (Pulaski County), Madison (St. Francis County), Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), St. Charles (Arkansas County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Washington (Hempstead County), Burrowsville (Searcy County), Fort Curtis (Phillips County), DuVall's Bluff (Prairie County), El Dorado (Union County), Camp Fillmore, Helena (Phillips County), Huntsville (Madison County), Jacksonport (Jackson County), Monticello (Drew County), Red Fork (Desha County), and Van Buren (Crawford County). Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 94 and 393.
182. U. S. Quartermaster Corps.
Plats of Little Rock barracks, 1862, 1885; 2 items.
Plat maps showing the location of structures at the Little Rock (Pulaski County) military post known at various times as the Arsenal and St. John's College. Photographic prints of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 92.
183. U. S. War Department. Adjutant General's Office.
Amnesty papers, Arkansas A-Z, 1865-1866; 1 roll.
These records are applications and supporting documents of former Arkansas Confederates requesting amnesty from the United States government. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 94.
184. U. S. War Department.
Documents relating to Little Rock Arsenal-Little Rock Barracks, and documents relating to Major General Wool's campaign in Mexico, 1834-1913; 1 roll.
Correspondence, reports, military orders, telegrams, lists, statements, indexes, legislative bills,drawings, survey notes, clippings, and memoranda dealing with the construction, supply, maintenance, finances, and administrative affairs of the Little Rock (Pulaski County) Arsenal and Little Rock Barracks. Persons to whom the materials relate include Richard M. Batchelder, James Henderson Berry, Eugene A. Carr, Powell Clayton, William C. Endicott, Richard Fatherly, Lewis Porter Featherstone, Samuel G. French, Augustus Hill Garland, Lewis Addison Grant, Fay Hempstead, Thomas Sydney Jesup, Robert Ward Johnson, James Kimbrough Jones, Charles P. Kingsbury, George Washington McCrary, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, Nelson Appleton Miles, Henry B. Noble, Henry Page, Joel Roberts Poinsett, John Pope, John G. Price, John Aaeon Rawlins, Henry Massey Rector, Joseph Jones Reynolds, John Henry Rogers, Logan Holt Roots, Frederick A. Soule, Henry S. Taber, William Leake Terry, Charles H. Thompkins, James Totten, Edward Davis Townsend, Edward Cary Walthall, and James Whitcomb. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 94.
185. U. S. War Department.
Index to service records of Confederate soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Arkansas, 1861-1865; 26 rolls.
Alphabetically-arranged index cards bearing the name, rank, and regiment of every known Arkansas Confederate serviceman. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109.
186. U. S. War Department.
Proceeding and report of a court of inquiry on the sale of cotton and produce at St. Louis, Missouri, 1863; 1 roll.
Microfilm copy of an original volume held by the National Archives concerning a special investigation of trading activities by Union troops occupying Helena (Phillips County) in 1863.
187. U. S. War Department.
Record books of Union volunteer regiments in Arkansas, 1861-1865; 1 roll.
These record books include regimental descriptive books, regimental letter books, regimental order books, clothing books, company descriptive books, regimental consolidated morning report books, company morning report books, and company order books for Union regiments raised in Arkansas. Not all types of books are available for all regiments. Microfilm copy of original volumes held by the National Archives, Record Group 94.
188. U. S. War Department.
Service records of volunteer Union soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Arkansas, 1861-1865; 64 rolls.
Four rolls consist of alphabetically-arranged cards which include the name, rank, and regiment of every known Arkansas Union serviceman. The following sixty rolls are the complete service records of the soldiers and include muster dates, pay information, service locations, and battlefield citations. Microfilm copy of original records held by the National Archives, Record Group 94.
189. U. S. Works Progress Administration.
Record of Confederate veterans and widows, circa 1930s; 1 roll.
Typed list of Arkansas Confederate veterans listing their rank, unit, service dates, and date of pension application, along with the names of their wives and county of residence. The materials have been arranged alphabetically. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the Arkansas History Commission.
190. U. S. Works Progress Administration. Federal Writers Project.
Slave narratives, 1936-1938; 2 rolls.
An oral history of slavery in the United States from interviews with former slaves. Typewritten records prepared by the Federal Writer's Project, illustrated with photographs. These selected interviews concern former Arkansas slaves. Microfilm copy, made in 1945, of original typewritten manuscripts then held by the Library of Congress.
191. Earl Van Dorn.
Command papers, 1862-1863; 1 roll.
Letters and telegrams sent, letters received, and special orders issued by the command of Major General Earl Van Dorn while operating in Tennessee and Arkansas. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
192. Van Hoose Family.
Papers, 1945-1967; 3 items.
Genealogy booklet, scrapbook, and a manuscript novel pertaining to the Van Hoose family of Washington County. The Van Hoose family were early pioneers in northwest Arkansas, and several members held prominent positions in the area. The scrapbook leaves in this collection include photographs of Van Hoose family members who served in the Confederate army. The manuscript novel, "Against the Living Forest," by Hildred Mayhill Crawford, is a fictionalized biography based on the life of Elizabeth Van Hoose Marion, a resident of Fayetteville (Washington County) during the Civil War. Finding aid available online.
193. Mary Elizabeth Birnie Vann.
Papers, 1853-1874; 3 items.
This collection contains a small notebook recording recipes, verse, financial accounting, and memoranda of Mary Elizabeth Birnie Vann, apparently a Civil War resident of Fort Smith (Sebastian County). A few wartime literary passages reveal reactions to current conditions.
194. Jeanette R. Vaughan.
Scrapbook, 1869-1879; 1 volume.
Scrapbook of mounted newspaper clippings related to Reconstruction in Arkansas and the Memphis, Tennessee, yellow fever epidemic of 1878.
195. A. M. Ward.
Papers, 1862-1864; 80 items.
Affidavits, invoices, orders, reports, receipts, and requisitions from Captain Augustus M. Ward, quartermaster, Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry. Most of the reports, affidavits, and invoices concern supplies for Confederate troops stationed at Lewisville (Miller County) in the summer of 1864, but forty-five of the receipts and requisitions are dated October 1862 and were issued from Yellville (Marion County) and Hamilton Mills. Troops mentioned in the 1862 receipts are Colonel James Fleming Fagan's Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry (First Arkansas Cavalry) and General Mosby Monroe Parsons's Brigade.
196. David Walker.
Letters, 1841-1879; 93 items.
Correspondence to and from Judge David Walker (1806-1879) of Fayetteville (Washington County). Following his 1830 arrival in Fayetteville from his native Kentucky, Walker enjoyed a lengthy career and impressive record in public service. Among other positions, he served as state senator, chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and president of the Arkansas Secession Convention of 1861. He married Jane Lewis Washington of Green Ridge, Kentucky, in 1833. Making their home in Fayetteville, the couple had eight children before Jane's death in 1847. Two sons served in the Confederate army: Captain Jacob Wythe Walker, Company A, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry (Grant County), May 21, 1864, and Private Charles Whiting Walker, also of Company A, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry. The letters in this collection include five written during the spring of 1861 pertaining to the secession movement, three written during the summer of 1863 relating to Judge Walker's appointment to a Confederate military court in Little Rock, and one written in the summer of 1865 from George C. Watkins at Corsicana, Texas, when he had been arrested for treason. Many of these letters have been published by Walter J. Lemke as The Life and Letters of Judge David Walker (Fayetteville, Arkansas: Washington County Historical Society, 1957).
197. Walker Family.
Papers, 1833-1962; 63 items.
Letters and personal papers relating to the David Walker family of Washington County. The materials in this collection were donated by descendants of Charles Whiting Walker. One letter, written by Charles in February 1860 in Lebanon, Tennessee, describes local excitement over the secession crisis in that location. Among the manuscript essays in the collection are two addresses delivered by Charles (circa 1907) concerning Civil War history, and an unsigned article about bushwhackers operating near Huntsville (Madison County) during the war. Miscellaneous documents in the collection include a January 27, 1864, appointment of David Walker to a military court under Lieutenant General Theophilus H. Holmes, and an application for membership to the United Daughters of the Confederacy completed by Nancy Walker Warren, the daughter of Charles Walker. Finding aid available online.
198. Sue H. Walker.
Papers, 1818-1936; 1 linear foot.
Letters and papers collected by Susan Howard Walker (1857-1939), daughter of James David Walker and granddaughter of Judge David Walker. Correspondence in the collection includes an April 27, 1864, letter from David Walker to a friend in Texas, written on the day his son Jacob died at Jenkins' Ferry, and another written by Sue Walker to historian David Yancey Thomas (circa 1935) detailing her recollections of Civil War incidents in Fayetteville (Washington County). Five Civil War military documents are found in the collection: three receipts for destroyed cotton in Pulaski County by Confederate authorities; General Order Number 1, issued by Colonel M. LaRue Harrison, First Arkansas Cavalry (Union), at Fayetteville (Washington County) June 16, 1864; and an oath of allegiance signed by Mary K. Stone, Fayetteville, June 20, 1864. Two printed broadsides in the collection pertain to the Civil War; a July 24, 1851, copy of the Arkansas Whig-Extra, published in Little Rock (Pulaski County), which discusses the disunion sentiment in the state at that time, and a December 30, 1862, copy of Albert Pike's Letter to General Holmes, printed on a sheet of wallpaper. Finding aid available online.
199. Julius White.
Letter, September 5, 1868; 1 item.
Letter, signed by Lt. Colonel E. B. Dayne, First Lieutenant E. P. Messer, and Captain E. N. B. Messer, of the Thirty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, all of Lake County, Illinois, testifying to the favorable conduct of Brigadier General Julius White during the battle of Pea Ridge (Benton County) on March 6-8, 1862. Apparently written during a post-war political campaign, this letter refutes allegations made against White, accusing him of cowardice during the fight.
200. Arabella Lanktree Wilson.
Papers, 1823-1876; 1 linear foot.
Correspondence, journals, notebooks, essays, photographs, and other materials created, received, or collected by Arabella Lanktree Wilson or her son, William H. D. Wilson. Arabella Wilson was a teacher who lived in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) from 1857 to 1866, along with her children, Anna and William. Anna died in 1859, and when the war broke out William enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fifth Arkansas Infantry and may have achieved the rank of captain before the end of the conflict. Arabella remained in Pine Bluff during the war and was an eyewitness to many events which occurred in her neighborhood. William returned to Pine Bluff in 1865 and became a prominent local figure in his capacity as a surveyor and businessman before his death in 1884. The collection includes over ten letters written by Arabella to William between 1862 and 1865 describing conditions in Pine Bluff. One letter, dated November 2, 1863, is a twelve page missive of minute detail on the Union occupation of Pine Bluff, including an eyewitness account of the battle of Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), October 25, 1863, and the activities of civilian and military personalities. James W. Leslie edited this letter for publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly 47 (Autumn 1988): 257-272, in an article entitled "Arabella Lanktree Wilson's Civil War Letter." The collection also contains two letters from William to Arabella, one dated August 5, 1862, Cadron Hill (Conway County), and another dated May 11, 1863, Selma, Alabama. Another Confederate soldier's letter is found in this collection, one from Second Lieutenant Benjamin F. Hancock, Company K, Eighteenth Arkansas Infantry (Carroll's), written from Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on April 15, 1862. This letter contains a description of the repulse of Federal gunboats, complete with a hand-drawn map. The collection also has a pass, dated December 3, 1862, Arkansas Post (Arkansas County), which appears to relate a password to sentries on duty.
201. State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Selected Arkansas manuscripts, 1838-1869; 1 roll.
Among the Civil War documents are papers captured at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in 1862 by an expedition commanded by Colonel William Weer, Tenth Kansas Infantry. These papers include the following: letters, orders, and requisitions dated from September 1, 1861, to April 1, 1862, bearing the signatures of Albert Pike and Stand Watie, among others; letters and military commissions of Captain J. Schlaich, Company B, Twenty-seventh Wisconsin Infantry; letters and military orders pertaining to Colonel C. C. Washburn, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. Microfilm copy of documents from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
202. Jones M. Withers and Thomas C. Hindman.
Command field returns, 1862-1864; 1 roll.
Periodical reports showing the number of officers and men present, absent, sick, under arrest, on extra duty, on detached service, and on leave. The returns for General Wither's Division, Second Army Corps, Army of the Mississippi, are arranged by date, followed by those for General Hindman's Division, Polk's Corps, Army of the Tennessee, also arranged chronologically. Microfilm copy of original documents held by the National Archives, Record Group 109, Collection of Confederate Records.
203. William E. Woodruff.
Papers, circa 1810-1882; 1 roll.
The selected letters in this microfilm, many dating from the war years, are primarily family and personal correspondence from relatives and friends living in New York, Georgia, Texas, and various towns in Arkansas, including Mount Ida (Montgomery County), Hot Springs (Garland County), Murfreesboro and Brocktown (Pike County). William E. Woodruff was born in New York on December 24, 1795. He came to Arkansas Territory in 1819 and founded the first newspaper of the state, the Arkansas Gazette. He settled in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1821 and lived there until he died in 1885. As the offical printer to the territory, and later to the state government, Woodruff was involved in many facets of Arkansas's history. He spent much of the war in Little Rock but was banished from the city in early 1864 by the Federal occupation force. Woodruff spent the remainder of the conflict in Washington (Hempstead County). Microfilm copy of selected original documents from the William E. Woodruff Papers at the Arkansas History Commission.
204. R. F. Yager.
Letters, 1864; 2 items.
Letters from Captain R. F. Yager, Shelby's Brigade, Missouri Volunteers, February 29 and March 19, 1864, from Camden (Ouachita County), to his wife, Mattie. Although Yager wrote home just prior to the Camden Expedition undertaken by Union troops from Little Rock (Pulaski County), his letters do not describe any encounters with the enemy in detail.

Continue with entry 205, "Peter Wellington Alexander"
Return to the start of Manuscript Resources for the Civil War
Return to the Special Collections Home Page
Return to the University of Arkansas Libraries Home Page