APPALACHIAN COLLECTIONS
Click titles to view collection inventories.
Bowman Family
This collection of family papers includes letters from Confederate soldiers Alfred and Richard Bowman serving at Vicksburg, Miss. (1863) to family members in Washington County, Tenn. The letters provide a vivid picture of camp life and military activity around Vicksburg. Alfred died there of fever in 1863. Richard was captured at Vicksburg and did not return home until 1865.
Burton-Manning
Primarily a folklore collection, it includes recorded discussions of the impact of the Civil War on the southern Appalachian region, as well as renditions of Civil War era songs.
Col. John H. Crawford
Includes correspondence concerning the recruitment and organization of the Sixtieth Tennessee Infantry (Confederate), mustered in at Jonesborough, Tenn., as well as letters and a petition to President Jefferson Davis related to Crawford's commission in Confederate service.
Fannie A. Fain
Includes a photocopy of a handwritten diary (1863-1865) kept by Fain, of Blountville, Tenn. The diaries offer comment on life on the homefront in East Tennessee, including accounts of General James Longstreet's occupation of the area around Zollicoffer [Bluff City], Tenn., on area bushwhackers, on losing a brother during the war, and on other wartime hardships.
Mary L. Pearre Hamilton
Includes photocopies of a diary of Mary L. Pearre (1863-64); of letters from John Hall Hamilton (who served in the Confederate 7th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry) to his fiancé‚ Mary L. Pearre; and of notes and commentary added by their son, Joshua Pearre Hamilton in later life. The diary entries contain comments on life in Middle Tennessee during the war with Pearre's analysis of political and military events. Hamilton's letters describe life in the military camps and in combat. Hamilton was captured during Pickett's charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. He and Mary Pearre were married in 1865 in Williamson County, Tenn.
Frederick Heiskell
Includes Civil War era letters from Heiskell, a Knoxville, Tenn. politician and newspaperman, to politicians such as John Bell, as well as newsclippings which relate to the war and papers concerning Civil War claims. Also included are photocopied letters from Heiskell's daughter to her husband, a Confederate soldier.
Theodore A. Honour
Consists primarily of photocopies of Civil War letters (1862-65). Honour, a native of Charleston, S. C., wrote to his wife and other family members reflecting on the war and Confederate military and civilian life. There are also newsclippings on Honour's unit (the Washington Light Infantry), a muster roll of the unit, and other letters written by family members during the war.
William Hopper
Includes a letter and photocopies of discharge papers documenting some of Hopper's service in the federal 24th Iowa Infantry during the war. The letter, sent by Hopper while stationed in Helena, Ark., to his wife in Iowa reflects the feeling of discontent among the troops and examines war issues from a soldier's perspective.
Nat E. Hyder
Papers include a photo of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry (1911) and claims made by Carter County, Tenn. citizens against the federal government for supplies used by Union troops.
Abraham Jobe
This memoir documents Jobe's youth, his medical and surgical practice in western N.C. and northeast Tenn., and his Civil War experiences. It was edited by David C. Hsiung and published in 2009 under the title A Mountaineer in Motion.
James W. McKee
Consists of typed transcripts of diaries kept by two Confederate soldiers, Finley Patterson Curtis and Rufus A. Spainhour, both of Wilkes County, N. C. The men served with the First and Second North Carolina Regiments in the Virginia theater of war. The Curtis diary is a detailed account of his service from 1861-64. Spainhour's diary covers such notable events as Gettysburg, the siege of Washington, and the surrender at Appomattox, as well as sober reflections on the realities of war.
William Henley Nelson Family
A native of Washington County, Tenn., Nelson served in the 10th Tennessee Infantry and the 5th Tennessee Cavalry, both federal units. The papers document Nelson's military service and include military certificates and commissions, photocopies of his military service records, correspondence related to his military pension, and a muster roll for Company L, 5th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry (1865).
William Sullivan
Sullivan, a native of North Carolina and later resident of Bristol, Tenn., served in the 57th North Carolina Regiment. This Confederate unit saw action in Maryland and Virginia. The collection includes an 1864 letter written by Sullivan from a camp near Fredricksburg, Va., which describes his attitude towards the war.
Tennessee Civil War Centennial Commission
The records of the commission established to commemorate the Civil War centennial include information on the activities of the centennial commission and on Civil War veterans and activities. It includes newsclippings on the deaths of war veterans in East Tennessee, a list of Confederate units from Washington County, Tenn., a chronology of battles and war events, informational bulletins and publications, as well as correspondence related to the commission's work.
Andrew Jackson Williams
Born on a farm in Polk County, Tenn. in 1846, Williams served with the Confederate 62nd Tennessee Infantry and participated in "scouts and raids" against federal troops in the Chattanooga area during 1863-64. He later saw action in Georgia with the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. The papers include a photocopy of Williams' 60 page reminiscence (written in 1908-09) of his Civil War service for the Confederacy.
Nathaniel Taylor Winston
A Bristol, Tenn. native, Winston was a prominent East Tennessee businessman and collector of historical materials. The collection includes a copy of General Robert E. Lee's last order to the Army of Northern Virginia, 1865.
