Daniel Bedinger Lucas Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Daniel Bedinger Lucas Papers, Ms1995-012, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
1.8 Cubic Feet 4 boxes
Creator:
Lucas, Daniel Bedinger, 1836-1909 and Lucas, Virginia (Virginia Bedinger), 1838-1865
Abstract:
The Daniel Bedinger Lucas papers consist of scrapbooks, correspondence, poems and essays, newspapers, and other materials collected and created by Lucas, including several items created by his sister, Virginia Lucas, also a poet.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Daniel Bedinger Lucas Papers, Ms1995-012, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The Daniel Bedinger Lucas papers consist of scrapbooks, correspondence, poems and essays, newspapers, and other materials collected and created by Lucas, including several items created by his sister, Virginia Lucas, also a poet. Topics include Lucas's defense of John Yates Beall, the exploits of adventurer William Walker, the origin of General Robert E. Lee's horse Traveler; and West Virginia politics. There are examples of Lucas's poetry scattered throughout the papers. The 1860 scrapbook includes several interesting pressed flower designs.

Letter to John [Yates Beall], dated July 30, 1864 from Richmond. Lucas talks about recent personal and military events. Lucas defended Beall when was tried as a Confederate guerrilla and spy, but Beall was executed on February 4, 1865.

Biographical / historical:

Daniel Bedinger Lucas, lawyer and poet, was born March 16, 1836, at "Rion Hall" in Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia). He attended the University of Virginia, and then studied law under Judge John W. Brockenbrough of Lexington, Virginia. In 1859 he began practicing law at Charleston but moved the next year to Richmond. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 he joined the staff of General Henry A. Wise and took part in the Kanawha Valley campaign, but his physical disability from a childhood spine injury kept him from active service in the last years of the war. Toward the end of the war he ran the blockade to defend his friend John Yates Beall, accused of being a Confederate spy, but was unable to defend him against the charges. Beall was executed on Governors Island, New York.

In 1869, Lucas married Lena Tucker Brooke, of Richmond. Their only child, Virginia, was born in 1873. Barred from the practice of law until 1871, due to restrictions on the service of ex-Confederates, Lucas turned to literature and became co-editor of the Baltimore Southern Metropolis. Many of his poems were published in this magazine. He reentered the practice of law in 1871 and took a prominent role in the Democratic party politics of West Virginia, acting as Democratic elector in the elections of 1872 and 1876, to the legislature in 1884 and 1886, and as a member of the supreme court of appeals from 1889 to 1893.

Lucas's volumes of poetry include The Wreath of Eglantine (1869), with poems of his sister, Virginia, and Ballads and Madrigals (1884). He wrote three plays about the Civil War. His books include The Memoir of John Yates Beall (1865) and Nicaragua, War of the Filibusters (1896). He was known as the "poet of the Shenandoah Valley." He died at Rion Hall on June 24, 1909.

Acquisition information:
The Daniel Bedinger Lucas Papers were donated to Special Collections in May 1995. Additional materials were donated in September 1995. An addtional letter was purchased in 2014.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Daniel Bedinger Lucas Papers, commenced and was completed in July 1995. Additional materials were processed in October 1997. The 2014 addition was processed in 2017.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically. Undated materials are at located in boxes 3 and 4.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard