Henry Kyd Douglas Letter

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 for 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], Henry Kyd Douglas Letter, Ms2010-023, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.1 Cubic Feet 1 folder
Creator:
Douglas, Henry Kyd, 1838-1903 and Maulsby, William P., 1815-1894
Abstract:
The collection contains a letter from Henry Kyd Douglas, Hagerstown, Maryland attorney and former Confederate staff officer, to William P. Maulsby, judge and lawyer of Frederick, Maryland, regarding the case of Fiery et al v. Emmert et al.
Language:
The material in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Henry Kyd Douglas Letter, Ms2010-023, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of a letter written by Henry Kyd Douglas, a Hagerstown, Maryland attorney and former Confederate staff officer, to William P. Maulsby, a lawyer and judge of Frederick, Maryland. Douglas writes of the case of Fiery et al v. Emmert et al, a suit between two groups of stockholders in the Antietam Manufacturing Company, in which Maulsby has been named a defendant. Douglas explains that an appeal filed by the plaintiffs will soon be heard by the court of appeals. He doubts that the court will overturn an earlier decision but requests Maulsby's assistance in preparing his brief.

Biographical / historical:

Henry Kyd Douglas, son of Rev. Robert and Mary Robertson Douglas, was born near Shepherdstown, (West) Virginia on September 29, 1838. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1858, then attended law school in Lexington, Virginia. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Douglas was a practicing attorney in St. Louis. He returned to Virginia to join the Confederate Army and enlisted as a private in Company B of the 2nd Virginia Infantry. Rising through the ranks, Douglas eventually earned an officer's commission and was appointed to a position on the staff of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Following Jackson's death in May 1863, Douglas served successively on the staffs of Confederate generals Edward Johnson, John B. Gordon, Jubal Early, John Pegram and James Walker. Douglas was seriously wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and was held prisoner for nine months at Johnson's Island. In 1865, he was exchanged and appointed commander of the Light Brigade, a position he held through the end of the war. Following the war, Douglas established a law practice in Winchester, Virginia, but soon moved to Hagerstown, Maryland and in 1891 was appointed a circuit court judge. He died in 1903 and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. His wartime experiences were chronicled in the book I Rode with Stonewall, published in 1940.

William P. Maulsby (1815-1894) was a lawyer and judge from Frederick and Westminster, Maryland. He also served as a state senator for Carroll County. He served as a colonel in the First Regiment of the Potomac Home Brigade of the United States Army during the American Civil War.

External sources:

"William P. Maulsby (1815-1894)" MSA SC 3520-1835, Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series), Maryland State Archives, https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001800/001835/html/msa01835.html, accessed April 25, 2023.

"COL William Pinkney Maulsby Sr.", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24862236/William-Pinkney-Maulsby, accessed April 25, 2023.

Acquisition information:
The Henry Kyd Douglas Letter was found by Special Collections staff in March 2010, in a book that was among a collection donated to Special Collections in 2001.
Processing information:

The processing and description of the Henry Kyd Douglas Letter commenced and was completed in May 2010.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard