Robert Lewis Dabney Papers 1834-1910

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred citation:

Robert Lewis Dabney Papers, Accession 38-219, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Summary

Creator:
Dr. Charles W. Dabney
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Robert Lewis Dabney Papers, Accession 38-219, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Background

Scope and content:

Papers of, and relating to, Robert Lewis Dabney(1820-1898). Born in Louisa County, Virginia, Dabney was a student at Hampden-Sidney Collegeand then at the University of Virginiawhere he graduated with the M.A. degree, and finally at Union Theological Seminaryin Richmond, Virginia, where he graduated in 1846. He became a Presbyterian clergyman and was a professor at Union Theological Seminaryfrom 1853 until 1883, except for the years of the Civil War when he served as a chaplain in the Confederatearmy until becoming chief of staff to General Thomas J. Jacksonin 1862. Dabney concluded his life's work as a professor at the University of Texas, 1883-1898.

The bulk of the collection consists of family letters from Dabney to his mother, Elizabeth Dabney, his brother, Charles William Dabney, and occasionally to his wife or other relatives; some of the correspondence concerns business of the Presbyterian Church. A number of the letters were written during Dabney's residence at Hampden-Sidney Collegeand the University of Virginia; among the latter is an account of the the trial of Joseph G. Semmes, the student accused of killing Law Professor John A. G. Davisin 1840. The collection also includes speeches written in Dabney's student days, an autobiographical account extending to the early 1890's, and numerous photostatic copies of letters and papers by or concerning General Thomas J. Jacksonused by Dabney in his biography of Jackson. The collection also includes a large number of letters written in 1898 to and from Dabney's sons concerning the rights to Dabney's writings, new editions, and a biography of Dabney by Professor Thomas Cary Johnsonof Union Theological Seminary.

Acquisition information:
The papers were gifts to the University of Virginia Library from Dr. Charles W. Dabney in 1937 (#38-219) and 1939 (#660).
Processing information:

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Physical location:
Physical description:
ca. 1000 items