Charles Washington Coleman, Sr. Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Manuscripts and Rare Books Librarian, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Summary

Extent:
1.17 Linear Feet
Creator:
Coleman, Charles Washington, 1826-1894
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection is arranged into three series and includes correspondence, receipts, insurance documents, and photographs. Series 1 contains correspondence, which is arranged alphabetically by the surname of the sender. Series 2 contains financial papers and largely includes bills and receipts for the estate of Coleman's father, Thomas. Series 3 contains general subject/miscellaneous files and covers topics such as the Shelton-Laurel Massacre, Coleman's friend Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, and papers related to the Confederacy. Some items of note include a letter written to Coleman by a colleague which describes a severe case of frostbite suffered by a Coleman family slave named Ben, as well as a letter written to Coleman by another family slave named Ann, and other items related to slavery. The collection also includes a list of wounded Confederate soldiers left at the Baptist Church Hospital after the Battle of Williamsburg.

Includes a letter to Coleman's wife, Cynthia (mentions scarlet fever)

Several of the letters include requests for money and describe the physical health of Coleman's sister, Helen, and the family's time spent at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

Topics discussed include the health of their children (Charles, Jr. ("Charley")and Elizabeth ("Lizzie") including illnesses and treatments, Cynthia's own health, Cynthia's school, and Tucker House.

Includes photograph of Helen [circa 1860s?], also known as "Aunt Zen."

1855 August letter includes attachments regarding finances/accounting information

Arranged alphabetically by surname, includes invitation to attend a meeting of the "Aryan Society of America for the Advancement of Literature, Art, Romance and Chivalry of the South," and an 1855 Aetna property insurance policy for Samuel Bright.

1862 December letter mentions Thomas S. B. Tucker being wounded

1843 Deed lays out payment of debt by transferring ownership of 24 named slaves and interest in the estate of Thomas Coleman

List includes names of individuals the slaves were hired out to or the location, i.e. "asylum"

These may or may not be in Coleman's handwriting

Delivered in 1888, 1891, 1893

Includes photograph

Writing exercise, undated; basic genealogy compiled by Helen Coleman, undated; prescription, undated; handwritten document "Democratic Mutiny Williamsburg," 1856; Examining Physician's Certificate for Robert Armistead, 1882 Sept. 28; signatures of subscribers who agree to keep guard during the night (in Williamsburg), 1831 Sept. 17; handwritten note appointing P. M. Thompson as attorney to collect from the Confederate government "all negro hire now due [Coleman]," 1864; note showing where the Federal Army lent Coleman two mules and a wagon, 1865 May 30; clipping, undated; Confederate-issued receipts for supplies/provisions, 1861

8 items

Biographical / historical:

Charles Washington Coleman, Sr., Williamsburg physician and long-time member of Bruton Parish Church, was born to Thomas and Frances C. Coleman in 1826. He married Cynthia Beverley Tucker Washington in 1861 and served in the 3rd Regiment, Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. Together, he and Cynthia had six children, though only 4 survived into adulthood: Charles, Jr., George, Elizabeth, and Beverley. Coleman died in 1894 and is buried alongside his wife in the Bruton Parish Churchyard.

Acquisition information:
The Charles Washington Coleman, Sr. papers were donated over a period of time by his daughter-in-law, Mary Haldane Begg Coleman, granddaughter, Janet Kimbrough, and great-granddaughter, Cynthia Barlowe.
Processing information:

Processed by Kimberly Sims, University Archivist, June 2015.