Collections

This collection consists of one letter (dated December 13, 1864) from Union soldier Captain Benjamin F. Oakes of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery to J. G. Richardson. The letter describes the destruction of the Weldon Railroad by Union troops and the burning of buildings in Sussex Courthouse, Virginia.

Papers formerly belonging to Benjamin F. Rogers of Harrison County, (W) Va., consisting of deeds, wills, and one oil and gas lease, Names frequently mentioned are Jonathan, Sarah E., Charlotte M., and Elizabeth Rogers, Richard Robinson, and Ira DeWitt.

This collection consists of letters written by or on the behalf of Benjamin Schwartz, who was stationed in Virginia with the 5th Pennsylvania Calvary, Company F. The letters primarily document a brother's concern over his family's health and money he sends to his sister. He includes limited discussion of skirmishes, troop movement, taking and being taken prisoner, and recurrent predictions that the war will end soon. Schwartz mentions that the Union camp at Williamsburg, Virginia, was burned by rebel forces.

Papers, 1845-1871, of Benjamin Shunk of Carroll County, Maryland. Contains two ledgers which contain the names of the parties involved, status, and disposition of civil court cases in Carroll County, Maryland. All entries are signed by Benjamin Shunk. There are also loose papers that were originally tucked inside of the first ledger. The second half of the second ledger was used as a recordbook for the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Taneytown, Marlyand, of which Shunk was secretary.

This collection contains materials dated 1784-1934. It includes correspondence, legal papers, and accounts, chiefly 1830-1892, of Benjamin S. Ewell, professor at the U.S. Military Academy, Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee College, and the College of William and Mary (which he served as acting president, 1848-1849, and president, 1854-1888). Letters from Ewell during the Civil War when he was assistant adjutant-general to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston are included as well. Among the correspondents are members of the Tyler, Ewell, Campbell, and Brown families of Virginia and Tennessee. The collection also contains the memorandum book on the Ewell family by Elizabeth S. Ewell.

Diaries and legal documents, 1810-1896, written by Benjamin Thompson (1810-1870) and Otis Thompson (1879-1896) of Topsham, Maine. Diaries include description of his life as a teenager working on a farm, people with whom he interacted, towns he visited, and the sermons at his church. There are also diaries of his life as a teacher, which include daily notes on what he taught. There are also descriptions of a trip that Thompson took to Ohio.

MSS 9221 Bennett Taylor papers consist of family correspondence with letters to and from Bennett about education at the University of Virginia, descriptions of United States Civil War battles including the 19th Virginia Regiment Company F, Picketts Divison at 2nd Manassas, a prisoner exchange for Lieutenant Colonel Bennett Taylor from Johnson Island in Lake Erie New York, and family news of descendants of Thomas Jefferson and local Charlottesville families from 1851-1894. Correspondence of Bennett Taylor (1836-1898): 30 letters. In addition to the letters there is a University of Virginia examination report for Bennett Taylor's father John Charles Randolph Taylor, dated July 5, 1860.