Collections

Transcripts and originals of letters regarding the Civil War authored by Sergeant Benjamin F. Hughes of Company F, West Virginia 3rd Regiment, and of Company D, West Virginia 6th Cavalry (10 items, 11 leaves). Subjects include battle of Allegheny Mountain (1861), battle of Droop Mountain (1863), service as a scout, report on wounded, his health, camp life, the home front, and opinions regarding the war. These letters were sent from locations mostly in West Virginia. There are also pension records for Hughes (1892-1906) and other material.

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.