Collections : [University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.]

The Cocke- ElliotFamily papers contain ca. 15,000 items (41 Hollinger boxes, ca. 17 linear feet and four oversize folders), ca. 1773-1992, and consist largely of personal and family correspondence, financial and legal papers, memorabilia, bound volumes, and genealogical and historical research material pertaining to the Cocke, Elliot, and related families from the colonial period through the twentieth century, assembled by John Page Elliot.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Cumming Familypapers consist of ca. 53,100 items (23 Hollinger boxes, ca. 8 linear shelf feet), 1777-1778, 1806 (1820-1977) 1984, including correspondence, financial and legal papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, bound volumes, writings, printed material, and miscellaneous related items pertaining to the life and activities of Dr. Hugh Smithand Lucy Booth Cumming, Sr., and their son, Ambassador Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., (1900-1986), and his wife, Winifred Burney West, as well as other family members. Also present are papers relating to the Booth Family.

Dr. Cumming (1869-1948) was Surgeon General of the U. S. Public Health Servicefrom 1920 to 1936; Ambassador Cumming (1900-) was a career diplomat and served primarily in Europeand Indonesiafrom 1933 until his retirement in 1963.

The majority of the collection is chiefly correspondence dealing with family, professional, and diplomatic matters. In addition, Ambassador Cumming maintained extensive files containing additional correspondence, photographs, reports, memoranda, notes, and other related materials regarding his public and personal activities.

The collection has been divided into three subgroups: I. Booth FamilyPapers, II. Papers of Dr. and Mrs. Hugh Smith Cumming, Sr., and III. Papers of Ambassador Hugh Smith Cumming, Jr.There are various series and subseries within each subgroup. A more detailed description of the papers, especially biographical and organizational information, can be found later in this guide, under each subgroup. The descriptions were compiled by Robin D. Wear (Subgroup I), T. Sharon Defibaugh (Subgroup II), and Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. (Subgroup III). This collection contains 6922-b, 6922-d, 6922-e, 6922-f, 6922-h, 6922-h, 6922-i, 6922-k, 6922-l, 6922-m, 6922-n, 6922-p, 6922-r, 6922-s, 6922-u, 6922-w, 6922-ab, 6922-ac and 6922-ad.

SUBGROUP I BOOTH FAMILY PAPERS

SCOPE AND CONTENT

This subgroup of the Cumming Papers pertains chiefly to the Booth family, and consists of ca. 270 items, (Boxes 1 and 2), encompassing the years 1814-1978. Included are correspondence, legal papers, and photographs of the Booth family; and biographical and genealogical information in the form of correspondence, notes, copies of family documents, and printed material concerning the Boothand allied families such as Armistead, Thomson, Throckmorton, Gilliam, Rootes, Bernard, and Terry.

Correspondents include Rebecca Hicks Booth, Robert Henry Booth, Edwin Gilliam Booth, and the latter's children, Edwin Gilliam Booth, Archer Jones Booth, Francis Rebecca Booth, and Sarah Tanner Booth, as well as Clara Haxall Thomson Booth, Lucy Almira Booth, Hugh Smith Cumming, Charles J. Cabaniss, and William Cabell Rives.

Edwin Gilliam Booth's two older sons fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side in Virginia. Archer Jones Boothwrote to his father from Clark County, and to his grandmother from a camp near Fredericksburgmentioning long marches and various campsites. Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr., wrote to his father from a camp near Yorktown(June 5, 1861), discussing camp life, the hardships of warfare, and their hopes that President [Jefferson] Daviswould send an additional 25,000 men; and, later writes from the C. S. Steamer Selma off Mobile, Alabama(April 13, 1864) mentioning the occupation of Vicksburgby Yankees, the defense of Richmond, and news of Archer's regiment and an anticipated battle.

Other letters of interest include those from E. C. Cabellto Edwin Gilliam Booth(November 22, 1846 and November 14, 1847) concerning a controversy between Booth and his brother, Archer, and the Bank of Florida; two letters from William Cabell Rivesto Edwin Gilliam Booth(July 5, 1858 and November 24, 1862); and a lengthy letter from Edwin Gilliam Booth, Jr.to his sister, Frances Rebecca Booth, from Paris, France(February 5, 1866).

These twenty-two letters, 1930-1938, from Douglas Southall Freeman, historian and author, to Misses Betty Pageand M. Louise Cocke, concern letters and manuscripts of their grandfather, Philip St. George Cocke, during the Civil War. During 1930, Freeman was gathering material for R. E. Lee, A Biography, which was eventually published 1934-1935. While researching this book, he came to the belief that Cocke was one of Lee's "most valued counsellors" and that he was "largely responsible for the plan of operations that led to the great victory at First Manassas." While Freeman was unable to include much material on Cocke in his biography of Robert E. Lee, he made an effort to write a detailed sketch of him in Lee's Lieutenants, A Study in Command, published in the early 1942-1946. In November 1937, Freeman asks the Misses Cocke if it is permissible to quote from General Cocke's report on First Manassas in the sketch, and relates that he thinks it best not to quote extensively so as not to reduce the value of the document in case they wish to sell at a later date. These letters reveal a friendly and cooperative relationship in which Freeman researched the letters and manuscripts of Cocke that were in the possession of Misses Betty Page and M. Louise Cocke. Freeman also assisted the ladies by working with Dr. [Hamilton James] Eckenrodeto find a suitable biographer for Philip St. George Cocke.

This collection consists of two letters, February 24 and March 27, 1947, from Douglas Southall Freeman, American historian and editor, on his personal stationery, Richmond, Virginia, to Mrs. Robert G. Sproul, wife of the president of the University of California, Berkeley, thanking her for her hospitality and dinner on the evening of the 21st during his recent visit to the University to celebrate Charter Day. He had declined her request to be her houseguest choosing to stay with Anne Hawkes, the Dean of Students at Mills College, Oakland, and her niece.

This collection consists of seven letters, 1947 to 1953, between Douglas Southall Freeman(1886-1953), biographer and editor of the Richmond News Leader(1915-1949), to his friend Otis Fitchett, of Caldwell, New Jersey, who was an employee of the General Electric Company.