Collection is open for research.
Permission to publish material from the Barnes Family Correspondence must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Barnes Family Correspondence, Ms2012-070, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Barnes Family Correspondence was completed in November 2012.
The Barnes Family Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections in October 2009.
The collection contains seven letters written to and from members of the Barnes family between 1961 and 1864. Also included are two handwritten poems. The correspondence documents the lives of Uz and Thomas Rufus and James H. Barnes (father and sons, respectively) while serving during the Civil War. Letters including rumors of troop movement and Thomas Rufus's wounding at Winchester in September of 1864.
Of the manuscript poems, Thomas Rufus Barnes dated both with two versions of his signature on March 12, 1860. The first poem, labelled "Hollow," seems to have appeared in a number of newspapers during the mid-19th century under the title "All Hollow, Hollow, Hollow." The second poem, "The Banks of--" seems to be a copy of "The Banks of the Schuylkill."
Uz Barnes was born about 1807 and died in November of 1879. Between 1840 and 1870, the family lived in and around Monongalia and Marion, Virginia (later West Virginia). Uz Barnes enlisted in November of 1862 and was discharged with his regiment in May 1965. He and his wife, Mary, had at least four children: Thomas Rufus, Benjamin, John S., and Asa, and probably James H. Uz Barnes and Thomas R. Barnes both fought within the 10th Regiment, West Virginia Infantry as Privates. Thomas Rufus Barnes was born about 1842. He mustered in with the 10th Regiment in April 1862 and died from wounds received at Winchester, Virginia, in September 1864. No information was found about James H. Barnes' service during the war.
The collection is arranged chronologically.