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[Identification of item], Elisha Franklin Paxton Papers (WLU Coll. 0273), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
Gift of Matthew White, Jr. and Robert O. Paxton.
Elisha Franklin Paxton was born on March 28, 1828 in Rockbridge County, Virginia to Elisha Paxton and Margaret "Peggy" McNutt Paxton. He graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in 1843 and studied law at the University of Virginia. He practiced law in Ohio before marrying Elizabeth Hannah White in 1854 and moving back to Lexington.
Paxton was an officer in the Rockbridge Rifles, a Rockbridge County (Va.) militia company formed in the wake of John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, Va. in 1859. He was a strong proponent of secession and when Virginia voted to exit the Union in the spring of 1861, Paxton marched to war as an officer with the Rockbridge Rifles company. The company became attached to the 27th Virginia Infantry, later a part of Stonewall Jackson's Brigade. Paxton, ascended the ranks ultimately achieving full command of the Stonewall Brigade as a brigadier general. He was killed on May 3, 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville (Va.).
The Elisha Franklin Paxton Papers are comprised primarily of the personal correspondences, business and military papers of Elisha F. Paxton between 1845-1863. The core of the personal letters are written from Paxton to his wife Elizabeth White Paxton during their courtship in the 1850s and during the American Civil War, 1861-1863, while he served as an officer in the Confederate States Army's 27th Virginia Infantry, a member of the staff of General Stonewall Jackson, and general in command of the Stonewall Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. There are numerous items in this collection pertaining to his death including obituaries, recollections and reflections of his life and character. Other letter writers include his brother James Gallatin Paxton, Matthew White, Samuel F. Jordan, James G. Hamilton, William A. Glasgow, and William McCorkle, each from or connected to Rockbridge County. Other highlights of the collection include various reports written by Paxton as a member of Lexington's Franklin Society and Library Company which shed light on his perspectives on topics such as Secession. There is also a printed broadside for the sale of land at Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, in 1860.
Paxton Family Collection (WLU Coll. 0562)
This file also includes a letter written by Elizabeth to Elisha.