The collection contains letters, military records, and other material related to Charles E. Hewins, a Massachusetts soldier who fought in the American Civil War. The bulk of the collection consists of letters written to and from Hewins, mostly dealing with the Civil War. Some of the topics include the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, General Sherman's southern campaign, and daily life during the war. The collection also contains military records for Hewins as well as a genealogical chart of his family. The collection has been digitized and can be found in the Old Dominion University Libraries Digital Collections.
The collection is organized into three series: Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Military Records; Series III: Miscellaneous. The correspondence is arranged by receipient.
Open to researchers without restrictions.
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from Special Collections and University Archives, and the holder of the copyright, if not Old Dominion University Libraries.
For preservation reasons, researchers should use the digitized documents in ODU Libraries Digital Collections.
Mr. Edward F. Hewins
Gift. Accession #A78-19
[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Captain Charles Hewins was born in Dorchester, Mass., September 2, 1841 and was the second of six children born to John and Charlotte Hewins. Volunteering at the beginning of the Civil War in the Union Army, Hewins was enrolled in Company I, 42nd Massachusetts Infantry. Hewins served in Company I until January 1863 when he was taken prisoner at Galveston, Texas. During this same year, Charles' oldest brother William was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Charles however, was fortunately paroled after a short confinement in a prisoner of war camp. After a prisoner exchange was arranged at New Orleans, Hewins returned for a brief period to his home in Dorchester and then came to Fort Monroe near the close of the Civil War. While stationed at Fort Monroe, Hewins and his friend Albert Howe served under Captain Charles Wilder in the Freedman's Bureau. Following the war, both Hewins and Howe began collaborating in the general mercantile business in Hampton, Virginia.
A few years later, Charles Hewins began developing his business interests in oyster planting and harvesting. He remained in the oyster field for the rest of his life, and during the first year of business, owned and sailed two vessels, The Independence and The Farmer's Return. As one of the pioneer oyster planters of Virginia, Hewins held oyster grounds at Ballast Marsh and Hampton Bar.
On March 31, 1891 Charles Hewins married Mary E. Coats of New York state, at the time a teacher at the Hampton Institute. They resided until his death in the home that he had built on a tract of land purchased from the former Bates Estate.
Charles Hewins was active in community affairs and was a member of St. Tammany Lodge No. 5, A.F. & A.M., and of the Hampton Commandry, Knights Templar. In 1927 Hewins suffered a stroke of paralysis and died several months later, at the age of 86.
Among those who survived Charles Hewins was his only son, Edward F. Hewins. Edward Hewins was born in 1893 in Hampton, Virginia and is the donor of the Hewins Papers to the Old Dominion University Department of Archives and Manuscripts. Educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Edward Hewins achieved prominence in the Tidewater area as a marine architect at the Newport News Shipbuilding Drydock Company. As was his father, he was active in local civic organizations until well advanced in years.
Note written by Susan E. Yates
This series contains the correspondence of Charles E. Hewins with family and friends, mostly dealing with the Civil War. Some of the topics include Abraham Lincoln's assassination, General Sherman's southern campaign, and the view of the freedmen from a Unionist's perspective. Some of the letters were written while Hewins was a prisoner at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia. The series also contains letters sent to Hewins from family and friends concerning local affairs.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins (Mother), 1863 June 1-1868 March 13, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1864, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1865, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1866, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1867, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1862-1865, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 7, Mr. John Capen Hewins, 1864, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 8, Charlotte Hewins, 1862-1863, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 9, Helen Hewins, 1863 March 5, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 10, Susie Hewins, 1863 February 27-1866 June 15, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 11, Lillian H. Gay, 1926 November, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 12, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1864 June 12-December 14, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 13, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1864 December 25-1866 September 2, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 14, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1867 February 3-1868 May 9, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 15, Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1869 Novmber 14, undated, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 16, Helen Hewins, 1865 January 1, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 17, John Foster Hewins, 1864 March 30-1894 February 4, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 18, Richard Hewins, 1876 May 24, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 19, Susie Hewins, 1864 May 29-1869 January 2, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 20, Captain Charles B. Wilder, 1880 November, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 21, Clarence, 1864 July 10, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 22, George G. French, 1877 February 25-1878 June 20, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 23, Albert Howe, 1877 August 6, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 24, J.A. Lowe, 1869 February 4, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 25, Increase S. Smith, 1857 December 30, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 26, Codman Cemetery, 1941-1951, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 27, Mrs. Charles B. Wilder to Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Guild Hewins, 1864 February 22, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
This series contains photocopies from the National Archives and the U.S. Bureau of the Interior. In both cases, these copies deal with the military record of Charles Hewins.
Copy from the National Archives
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 28, Civil War Company Muster Role, 1863, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Copy from the National Archives
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 29, Civil War Prisoner of War Record, 1863, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Copy from the US Bureau of the Interior
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 30, Charles E. Hewins Pension File, undated, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
This series contains miscellaneous materials, among which are a brief genealogical chart of the Hewins family and a newspaper obituary for Charles Hewins.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 31, Order of Exercise at the Gibson Grammer School, 1856 March 24, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 32, Newspaper Obituaries for Charles E. Hewins, 1927, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 33, Hewins Family Genealogical Chart, undated, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 34, Calling Cards: Lucia F.M. Fenner, Dr. and Mrs. Boutelle, undated, Charles E. Hewins Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.