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Preferred Citation

Elinor Junkin to Helen Dickey, December 14, 1848, WLU Coll. 0641, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA

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Immediate Source of Acquisition

Scope and Contents

Elinor Junkin, daughter of Washington College's president   George Junkin and future first wife of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson details to her first cousin Helen Dickey, of Oxford, Chester County, Pa., her family's move to and first weeks living in Lexington, Virginia, after her father's apppointment at the college. The letter mentions her siblings and shared family, describes the college and its former president   Henry Ruffner, the journey from Pennsylvania to Lexington, and the Lexington Presbyterian Church, specifically its minister William S. White. Other noteworthy content is the descritpion of a social gathering where she meets faculty member Daniel Harvey Hill, former U.S. Army officer, Mexican War veteran, and future Confederate general and shares her opinion on the college's Simpson House (current name) where the Junkin family resided during George Junkin's thirteen year tenure as college president .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Dickey, Helen
• Hill, D. H. (Daniel Harvey), 1821-1889
• Junkin family
• Junkin, Elinor, 1825-1854
• Junkin, George, 1798 - 1868
• Ruffner, Henry, Reverend
• Virginia -- Lexington
• Washington College (Lexington, Va.)
• White, William S. (William Spotswood)