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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Jeff Felton, Graduate Intern, and Kira A. Dietz, Archivist
Permission to publish material from Esaw Worrell Franklin Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
The collection is open for research.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Esaw Worrell Franklin Letter, Ms2018-040, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Esaw Worrell Franklin Letter was purchased by Special Collections in October 2018.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Esaw Worrell Franklin Letter was completed in May 2019.
Esaw Worrell Franklin was born in 1841 to Joel Leftwich and Nancy (Worrell) Franklin in Carroll County, Virginia. In June 1861, he enlisted in the Virginia 29th Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to 1st Sergeant on 13 May 1862, 2nd Lieutenant on 11 Jun 1863, and 1st Lieutenant on 16 May 1864. Following the Civil War, he returned to farming in Carroll County. Prior to 1870, he married Mary Ann Elizabeth Coleman (1834-1898), and the couple had one son, Humes Leftwich Franklin (1870-1946). In his later years, Franklin lived with his son's family on their farm. Franklin died on June 17, 1922, and is buried in Hillsville, Carroll County, Virginia.
The collection contains a letter written by Esaw Worrell Franklin, February 26, 1862, from the camp of the 29th Virginia Infantry, to his parents in Carroll County, Virginia. Franklin's regiment was in western Virginia around Pound Gap and the Clinch River at the time of this letter. He describes the activities he and his regiment were involved in,t he Clinch River and local creek flooding, the loss of material while crossing a flooded creek, a skirmish with the Yankees, and various camps and mileage of the expedition. The letter also includes Franklin's desire for a visit home on furlough and the likelihood of it.