Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Carrington Family Papers, 1828-1864, Accession #11173, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These items were purchased from Jerry N. Showalter, Ivy, Virginia, by the University of Virginia Library on April 27, and are unrestricted.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of items pertaining to Edward C. Carrington, Eliza Carrington and Virginia Carrington of Virginia. In the earliest letter, January 17, 1828, Edward C[odrington] Carrington (1790- 1855), Richmond, writes to General Francis Preston, Abingdon, Washington County, thanking him for the prompt granting of his request for an advance which he hopes to return in June.

A letter, August 18 [1860 ?], from J.H. Means, Buckhead, to Mrs. Eliza [Preston] Carrington (1796-1876), regretfully informs her that he did not have any letters from her brother [William Campbell] Preston (1794-1860) suitable for publication, promises to furnish a reminiscence, and testifies to his eloquent and moving speeches and nobility of character.

Letters referring to the Civil War include one, October 7, 1861, from W.[A.?] Glasgow, Fincastle, Virginia, to Mrs. E.H. Carrington, telling her that he had obtained a restraining injunction to prevent Thom [a slave?] from being taken by the Army. Mr. Young had agreed to give him up and to deduct the hire of Thom from the first and turn him over to Mr. Thompson to dispose of for the balance of the year. Glasgow had also gone to Fairfax Courthouse to get Charles Spears, sick with typhoid fever, and brought him back on a litter. In another letter, William Robinson, Office for Exchange of Prisoners, War Department, Richmond, to Mrs. Carrington, May 31, 1864, includes a copy of a letter from James McDowell Carrington to his brother in Washington City about his recent capture and asking for monetary help.

A letter, March 18 [n.y.] from Senator William C. Preston (1794-1860), Columbia, South Carolina, to Virginia Carrington, daughter of Edward C. and Eliza Carrington, shares family news and pleads with Virginia to visit him.

Other documents include a resolution, April 2, 1855, of the Sons of Temperance, Fincastle Division No. 107, referring to the death of General Edward C. Carrington; and a report from General Edward C. Carrington, as the representative for the stock of the state of Virginia in the annual meetings of the Roanoke Navigation Company, recommending that a canal be built between Danville, Virginia, and Weldon, North Carolina, to make it easier for produce from that part of the state to make it to markets on the eastern coast of Virginia.