Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is without restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of John Morgan and Family, Accession # 11421, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, Watchung, New Jersey, on July 24, 1998.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of the papers of John Morgan, of Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, Virginia, and later Poca, Putnam County, West Virginia, including other members of his family, twenty-two items, consisting of correspondence, 1843-1864, chiefly involving slavery, secession, and the Civil War service of brothers, James B. Morgan and William S. Morgan; and correspondence and account, 1884-1893, of John Morgan with A.R. Ellerson & Company, Wool Buyers, Richmond, Virginia, concerning the purchase of his wool.

The correspondence includes the following topics and correspondents: description of the sale of a slave, Cajah, without his prior knowledge to prevent his running away (John G. Meem, 1843 Dec 6); the purchase of a slave man and his wife, whom he hopes to send over by Mr Koontz, and discussion of the need of an unnamed company to get stone to build their abutments from the stone quarry (John G. Meem, 1843 Dec 15); and a discussion about the Richmond Convention, the Baltimore Convention, the presidential candidates Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckinridge, the "Seceders," part of the Democratic party determined not to have Douglas on any platform, and many volunteers forming military companies (Stephen Lee Morgan, 1860 Jun 21).

Additional topics include: arrangements to make uniforms for Morgan's company (J.P. Carpenter, 1861 Feb 19); request for a vest, black pants, and his father's dirk (J.B. Morgan, Camp Letcher, Bonders Riflemen, Buffalo, Virginia (1861 May); notification to his brother, William S. Morgan, Company A, 36th Regiment, Virginia Volunteers, that they are about to move their camp from the New River at Narrows, Virginia (J.B. Morgan, 1862 Jul 21); and J.B. Morgan reports from the Dublin Depot, Virginia, to his mother that his brigade had been in a number of engagements during the winter and at the fight of Jonesville, he was wounded on the side of the head with a piece of shell, and complains at not recieving any mail from home (1864 Apr 19).