A Guide to the Letters of the Underwood Family, 1813, 1861, and 1913 Underwood Family, Letters, 1813, 1861, and 1913 10866

A Guide to the Letters of the Underwood Family, 1813, 1861, and 1913

A Collection in
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 10866

Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Reference Request Form: https://small.lib.virginia.edu/reference-request/
URL: http://small.library.virginia.edu/

Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Special Collections Department

Repository

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Accession number

10866

Title

Letters of the Underwood Family 1813, 1861, and 1913

Physical Characteristics

This collection consists of three letters.

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Letters of the Underwood Family, 1813, 1861, 1913, Accession # 10866, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library on August 17, 1989, by Oscar W. Underwood III of Winter Haven, Florida.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of three letters pertaining to the Underwood family of Kentucky and Alabama. The earliest letter, May 8, 1813, from Joseph Rogers Underwood (1791-1876) to his uncle Edmund Rogers, was written aboard the Schooner Mary near Fort Meigs on the Miami River. Underwood informed Rogers that he had been taken as a prisoner of war by the British and their Indian allies after a brief skirmish near the swamps and assured them of his humane treatment by his captors.

A related letter which described the circumstances of the preservation of the earlier letter was sent by Edmund Rogers' descendant and namesake, Edmund P. Rogers, May 8, 1913, to Oscar Wilder Underwood (1862- 1929). Rogers offered the earlier letter to Underwood because he was a lineal descendant of Joseph Rogers Underwood (1791-1876) and would appreciate its historical association.

Joseph Rogers Underwood (1791-1876) wrote to the Honorable W. Thomas, April 2, 1861, concerning his attempts to secure a copy of [John Cabell] Breckinridge's (1821-1875) pamphlet published in Danville, and his own efforts to preserve the Union of the United States and to reclaim those states which had seceded. He refers to a speech by Breckinridge before the Legislature which supported the preservation of the Union if the North would guarantee by constitutional amendment the right of future territories to allow the institution of slavery within their borders. Underwood also mentioned his fears of a bloody conflict which would last "until both sections seek repose under the protecting sword of some American Napoleon."