Archival
Collections
Avery Family
Papers,
1835-1903 and 1960
(AR 75)
Daniel Avery Humphry and
his family were residents of Tuscaloosa, Alabama from
1852 until 1868. Avery was the junior partner in
the firm of Leach and Avery, an agricultural supply
business involved primarily in the operation of a
foundry for making plows. Federal troops
destroyed the facilities of Leach and Avery during the
raid on Tuscaloosa in April 1865. The partners
attempted to rebuild, but Avery died in December 1866.
The bulk of the collection consists of papers relating
to a claim filed by Julia Avery to secure reparations
for damages to her husband’s property. The
remainder of the collection includes letters from
Daniel Avery to his brother-in-law, Richard Morgan,
discussing his travels to sell plows in 1847 and 1849.
There are also two letters dated 1879 to Julia
Avery from Rose “Avery,” a former family
servant which refer to mutual acquaintances in
Tuscaloosa.
Size: 1 box
Boyd, Alexander
Papers,
1856-1870
(AR 14)
Alexander Boyd was a
small landowner in Union, Green County, Alabama who
emigrated with his family to Arkansas shortly before
the start of the Civil War. During the Reconstruction
era, Boyd cooperated with occupying Union forces and
was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. These papers consist of
letters written to Boyd, both in Alabama and Arkansas,
by members of his family. The letters include
discussions of slavery, courtship and marriage,
farming, illnesses and remedies and Reconstruction.
Size: 1 box
Buell and
Ellsberry Family
Papers,
1864-1866 and 1937-1978
(AR 190)
This collection includes
letters from John P. Elsberry, written during his
service in the Confederate army in Virginia and
genealogical information on the Buell family.
Size: 1 box
Cedar Grove
Plantation
Papers,
1833-1964
(AR 390)
This collection contains
personal and business correspondence and other material
relating to the Walker and allied families associated
with Cedar Grove Plantation in Marengo County, Alabama.
Size: 2 reels microfilm
Civil War
Collection
Miscellaneous
Documents, 1860-1865
(AR 283)
This is a miscellaneous
collection compiled by the staff of the Archives. The
collection includes letters written by Confederate
soldiers, posters, Confederate bonds, a diary, a muster
roll and other material.
Size: 5 boxes
Clark, John
Correspondence,
1862-1864
(AR 1405)
John Clark immigrated
from Ireland to Mississippi in 1851. During the Civil
War he served in Company F, 16th Regiment, Mississippi
Volunteers and died in 1864. This collection includes a
portion of Clark’s service record and copes of
six letters that Clark wrote home from Virginia in
1862.
Size: 1 box
Clarke, William
Edward
Reminiscence,
1896
(AR 1055)
This collection contains
a typescript of an autobiographical reminiscence
written by William Clarke, a Marengo County lawyer
during the 19th century. Of particular interest is
Clarke’s account of his participation in
Alabama’s 1861 secession convention.
Size: 1 box
Clarken, Matthew
Civil War Diary,
1859-1863
(AR 403)
This diary contains
class notes and other jottings, including material
relating to military events in Tennessee during the
Civil War and an account of the Battle of Vicksburg.
Size: 1 volume
Confederate
Submarine Hunley
Scrapbook
(AR 1389)
Newspaper clippings and
other material compiled by the staff of the Birmingham
Public Library’s Southern History Department.
Size: 1 volume
Dunn, R. E.
Civil War Diary
and Company D Log Book, 1862-1864
(AR 279)
Dunn served in Company
D, First Virginia Infantry Regiment. This collection
contains a diary and log book, a letter from Dunn to
his sister and other material.
Size: 1 box
Early, Frank
Papers,
1861-1863
(AR 174)
This collection includes
correspondence of H. F. Early for the period March 1861
to April 1863. One letter, written by M. F. Arness,
includes a detailed description of the battlefield at
First Bull Run. The papers also contain some material
relating to the United Daughters of the Confederacy and
Sybil Bergin.
Size: 1 box
English, George
M.
Letters
(AR 1238)
Size: 1 reel microfilm
Faunsdale
Plantation
Papers,
1805-1975
(AR 765)
In 1843 Thomas A.
Harrison, a native of Virginia, traveled to Alabama
accompanied by a party of slaves, and purchased the
property in Marengo County that became Faunsdale
Plantation. Harrison later sent for his new wife,
Louisa Collins Harrison, a native of North Carolina. In
1844 the Harrisons had their only child, Louise Collins
Harrison. Thomas A. Harrison died in 1857. Louisa
managed Faunsdale and her late husband's estate until
1863 when she married William A. Stickney, a priest in
the Protestant Episcopal Church and a native of
Alabama. Stickney served in several parishes and
ministered to the slaves and later freedmen at
Faunsdale. Louisa died in 1896, William in 1907. The
plantation remains in the family today. The collection
contains extensive correspondence, diaries,
photographs, financial records, slave records and other
material documenting several generations of the family.
The correspondence includes letters home from
Confederate soldiers and diary entries relating to
destruction caused by the war, the behavior of African
American slaves and relations with Union forces.
Grace Family
Papers
(AR 189)
This collection of
photocopied typescripts includes autobiographical and
biographical material on Francis Mitchell Grace and
Bayliss Earle Grace, both prominent figures in 19th
century Jefferson County, Alabama. The collection also
includes a number of historical writings by Francis
Mitchell Grace, such as his recollections of the Civil
War and his narrative “Jefferson County, Alabama,
1872.”
Size: 1 box
Graham, Needham
Alexander
Civil War Diary,
1861-1862
(AR 504)
Graham enlisted in
Company H, 3rd Alabama Volunteers near Norfolk,
Virginia in October 1861. He was involved in fighting
at Malvern Hill, Seven Pines, The Wilderness and
Chancellorsville, where he was wounded.
Size: 1 reel microfilm
