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This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 200 items) |
Abstract | George Washington Gift (b. 1833) of Tennessee was a lieutenant in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. In April 1864, he married Ellen Augusta Shackelford of Early County, Ga. The collection is chiefly correspondence between Ellen Shackelford Gift and George Washington Gift, written before and after their marriage, with a few letters from other members of the Shackeford and Gift families and from friends, including Catesby Ap Roger Jones, Gift's captain on the "Chattahoochee." Most of the letters were written by George to Ellen while he was serving on Confederate ships, including the "Chattahoochee," based at Chattahoochie, Fla.; the "Gaines," based at Mobile, Ala.; and the "Tallahassee," based at Wilmington, N.C. All of these letters concern daily life. After the war, Gift wrote many letters from Memphis, Tenn., as well as a few from New York, Hong Kong, and other places where he was involved in a variety of business ventures. These letters chiefly concern his daily activities, family news, and routine events, though there are extensive descriptions of Hong Kong. Ellen's letters to George chiefly concern family life. |
Creator | Gift, George W. (George Washington), b. 1833. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Rebecca Hollingsworth, November 1991
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
George Washington Gift (b. 1833) was raised in Tennessee, and went to California some time before the Civil War. He came home from California in the summer of 1861 in order to join the Confederate Navy. He served on several C.S.N. vessels in the coastal waters of North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, including the C.S.S. Chattahoochee, based at Chattahoochee, Fla.; the C.S.S. Gaines, based at Mobile, Ala.; the R.E. Lee, off the North Carolina coast; and the Tallahassee, based at Wilmington, N.C. In April 1864, Gift married Ellen Augusta Shackelford of Early County, Ga. After the war, Gift spent time in New York City; in Memphis, Tenn., where the Gift family apparently lived; and in Hong Kong.
Back to TopThe collection is chiefly correspondence, 1862-1876, between George Washington Gift and Ellen Augusta Shackelford Gift, written before and after their marriage in April 1864. Most of the letters were written by Gift while he was in the Confederate Navy, 1862-1865, and concern his daily life on ships such as the Chattahoochee, the Gaines, and the Tallahassee. The early letters, written from the Chattahoochee, include references to Captain Catesby ap Roger Jones, the commanding officer, and descriptions of the routine on board the ship. Many of the letters were written in the form of journals, recording events over the span of several days. Of special interest are several letters concerning the explosion that destroyed the Chattahoochee on 27 May 1863; a letter containing a substitution cipher, evidently devised by Gift; and four letters from Canada written by Gift, but signed "O. P. Fannin."
In 1865, Gift wrote a few letters to his wife from New York City, where he was evidently engaged in shipping. In 1866, he moved to Memphis, Tenn., and wrote many letters about family members who lived in the area and about acquiring land to build a cotton gin with his oldest sister Maria Louisa Sims. In 1869 and 1870, he was in Hong Kong, which he described extensively in letters home.
There are about twenty-five letters from Ellen to George. Most early letters consist of news about her friends and family; later letters are similar, but primarily concern their children.
Also included are a few letters, 1863 and 1864, to George Gift from Ellen's sisters Hannah and Georgie; a letter, June 1863, to Ellen from George's sister Sarah Jane Gift; and two letters, January 1864 and October 1876, from George's friend and sometime commanding officer, Catesby ap Roger Jones.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
1862-March 1863 |
Folder 2 |
April-June 1863 |
Folder 3 |
July-December 1863 |
Folder 4 |
January-June 1864 |
Folder 5 |
July 1864-December 1865 |
Folder 6 |
1866 |
Folder 7 |
1869-1876 and undated |
Reel M-1152/1-2
M-1152/1M-1152/2 |
Microfilm |