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Collection Number: 01466

Collection Title: William Nelson Pendleton Papers, 1798-1889.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2400 items)
Abstract William Nelson Pendleton (1809-1883) was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, an Episcopal clergyman and schoolmaster in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, a Confederate brigadier general, serving under Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee, and rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington, Va., 1853-1883. The collection includes correspondence of Pendleton and his family, and their Page, Nelson, Pendleton, and other Virginia relatives, giving an extensive picture of the social life and customs of Virginians in the 19th century. The 35 items dated earlier than 1837 are Nelson and Page family letters. Approximately 1,400 items were written during the Civil War years, including military communications among officers in the Virginia theatre of war, correspondence concerning promotions, personal rivalries and criticism among Confederate officers, letters to and from Mrs. Pendleton at Lexington, Va., and other members of the family. There is correspondence before, during, and after the war concerning the Episcopal Church and specifically the affairs of the Lexington church and threats to Pendleton's tenure as rector, and (from 1870 onwards) Pendleton's work in raising a Robert E. Lee memorial fund. There are also some papers relating to Pendleton's life in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland before he came to Lexington in 1853.
Creator Pendleton, William Nelson, 1809-1883.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the William Nelson Pendleton Papers, #1466, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Miss Ellinor Porcher Gadsden and Miss Anzolette P. Gadsden of Lexington, Va., 1957
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, October 2010

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The 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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

William Nelson Pendleton (1809-1883) was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, an Episcopal clergyman and schoolmaster in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, a Confederate brigadier general, serving under Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee, and rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington, Va., 1853-1883. He married Anzolette Elizabeth Page in 1831, and they had 8 children. Their oldest daughter Susan married Confederate army officer Edwin Gray Lee (1836-1870), and their son, Alexander Swift Pendleton (1839-1864) was an officer in the Confederate army.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence of William Nelson Pendleton (1809-1883) and his family, and their Page, Nelson, Pendleton, and other Virginia relatives, giving an extensive picture of the social life and customs of Virginians in the 19th century. The 35 items dated earlier than 1837 are Nelson and Page family letters. Approximately 1,400 items were written during the Civil War years, including military communications among officers in the Virginia theatre of war, correspondence concerning promotions, personal rivalries and criticism among Confederate officers, letters to and from Mrs. Pendleton at Lexington, Va., and other members of the family. There is correspondence before, during, and after the war concerning the Episcopal Church and specifically the affairs of the Lexington church and threats to Pendleton's tenure as rector, and (from 1870 onwards) Pendleton's work in raising a Robert E. Lee memorial fund. There are also some papers relating to Pendleton's life in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland before he came to Lexington in 1853.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse William Nelson Pendleton Papers, 1798-1889 and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1b

1789-1835

Folder 2

1836

Folder 3

1837

Folder 4

1838; 1840-1844

Folder 5

1846; 1850-1854

Folder 6

1855-1858

Folder 7

1859

Folder 8

January-July 1860

Folder 9

August-December 1860

Folder 10

January-April 1861

Folder 11

May 1861

Folder 12

June 1861

Folder 13

July 1861

Folder 14

August 1861

Folder 15

September 1861

Folder 16

October 1861

Folder 17

November 1861

Folder 18

December 1861

Folder 19

January 1862

Folder 20

February 1862

Folder 21

March 1862

Folder 22

April 1862

Folder 23

May 1862

Folder 24a

1-13 June 1862

Folder 24b

14-30 June 1862

Folder 25

July 1862

Folder 26a

1-6 August 1862

Folder 26b

7-13 August 1862

Folder 26c

14-31 August 1862

Folder 27a

1-14 September 1862

Folder 27b

15-23 September 1862

Folder 27c

24-30 September 1862

Folder 28

October 1862

Folder 29

November 1862

Folder 30

December 1862

Folder 31

January-February 1863

Folder 32

March-April 1863

Folder 33a

May 1863

Folder 33b

June 1863

Folder 34a

1-18 July 1863

Folder 34b

19 July-August 1863

Folder 35a

1-19 September 1863

Folder 35b

20 September-October 1863

Folder 36

November-December 1863

Folder 37

January-February 1864

Folder 38a

1-18 March 1864

Folder 38b

19 March-30 April 1864

Folder 39

May-June 1864

Folder 40

July-August 1864

Folder 41

September-October 1864

Folder 42

November-December 1864

Folder 43

January-March 1865

Folder 44

April-June 1865

Folder 45

July-August 1865

Folder 46

September-December 1865

Folder 47

1866

Folder 48

1867

Folder 49

1868

Folder 50

1869

Folder 51

January-September 1870

Folder 52

October-December 1870

Folder 53

1871

Folder 54

1872

Folder 55

January-February 1873

Folder 56

March-December 1873

Folder 57

1874

Folder 58

1875

Folder 59

1876

Folder 60

1877

Folder 61

1878

Folder 62

1879

Folder 63

January-April 1880

Folder 64

May-December 1880

Folder 65

1881

Folder 66

1882

Folder 67

1883

Folder 68

1884-1885

Folder 69

1887-1891

Folder 70-72

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Undated

Folder 73

Newspapers

Folder 74-75

Folder 74

Folder 75

Undated Civil War papers

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