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 processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust. Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
Size | 73 items |
Abstract | William Gaston Lewis (1835-1901), was a civil engineer, Confederate brigadier general, surveyor, and resident of Edgecombe County, N.C. The collection consists of the papers of W. G. Lewis, including recommendations following his graduation from the University of North Carolina in 1855; Civil War era love letters, 1861-1865, from North Carolina and Virginia, written to Mittie Pender of Tarboro, N.C., whom Lewis married in 1864; and scattered postwar items, a few pertaining to Civil War events, including a map of the battlefield of Drewry's Bluff, Va., 1864, and biographical data on W. G. Lewis and on General William Dorsey Pender. |
Creator | Lewis, W. G. (William Gaston), 1835-1901. |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English |
Processed by: Jane Adkins, February 1960 and Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, June 2005
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
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.
William Gaston Lewis was born in 1835 in Rocky Mount, N.C., the son of Dr. John Wesley Lewis and Catherine Ann Battle. He studied civil engineering at the University of North Carolina and graduated in 1855. In 1861 Lewis enlisted in the Confederate Army as third lieutenant of Company A, First North Carolina Regiment ("Bethel"). He saw action in the Battle of Bethel, Battle of New Bern, the Seven Days' Campaign, the Battle of Malvern Hill, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Cold Harbor, and in numerous other battles and skirmishes. Lewis also supervised the entrenchment of Drewry's Bluff, Va. He was wounded twice, both times after he rose to the rank of brigadier general in June 1864. Lewis was paroled at Farmville, Va., in April 1865.
In 1864, Lewis married Martha Lucinda Pender ("Mittie") of Tarboro, N.C. Following the war, Lewis lived in Edgecombe County, N.C., and worked as an engineer for various railroads, as a surveyor, and as a farmer. He died in 1901.
Back to TopThe collection consists of papers, 1855-1911, of W. G. Lewis, a civil engineer, Confederate brigadier general, surveyor, and resident of Edgecombe County, N.C. Included are recommendations following his graduation from the University of North Carolina in 1855; Civil War era love letters, 1861-1865, from North Carolina and Virginia, written to Mittie Pender of Tarboro, N.C., whom Lewis married in 1864; and scattered postwar items, a few pertaining to Civil War events, including a map of the battlefield of Drewry's Bluff, Va., 1864, and biographical data on W. G. Lewis and on General William Dorsey Pender.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Folder 1 |
1855-1859 |
Folder 2 |
1861-1862 |
Folder 3 |
1863-1864 |
Folder 4 |
1865-1911 and undatedIncludes a letter from Farmville, Virginia, which discusses conflicts between local whites and free blacks in 1865. |
Reel M-2314/1 |
Microfilm |