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Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 267 items) |
Abstract | Native of South Carolina and president of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1880-1899. Papers of Lieut. Gen. Lee include miscellaneous collected letters, 1784-1860, of prominent American political figures, including John Quincy Adams, Judah B. Benjamin, Henry Clay, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, J. L. Petigru, Franklin M. Pierce, and Martin Van Buren. Civil War materials include letters from Lee to his wife; letters from friends, many of whom were Confederate officials, including Patton Anderson, Jefferson Davis, and Nathan B. Forrest, Roy L. Gibson, William J. Hardee, J. B. Hood, O. O. Howard, and Leonidas Polk; and military correspondence from Braxton Bragg, George William Brent, Abraham Buford, Nathan B. Forrest, Joseph E. Johnston, J. B. Magruder, Alex. P. Stewart, and Richard Taylor. Postwar correspondence includes letters from Jefferson Davis, D. H. Hill, J. B. Hood, J. E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, R. D. Lilley, James Longstreet, W. N. Pendleton, R. B. Rhett, Jr., and Raphael Semmes. Other items include a diary recording the fall of Fort Sumpter and other events of 1861; personal and professional correspondence, 1909-1929, of Lee's son, Blewett Harrison Lee (b. 1867), lawyer of Chicago and New York; and genealogical data on the Blewett family of Mississippi, the Earle family of South Carolina, the de Graffenried family of Switzerland and North Carolina, the Hampton family of South Carolina, the Harris family of Virginia, the Harrison family of South Carolina and Mississippi, the Lee family of South Carolina and Mississippi, and the family of Samuel Taylor (d. 1798). |
Creator | Lee, Stephen D. (Stephen Dill), 1833-1908. |
Language | English |
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.
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Stephen Dill Lee was born to Dr. Thomas Lee and Caroline Allison Lee on 22 September 1833 in Charleston, S.C. He entered West Point at the age of 17 and graduated in 1854; he served in the U.S. Army in Texas, Florida, Kansas, and the Dakotas. In 1861, he resigned from the U.S. Army to enter service in the Confederate Army and rose in rank from captain to lieutenant-general. Lee was severely wounded in Nashville, Tenn., in 1864 and surrendered with Johnston in High Point, N.C., on 26 April 1865.
In February 1865, Lee married Regina Harrison, daughter of James Thomas Harrison and Regina Blewett, of Columbus, Miss. They settled in Mississippi after the war and Lee was active as a planter for several years. In 1878, Lee was elected to the Mississippi Senate. From 1880 to 1899, he served as the first president of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. He resigned as college president to serve as member of the commission to organize Vicksburg Military Park. Lee was active in the Confederate veterans, wrote several articles on the Civil War, and held the post of Chief of the United Confederate Veterans until his death in Vicksburg on 28 May 1908. [from the Dictionary of American Biography]
Blewett Harrison Lee, born 1 March 1867 in Noxubee County, Miss., was the only child of Stephen and Regina Lee. He graduated from Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College and studied law at Harvard. He served as private secretary for Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray in 1890 and afterwards practiced law in Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. He was a professor of law at Northwestern University from 1893 to 1901 and the University of Chicago from 1902 to 1903. [from Who's Who in America, 1924-25 edition]
Back to TopThe papers pertain mainly to Lt. Gen. Lee, his wife Regina, their son Blewett, and related families, particularly the Blewett family of Mississippi. The bulk of the papers date from 1860-1929. In addition to these materials, there are a number of autographs and letters of prominent public figures, chiefly U.S. political leaders including several presidents. Some autograph materials have been replaced by photocopies with originals removed. These are noted in the inventory.
Folders 1-7 are arranged chronologically. Folders 1-2 contain a number of documents, apparently collected for autograph value, which are unrelated to Lee or related families. Some of these have been replaced by photocopies; the originals are available for use by special request. The autograph material removed is noted below as part of the folder list. A few items from the antebellum period pertain to James T. Harrison, Thomas G. Blewett, and Stephen D. Lee. Notable items include an 1854 bill of sale for slaves and other property in Sunflower County, Miss., Robert Winston to Randle Blewett; and Stephen Lee's commission as a 2nd lieutenant on the 4th Regiment of the U.S. Army
Folder 3 covers the Civil War period and consists chiefly of personal letters to Regina Harrison and military papers of Stephen Lee. Correspondents include Jefferson Davis, William J. Hardee, Leonidas Polk, R. L. Gibson, J. B. Hood, and O. O. Howard. The military papers consist of Lee's commission and orders as he received raises in rank as well as communications regarding military actions. There are copies of the basis of agreement of 18 April 1865 and military convention of 26 April 1865 between Sherman and Johnston; Lee's parole from the Confederate Army, Greensboro, N.C., 1 May 1865; orders of 2 May 1865 from Gen. Johnston concerning field transportation lent to troops; and a letter of 9 July 1865 from Lee to President Andrew Johnson asking for a pardon. The folder also contains an 1862 fragment of a Union flag captured at Murfreesboro.
Folders 4-7 contain correspondence, primarily from 1866-1903, received by Stephen D. Lee relating to personal, business, and Confederate affairs. His correspondents include a number of former Confederate leaders, who wrote of their postwar activities, with some discussion of the Civil War. J. B. Hood, James Longstreet, D. H. Hill, J. E. Johnston, Raphael Semmes, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, W. N. Pendleton, and G. W. C. Lee, are among Lee's correspondents. Included is an 1889 form asking Lee to serve as a pall bearer at Jefferson Davis's funeral. Correspondence from the period 1909-1929 pertains chiefly to Blewett Harrison Lee on legal and personal matters. Included is a 1909 letter from President William Howard Taft asking Lee to receive a monument in Mississippi on behalf of the War Department.
Folder 8 contains undated materials, clippings, and a number of clipped autographs which have been removed (see folder list below). Folder 9 contains genealogical materials pertaining to the Blewett family of Mississippi, the Earle family of South Carolina, the DeGraffenried family of Switzerland and North Carolina, the Hampton family of South Carolina, the Harris family of Virginia, the Harrison family of South Carolina and Mississippi, the Lee family of South Carolina and Mississippi, and the family of Samuel Taylor (d. 1798).
Folder 10 contains the 1861 diary of then Col. Lee with a transcription. It contains a number of entries for April 1861, when Lee participated in movements leading to the fall of Fort Sumter. Scattered entries are present for other months as well as miscellaneous financial accounts.
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