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Size | About 45 items |
Abstract | The Toomer family of Portsmouth, Va., included Alice Virginia Toomer (b. 1841) and Fanny Wortley Toomer (1845-1868), daughters of James Gaskins Toomer (1801-1849) and Fanny Hodges Toomer (1808-1870). Samuel Fisher Tenney (1840-1926) was a soldier in Company K of the Third Georgia Infantry Regiment (known as Wright's Brigade or Athens' Guard). Tenney met Alice in Portsmouth in mid-1861, shortly after the Third Georgia Infantry Regiment was quartered at Portsmouth Navy Yard. The collection consists of letters received by Alice Virginia Toomer and Fanny Wortley Toomer. Letters received by Alice Virginia Toomer include a series of Civil War-era courtship letters from Samuel Fisher Tenney during and immediately following his wartime service. Tenney's letters often comment on battles in which he participated, including Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run (Manassas), Sharpsburg (Antietam), and Gettysburg (where he was wounded). There are also several letters to Alice Virginia Toomer from unidentified correspondents. Letters received by Fanny Wortley Toomer are chiefly from "Angie" and "Annie" of Baltimore, Md., who appear to be Toomer's cousins. Letters focus primarily on family news and daily musings and were sent to Fanny Wortley Toomer when she was a college student in Alabama and when she resided in Portsmouth, Va. Also included is a photocopy of a 1973 article by E.B. Duffee Jr. published in the Georgia Historical Quarterly concerning the correspondence of Samuel Fisher Tenney and Alice Virginia Toomer. The article provides additional contextual information and transcriptions of many of the letters in this collection. |
Creator | Toomer (Family : Portsmouth, Va.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Biff Hollingsworth and Matt Dailey, July 2011
Encoded by: Matt Dailey, July 2011
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.
The Toomer family of Portsmouth, Va., included Alice Virginia Toomer (b. 1841) and Fanny Wortley Toomer (1845-1868), daughters of James Gaskins Toomer (1801-1849) and Fanny Hodges Toomer (1808-1870). Samuel Fisher Tenney (1840-1926) was a soldier in Company K of the Third Georgia Infantry Regiment (known as Wright's Brigade or Athens' Guard). Tenney met Alice in Portsmouth in mid-1861, shortly after the Third Georgia Infantry Regiment was quartered at Portsmouth Navy Yard.
Back to TopThe collection consists of letters received by Alice Virginia Toomer and Fanny Wortley Toomer.
The collection consists of letters received by Alice Virginia Toomer and Fanny Wortley Toomer. Letters received by Alice Virginia Toomer include a series of Civil War-era courtship letters from Samuel Fisher Tenney during and immediately following his wartime service. Tenney's letters often comment on battles in which he participated, including Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run (Manassas), Sharpsburg (Antietam), and Gettysburg (where he was wounded). There are also several letters to Alice Virginia Toomer from unidentified correspondents. Letters received by Fanny Wortley Toomer are chiefly from "Angie" and "Annie" of Baltimore, Md., who appear to be Toomer's cousins. Letters focus primarily on family news and daily musings and were sent to Fanny Wortley Toomer when she was a college student in Alabama and when she resided in Portsmouth, Va.
Also included is a photocopy of a 1973 article by E.B. Duffee Jr. published in the Georgia Historical Quarterly concerning the correspondence of Samuel Fisher Tenney and Alice Virginia Toomer. The article provides additional contextual information and transcriptions of many of the letters in this collection.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
Letters written to Alice Virginia Toomer, 1859-1865 |
Folder 2 |
Letters written to Fanny Wortley Toomer, 1864-1868 |
Folder 3 |
Georgia Historical Quarterly article, 1973 |