Campbell Family Papers, 1781-1938

Collection Number: 00135

Collection Title: Campbell Family Papers, 1781-1938

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.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 800 items)
Abstract	John Archibald Campbell (1811-1889) was associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and assistant secretary of the Confederate War Department and related to the Campbell, Colston, Groner, and other families represented in this collection. The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal items, military papers, writings, photographs, and other items relating to the family of John Archibald Campbell. Materials relate to the Civil War career of several family members, including John A. Campbell, Duncan G. Campbell, and Frederick M. Colston; the imprisonment of John A. Campbell at Fort Pulaski, Ga.; family life; the postwar activity of Confederate officers, particularly Frederick M. Colston and Edward Porter Alexander; veterans' affairs; and the Maryland contribution to the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition in 1907. Included are photographs of Confederate Army officers and the battlefields at Antietam, Md., and Winchester, Va.
Creator	Campbell (Family : Campbell, John Archibald, 1811-1889)
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English.

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

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 Campbell Family Papers #135, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance: Received from George R. Colston of Baltimore, Md.; D. Laurence Groner of Norfolk, Va.; Mrs. R. E. Nelson of Washington, D.C.; and the estate of Mrs. Eleanor P. Colston of Chestertown, Md., in April 2003 (Acc. 99492).

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.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Benjamin H. Trask, June 1986

Encoded by: Linda Sellars, May 2003

Finding aid updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, September 2010

This collection incorporates what were formerly the Campbell and Colston Family Papers (#135), the Groner Family Papers (#867), the Frederick M. Colston Papers (#1339), and additional material.

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.

Expand/collapse Related Collections

Edward Porter Alexander Papers (#7)
Henry Champlin Lay Papers (#418)

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

John Archibald Campbell (1811-1889), associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and assistant secretary of the Confederate War Department, was born in Washington, Wilkes County, Ga. He attended Franklin College, the University of Georgia, and the United States Military Academy. Later, he studied law under Governor John Clark of Georgia. In 1837, he moved to Mobile, Ala., and later married Anna Esther Goldthwaite. The couple had six children: Henrietta, Mary Ellen, Katherine R., Clara, Duncan G., and Anna.

John A. Campbell worked as a lawyer and legislator in Alabama and, in 1852, was appointed to the United States Supreme Court. From 1852 to 1861, Justice Campbell heard important cases involving slavery and states rights. When Alabama left the Union, Campbell resigned from the Supreme Court, and later took a position with the Confederate War Department. Campbell's son and four sons-in-law all served as Confederate officers.

Colonel George W. Lay (husband of Campbell's daughter Henrietta), a graduate of West Point, served as a member ofGeneral Winfield Scott's staff, and as assistant adjutant or assistant inspector general for Confederate generals Milledge L. Bonham, Joseph E. Johnston, and Robert E. Lee. Lieutenant Colonel A. Pendleton Mason (husband of Mary Ellen) also served on Lee's and Johnston's staffs. Captain Frederick M. Colston (husband of Clara) was an artillery staff officer under General Edward P. Alexander. Colonel Virginius Despeaux Groner (husband of Katherine) commanded the 61st Virginia Infantry Regiment. Duncan G. Campbell served as an engineer officer for Generals Lafayette McLaws and Gustavus W. Smith.

John A. Campbell, along with Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (1809-1887) and Alexander H. Stephens (1812-1883), negotiated for terms of peace with Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward on 3 February 1865 on board a ship in Hampton Roads. The talks were unsuccessful. After the war, Campbell and Hunter were arrested for the assassination of Lincoln. Campbell was incarcerated at Fort Pulaski, Ga. However, federal authorities soon released Campbell without pressing charges.

Following the war, Campbell's children settled at various locations around the South. Katherine and Virginius Groner lived in Norfolk, Va.; Clara and Frederick Colston lived in Baltimore, Md.; and others returned to Alabama. Two of Campbell's sons-in-law were quite prosperous. Virginius Groner became a shipping merchant, and Frederick Colston started his own businesses. Colston also became involved in civic affairs, including veterans' organizations and the writing of Civil War history.

Sources of this note: Crute, Joseph H., Jr., Confederate Staff Officers 1861-1865 ; Krick, Robert K., Lee's Colonels ; and Rolley and Twyman, The Encyclopedia of Southern History .

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Nearly half of this collection is composed of letters received between 1865 and 1915 by members of the Campbell, Colston, or Groner families, principal recipients being Frederick M. Colston and the daughters of Judge John A. Campbell. Other types of items include photographs, volumes, newspaper clippings, genealogical information, and a diary.

Materials relate to the Civil War career of several family members, including John A. Campbell, Duncan G. Campbell, and Frederick M. Colston; the imprisonment of John A. Campbell at Fort Pulaski, Ga.; family life; the postwar activity of Confederate officers, particularly Frederick M. Colston and Edward Porter Alexander; veterans' affairs; and the Maryland contribution to the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition in 1907. Included are photographs of Confederate Army officers and the battlefields at Antietam, Md., and Winchester, Va.

There is very little original material relating to Campbell's early life as a student and lawyer or to Colston's and Virginius D. Groner's military careers.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1781-1927.

About 700 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly letters from or to John A. Campbell and his relatives. The letters cover a period mainly from 1824 to 1915 and discuss Creek Indian affairs, family matters, travel, the Civil War, the imprisonment of John A. Campbell, and various activities of Frederick M. Colston.

Among the more notable writers of letters in this series are L. Q. C. Lamar, Winfield Scott, William Mahone, Grover Cleveland, John William Jones, E. P. Alexander, Thomas L. Rosser, G. W. C. Lee, Samuel Cunningham, John Bigelow, and Gamaliel Bradford. Many of the letters in this series are transcriptions. A folder-by-folder description follows.

Note: there is additional correspondence in some of the volumes in Series 3.

Folder 1	1781, 1824 Typed transcriptions of a letter from George Washington (1732-1799) during the Yorktown campaign and of correspondence concerning United States commissioners meeting with Creek Indians. This latter correspondence was generated by, or mentions Major James Meriwether, Colonel Duncan G. Campbell, John Caldwell Calhoun, and Governor George M. Troup of Georgia. 34 items.
Folder 2	1825 Transcript copies of correspondence concerning the United States commissioners meeting with Creek Indians.
Folder 3	1836-1860 Two letters to Colonel Henry Goldthwaite of Mobile from John A. Campbell of Tuscaloosa, concerning railroads, legislation, internal improvements, and politics; a letter of introduction concerning John A. Cuthbert of Georgia, from William H. King of Washington, D.C.; two monthly reports detailing progress and the labor force at Battery Hudson, Miss., as directed by Captain Robert E. Lee (1807-1870); correspondence to and from John A. Campbell concerning slavery, secession, and legal issues, including two photostat copies of letters from Franklin Pierce (1804-1869). 10 items.
Folder 4	1861-1862 Letters from John A. Campbell (some of which are typescript copies) at Jackson, Miss., concerning secession, Lincoln, and chances of peace, one of which is a copy of a letter to William H. Seward; and war-time correspondence from Duncan G. Campbell, at Centerville, Fredericksburg, and Yorktown, Va. One of Campbell's letters briefly mentions his dining with General Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863). 8 items.
Folder 5	1863-1864 Letters from John A. Campbell at Richmond, Va., to Mrs. Goldthwaite and Colonel [Peter] Mallet (a typescript copy) on financial affairs, estate settlements, and national events; and letters from Duncan G. Campbell at Charleston, S.C., and Fredericksburg, Va., discussing leave, construction of defenses, and the Union siege of Charleston. The one 1864 letter is from John A. Campbell to Hon. Samuel Nelson (1792-1873), associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, concerning possible peace talks. 11 items.
Folder 6	January-April 1865 Letters from Duncan G. Campbell, from Charleston concerning the likelihood of peace and from Smithfield, N.C., concerning a meeting with Union General William T. Sherman, the battle of Bentonville, and possible retreat to Raleigh; a letter to John Cabell Breckenridge (1821-1875), secretary of war, from John A. Campbell, discussing the state of finances, conscription, desertion, and other related problems; a photographic copy of a brief letter, 18 April 1875, by R. E. Lee, commending the military service of Captain F. M. Colston (Addition of April 2003, Acc. 99492); a memorandum of conversations at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, mentioning Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883), Abraham Lincoln, Truman Smith, William H. Seward, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (1809-1887), and Robert A. Toombs (1810-1885); typed transcripts of dispatches (found in the Official Records) among Zebulon Baird Vance (1830-1894), William T. Sherman (1820-1891), General Henry W. Halleck (1815-1872), and General Henry Otho Cresap Ord (1818-1883) concerning the arrest of John A. Campbell for the death of Abraham Lincoln and the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina; and a transcript of a letter to Horace Greeley (1811-1872) from John A. Campbell in Richmond, concerning the death of Lincoln. 14 items.
Folder 7	May-July 1865 Letters concerning the arrest of Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter and John A. Campbell and letters from Campbell to his family concerning his confinement, from on board ship and at Fort Pulaski, Ga. 27 items.
Folder 8	August 1865 Correspondence among members of the Campbell family about John A. Campbell while he was at Fort Pulaski, Ga. (one letter is a typescript copy); a typescript copy of a letter to President Andrew Jackson concerning John A. Campbell from B. R. Curtis of Pittsfield, Mass.; a letter to John A. Campbell from Richmond; and a letter to Colonel George W. Lay from General Winfield Scott discussing his views on the loyalty of Confederate officers who left the United States Army. 17 items.
Folder 9	September-November 1865 Letters from John A. Campbell to members of his family while he was at Fort Pulaski, Augusta, and Savannah, Ga., and Mobile, Ala. 17 items.
Folder 10	1866-1867 Letters from John A. Campbell to members of his family and Mrs. Goldthwaite, from New Orleans, Mobile, and Baltimore discussing the death of George W. Lay, family matters, Campbell's health, the spread of illness in Mobile, and politics (one is a photocopy; another is a typescript copy); and a typed transcription of a letter from Governor Zebulon B. Vance to Cornelia P. Spencer discussing Union troops in North Carolina and the close of the war. 9 items.
Folder 11	1868-1871 Letters from John A. Campbell (one is a photocopy; another is a typescript copy) to members of his family from New Orleans, discussing the city, his travels to Mobile and Baltimore, politics, the Freedmen's Bureau, and his health; letters to and from other family members and friends; and a dispatch from Lord Hammond concerning loans to foreign countries. 13 items.
Folder 12	1874-1879 Correspondence between members of the Campbell family, discussing family business and affairs; a typed transcription of a letter from John A. Campbell discussing the Hampton Roads Peace Conference; two letters to Virginius D. Groner, one from William Mahone (1826-1895) congratulating Groner on his position as agent for the steamer line between Norfolk, Va., and Liverpool, England; and a transcription of a letter to George Ticknor Curtis from John A. Campbell concerning the United States Supreme Court in the 1850s. 9 items.
Folder 13	1880-1883 Letters to and from members of the Campbell family and from friends discussing family affairs, personal health, and travels. (most are from New Orleans and Baltimore); and letters from Frederick M. Colston concerning the dedication of a monument (possibly to Robert E. Lee) in New Orleans and Confederate veterans' reunions. 17 items.
Folder 14	1884-1885 Letters from John A. Campbell to his daughters from Mobile and New Orleans; letters to John A. Campbell from Thomas Allen Clarke of Albany, N.Y., discussing private meetings Clarke had with L. Q. C. Lamar and President Grover Cleveland; a typed transcription of a note from Grover Cleveland; a typed transcription of a letter to Benjamin Edward Green (1822-1907) from John A. Campbell discussing affairs at the close of the Civil War; and a typed transcription of a series of letters between the Alabama State Bar Association and John A. Campbell. 13 items.
Folder 15	1886-1889 Letters from, to, or concerning John A. Campbell, tributes to Campbell after his death, family history, and printed copies of letters from General Fitzhugh Lee discussing the Lee monument in Richmond, Va.; and a letter from L. Q. C. Lamar to "Cousin Kate" (Katherine Campbell Groner?). 7 items.
Folder 16	1890-1893 Correspondence of the Colston family, letters to Frederick M. Colston discussing minor business matters, veterans' organizations, and his interest in music; and a letter apparently to L. Q. C. Lamar from Walker Fearn, chief of the World's Columbian Exposition, concerning trips to Newport, R.I. 15 items.
Folder 17	1894-1896 Letters to Frederick M. Colston concerning veterans affairs, business settlements, and social activities, including arrangements for exhuming the body of Lewis Burnwell Williams (1833-1863) of the 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment from Baltimore to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond; a discussion by Virginius D. Groner of the plans to capture Fort Monroe, Va., by Norfolk-based Southern troops; and an Edward Porter Alexander (1835-1910) letter concerning his role at the battle of Gettysburg. 19 items.
Folder 18	1897-1898 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from John William Jones (1836-1909), Edward Porter Alexander, and others concerning veterans' affairs, the views of General James Longstreet, the Civil War, church and social activities, and business dealings. 24 items.
Folder 19	1899-1902 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from Edward Porter Alexander concerning veterans' affairs, travels, and events in Virginia during the Civil War; and a personal letter each to Virginius D. Groner and Ella Campbell. 12 items.
Folder 20	1903-1904 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from Edward P. Alexander discussing current writings on the Civil War and Gettysburg, and a letter to Kate C. Groner on the death of her husband. 27 items.
Folder 21	1905-1906 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from Edward P. Alexander discussing the battle of Port Arthur, General William T. Sherman, Alexander's book, the Civil War in Virginia, travels and business in Baltimore, and Maryland's contribution to the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition in 1907; part of a letter from Thomas Lafayette Rosser (1836-1910) about the battle at Gettysburg; and a letter from J. A. C. (John Archibald Campbell?) Groner. 30 items.
Folder 22	January-June 1907 Letters to Frederick M. Colston concerning the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition and the League of American Sportsmen, and letters to Colston from Edward P. Alexander. 25 items.
Folder 23	July-December 1907 Letters to Frederick M. Colston concerning the Jamestown ter-centennial Exposition and letters to Colston from Edward P. Alexander. 31 items.
Folder 24	1908-1910 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from Thomas L. Livermore, Edward P. Alexander, and others discussing the opera, the Civil War, current writings and speeches on the war, and the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition. 21 items.
Folder 25	January-June 1911 Letters to Fredrick M. Colston from Walter Taylor, George Washinton Custis Lee, Samuel Cunningham, Robert Lanier, and others concerning the publication of Civil War photographs in Francis T. Miller's Photographic History of the Civil War , articles written by Colston, and Colston's war record. 38 items.
Folder 26	July-December 1911 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from John Bigelow, Jr., William Thomas Poague (1835-1914), and Rev. James Power Smith concerning Civil War photographs and Stonewall Jackson. 22 items.
Folder 27	1912-1914 Letters to Frederick M. Colston concerning Civil War photographs and veterans' affairs; and to Duncan L. Groner from Senators Miles Poindexter (b. 1868) and George Sutherland (b.1862) concerning his nomination as United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 18 items.
Folder 28	1917 Letters to Frederick M. Colston from Judge Henry G. Connor concerning a biography of Judge John A. Campbell and the whereabouts of Colonel Robert H. Noble during World War I. 19 items.
Folder 29	1918 Correspondence of Frederick M. Colston concerning writings about the life of John A. Campbell, and to Duncan L. Groner concerning the capture of Colonel Noble. 21 items.
Folder 30	1919 Correspondence of Frederick M. Colston with Judge Henry G. Connor and the Houghton Mifflin Company concerning the publication of Connor's book on Judge John A. Campbell, and about Duncan L. Groner and his Republican political connections. 31 items.
Folder 31	1920-1927 Correspondence of Frederick M. Colston with Henry G. Connor concerning praise for the biography of John A. Campbell, a carbon copy of a letter from William Howard Taft (1857-1930), and letter from Gamaliel Bradford (1831-1911). 33 items.
Folder 32	Undated Letters, notes, invitations and memos from or to John A. Campbell, Lynn R. Meekins, other members of the Campbell family, and friends. 28 items.

Expand/collapse Series 2. Other Papers, 1790-ca. 1938.

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. John A. Campbell, 1811-ca. 1890.

22 items.

Items, other than correspondence, written by or concerned with the life of John A. Campbell.

Folder 33

Writings (photocopies, typed transcriptions, and originals), a will, a check, newspaper clippings, biographical information, and an appeal for clemency, all relating to John A. Campbell

11 items

Folder 34

Recollections, extracts from books, a table of cases, and written tributes to John A. Campbell

9 items

Folder 35

A copy of an address on Judge John A. Campbell given by Judge Henry G. Connor before the Alabama State Bar Association on 12 July 1917, and an announcement of Connor's book on Campbell

2 items

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. Frederick M. Colston, ca. 1860-1920.

20 items.

Items, other than correspondence, written by or concerned with the life of Frederick M. Colston.

Folder 36

Miscellaneous items

Copies, photocopies, and original material, including a map, newspaper clippings, articles, and notes belonging to Frederick M. Colston, concerning Robert E. Lee, the Civil War, and veterans' affairs. Included here is a pass, 10 April 1865, Appomattox court House, Va., for Colston to return home. (Addition of April 2003, Acc. 99492) 15 items.

Folder 37

A contract, notes, and lists concerning Frederick M. Colston's association with Henry G. Connor's book on John A. Campbell, the Maryland Exposition at the 1907 Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition, and opera

6 items

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.3. Genealogical Material, ca. 1766-1938.

13 items.

Biographical and genealogical information concerning the Campbell, Colston, Groner, Goldthwaite, and Throckmorton families

13 items

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.4. Miscellaneous Items, ca. 1790, 1840-1910.

14 items.

Folder 39

Calling cards, chits, notes, invitations, notecards with business addresses, and business cards

8 items

Folder 40

Deeds for land sales in North Carolina and agreements of the Albermarle Steam Navigation Company

6 items

Extra Oversize Paper XOP-135/1

Oversize map of Virginia, undated

Expand/collapse Series 3. Volumes, ca. 1845-1915.

6 items.

Folder 41	Volume 1: 1686-1902 Copies of letters, illustrations, and dispatches concerning the Civil War military career of Captain Frederick M. Colston, and genealogical information concerning the Colston, Orem, Bailey, Chichester, Mason, Pendleton, Ball, and McCarthy families. 33 p.
Folder 42	Volume 2: 1777-1888 An essay on the life of John A. Campbell and genealogical information on the Campbell family in Baltimore, Md., and Mobile, Ala. This volume includes copies of letters, birth and marriage data, and records of military service. 65 p.
Folder 43	Volume 3: 1850s-1884 Chiefly newspaper clippings and other material concerning the legal career of John A. Campbell. Other material includes a history of the Goldthwaite family. 144 p.
Folder 44	Volume 4: 1857-1922 Chiefly newspaper clippings concerning the activities and death of John A. Campbell and of members of the Colston and Goldthwaite families. Also included is a letter from L. Q. C. Lamar (1825-1892). 33 p.
Folder 45	Volume 5: 1864-1877 Letter copybook of John A. Campbell, with comments. 65 p.
Folder 46	Volume 6: May-September 1865 Diary kept by Judge John A. Campbell while he was confined at Fort Pulaski, Ga.

Expand/collapse Series 4. Pictures, ca. 1850-1889.

53 items.

Chiefly photographic images of Confederate officers and of Civil War battlefields of the Eastern theater. Some of the pictures of the officers are cartes-des-vistes in uniform and civilian clothing. The battlefield photos were taken in 1885 at Antietam, Md., and at Winchester, Va., Cedar Creek, Va., and Fisher's Hill, Va. The number beginning the description of pictures 42-52 was assigned by the photographer.

Image Folder PF-135/1