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Collection Number: 04180

Collection Title: John Kennedy Street Papers, 1858-1899

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.


Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 124 items)
Abstract John Kennedy Street (1837-1914), originally of Giles County, Tenn., was a private in the 9th Texas Infantry, July 1861-November 1863, then a chaplain with the 14th Texas Cavalry. He fought in campaigns in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky. The collection consists chiefly of letters from John Kennedy Street to his wife, Melinda Pace Street (1839-1899), describing marches, camp life, picket duty, sickness, hospitals, bushwhackers, religious revivals, and the formation of a Young Men's Christian Association in his brigade. He also wrote of his battlefield experiences at Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro, and of the fall of Vicksburg and skirmishing around Jackson, Miss., that took place at the same time. Street commented generally on the war and on southern independence and mentioned family members whom he visited during the course of his military service. There are two letters written by his daughter, Elizabeth Kennedy Street Wallace. Also included is a diary Street kept recounting his time spent in federal prisons at Vicksburg and Memphis; newspaper clippings; an 1862 photograph of Street; a contemporary hand-drawn map of the siege of Vicksburg; a poem, a calling card, and an invitation to a wedding anniversary celebration.
Creator Street, John Kennedy, 1837-1914.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 John Kennedy Street Papers #4180, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed 2005-2006) available.
  • Reel 1: Entire collection
Alternate Form of Material
Transcriptions of letters are available.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Mrs. Doris (Goerch) Horton of Pittsboro, N.C., and Mrs. Sibyl (Goerch) Powe of Durham, N.C., in February 1980.
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: Martha Smith, February 1980

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2005

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

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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

John Kennedy Street, born 13 May 1837 in Cornersville, Giles County, Tenn., was a private in the 9th Texas Infantry, July 1861-November 1863, then a chaplain with the 14th Texas Cavalry. He fought in campaigns in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky. Street was captured by federal forces while on furlough in January 1864. He was imprisoned at Vicksburg and Memphis until May 1864, when he escaped while being transferred to prison on Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio.

Street married Melinda East Pace (1839-1899) in July 1861. The Streets had four daughters, but only two, Elizabeth Kennedy ("Lizzie") and Jeanie Kate, lived to be adults. John Kennedy Street died 1 October 1914 in Waco, McClennan County, Tex., where he had lived since 1865.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection chiefly consists of Civil War era letters from John Kennedy Street, serving in the Confederate Army first with the 9th Texas Infantry and then with the 14th Texas Cavalry, to his wife, Melinda East Pace Street, describing marches, camp life, picket duty, sickness, hospitals, bushwhackers, religious revivals, and the formation of a Young Men's Christian Association in his brigade. He also wrote of his battlefield experiences at Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro, and of the fall of Vicksburg, Miss., and skirmishing around Jackson, Miss., that took place at the same time. Street commented generally on the war and on southern independence and mentioned family members whom he visited during the course of his military service. There are two letters written by his daughter Elizabeth Kennedy Street Wallace. Also included is a diary Street kept recounting his time spent in federal prisons at Vicksburg and Memphis, Tenn.; newspaper clippings; an 1862 photograph of Street; a contemporary hand-drawn map of the siege of Vicksburg; a poem, a calling card, and an invitation to a wedding anniversary celebration.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1858-1899.

124 items.

Folder 1

Correspondence, 1858, 1861-February 1862

Folder 2

Correspondence, 1862: March-June

Folder 3

Correspondence, 1862: July-December

Folder 4

Correspondence, 1863: January-June

Folder 5

Correspondence, 1863: July-December

Folder 6

Correspondence, 1864-1865, 1873, 1896-1897, 1899

Folder 7

Diary, 1864: January-June

Folder 8

Newspaper clippings, 1862-1863, 1881

Folder 9

Miscellaneous

Photograph of James K. Street, 1862; poem, ca. 1862-1863; calling card, 1863; invitation, 1881

Folder 10

Transcripts

Image Folder P-4180/1

Street, John Kennedy, 1862

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4180/1

Oversize paper

Reel M-4180/1

Microfilm

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Oversize paper (OPF-4180/1)

Microfilm (M-4180/1)

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