Athey Family Civil War Letters and Assorted Photographs
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 1678
Correspondence of the Athey family of Tyler County, West Virginia, consisting primarily of ten letters written from Dudley and Austin Athey, brothers who served in the 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment from 1863 to 1865 (Folder 1). In letters to their siblings and parents at home, the Atheys describe their desire to visit home; their location on railroads or in camps at New Creek and Parkersburg, West Virginia; their health; and their desire to receive more letters from home. Letters from family members at home chiefly contain news about the family's farm and harvest. Most of the letters are brief and notable for phonetic spelling. One letter to the Athey family from another member of the 11th West Virginia documents the regiment's position in Deep Bottom, Virginia, in January 1865 and describes the cold weather, winter quarters, African American troops, the interaction between Confederate and Union pickets, and artillery fire. There is also an 1869 letter written by a Methodist circuit rider, Loren Stewart, concerning his work around Spencer following the Civil War.
In addition to the Athey family letters, this collection contains pages from a photograph album as well as a few loose clippings and photographs dating from the 1920s, 1930s, and the 1940s (Folders 2-4). People in the photographs are of the Livezey and Greenwood families. R.A. is identified in some of the photographs and is probably Ray A. Livezey. A man named “French” appears in many photographs. Other subjects include farms and farming, logging, airplanes and the Hoosier Airport in Indianapolis. Locations include Reedy, Waverly, and St. Albans, West Virginia; Monroe County, West Virginia; New River, West Virginia; Barbour (Barber) and Otter Creeks, Virginia; and Newport and Reno, Ohio. Some of the photographs appear to be from family travels to Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, and Virginia. A few larger photographs are identified: “Moonshine Still in Kentucky;” a school with a group of students and adults in Wood County, Williams District [West Virginia?], “Location of the Mountain State Business College” in Parkersburg, from a newspaper clipping; “Corner Stone Laying for New School in Williamstown[?], W.Va.”; and another school group photograph “Clara McDougal, Plum Run School, 1928” with students identified. Three travel post cards from the collection can be seen in West Virginia History onview.
No specific access restriction applies.
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0.21 Linear Feet (2.5 in. (1 document case))
English
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository