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| COLLECTION INFORMATION | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|---|---|
| Dates: 1862 Size: 1box, 48 items (.5 linear feet) Acquisition: Gift, ca. 1960 Access: Open for research Processed by: Pam Palmer, 1985 |
John Calhoun Birdwell, son of Allen and Luinda Ross Birdwell, was born in Lawrence County, Alabama on April 7, 1829. By 1845 the family had moved to Rusk County, Texas, where Allen Birdwell served as a State Representative to the Texas Legislature from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. In 1849 John C. Birdwell married Adaline Burney Cunningham, and they resided a number of years at Mount Enterprise, Rusk County before moving to Flatswood, Nacogdoches County shortly before the Civil War. John served in Company H of the 17th Dismounted Cavalry and was captured at Arkansas Post on the Arkansas River. He died on January 6, 1869.
A farmer, John Birdwell included instructions for running the farm in his absence in his letters written to his wife during the Civil War. Her letters report the progress of crops and livestock. The letters of both recount their hardships during the war as well as news of family and friends. Birdwell describes Confederate camp conditions depicting disease epidemics, food, music, gambling, funerals, weather, and ragged condition of the troops. He was not a slave holder and waxes bitter about the slave owners causing the war then paying substitutes to fight for them. Most of his letters were written from Camp Nelson and Camp Hope, Arkansas and contain an underlying refrain about the unreliability of mail service during the war.
(Mitchell, Gwenneth."John and Adeline Birdwell." Rusk County History. Dallas, Texas; Taylor Publishing Company, 1982. p. 112.)
The letters are typescript and typescript carbon. Biographical and genealogical materials have been added to the collection.
[A-116]
BOX 1
Folder 1: Correspondence between John C. and Adaline Birdwell, from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nacogdoches Co., re: farming, Civil War, conscription, fall of New Orleans, camp life, family matters, health, Apr.-May 1862; n.d. Typescript, carbon. 7 items.
Folder 2: Correspondence between John C. and Adaline Birdwell and Mrs. N.O. Brewer, Nacogdoches County and Arkansas, re: war deprivations and depredations, farming, health, family matters, June 1862. Typescript, carbon. 6 items.
Folder 3: Correspondence of John C. to Adaline and Allen Birdwell [father of John], mostly from Camp Hope, Arkansas, re: farm, war, camp life, need for clothes and shoes, military funerals, July-Sept. 1862. Carbon. 8 items.
Folder 4: Correspondence of John C. to Adaline Birdwell, mostly from Camp Hope and Camp Nelson, Arkansas, re: camp life, marching, mail service problems, war, Southern politics, Oct. 1862. Carbon. 6 items.
Folder 5: Correspondence of John C. to Adaline Birdwell, mostly from Camp Nelson, Arkansas, re: war, mail, migration to Texas, camp life, weather, Nov. 1862. Carbon. 8 items.
Folder 6: Correspondence of John C. to Adaline Birdwell, from Arkansas Post, re: war, slave holders and slaves, camp life, weather, Dec. 1862. Typescript, carbon. 5 items.
Folder 7: Physical description of John C. Birdwell by Capt. Joseph H. Bruton, Aug. 4, 1863. Carbon. 1 item.
Folder 8: Biographical and genealogical materials, [1850-1980]. Photocopy. 7 items.
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