John Brown Gordon family papers, circa 1841-1979

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Summary

Creator:
Haralson, Hugh Anderson, 1805-1854, Gordon, John Brown, 1832-1904, Gordon, Hugh Haralson, and Gordon family
Date:
circa 1841-1979
Extent:
12.8 Linear Feet (21 document boxes, 2 half boxes, 2 oversized boxes, 1 oversized folder)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

John Brown Gordon family papers, ms1637, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of papers of John Brown Gordon and the Gordon family from ca. 1841-1979. Papers relating to John Brown Gordon include correspondence, writings, photographs, and scrapbooks. The correspondence (1861-1930) consists of letters written to his wife, Fanny Haralson Gordon, mainly while Gordon was serving in the Confederate Army in the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland; letters (1864-1870) from Robert E. Lee; and correspondence to and from his family while he was serving as a United States Senator in Washington. Other Gordon family members represented in the papers include Hugh Haralson Gordon, Caroline Lewis Gordon, and Lewis Gordon. The collection contains an interesting set of letters (1941-1948) to and from Rev. John Dawson Gordon, whose parents were enslaved by, and later, servants of the Gordon family from 1854 until they moved to California in the 1890s.

The collection also contains papers relating to the Haralson family, consisting mainly of correspondence (1841-1851) between Hugh A. Haralson, while serving in the U.S. Congress, and his wife, Caroline Lewis Haralson, and their daughters Elizabeth, Fanny, and Caroline. Mrs. Haralson's letters to her husband provide an indepth look at her management of their plantation in LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia, while her husband was away from home. The collection also contains genealogical materials relating to the Gordon, Haralson, Hodgson, Howard, and Lewis families.

Biographical / historical:

John Brown Gordon (1832-1904), Georgia Governor and U.S. Senator, Confederate General, longtime commander of the United Confederate Veterans, married Fanny Rebecca Haralson, daughter of Senator Hugh A. Haralson.

For more information, see the article John B. Gordon (1832-1904) in the New Georgia Encyclopedia and his congressional biography.

Arrangement:

Arranged into series by family member: Series 1. Genealogical materials; Series 2. John Brown Gordon; Series 3. Haralson family; Series 4. Hugh Haralson Gordon; Series 5. Hugh Haralson Gordon III; Series 6. Caroline Lewis Gordon; Series 7. Lewis Gordon; Series 8. Family bibles.

Access and use restrictions

Preferred citation:

John Brown Gordon family papers, ms1637, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.