Alexander H. Stephens family papers, 1818-1944, bulk 1854-1883

Summary

Creator:

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812-1883

Date:

1818-1944, bulk 1854-1883

Extent:

23 Linear Feet 20 boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 5 oversize folders, 1 artifact

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Alexander H. Stephens family papers, ms3823, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of correspondence, writings, printed material, photographs, financial papers, and scrapbooks. The correspondence is divided into family and business with family letters mainly among Alexander H. Stephens, John A. Stephens and Linton Stephens. They discuss family matters, politics and legal cases. Included is a letter from Alexander H. Stephens describing his trip to Athens to take his entrance examination, in which he describes the university and town as well as the countryside between Athens and Washington, Georgia. Business correspondence includes letters from Herschel Johnson, Howell Cobb, Joseph E. Brown, and Joseph H. Lumpkin. There are also items relating to John Stephens' imprisonment at Johnson Island (OH) during the Civil War. Letters during wartime included lists the members of the Stephens Rifles, flag design proposals, petitions for military positions, and discussions on the release of a Union officer from Andersonville. There is a folder of 1851 correspondence concerning a possible duel between Thomas W. Thomas and James M. Smythe, and materials regarding the surveying of Michigan and Texas Territories. Printed material includes several speeches of Alexander H. Stephens. The scrapbooks contain newspapers clippings about Alexander H. Stephens. Included is a plantation account book of the Simpson plantation, in which are lists of enslaved people, a journal of daily farm work, printed rules for managing farms and slaves, and signed contracts with freedmen.

Biographical / historical:

Alexander Hamilton Stephens (1812-1883) was born near Crawfordville (Ga.) to Margaret Grier and Andrew Baskins Stephens. Liberty Hall in Crawfordville was his home. He was Vice President of the Confederacy during the Civil War, a United States Congressman, and died in office as Georgia Governor in 1883. John Alexander Stephens (1838-1887), nephew of Alexander H. Stephens, was a lawyer in Atlanta and son of John Lindsay Stephens. John Alexander Stephens was married to Mary Emma Simpson (1841?-1900), daughter of William Wingfield Simpson (1814-1887), owner of a plantation in Hancock County (Ga.). Linton Stephens was the half-brother of Alexander H. Stephens.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Soldiers -- Confederate States of America -- Correspondence.
Vice-Presidents -- Confederate States of America -- Correspondence.
Surveying -- Georgia
Surveyors -- United States -- Correspondence
Prisoners of war -- Confederate States of America -- Correspondence.
Writing.
Scrapbooks.
Plantations -- Georgia.
Dueling -- Georgia.
Lawyers -- Georgia -- Correspondence.
Broadsides -- Georgia.
Legislators -- Georgia.
Land grants -- Georgia.
Freedmen -- Georgia.
Cotton farmers -- Georgia.
Families -- Georgia -- Photographs.
Farm management -- Georgia.
Slaveholders -- United States.
Correspondence
Account books

Names:

Johnson Island Prison
Know-Nothing Party
Stephens family
Stephens, John Alexander
Stephens, Aaron G.
Stephens, Alexander W.
Simpson, William W.
Toombs, Robert Augustus, 1810-1885
Stephens, Linton, 1823-1872
Stephens, John Lindsay, 1815-1856
Stephens, William G.

Places:

Georgia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons.

Preferred citation:

Alexander H. Stephens family papers, ms3823, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.