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A Guide to the Isaac White Letters, 1861-1938 White, Isaac, Letters Ms97-013

A Guide to the Isaac White Letters, 1861-1938

A Collection in
the Special Collections
Collection Number Ms97-013


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Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Contact Information:
University Libraries
P.O. Box 90001
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-9001
USA
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Email: specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/
Processed by: Clayton McGahee Special Collections Staff
Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
© 2001 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Repository
Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Collection number
Ms97-013
Title
Isaac White Letters 1861-1938
Physical Characteristics
0.2 cubic feet, 1 box, 50 folders and 1 oversize folder
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Isaac White Letters must be obtained from the Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Isaac White Letters, 1861-1938, Ms97-013, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Alternative Form Available

Transcriptions and digital images (jpgs) of the letters are available. See the "Contents List" for links to this material.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Isaac White Letters commenced and was completed in 1998. Additional description was completed in 2009.

Biographical/Historical Information

Isaac White was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 29, 1837. He graduated in 1859 from the Medical College of Virginia. He married Mary Virginia Day (1840-1922) on November 6, 1860. He and Mary bore two sons, John Day White (1864-1923), and George White. On May 27, 1861, White was commissioned as an assistant surgeon in the Virginia Active Volunteer Forces, with the rank of captain. He was appointed as an assistant surgeon in the Confederate Army on September 2, 1861, and served in the 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment until his resignation on December 6, 1861. On May 13, 1862, he was appointed a major in the 29th Virginia Infantry Regiment, effective until his resignation on October 18, 1862. He served as acting assistant surgeon in Montgomery White Sulphur Springs Hospital (a resort before and after the war) in Montgomery County, Virginia, from September 8, 1862, until January 8, 1863. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the 62nd Virginia Regiment Mounted Infantry on March 24, 1863. It is unknown when he ended his service with this regiment. White was captured on December 10, 1864, and taken as a prisoner of war, until he was released at Camp Hamilton, Virginia, on January 6, 1865. After the war White was a resident physician at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs and Allegheny Springs resorts, and wrote for the Lynchburg and Richmond newspapers describing the history and social conditions of the local resorts as they were in the their glory days. Isaac White died on August 3, 1889, at his home in Shawsville, Virginia, and is buried in the family graveyard on the property.

Scope and Content Information

The Isaac White papers consist of letters written mostly by White to his wife, Mary Virginia Day White, while he served with the Confederate Army as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War. He refers to her as Jinnie in the letters. Many of the letters are written while encamped along the Shenandoah Valley. Other papers include literature gathered by Bess Duvall White Snead, Isaac White's grand-daughter, in her search for military information about Isaac White.

The "Contents List" contains links to transcriptions of most of the letters in the collection. A few of the letters have also been scanned as jpgs.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Contents List

Container List
  • Box-folder 1-1
    Transcript of Isaac White letters done by George Snead, 1938
  • Box-folder 1-2
    Certificate to Isaac White certifying his appointment to Surgeon with the rank of Captain, May 27, 1861
  • Box-folder 1-3
    Letter to Alfred (James A. Agee of Appomattox County, Virginia) from S.H. Mullan of Highland Co., Virginia, June 8, 1861
  • Box-folder 1-4
    Letter to Alfred from S.H. Mullan, February 3, 1862
  • Box-folder 1-5
    Letter to Alfred and Sarah from Mullan, July 4, 1862
  • Box-folder 1-6
    Letter to Isaac White from Colonel James D. Imboden inviting White to apply as a surgeon in Imboden's regiment, July 24, 1862
  • Box-folder 1-7
    Letter to Isaac White from the Assistant Secretary of War inviting him to appear before the board for his examination for the position of Assistant Surgeon, December 22, 1862
  • Box-folder 1-8
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Washington, April 13, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-9
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Buckhannan Upshur Co. Virginia, May 2, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-10
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Williamsport, Maryland, July 9, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-11
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Harrisonburg, Virginia, August 20, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-12
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Harrisonburg, Virginia, September 7, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-13
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp, 10 Miles North of Harrisonburg, Virginia, September 13, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-14
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Near Dayton, Virginia, September 30, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-15
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Near Dogton, October 6, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-16
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp 18 Miles NW of Staunton, October 24, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-17
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Harrisonburg, November 18, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-18
    Letter to Isaac from Grandma Day, December 8, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-19
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp 5 Miles from Staunton, December 24, 1863
  • Box-folder 1-20
    Letter from Mary Day to White(?), February 28, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-21
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Near Dear Field, Virginia, March 9, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-22
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Mt. Crawford, Virginia, April 30, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-23
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Woodstock, Virginia, May 7, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-24
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Newmarket, Virginia, May 16, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-25
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Hanover Junction, Virginia, May 20, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-26
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Hanover Junction, Virginia, May 27, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-27
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - On The Battle Field, June 3, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-28
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Charlottesville, Virginia, June 8, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-29
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Charlottesville, Virginia, June 12, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-30
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp 4 Miles of Salem, June 22, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-31
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Near Staunton, June 27, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-32
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Strausburg, Virginia, July 22, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-33
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Near Jefferson Co. Virginia, August 9, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-34
    Letter from Isaac to his Mother - Camp 8 Miles Above ?, August 11, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-35
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Camp Lurray Valley, Virginia, August 17, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-36
    Letter from Isaac to his Mother - Camp Lurray Valley, Virginia, August 17, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-37
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac, August 19, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-38
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Jefferson Co., Virginia, August 24, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-39
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Strausburg, Virginia, September 22, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-40
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - Port Republic, October 2, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-41
    Letter to Jinnie from Isaac - On Pickett Near Newhope, Virginia, October 6, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-42
    Telegraph to Jinnie from Isaac - Mt. Dr (?), October 20, 1864
  • Box-folder 1-43
    Envelopes of letters from Isaac White,
  • Box-folder 1-44
    A Letter from Leslie Day to Leslie's Sister - Bluefield, West Virginia, September 21, 1897
  • Box-folder 1-45
    Note from Bank of Christiansburg, Virginia, November 28, 1900
  • Box-folder 1-46
    Isaac White's War Record from the Adjutant General's office of the U.S. War Department, May 16, 1938
  • Box-folder 1-47
    Virginia State Library Certificate from Wilmer Hall, State Librarian, December 7, 1938
  • Box-folder 1-48
    Letter to Mrs. S.C. Snead from Mr. Hall, State Librarian, showing the service of Isaac White in the Confederate Army, December 8, 1938
  • Box-folder 1-49
    Blank Sheet of Snead Lumber Company paper,
  • Box-folder 1-50
    Story of Mrs. Payne's Life - "A Brief Outline of My Life, Written for the Benefit of my Grandchildren,"
  • Box-folder Oversize folder
    Invoice of Medicines, Instruments, Hospital Stores, Bedding, Etc. issued to Surgeon Isaac White, Camp Alaghany by Surgeon E.W. Johns, signed by E.W. Johns, Surgeon and Medical Purveyor. August 26, 1861