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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Letters to Eliza Doty and Phebe Mundy, 1834-1869, Ms2023-146, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Letters to Eliza Doty and Phebe Mundy were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in July and November 2016.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Letters to Eliza Doty was completed in January 2024. An addition was integrated with updated description in November 2024.

Family History

Henry Mundy (1783 or 1784-1851) married Phebe Ayers or Ayres (1787-1858), and they had several children: Henry E., Eliza Squier, Sarah Ayers (or Ayres), Phebe Ayers (or Ayres), Rebecca, David A., and William E. Henry and Phebe Mundy are buried in the Rahway Cemetery in Rahway, New Jersey.

Eliza Squier Mundy was born on December 10, 1808. She married Israel Doty or Doughty (1794-1879), a farmer. She died on November 25, 1873, and is buried alongside her husband in the New Providence Presbyterian Churchyard in New Providence, New Jersey.

Sarah Ayers (or Ayres) Mundy was born on October 20, 1809. She married James Harris Poindexter (1800-1867). Sarah died on May 26, 1872, and is buried alongside her husband in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

The younger Phebe Ayers (or Ayres) Mundy married Asa Read of New York City on March 16, 1843, in the Presbyterian Church at Jersey City, New Jersey. She died at the age of 27 and is buried in the Rahway Cemetery.

External Sources:

"Eliza Doty" in the New Jersey, U.S., Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/518961699:2540 , accessed January 22, 2024.

"Eliza Mundy Squier Doty", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193288333/eliza-squier_doty , accessed January 22, 2024.

"Henry Mundy" in the New Jersey, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/509802:8796 , accessed January 22, 2024.

"Henry Mundy", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92583769/henry-mundy , accessed January 22, 2024.

"Sarah Ayres Mundy Poindexter", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49866373/sarah-ayres-poindexter , accessed January 22, 2024.

"Phebe Ayres Mundy", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92583770/phebe_ayres_mundy , accessed Nov. 8, 2024.

"Phebe Mundy" in the U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/61048/records/901064713 , accessed Nov. 8, 2024.

Scope and Content

This collection contains letters to Eliza Doty and her mother Phebe Mundy from Doty's sisters and Mundy's daughters Sarah Poindexter and Phebe Ayers Mundy. The letters to Doty (also Doughty) in New Providence, New Jersey, were written by her sister, probably Sarah, in 1840, 1845, and 1868, from Richmond, Virginia, and on April 1, 1869, from Culpeper, Virginia. The 1840-1845 letters detail weather, community information, and familial updates. Letters from 1868-1869 contain information on the declining economic conditions in Richmond, and the sister's negative feelings about reconstruction conditions in Virginia.

The letters to Phebe Mundy are written by her daughters Sarah Poindexter and Phebe Ayers Mundy. One of the letters is written to Poindexter from Phebe Ayers Mundy and forwarded by Poindexter with an additional note from her to their mother. The letters are from 1834 to 1841 and sent from Richmond to Rahway, New Jersey. The contents discuss church news, familial updates, and travel updates.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Letters to Eliza Doty and Phebe Mundy by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).