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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Gay Family Correspondence, Ms1988-088, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Gay Family Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1988.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Gay Family Correspondence commenced and was completed in May, 2021.

Biographical Note

Brothers Calvin S., T. (Tredway) K., and James P. Gay of South Auburn (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania were sons of Ansel and Elizabeth Bunnell Gay.

Calvin Sterling Gay was born in Auburn, September 9, 1839. During the Civil War, he served in Company H, 4th Pennsylvania Reserve (aka 33rd Pennsylvania Infantry). (His letter of November 13, 1864, suggests that Gay was serving in a cavalry regiment at that time.) The 1870 census lists a Calvin Gay, 28, working as a farmer while living in the Auburn home of Ansel Gay. By 1880, Calvin Gay was working as a farmer in Meshoppen County, Pennsylvania, and living with wife Jane and three young children. Calvin S. Gay died in Bradford (Sayre County), Pennsylvania, December 8, 1916, and was buried in Tioga Point Cemetery, Athens (Bradford County), Pennsylvania.

James Place Gay was born September 4, 1837. During the Civil War, he served in Company H, 4th Pennsylvania Reserve (aka 33rd Pennsylvania Infantry), eventually rising to the rank of 2nd lieutenant. The 1870 census shows James Gay continuing to work as a farmer while living in the home of his father. By 1880, he was living in the Auburn, Pennsylvania, home of his father-in-law, David Jackson, together with his wife, Mary Jackson Gay (1856-1958), and the couple's two daughters. James P. Gay died July 31, 1916, and was buried in Montrose Cemetery, Montrose (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania.

Tredway (or Treadway) K. Gay was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1840. On November 1, 1863, he enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army Signal Corps. He died of disease at Asylum General Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee on September 21, 1864, and is likely the T. K. Gay buried in Knoxville National Cemetery.

Scope and Content

This collection contains five letters written among brothers James P., T. K. and Calvin S. Gay, of South Auburn (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania, while all were serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The letters are written from camps in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Maryland.

In three letters written to his brother Calvin between February and May, 1864, T. K. Gay, serving in the U. S. Signal Corps, recounts his unit's movement from Washington D. C. to Knoxville via Pittsburgh. He describes a cursory inspection in Knoxville and provides a humorous account of a false alarm in camp. He notes that his camp is in the what had been the garden of a wealthy local resident and adds that Union troops had burned down the house, cut down the trees, and destroyed the flower gardens. Gay also mentions Copperheads back home.

In a letter to his brother Charles, James P. Gay, of the 4th Pennsylvania Reserves, provides instructions for having his father bring a wagonload of supplies to Gay in camp in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area. Gay also provides instructions for the making of a pair of boots that he wants brought to him.

Writing from Cumberland, Maryland, to his brother James, Calvin S. Gay describes his regiment's recent inspection and parade. He also writes of personal matters, telling James to stay away from his girlfriend: "[Y]ou spoke of Hatty & myselfe of being intimate you better bet we are & would like to have you let her alone while I am absent I hear that you have got to Robing folks since I came away & for this reason would like to have you keep hands off from Hatty."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

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