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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], Richard G. Noble Correspondence, Ms2010-007, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Richard G. Noble Correspondence was acquired by Special Collections prior to 2009.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Richard G. Noble Correspondence was commenced and completed in February 2009.

Biographical Note

The recipient of the letters, Richard G. Noble, was twenty-six years old. He came from Autauga County, Alabama, from a farming family. He had many sisters, and his sister Mary, who wrote to him on June 11th, 1863, was at least thirteen years younger than him.

During the American Civil War, Richard G. Noble served in the Confederacy's 12th Alabama Infantry Regiment that was stationed in Richmond, Virginia during 1863. The regiment was organized in July 1861 by Lt. Col William H. Hundley and Major Albert G. Bennett, and it was immediately was sent to the front lines. It originally contained 1,196 men. Before it was disbanded on April 25, 1865, with only 125 men present, the regiment suffered heavy casualties.

Miss Amanda Thacker, who wrote to Richard G. Noble on June 1st, 1863, was twenty years old. She also lived in Autauga County, Alabama. Her parents were farmers, Catharin and W.L Thacker, and she lived in a large household of around eighteen people. On March 5th, 1863, she married Thomas M. Poole.

External sources:

Autauga County, Alabama Genealogical Information. USGenWeb project, 18 Oct. 2009. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alautaug/.

History of the 12th Alabama Infantry, CSA. The Friends of Myers Cemetery, 30 May 2003. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. Archived online at https://web.archive.org/web/20100520235031/http://home.earthlink.net:80/~bronyaf/Friends_Myers/History12thAla.html , accessed April 21, 2023.

Twelfth Alabama Infantry Regiment. Alabama Department of Archives & History, 21 Nov. 1996. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20100317141426/www.archives.state.al.us/referenc/alamilor/12thinf.html , accessed April 21, 2023.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of two American Civil War letters, an envelope, and a transcript.

The first letter is from Emily Noble to her brother, Richard Noble; it is dated June 11th 1863. In it, she talks about the hard times at home and thanks him for the flax thread he previously sent her. She also says that a Jimmy Thacker is dead and closes the letter with a prayer for her brother.

The second letter is accompanied by an envelope. It is from a Miss A. Thacker and is dated June 1st, 1863. She refers to a letter he sent her dated May 12th, and thanks him for a ring that accompanied it. She also talks about the crops. She closes by urging him to pray, telling him, "If you is not a praying man you is not too old to learn."

A transcript accompanies these two letters. It refers to Miss A. Thacker as Richard G. Noble's sweetheart.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Related Material

A borderland Confederate , edited by Festus P. Summers. [Pittsburgh] : University of Pittsburgh Press, [1962]. Call number E605 .W76 Spec Civil War

History of the First Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C. S. A. , by Edward Young McMorries. Montgomery, Ala. : Brown, 1904. Call number E551.5 1st .M2 1904 Spec Civil War

Subjects and Indexing Terms

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

Rights Statement for Archival Description

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