Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Catlett Conway Correspondence must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Catlett Conway Correspondence, Ms2012-039, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Special Collections in June 2012.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Catlett Conway Correspondence was completed in September 2012.

Biographical Note

Catlett Conway was born to Battaile Fitzhugh Taliaferro Conway and his first wife Mary Ann Wallace on January 5, 1840. Dr. William Buchanan Conway was born to Battaile's second wife Cornelia Sapphira Buchanan on January 3, 1845. Both men grew up on the family homestead, Ellerslie, in Madison County, VA before joining the Confederate Army in the Civil War. After the war, Catlett lived in Richmond, VA where he worked for Richmond Granite Company, and later a Richmond based coal company. In 1871, William became the Physician and Surgeon for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (later known as Virginia Tech), but moved to Athens, GA in 1891 for medical reasons.

For more information on Catlett and William see: The Brothers Conway of Madison County, Virginia, Autobiographies of Catlett Conway and William Buchanan Conway , Compiled and edited by Anne H. (Price) Yates. The book is available for use in Special Collectiosn: CT275 C767 A3 1998 Spec Large.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of 65 letters written between Catlett Conway and family members during the years 1892-1920. The majority of the letters are written by Catlett to his half-brother, Dr. William Buchanan Conway, but he also wrote to other siblings and his children. One letter is written by John C. Conway and addressed to Catlett. In addition to contemporary content (family news, employment, social critiques, politics, and literature), Catlett also writes of his Civil War experiences and discussions with other Civil War veterans.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically by date.

Related Material

Conway, Catlett, William Buchanan Conway, and Anne Hayden Price Yates. The Brothers Conway of Madison County, Virginia: Autobiographies of Catlett Conway and William Buchanan Conway . Ridgecrest, CA (P.O. Box 2047, Ridgecrest 93556): A.H. Yates, 1998.

Conway, Catlett, and Anne Hayden Price Yates. Letters Written by Catlett Conway (1840-1929), CSA Veteran . 2012.

Anne H. Price Yates Papers, (Ms1989-087). Finding aid available online.

Anne H. Price Yates Papers II (Ms2012-065). Finding aid available online.

W. B. Conway and Julia Thomas Conway Correspondence (Ms2019-018). Finding aid available online .

Dr. W. B. Conway and Julia Ellen Thomas Correspondence (Ms2014-015). Finding aid available online .

Julia Thomas Conway and Mary Black Thomas Luster Correspondence (Ms2019-019). Finding aid available online .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• Conway, Battaile Fitzhugh Taliaferro
• Conway, Henry
• Conway, Mary Wallace
• Conway, William Buchanan, 1845-1920
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• Virginia -- History