Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Organ Family Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Organ Family Collection, Ms2019-022, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Organ Family Collection was donated to Special Collections in 2015.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Organ Family Collection was completed in June 2019.

Biographical Note

The Organ Family Collection includes writing from siblings and cousins in the Organ family. The most frequent writers are John Henry Organ, David O. Layne, and William Austin Organ. The letters were addressed to Elcie Ann Organ, sister of John and William and cousin to David. The Organs and other family members receiving the letters resided in Campbell County, VA.

John Henry Organ was born on November 24, 1831. He served in Company C of the Clifton Greys, 11th Virginia Infantry. He died on August 13, 1861 of Typhoid following illness from Measles at Lynchburg, VA.

William Austin Organ was born on December 17, 1841. He served in Company C of the Clifton Greys, 11th Virginia Infantry. He died of a disease on May 26th or 27th, 1862 in Richmond, VA.

David Orison Layne was born in 1832 in Campbell County, VA. He was a volunteer soldier in Company C of the 11th Virginia Infantry. He was killed in action in May 1862 in Williamsburg, VA.

Elcie Ann Organ was born on February 9, 1838 in Campbell County, VA. She married Richard T. Brown in 1870. She had four children. Elcie died on July 12, 1887 in Campbell County, VA as she was giving birth to her fifth child, who did not survive.

Scope and Content

The Organ Family Collection includes materials from 1836-2006. Materials concern the Organ family's experience on the homefront and in battle during the American Civil War. It contains correspondence between members of the Organ family in Virginia from 1850-1894. The letters concern the homefront and war happenings with the 11th Regiment, Virginia Infantry between 1861-1863. Materials also include a photo album of unidentified family members, a binder full of transcripts of the letters, a momento with braided hair, and "The Organs of War" by Mary Cornelia Fischer. The Organ Family Collection consists of two series: Correspondence and Artifacts.

Arrangement Note

The Organ Family Collection is arranged in two series: Correspondence and Artifacts. I. Correspondence contains the following items: letters dated 1836-1894, undated letters, transcripts of letters, and empty envelopes. This series is arranged by material type and then chronological order. II. Artifacts contains a photo album of unidentified family member, "The Organs of War" by Mary Cornelia Fischer (a collection of transcripts), and a momento with braided hair.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Civil War
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Homefront

Rights Statements for Archival Description

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