Processed by: Alexandra Dowrey, Graduate Assistant and Kira A. Dietz, Archivist,
Special Collections
Repository
Special Collections, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, Va.
Collection Number
Ms2003-017
Title
Thomas W. Colley Collection, 1845-1947, 1986
Physical Characteristics
1.3 cu. ft.
3 boxes
Creator
Colley, Thomas W., 1837-1919
Language
English
Abstract
The Thomas W. Colley Collection contains correspondence, financial documents, such as ledgers, receipts, and deeds, temperance
society sermons, electoral cards, a Veteran's Meeting minute book, Civil War reminiscences, and a roll for the First Virginia
Company D Volunteer Cavalry's wounded and dead for 1861. The majority of the collection dates from 1860 to 1920.
Permission to publish material from the Thomas W. Colley Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Thomas W. Colley Collection, Ms2003-017,
Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Acquisition Information
The collection was donated to Special Collections before 2003.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Thomas W. Colley Collection was completed in October 2013.
Thomas W. Colley (1837-1919) served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. He enlisted in May 1861 as a private
in the 1st Virginia Cavalry, Company D (2nd), referred to also as the Washington Mounted Rifles, as this company hailed from
Washington County, VA. Colley was wounded multiple times during the course of the war. Most seriously, at Kelly's Ford in
1863, he was shot near the stomach on the left side; the ball passed clean through his body and emerged near his spine. He
recovered and returned to his division. He finished the war with the rank of 2nd Corporal. Thomas Colley's brother, William
Lewis Colley, who appears in correspondence within the collection, also served in the same cavalry division. Following the
war, Colley returned to Abingdon, VA and held the following positions for Washington County, VA: Deputy Sheriff, Commissioner
of Revenue, and Overseer for the Poor. He died in 1919.
Sources Consulted:
Driver, Robert J., Jr.
1st Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg, VA: H. E. Howard, Inc., 1991.
The collection contains both material related to Thomas W. Colley's daily life in Abingdon, VA, and to Colley's service as
a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. Materials include correspondence, financial documents, such as ledgers, receipts,
and deeds, temperance society sermons, electoral cards, a Veteran's Meeting minute book, Civil War reminiscences, and a roll
for the First Virginia Company D Volunteer Cavalry's wounded and dead for 1861. The majority of the collection dates from
1860 to 1920.
Much of the correspondence occurs between Thomas Colley and his extended family, except for Colley's business correspondence.
The letters dating to the Civil War are typed transcriptions rather than the original. Later letters, however, that make reference
to and reminisce about the Civil War are original.
The collection is arranged into three series: Series 1: Correspondence; Series 2: Financial Documents; and Series 3: Subject
Files. The folders within each series are organized in chronological order.
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