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Collection Number: 03602

Collection Title: Edward Clifford Anderson Papers, 1813-1882

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 63 items)
Abstract Edward Clifford Anderson (1815-1883) of Savannah, Ga., was a United States Navy officer, planter, Confederate Army officer, mayor of Savannah, insurance company representative, and railroad director. He was married to Sarah McQueen Williamson (1816-1884). The collection consists of family letters and volumes of Edward Clifford Anderson and Sarah McQueen Williamson Anderson of Savannah, Ga. Most of the letters, 1837-1882, are to Sarah Anderson from female friends and relatives, and her husband. Topics include social life in various northern and southern cities, family news, and wartime conditions in Savannah and in Charleston, S.C. Eight volumes of notes and diaries of Anderson record his experiences as a United States naval officer, 1835-1839 and 1842-1846, serving in the Mediterranean, in Florida coastal waters, and with the United States Coast Survey; as a Confederate Army officer traveling to England, 1861-1864, trying to purchase military supplies there, and later serving with the Savannah River defenses; and as a resident of Savannah, 1869-1875 and 1877-1882, active as mayor, insurance agent, and director of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company and the Central Railroad and Canal Company of Georgia. Anderson's interests in family, social, economic, racial, and civic affairs during Reconstruction and later are also represented. Other materials include the minutes, 1813-1868, of the Chatham Academy of Savannah and miscellaneous plantation and slave records.
Creator Anderson, Edward Clifford, 1815-1883.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Edward Clifford Anderson Papers #3602, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed January 1972) available.
  • Reel 1: folders 1-7
  • Reel 2: folders 8-14
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. J. Fred Schwalb of Savannah, Ga., in November 1962.
Additional Descriptive Resources
Original finding aid is filed in folder 1a.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Carolyn Wallace, October 1963

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2005

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Edward Clifford Anderson (1815-1883) of Savannah, Ga., was the son of George Anderson and Elizabeth Clifford Wayne Anderson. He married Sarah McQueen Williamson (1816-1884) and with her had five children: Nina, Edward Maffitt, Georgia, and twins Sallie W. and Richard.

Anderson was an officer in the United States Navy during the 1830s and 1840s, but apparently resigned to become a planter in Georgia, residing in Savannah. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate Army officer, initially as a purchasing agent in England and later commanding the river batteries in the Georgia Military District with headquarters in Savannah. After the war, he was mayor of Savannah, representative of Hope Mutual Insurance Company of New York, and director of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company and the Central Railroad and Canal Company of Georgia.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection consists of family letters and assorted volumes of Edward Clifford Anderson (1815-1883) and his wife, Sarah McQueen Williamson Anderson (1816-1884), of Savannah, Ga. Most of the letters, 1837-1882, are to Sarah Anderson from female friends and relatives, and her husband. Topics include social life in various northern and southern cities, family news, Civil War conditions in Savannah and in Charleston, S.C., and postwar politics and social conditions in Savannah. Eight volumes of notes and diaries of Anderson record his varied experiences as an officer in the United States Navy, 1835-1839 and 1842-1846, serving in the Mediterranean, in Florida coastal waters, and with the United States Coast Survey; as a Confederate Army officer traveling to England, 1861-1864, trying to purchase military supplies there, and serving later with the Savannah River defenses; and as a resident of Savannah, 1869-1875 and 1877-1882, active as mayor, insurance agent, and director of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company and the Central Railroad and Canal Company of Georgia. Anderson's interests in family, social, economic, racial, and civic affairs during Reconstruction and later are also represented. Other materials include the minutes, 1813-1868, of the Chatham Academy of Savannah, and miscellaneous plantation and slave records.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1837-1882.

63 items.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Includes an historical note on Chatham Academy and extensive descriptions of diary contents

Folder 1b

1837-1844

Folder 2

1845-1865

Folder 3

1868

Folder 4

1869-1882 and undated

Folder 5

Volume 1: Chatham Academy Board of Trustees Minutes, 23 February 1813-18 June 1868

Folder 6

Volume 2: Slave records, 1817-1866

Record of births and some deaths, 1817-1866, of slaves owned by M. A. Thomas; records of blankets and shoes distributed, 1853-1866; also, records of poultry, sheep, cows, and hogs in the 1850s at "Woodstock" and "Marengo".

Folder 7

Volume 3: Ship records, circa 1833-1839

Records pertaining to the U.S.S. Constitution and U.S.S. Macedonian, including rules and regulations, lists of about 500 men assigned to various watches and duties on board; boarding bill roll; and commonplace entries.

Folder 8

Volume 4: Diary, February 1842-June 1846

Diary describes Anderson's service in the United States Navy, with commentaries on travel on the eastern seaboard and to the Mediterranean; duties on board the U.S.S. Lexington and U.S.S. General Taylor; Philadelphia, New York, and other port cities in which he was stationed; seamen, fellow officers, and naval news; work with the United States Coast Survey; and a log of weather and navigation and other records of various phases of seamanship. Also included are family news, lettercopies, recollections, and commonplace entries.

Folder 9

Volume 5: Diary, 1861-1862

Diary includes descriptions of Anderson's trip to Ireland, England, and France to acquire arms and supplies for the Confederacy; copies of reports and communications relating to river defenses in Georgia; a history of the C.S.S. Fingal, later renamed C.S.S. Atlanta, which he had purchased in London. Published as The European Diary of Major Edward C. Anderson, 1861-1862 (1976), edited by Stanley W. Hoole.

Folder 10

Volume 6: Diary, 2 November 1863-13 November 1864

Diary of Anderson, then a colonel on duty in Savannah, includes commentary on his fellow officers, the defenses of the city and the river batteries, social events of the city, desertion of Confederate soldiers, United States soldiers and officers imprisoned in the city, blockade running, news of the sinking of the Alabama and his son "Eddy," who was aboard but rescued, and the exchange of prisoners.

Folder 11

Volume 7: Diary, 16 August 1869-20 March 1871

Diary describes business, civic, governmental, banking, judicial, and social activities in Savannah, Ga., with references to mayoral work and administration of city government, Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah Board of Education, Savannah River improvement, Reconstruction government of Georgia, travel to Washington, Hope Mutual Insurance Company of New York, Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, and the possible creation of a segregated hospital.

Folder 12

Volume 8: Diary, 21 March 1871-21 February 1875

Diary describes business, civic, governmental, banking, judicial, and social activities in Savannah, Ga., with references to mayoral work and administration of city government; travel to Washington; railroads, especially the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad and the Central Railroad; the congressional Ku Klux Klan investigating committee; Atlantic and Great Western Canal; segregated street cars; race relations and education in Savannah; and river and harbor improvement work.

Folder 13

Volume 9: Diary, 28 February 1875-9 September 1875

Diary describes business, civic, governmental, banking, judicial, and social activities in Savannah, Ga., with references to city and railroad business and to a religious gathering under the auspices of the Christian Association of Savannah.

Folder 14

Volume 10: 27 January 1877-10 June 1882

Diary describes business, civic, governmental, banking, judicial, and social activities in Savannah, Ga., with references to the estate of Anderson's nephew, Edward C. Anderson Jr., Savannah Board of Education, Chatham Academy, Central Railroad and its related steamship business, Savannah harbor improvements, and travel to New York, Washington, and other points on the eastern seaboard.

Folder 15

Envelopes

Reel M-3602/1-2

M-3602/1

M-3602/2

Microfilm

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