Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

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 Alexander Donelson Coffee Papers, #2813, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. O'Neal of Forence, Ala., 1952.

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.

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.

• Butler County (Ala.)--History--19th century.
• Clarke County (Ala.)--History--19th century.
• Coffee, Alexander Donelson, 1821 or 2-1901.
• Coffee, Anne.
• Coffee, John, 1772-1833.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
• Confederate States of America. Army. Alabama Infantry Regiment, 16th.
• Families--Alabama--Social life and customs.
• Lowndes County (Ala.)--History--19th century.
• Plantation owners' spouses--Alabama.
• Plantation owners--Alabama.
• Plantations--Alabama.
• Surveying--Alabama--History--19th century.
• Tennessee. Militia--History.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women.
• Wilcox County (Ala.)--History--19th century.

• John Coffee Order Books (#1606).

Alexander Donelson Coffee, born in 1821 or 1822, of Florence, Ala., was the son of General John Coffee (1772-1833), and a planter and Confederate captain in the 16th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He died in 1901.

The collection consists of the correspondence of Alexander Donelson Coffee (1821 or 2-1901) and his wife, Anne. The bulk of the letters were written while he was on surveying trips in Butler, Lowndes, Clarke, and Wilcox counties, Ala., and describe Coffee's surveying work, their plantation, and family matters. There are also letters from Coffee written while he was a captain in the 16th Alabama Infantry Regiment, 1861-1862, that include reflections on leaders and strategy, advice on managing plantation affairs, and descriptions of camp life and battles. Additionally, there are three items, 1817-1819, relating to his father, John Coffee (1772-1833); and scattered items, 1864-1901, related chiefly to daughter Mary Coffee.