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Collection Number: 02813

Collection Title: Alexander Donelson Coffee Papers, 1817-1901 (bulk 1844-1848)

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.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 125 items)
Abstract Alexander Donelson Coffee (1821 or 2-1901) of Florence, Ala., son of General John Coffee (1772-1833), was a planter and Confederate captain in the 16th Alabama Infantry Regiment. The collection consists largely of the correspondence of Alexander Donelson Coffee 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, a general in the Tennessee militia; and scattered items, 1864-1901, related chiefly to daughter Mary Coffee.
Creator Coffee, Alexander Donelson, 1821 or 2-1901.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, February 2010; Adam Fielding and Jodi Berkowitz, March 2011

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

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.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1817-1901 (bulk 1844-1848) and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1817-1818, 1844

Folder 2

April 1845-October 1846

Folder 3

November-December 1846

Folder 4

1847

Folder 5

1848-1853

Folder 6

August-December 1861

Folder 7

January-June 1862

Folder 8

1866-1901

Folder 9

Undated

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