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 Missouri Eley Darden papers #4405-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, Series A.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Daniel F. Worth III, through his aunt, Rebecca Darden Stone, of Charleston, S.C., in December 1984.

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.

• Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
• Confederate States of America--Social life and customs.
• Darden, George T., fl. 1861-1865.
• Darden, Missouri Eley, fl. 1860.
• Diaries (Blank-books)
• Eley, Lawrence, fl. 1837-1838.
• Eley, Susan E., fl. 1837-1838.
• Love-letters--19th century.
• Marriage--Confederate States of America.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.
• Women--Confederate States of America--Diaries.
• Women--Confederate States of America--Social life and customs.

Missouri E. Eley, daughter of Susan E. Vann and Lawrence Eley of Murfreesboro, Hertford County, N.C., married George T. Darden of Hertford County in 1862. They had at least one child, named Eley, born in 1863 or 1864.

The collection is a diary, 1861-1865, 77 p., of Missouri Eley Darden and two love letters, 1837-1838, from Darden's father to her mother before their marriage. Darden's diary chiefly documents daily activities such as visiting, sewing, and leisurely pastimes, and includes some religious reflections and other personal comments. The most regular entries in the diary were made during 1862. Personal concerns mentioned include Darden's marriage and George Darden's imprisonment in the Union prison at Elmira, N.Y.