Manuscripts Department
            Library of the University of North Carolina
                          at Chapel Hill

                  SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

                              #2383-z

                   SUSANNA GORDON WADDELL DIARY

                             Inventory

                            Compiled by

                       Rebecca Hollingsworth

                           November 1991
Abstract: Two-volume diary (28 and 32 pages), chiefly 8
February 1863 to 4 November 1865, of Susanna Gordon
Waddell, wife of Dr. James Alexander Waddell of Union,
Monroe County, W.Va.  Entries include comments on family,
friends, daily life, and military campaigns in the area,
especially the activities of Confederate General John
Echols and Union General William Woods Averell, including
the latter's raid on Lewisburg, W.Va., in November 1863. 
Several poems, most apparently by Waddell, are also
included. Online    Averell, William Woods, 1832-1900.

Catalog   Diaries.
Terms:    Echols, John, 1823-1896.
Family--West Virginia--Social life and customs--19th century.
Lewisburg (W.Va.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Monroe County (W.Va.)--Social life and customs--Civil War,
1861-1865.
Union (W.Va.)--Social life and customs--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal
narratives.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women.
Waddell, James Alexander, fl. 1844-1866.
Waddell, Susanna Gordon, b. 1824.
West Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Women--West Virginia--Diaries.

Size:     2 items.

Provenance:Received from Louisa C. Blair of Richmond, Va.,
in October 1941.

Access:   No restrictions.

Processing Note:This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for
the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C.,
1990-1992.

Copyright:Retained by the authors of items in these
papers, or  their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law. 

Susanna Gordon was born in Richmond, Va., in 1824 and
married Dr. James Alexander Waddell in 1844.  During the
Civil War, she and her husband lived in Union, W.Va.

Susanna Waddell kept her diary in two penmanship exercise
books; the first volume (28 pp.) contains entries from 8
February 1863 to 15 December 1863, and the second (32
pp.) contains entries from 16 December 1863 to 4 November
1865.  In the second volume, there is also one entry for
May 1866 and poems dated 11 June 1866 and 17 March 1867. 
Also included in both volumes are several undated poems,
most apparently by Waddell and a few attributed to other
people.

Entries mainly concern daily life in Union and the
activities of Susanna Waddell's relatives and friends,
including the family of Confederate General John Echols. 
There is extensive discussion of military activities in
the Monroe County area, including Union General William
Woods Averell's raid on Lewisburg, W.Va., 1-8 November
1863; also mentioned are the activities of General Echols
and other Union raids led by generals W. W. Averell,
David Hunter, and George Crook.

A typed transcription is also available.

Folder
1  Volume 1, 8 February - 13 December 1863.
2  Volume 2, 16 December 1863 - 4 November 1865, 1866, 1867.
3  Typed transcription of volumes 1 and 2.