Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4057-z
WEEDON AND WHITEHURST FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Scattered business papers, commissions and army
orders, and letters of Frederick Weedon (1784-1857),
physician of St. Augustine, Fla.; his daughter,
Henrietta Williams Weedon Whitehurst (1821-1885); and
her husband, Daniel Winchester Whitehurst (1808-1872),
newspaper editor, physician, and member of the
American Colonization Society. The papers pertain to,
but do not give extensive information about,
Whitehurst's activities in Liberia, 1831-1834; the
Seminole Indian War and the Seminole leader Osceola
(ca. 1804-1838); Weedon's estate and the sale of his
slaves; and the Union occupation of Key West, Fla.,
during the yellow fever epidemic of 1867. Letters
from George St. Leger Grenfell and Samuel A. Mudd,
prisoners at the fort, are included, as are a note,
1857, from Louis Agassiz, and a letter, 1867, from
Jefferson Davis sending money to aid Grenfell. Also
included is a note from Varina Davis. Twentieth-
century items include papers about the military record
of Frederick Weedon in the War of 1812 and two letters
about relics of Osceola.
Online Catalog Terms:
Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873.
American Colonization Society.
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
Davis, Varina, 1826-1906.
Epidemics--Florida--History--19th century.
Estates (Law)--Florida.
Fort Jefferson (Fla.).
Grenfell, George St. Leger, 1808-1868.
Key West ((Fla.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Liberia--History--To 1847.
Mudd, Samuel Alexander, 1833-1883.
Osceola, Seminole chief, 1804-1838.
Seminole War, 2nd, 1835-1842.
Slavery--Florida.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Occupied
territories.
Weedon family.
Weedon, Frederick, 1784-1857.
Whitehurst, Daniel Winchester, 1807-1872.
Whitehurst family.
Whitehurst, Henrietta Williams Weedon, 1821-1885.
Yellow fever--Florida.
Size: 63 items (5 folders).
Provenance: Received from Frederick R. Weedon of Chapel Hill,
N.C., in June 1875.
Access: No restrictions. Microfilm copy available.
Processing Note: This collection was processed with support
from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Description
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Dr. Frederick Weedon (1784-1857) was born in Maryland and
moved to Alabama and then Florida, where he bought land in Leon
County in 1829 and in St. Augustine, including the six acres
known as "Orange Grove," in 1834. He was mayor of St. Augustine
in 1835; served in the Florida militia during the was with the
Seminole Indians, 1835-1837; and was acting assistant surgeon in
the U.S. Army in 1838, accompanying a group of soldiers and
Indian prisoners, including the leader Osceola, to Fort Moultrie
near Charleston, S.C. He was married to Mary Wells Thompson, who
died in 1849. He lived the last years of his life with his
daughter Henrietta and her husband; he died at Fort Jefferson in
1857.
Henrietta Williams Weedon, the third child of her parents and
the oldest to survive past youth, married Daniel Winchester
Whitehurst in St. Augustine in 1843. She was born in 1821 in
Alabama and died in Florida in 1885.
Daniel Winchester Whitehurst (1808-1872), a native of Norfolk,
Va., traveled in Africa, where he was associated with the
American Colonization Society in Liberia, 1831-1835. He went to
St. Augustine, where he was editor and publisher of the St.
Augustine News, 1838-1840, also practicing law and serving at
intervals in the army during the Seminole wars. He sold the
newspaper early in 1841 and relinquished the editorship. He
received an M.D. degree from New York University in 1843. He
married Henrietta Weedon and moved to Key West. where he served
as army physician until the Civil War. He died in Key West on 19
January 1872.
DESCRIPTION
Scattered papers, 1824-1832, include signed documents, one in
Spanish, 1824-1825, of A. de Letamendi (or Setamendi), Spanish
consul in St. Augustine, acknowledging the receipt of advances
made to him by Samuel Cook; a certificate, 1831, admitting Daniel
Winchester Whitehurst to the Colony of Sierra Leone for one month
for health reasons; permission, 1832, for D. W. Whitehurst to
depart for Liberia; and arrangements, 1832, for a duel between
James D. Westcott, Jr., and Thomas Baltzell, to be fought in
Alabama, made by Frederick Weedon as the second for Baltzell and
James H. Randolph as the second for Westcott.
Papers from 1834 consist of a bond for Weedon to pay for land
in St. Augustine he had purchased from administrators of the
estate of Mrs. Joseph F. Bravo; a newspaper clipping about the
wreck of the ship Jupiter off the Manna River on the coast of
Africa and the plunder of the cargo by natives; an appointment by
John B. Pinney, agent of the American Colonization Society, of D.
W. Whitehurst, resident of Liberia, to commissioner empowered to
settle differences among the "interior tribes" and select a
location for a new settlement. In 1835, Whitehurst was again
appointed by Pinney to be his assistant for carrying out duties
as U.S. agent for "Recaptured Africans" in the colony. There is
also a letter, 1835, to Whitehurst from Pinney referring to
events in Liberia.
There are three items from 1837 pertaining to Whitehurst's
military service as lieutenant and later captain in the East
Florida Mounted Volunteers, Army of the South, during the war
with the Seminole Indians and his honorable discharge from 1838.
Items from 1840 include a paper from Weightman Key Hanson,
lieutenant, U.S. Army, thanking the gentlemen and citizens of St.
Augustine for the sword given to him and defending himself from
the "imputation of having violated the white flag." There is
also a copy from the St. Augustine News of an order of General
Armistead about the end of the armistice and how Indians who
appeared under the white flag were to be taken as prisoners.
Papers about Osceola, the Seminole chief, include a letter,
1843, from Whitehurst to Dr. Valentine Mott, sending him the head
of Osceola for study and describing Osceola; an undated note,
1843 or 1844, of Leslie W. Weedon telling of the association of
Osceola with Dr. Frederick Weedon, who served as acting assistant
surgeon, U.S. Army, for the party of soldiers and Indian
prisoners, including Osceola, sent from Florida to Fort Moultrie,
S.C., in 1838, and who remained on duty there until after
Osceola's death; and a letter, 1844, partially destroyed, from
Dr. Valentine Mott, acknowledging the receipt of the head of
Osceola and telling of plans to preserve it.
Papers, 1847-1861, include bills of sale or exchanges of
slaves in 1848, 1853-1857, 1860 and 1861. The bills of sale or
exchange, 1853-1857, stem from a transaction, 1853, between
Frederick Weedon and Henrietta W. Whitehurst whereby, in exchange
for slaves, Weedon received care and a guaranteed annuity for the
remainder of his life and reimbursement by her and her husband to
be paid her brothers. Included are several papers relating to
this arrangement. Also included are printed army orders, 1847,
from Tampico, Winfield Scott, announcing staff appointments, and
three notes, 1857-1859, from Louis Agassiz to Dr. Whitehurst
introducing another botanist, James E. Mills, and referring to
specimens.
During the Civil War, papers include a copy of order, 1863, by
General David Hunter sending to Hilton Head, S.C., all white
families from Key West who had close relatives in Confederate
employment, but who had not taken the oath of allegiance; an
order, 1863, to Whitehurst enclosing preceding orders; a
certificate, 1863, that the oath of allegiance attached was a
copy of the one taken by Whitehurst in 1861; a broadside, 1863,
of Lincoln's pardon proclamation; a circular of C. K. Stribling
as commander of the E. G. B. Squadron, 1865, stating that the
rebellion was practically over and soliticiting aid in restoring
peace; a certified copy, 1865, of the amnesty oath of D. W.
Whitehurst; and a certificate, 1865, stating that Whitehurst was
elected to represent his district in the Florida Senate.
Papers, 1867-1869, consist of orders, 1867, by General George
P. Andrews commending the good conduct of several persons during
the yellow fever epidemic, including Whitehurst, who volunteered
aid and had not been remunerated; a letter, 1867, from Assistant
Surgeon General C. H. Crane thanking Whitehurst for his services
and saying that a contract for duty at Key West was forthcoming;
a letter, 1867, from Jefferson Davis and a note, 1867, from
Varina Davis sending money for aid to George St. Leger Grenfell,
a prisoner at Fort Jefferson; a letter, 1867, from Dr. Samuel A.
Mudd telling Whitehurst of his work in the hospital at Fort
Jefferson during the epidemic; a letter, 1868, of Major George P.
Andrews, about articles for the use of prisoners and about
Grenfell; two letter, 1868, from Grenfell about his services
during the epidemic and about articles sent to him indicating
that he did not know who Varina Davis was; a deed, 1868, from
Hamilton E. C. Weedon to Henrietta Whitehurst for land in Key
West and a quitclaim, 1868, to the land from his wife Mary E. C.
Weedon; and letters, 1868-1869, from Mudd about legal affairs
relating to a statement he made to William H. Gleason when
Gleason was investigating the assassination of Lincoln, the
escape of Grenfell and his following disappearance at sea, Mudd's
own life since his release, and his inability to help Whitehurst
get an appointment.
Papers, 1932 and undated, deal with the military record of
Frederick Weedon in the War of 1812 and his receipt of military
bounty lands for that service and for his service in the Florida
militia, 1835-1837; two letters, 1956 and 1966, about the relics
of Osceola; a letter, 1963, about Whitehurst; and an undated
letter about an army officer's discontent and the good conduct of
Lt. Judd (Henry Bethell of Connecticut, graduate of the Military
Academy, 1839, 3rd Artillery).