Garrett Family Collection

1789-1864
Manuscript Collection #639
Creator(s)
Garrett (Family)
Physical description
0.108 Cubic Feet, 8 items , consisting of correspondence, an estate inventory, Civil War passes, and a land grant.
Preferred Citation
Garrett Family Collection (#639), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Collection (1789-1864) including correspondence, estate inventory, Civil War passes, land grants, letter describing death, opinion on health conditions.


Scope and arrangement

The collection deals mainly with the correspondence to the Winston family of Sumner County, Tennessee. Two letters are from D. L. Goodall to his cousin, Noel Winston, during the Mexican War. In the first letter (October 10, 1846), Goodall, writing from Camp Allen near Monterrey, Mexico, describes the actions of the Tennessee and Mississippi companies under General Quitman in taking a fort there, and the names and injuries of the casualties sustained by the Tennessee company; a battle he fought in Monterrey on September 23; and the surrender and armistice between General Zachary Taylor and Mexican General Pedro de Ampudia after these battles. The second letter (February 14, 1847) written from Tampico, Mexico, contains a description of a U.S. Army cattle raid on the Mexicans, waiting for General Scott to arrive, the impending battle at Vera Cruz, and Goodall's opinions on the health and condition of his unit.

Also in the collection are two passes Noel Winston obtained from the Federal Army in Tennessee during the Civil War (1863, 1864) that allowed for freedom of movement within Federal lines and protection from property damage and trespassing by Federal troops.

Other family items include a letter describing the death of Joseph W. and Thomas Winston's father in 1815; an estate inventory for enslaver Spellsby Coleman from 1807 that lists the names of enslaved persons as well as the possessions and livestock he owned; and a land grant from 1789 to William Ferrol Lewis for 1,500 acres in the Western District of North Carolina.


Administrative information
Custodial History

September 9, 1992, 8 items; Papers (1789-1864), primarily of the Winston family of Sumner County, Tennessee, including Mexican War correspondence, an estate inventory, Civil War passes, a land grant, and miscellaneous items. Gift of Mr. Noel H. Garrett, Greenville, N. C.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mr. Noel H. Garrett

Processing information

Processed by T. Earl, January 1994

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.


Key terms
Personal Names
Goodall, D. L.--Correspondence
Family Names
Garrett family
Winston family
Winston family--Correspondence
Topical
Land grants--North Carolina
Mexican War, 1846-1848--Campaigns--Mexico
Mexican War, 1846-1848--Personal narratives
Slave records--Tennessee--Sumner County
Places
Sumner County (Tenn.)--History--19th century
Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865