Henry Green Lewis Collection
1854, 1879
Manuscript Collection #585- Creator(s)
- Lewis, Henry Green
- Physical description
- 0.143 Cubic Feet
- Preferred Citation
- Henry Green Lewis Collection (#585), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
- Repository
- ECU Manuscript Collection
- Access
- No restrictions
Civil War era verse, a published account of the Civil War experiences of Henry Green Lewis, issues of the Semi-Weekly Raleigh Register (1854) and the North Carolina Presbyterian (1879) and a print of the Hotel Carolina in Durham, N.C.
Biographical/historical information
Henry Green Lewis was from Plymouth, North Carolina. His birth and marriage records have not been found, but he died on January 19, 1880 of consumption. When he and his friends enlisted in the Confederate army on May 19, 1861, they were initially put into a company that included many men from Columbia and Plymouth, North Carolina. He fought in a few battles and was severely wounded when he was shot in the chin. He was captured by Union troops a few days after his injury while at a hospital and was sent to a Union prisoner of war camp in Ohio for two years. During his time in the Confederate army, he wrote several poems about love, war, and loss. Many of the pages have been ripped out, but enough poems survive to give an idea of what Henry was like. He was discharged from the army on July 24, 1865 and he married Margaret S. sometime afterward. The only records that acknowledge their wedding are registers form weddings they attended. We know that Henry practiced medicine for a few years before his death, but there is not much else about him.
Scope and arrangement
This collection contains one folder with five items.
Item 1: Book of Poetry written by Henry Green Lewis.
Item 2: The Semi Weekly Raleigh Register Vol. LV, No. 90 dated November 8, 1854.
Item 3: The North Carolina Presbyterian Vol. XXII No. 1,128 dated June 25, 1879.
Item 4: Leader Magazine May 5, 1988
Item 5: An image of the Hotel Carolina in Durham, N.C.
Administrative information
Custodial History
Source of acquisition
Gift of Ms. Lee Wilder
Processing information
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Processed by Jessica Reed, March 2020
Copyright notice
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Personal Names
Lewis, Henry GreenTopical
Hotels--North Carolina--DurhamPlaces
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narrativesUnited States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Poetry