Bedinger and Dandridge family papers, 1752-1950s, 2000, bulk 1752-1920s
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Summary
- Creator:
- Dandridge, Danske, 1858-1914, Bedinger (Family : West Virginia), Dandridge family, Bedinger, Henry, 1812-1858, and Dandridge, Serena Katherine
- Abstract:
- The Bedinger and Dandridge families were based in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and New York. Collection consists of journals, correspondence, poems, photographs, scrapbooks, literary writings, legal and financial records, and other papers of the Bedinger, Dandridge, Washington, Rust, Clay, and Stephen families of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio; and of the Cornwall, Lawrence, Mitchell, Bowne, King, and Southgate families, of Connecticut, Maine, and New York, primarily created or collected by Caroline Danske (Bedinger) Dandridge. The papers fall into six classes: journals and fragments of journals of Danske Dandridge (1864-1909) in 23 volumes, writing notebooks of her daughter Violet Dandridge in 12 volumes, and journals of Henry Bedinger (1830s) and Daniel Bedinger (1811); correspondence and materials on Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Virginia, and the northern Shenandoah Valley from the Revolutionary period through the Civil War; extensive family correspondence, genealogies, and memoirs used in writing Bedinger family histories; papers of Henry Bedinger, the American Minister to Denmark in the 1850s; poems, reviews and literary correspondence of Danske Dandridge, and poems and prose of her father and daughter; and horticultural writings of Danske Dandridge. The collection also includes many pieces of memorabilia and paper ephemera.
- Extent:
- 30 Linear Feet (65 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
- Language:
- Material in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.00097
Background
- Scope and content:
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Collection includes the correspondence and papers of five generations of families from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and New York chiefly created or collected by Carolina Danske (Bedinger) Dandridge. The primary portion of the collection is made up of the personal and family papers of Danske Dandridge (1858-1914), a writer and horticulturist. From 1866 to her marriage in 1877, Danske Dandridge's correspondence is concerned with social life in Virginia and Washington, D.C., and with family matters. Her literary correspondence begins in the early 1880s and continues until the year of her death. Correspondents include John Esten Cooke, Edmund C. Stedman, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Thomas W. Higginson. There are sustained exchanges of letters with William Hayes Ward, editor of The Brooklyn Independent which published much of her work; with the poet Lizette Woodworth Reese of Baltimore; and Margaretta Lippincott. Material on gardening begins to appear in the papers for the 1890s and includes a large number of letters and eleven notebooks.
Danske Dandridge's family correspondence continues with her sister Mrs. J. F. B. (Mary Bedinger) Mitchell, and her brother, Henry Bedinger IV, as well as with her numerous cousins.
Correspondence of Adam Stephen Dandridge (1844-1924) reflects his career in the West Virginia House of Representatives and his business as a seller of farm machinery.
Correspondence and papers of Serena Katherine (Violet) Dandridge, daughter of Danske and Adam Stephen Dandridge, bear on her career as an illustrator for the zoologist Hubert Lyman Clark, and reflect her interest in women's suffrage and the Swedenborgian Church. There are also twelve volumes of her writings in manuscript.
Correspondence and papers of Danske Dandridge's father, Henry Bedinger Dandridge III, include letters on literary subjects from Thomas Willis White, Philip Pendleton Cooke, and Nathaniel Beverly Tucker; papers from his years as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849; records of his service, 1853-1858, first as a consul and then as minister of the United States in Sweden and in particular his negotiation of the treaty with Sweden in 1857; and his notebooks containing poems and comments on social life in Virginia.
Letters of Caroline B. (Lawrence) Bedinger, mother of Danske Dandridge, to her husband's family in the South and her relatives in New York concern her experience as a young woman in Washington, D.C., and Virginia; her stay in Copenhagen; the Civil War experiences of her husband's family and her own; family life; and the education of her children.
The collection contains a large number of transcripts made by Danske Dandridge from originals in the possession of various branches of her family, including the Swearingens, Shepherds, Morgans, Rutherfords, Worthingtons, Washingtons, Kings, Bownes, and Lawrences for the period from the American Revolution to the Civil War. There are also copies of letters and documents from the Lyman C. Draper manuscripts at the University of Wisconsin. Essentially, they are the papers of three brothers, George Michael Bedinger (1756-1843), Henry Bedinger II (1753-1843), and Daniel Bedinger (1761-1818), and their descendants and connections. Among the many subjects discussed are warfare with Native Americans and conditions on the Virginia frontier; descriptions of the events of the Revolution; trading in salt and fur; experiences of Americans held prisoner by the British during the Revolution; flour milling in the Potomac valley; trade and transport of farm commodities; travel on the Mississippi to New Orleans, 1811-1812; James Rumsey and the development of the steamboat; the settling of Kentucky and Ohio, descriptions of Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Baltimore at various times from 1800 to 1860; antebellum social life, South and North; and extensive comments on politics through 1860, particularly on the opposition to Federalism and the early Democratic-Republican Party. Also present in early materials is documentation of slavery, both of enslaved people held by the family, as well as political papers and correspondence between the family and their network opposing abolition and seeking to protect slavery. Other letters include descriptions of Southern homefront conditions and Civil War battles, including Gettysburg.
The Photographs series chiefly consist of studio portraits and more informal views of members of the Bedinger and Dandridge families. Many are identified and captioned. There are also numerous images of family plantations, houses, and landscapes in West Virginia and other places, particularly of Rosebrake (formerly Poplar Grove).
The Other Papers series includes materials such as notes, recipes, illustrations, military papers, school and Bible study notes, calling cards, invitations, and memorabilia received and collected by members of the Bedinger and Dandridge families.
Portions of this description taken from Guide to the Cataloged Collections in the Manuscript Department of the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University. (1980).
- Biographical / historical:
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The Bedinger and Dandridge families were based in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and New York, with their principal home places in Jefferson and Berkeley counties, West Virginia. The Washington, Rust, Henry Clay, and Adam Stephen families came from Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio; and the Cornwall, Lawrence, Mitchell, Walter Bowne, and Rufus King Southgate families were based in Connecticut, Maine, and New York. Beginning with the Revolutionary War, male members of these families owned plantations based on forced labor and went into military service, law, politics, and diplomatic service.
The papers were collected or created primarily by Caroline "Danske" (Bedinger) Dandridge for her research and writings on family history, and originated chiefly from these families and homes: 1. "Protumna" (built 1801), near Martinsburg, W. Va., home of Henry Bedinger, II and his family. 2. "Altona," near Charlestown, W. Va., home of his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Braxton Davenport, and of Henry Bedinger Davenport. 3. "Falling Spring," owned by Abel and Eliza Dandridge (Bedinger) Morgan. 4. "Poplar Grove," home of their son Daniel and Mary (Lowery) Morgan, near Shepherdstown, W. Va. Danske Dandridge lived here, renaming it "Rose Brake" in 1885. 5. "Bedford" (built 1799-1801), home of Daniel Bedinger and his wife Sally (Rutherford) Bedinger, built on the old home site of his parents. It was burned by Union troops under Gen. Hunter in 1864 and never rebuilt. 6. "The Bower" (built 1780-1783), near Martinsburg, W. Va., home of Ann (Stephen) and her husband, Alexander Spottswood Dandridge and their descendant, Adam Stephen Dandridge.
Other towns, homes, and families represented in the collection are: Lower Blue Licks and Anchorage, Kentucky, home to Major George Michael Bedinger and his descendants; "Leeland," West Virginia (actually the name of two successive home places), home to Henrietta (Bedinger) and Edmund Jennings Lee; "Rockland" and "Exeter" near Leesburg, Va., owned by General George Rust and family; and "Willow Bank," home of Mary (King) and John Watson Lawrence, parents of Caroline B. (Lawrence) Bedinger, and "Linden Hill," home to Mary (Bedinger) and John Mitchell, both in Flushing, Long Island.
A more complete narrative about these families, their homes, and their lives can be found in the over 300 typed card files produced by library staff in the 1950s, and in the genealogical records and writings located in the family papers. Contact the Rubenstein Research Services staff for assistance.
- Acquisition information:
- The Bedinger and Dandridge family papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from 1955 to 1995, and 2003.
- Processing information:
-
Processed and described on library cards by Rubenstein Library staff.
Collection guide created by Abraham Lee and Noah Huffman, April 2010.
Enhanced series notes and expanded photographs and other papers descriptions by Paula Jeannet and Leah Tams, April 2023, October 2024.
Accessions represented in this collection guide: 1955-1995, 2003-0148, 2008-0309.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Antislavery movements -- United States -- History
Authors, American -- Correspondence
Diplomatic and consular service, American -- Denmark -- History -- 19th century
Extended families -- Correspondence
Families -- Portraits
Horticultural writers -- United States
Indigenous peoples -- Kentucky -- 18th Century
Women artists -- United States -- Correspondence
Women authors -- United States
Women illustrators -- United States
Slavery
Zoology -- Pictorial works - Format:
- Account books
Albumen prints
Black-and-white photographs
Daguerreotypes (photographs)
Gelatin silver prints
Journals (accounts)
Scrapbooks
Tintypes (photographs) - Names:
- Cornwell family
Mitchell family
Lawrence family
Washington family
Bedinger (Family : West Virginia)
Bedinger, Daniel, 1761-1818
Bowne, Walter, 1770-1846 - Places:
- Denmark -- Foreign relations -- United States
Kentucky -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Martinsburg (W. Va.) -- History
Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Shepherdstown (W. Va.) -- History
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
United States -- Foreign relations -- Denmark -- 19th century
United States -- Foreign relations -- Sweden -- 19th century
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865
United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861
Virginia -- History -- 1775-1865
Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Virginia -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
West Virginia -- History -- 19th century
West Virginia -- Politics and government -- 19th century
Contents
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[Identification of item], Bedinger and Dandridge family papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
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