Correspondence, 1752-1950s and undated, bulk 1752-1920

Extent:

28 boxes

Scope and content:

The largest series in the collection, the correspondence files chart the histories, careers, and viewpoints of men and women in the Bedinger and Dandridge families of West Virginia, and of their extensive relations and friends in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, and other states, from the mid 17th century through the early 20th century.

The Bedinger letters begin in 1781, when Henry Bedinger, II, business partner of Abram Shepherd, describes the landing of the French troops at Jamestown, Virginia, and the siege of Yorktown. Subsequent letters cover national, regional, and local politics; conflicts about slavery and states' rights; events related to the War of 1812; and westward migration, including issues about the northwestern territories (Ohio, Kentucky). There are numerous Civil War letters from women and a few men in the families that give a picture of military campaigns, economic conditions, popular attitudes towards the war and slavery, and civilian life during and after the war.

The Copenhagen correspondence of Henry Bedinger, III begins with 1854 when he was serving as U. S. Consul (1853-1855) and continues, 1855 through 1858, when he served as Minister. There are many descriptions of the Danish court, and settings in Germany, Sweden, and Norway at the time.

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 letters of her husband, 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.

From 1866 to her marriage in 1877, Danske Dandridge's correspondence is concerned with social life in Virginia and Washington, D.C., her courtship, and with family matters. Her extensive literary correspondence begins in the early 1880s and continues until 1914, 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 with Margaretta Lippincott. References to horticulture and gardens appear frequently beginning in the 1890s. Danske Dandridge's family correspondence continues with her sister Mary Bedinger Mitchell, and her brother, Henry Bedinger IV, as well as with 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 manuscript volumes of her writings found in the volumes series.

The collection contains a large number of transcripts made by Danske Dandridge from original papers in the possession of various branches of her family, including the Swearingens, Shepherds, Morgans, Rutherfords, Worthingtons, Washingtons, Kings, Brownes, and Lawrences for the period from the American Revolution to the Civil War. There are also hundreds of copies of letters and documents from the Lyman C. Draper manuscripts at the University of Wisconsin which contain much information on early family and national history from the Revolutionary War to Civil War times.

Description adapted from the Guide to the Cataloged Collections in the Manuscript Department of the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University. (1980).

Alternative form available:

Two groups of correspondence have been digitized through user requests: letters from 1845, and Civil War period letters. See the entries for those time periods to access the digital copies.

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