The bulk of the collection consists of letters written between family members during the American Civil War. These letters discuss the family's concerns about being split by the war, illnesses, deaths, politics, race, religion, and employment. There are also letters after the Civil War up until 1912. Some of these letters relate to Davis' daughter, Eunice, who married an Afro-Caribbean sea merchant and moved with him to Grand Cayman Island. There are also papers relating to Charles Henry, the only son to survive the war. Several of these letters are letters of recommendation in support of specific veterans receiving their pensions, including a letter that describes a possibly gender-fluid, gender nonconforming, and/or transgender soldier nicknamed "Lucy."
Working-class New England family that was involved with both the Union and the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The mother, Lois Wright was born in 1805 in Northfield, Massachusetts and died in 1889 in Lowell, Massachusetts. She had at least seven children with her first husband, Luther Richardson. Her children's names are: Ann Mary (born 1827), Harriet L. (born 1829), Eunice Louensa (1831-1877), Jane (1833-1856), Ellen A. (born 1835), Luther L. (1841-1864), and Charles Henry (1835-1913). In 1850 or 1851, Lois' first husband abandoned her and the family, and in 1855 Lois married a Massachusetts shoemaker, Bradley Davis. In the late 1850s two of Lois Davis' daughters moved to Mobile, Alabama and their husbands served in the Confederate Army. Two of Lois Davis' sons fought with Massachusetts regiments.
During the war, one of the Mobile daughters (Eunice) returned to New England. There she struggled to support herself and her children. She worked as a washer woman and also wove hats while surviving several serious illnesses. Eventually (it's unclear exactly when), she learned that her husband had died of cholera in the war. In 1869 in Dracut, Massachusetts, she married a sea captain and ship owner from Grand Cayman Island, William Smiley Connolly, who was Afro-Caribbean and mixed race. She went to live with him on Grand Cayman Island during the 1870s. Letters during this time describe life in Grand Cayman as well the deaths of Eunice, William Connolly, and their daughters while sailing through a hurricane near Nicaragua.
Of the two sons that fought for the Union, Luther died in battle in 1864 shortly after re-enlisting. After the war, Charles Henry returned to Massachusetts and worked his way up in a textile mill in Lowell and became involved in public life, eventually becoming an Alderman.
