MS 518 - Webb Family Papers
MLA Citation
Tags
| Title | MS 518 - Webb Family Papers |
|---|---|
| Subject | Civil War |
| Introduction | The Webb family papers date from March 24, 1844, to December 19, 1947. They include correspondence to John Charles Webb from various family members and acquaintances. Of special interest are letters written to him by his wife, Eliza P. Webb, during his service in the Union army in the Civil War. The papers were transferred to the Center for Archival Collections on April 21, 1988 from the Wood County Historical Museum. This register was prepared by April S. Dougal, graduate student in Public History at Bowling Green State University, in September 1988. |
| Biographical Sketch | John Charles Webb, born on September 2, 1822 in Canton, Ohio was taken to Perrysburg, Ohio by his parents John C. Webb and Elizabeth (Charles) Webb on November 26, 1822. The elder John Webb was born August 27, 1795, in New York, New York. Elizabeth C. Webb was born in 1794, in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, where the two met and married. Immediately following their marriage, the couple moved to Canton, where Mr. Webb operated a hat-making business. When the new family moved to Perrysburg, Mr. Webb continued in the hatter's trade for two years. He participated in local government from 1824 to 1854 as county clerk, was sheriff for three terms, and even occupied the position of internal revenue collector at one time. The younger John C. Webb, known as Charles, had five biological siblings, including Susanna, Rebecca, Catherine, Sarah, Thomas, and Henry. Elizabeth C. Webb died on December 17, 1833. John Webb remarried in July of 1834. His second wife, Mary (Dean) Webb, left four children upon her death on February 14, 1849. These were: Mrs. Mary E. (Young) Marshall, Mrs. Sarah Ann Smith, and Corwin. Mr. Webb was married a third time, to Mary A. (Jones) Webb of Perrysburg, on February 23, 1851. This union produced three additional step-siblings: Ellen Dustin, Eliza H. Taylor, and Lewis. After his education in the Perrysburg school system, J. Charles Webb traveled fairly extensively, as alluded to in letters from his father, brother, and associates. Upon returning to Perrysburg and establishing a farm, he met and married Eliza P. Jones, originally of New York, on January 16, 1861. Charles enlisted for service in the Union army on February 11, 1864, and served in Company C, Twenty-first O.V.I. as a member of the Army of the Tennessee. He was involved in the battles at Goldsboro and Resaca, and served under General Sherman during the March to the Sea. He also participated in the Carolina campaign, and was honorably discharged on July 25, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky. At this juncture, J. Charles Webb returned to his young family, which had increased from three to four members in his absence. Charles made a living as a Perrysburg farmer until his death in May, 1904. |
| Scope and Content | The Webb family papers are a collection of 45 letters written by various family members and their acquaintances between 1844 and 1947. The vast majority of this correspondence was directed to John Charles Webb, known throughout the collection as Charles. His father, John C. Webb, wrote the earliest series of letters, which span the period of Charles' life between 1844 and 1852, when he was traveling the region and held several jobs. Some of the locations in which he lived include Massillon and Cuyahoga Falls, both in Ohio, and Hartleton, Pennsylvania. The last letter in this series suggests that Charles will venture to California or even Japan. The set of letters directed to Charles from his brother Thomas encompasses the period between 1850 and 1857. These letters include scattered information about members of the Webb family, agricultural news, and information on a cholera epidemic in Perrysburg in the summer of 1854. The letters include news of some family deaths, and some details of townsfolk who died. This correspondence also gives indications of Charles' changing residences, which include: Wilmington, Delaware, Petersburg, and Gettysburg, Virginia. This correspondence includes travel information in the form of directions to, and a description of Sault Ste. Marie. The collection contains letters from Charles' miscellaneous acquaintances, which do little more than indicate places he was located and the type of people he met. A series of letters from Charles' sister, Mary E. (Young) Marshall, in Ingersoll, Canada, are of little importance except that they indicate the general date of Charles' death. One major drawback regarding the preceding sets of correspondence is that all are of scattered dates. For example, there may be as much as four years separating two letters from the same person. By far, the most important series of letters in this collection is the one written by Eliza P. (Jones) Webb, during the period of time Charles was serving in the Civil War, June 27, 1864, to June 22, 1865. Although these letters make some mention of Charles' role in the war, their main concentration is to exemplify the problems and responsibilities faced by a wife and mother effectively "on her own" during the war. Eliza's letters convey her everyday concerns for her husband's welfare, their child, and farm. They also indicate the extraordinary responsibilities she had taken on, such as buying bonds and land, writing a will, hiring and firing help. Eliza was compelled to make decisions between placing the purchase of bonds and land in Charles' or her own name, as she was in constant fear of his death, and sought security for their child. Aside from these relatively unusual responsibilities, she was pregnant, and presumably due in January, 1865. As a result of this, she feared she would die in childbirth, and Charles would be killed in the war, leaving their son Charley orphaned. A major weakness of this series is Eliza's physical writing Webb Family Papers style, which is extremely small and difficult to read. In addition, some of the letters are faded, which compounds the problem. The Women's Studies historian will take interest in Eliza P. Webb's letters as an example of a woman's life during the Civil War. Local and medical historians alike will find the various letters on the Perrysburg cholera epidemic of the summer of 1854 interesting. This collection may also serve as a supplementary resource for area genealogical studies, through the mention of townsfolk in the Webb papers. |
| Series Description | CORRESPONDENCE JOHN CHARLES WEBB CORRESPONDENCE ELIZA P. WEBB CORRESPONDENCE WEBB FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE - MISCELLANEOUS LITERARY PRODUCTIONS FAMILY BIBLE NOTES |
| Inventory | Box 1
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