Mary Louise Pearre Hamilton Papers, 1861-1925 and undated

Mary Louise Pearre Hamilton Papers, 1861-1925 and undated

The Mary Louise Pearre Hamilton Papers, held by the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University, consists of typescripts of her diary, 1863-64, and of letters written to her by her fiance, John Hall Hamilton, 1861-63. Their son, Joshua Pearre Hamilton, transcribed the diary and letters sometime in the early 20th century and added commentary to the diary entries. There is also a family history by J.P. Hamilton, a brief second-hand account of John Hall Hamilton's experience as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, a photocopy of a handwritten family lineage and a typescript of a military report.

The diary entries contain Mary's comments on life in middle Tennessee during the Civil War and her analysis of political and military events. Pearre's comments reflect her support of the Confederacy. Hamilton's letters to Mary describe conditions in military camps, battles fought with the Federals, and terrain that Hamilton's unit marched through. His letters also express his feelings of love and affection for Mary or "Mollie," as he called her.

The current digital collection includes surrogates of the diary, letters, and all other documents included in the collection.

Hamilton, Mary Louise Pearre, 1838-1913 (Person)

Mary Louise Pearre Hamilton Papers, Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University

1861-1925 and undated

The Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University provides access to the materials on this website for the purposes of research and education, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. [identification of item], [identification of collection], Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University). Any commercial uses of the materials or any uses that exceed the limits of fair use and other relevant statutory exceptions require the permission of the Archives of Appalachia and the copyright holder(s). It is the user's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials.

Compressed (low resolution) files are available on this website.  Requests for accessing uncompressed (high resolution) versions of this material can be sent to the Archives of Appalachia.

Items in this collection are presented for their historic and research value. They may contain content that some viewers will find objectionable.

ETSU Archives of Appalachia: AppMs-0114