Whittle Family Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Old Dominion University
3023 Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library
Old Dominion University
4427 Hampton Blvd
Norfolk, VA 23529
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Jessica Ritchie
Phone: (757) 683-4483
Fax: (757) 683-5954
Restrictions:

Open to researchers without restrictions.

Terms of access:

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from Special Collections and University Archives, and the holder of the copyright, if not Old Dominion University Libraries.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
1.40 Linear Feet and 1 Hollinger document case and 1 half Hollinger document case boxes
Creator:
Whittle family
Abstract:
This collection contains diaries, personal accounts, certificates, proceedings, receipts, literary magazines, and newspapers documenting the Whittle, Page, Loyall, Dabney, and Gordon families.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes diaries, speeches and essays about the Confederacy during the Civil War, old newspapers, and other material related to the Whittle family. In addition to the Whittle family, the collection also contains material from the Page, Loyall, Dabney, and Gordon families. Of particular note are Camilla Frances Loyall's first hand accounts of Norfolk during the Civil War, and its capture by General Wool and the Union in 1862.

Biographical / historical:

Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney is a former Professor of English at Old Dominion University and a descendant of an old Norfolk family. The history of Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney's family includes the histories of the Dabneys, the Pages, the Gordons, the Whittles, and the Loyalls.

The Pages are an old and well-known Virginia family historically distinguished for their devotion to the Episcopal Church. They are related by marriage to the famous Revolutionary War General "Light Horse Harry" Lee and General Robert E. Lee. A known member of the Page family, Richard Lucien Page, served the United States Navy in the War of 1812 and in the Mexican War. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, he resigned his commission to the Union and was commissioned in the Navy of the Confederacy. He was later captured as a prisoner of war, and released after the Civil War.

The Gordon family came to Virginia from Scotland in the 1700s. Samuel and Basil Gordon, and Samuel's nephew, were the first of their family in Virginia. The three men married three sisters who were the daughters of William Knox of Culpepper County, Virginia. They settled near Fredericksburg. In 1812, after the death of their father, the Gordons returned home to Scotland. Samuel and Agnes Knox Gordon remained in Scotland and England for the next twenty years before returning to Virginia.

The Loyalls lived in Norfolk during the Civil War. Camilla Frances Loyall kept a diary of her experiences during this time. Her accounts include the capture of Norfolk by the Union in 1862.

Note written by Special Collections Staff

Acquisition information:

Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney

Gift. Accession #A78-8

Custodial history:

Prior to September 2020, the collection was known as the Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney Papers.

Accruals:

Additional accesions made in June 1978 and January 1979.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard