Gay family papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

MSS 16415, Gay family papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
0.5 Cubic Feet 1 document box
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

MSS 16415, Gay family papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The Gay family papers (1829-1922; 0.5 cubic feet) document the lives of members of the Gay family of Staunton, Virginia. The collection contains approximately 200 letters written by and to family members, with about one-third of the letters written by Private Charles Wyndham Gay (1841-1862) of the Confederate Army to his parents. Other letters include those from Alexandre Etienne de Clouet, a Louisiana Deputy to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States.

Biographical / historical:

Charles S. Gay (1802-1872) married Margaret Lewis Erskine (1817-1899) and lived in Staunton, Virginia. The couple had at least seven children, including Charles Wyndham Gay (1841-1862), who served as an artilleryman in the Confederacy's Army of the Shenandoah. Charles W. Gay was killed by a shell fragment at Malvern Hill on 1 July 1962.

Source: Materials within collection.

Acquisition information:
Accession 2019-0060 Purchased 2 April 2018, Elizabeth Cocke Coles Fund, 2017/2018; 2019-0061 Purchased 2 April 2018, Elizabeth Cocke Coles Fund, 2017/2018.
Arrangement:

Materials have been placed in chronological order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard