Coleman, Twigg, McEwen, and Houston Family Papers 1814-1945

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

Summary

Creator:
Warren Coleman
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of 290 items, 1814-1945, contains material pertaining to several Scotch-Irish families from which the donor Warren Coleman,M.D. is descended. The collection chiefly revolves around Robert Houston McEwen(1790-1868) and his wife Henrietta "Hetty" Montgomery Kennedy McEwen(1796-1881).

Robert H. McEwen's and Hetty Kennedy's families moved from Washington County, Virginiato the Tennesseeterritory in the late eighteenth century. His father, a surgeon in the Continental Armyduring the Revolutionary War, died when Robert was quite young, so that Robert was reared by his mother and became very close to her family, the Houston Family. Hetty was the daughter of Robert Campbell Kennedy, who pioneered in Tennessee's Lincoln County. Kennedy became a very prosperous farmer and miller, and a good friend of Andrew Jackson. Both Robert McEwenand Hetty Kennedy's older brother William Kennedyjoined the United States Armyto fight in the Creek War Campaign of the War of 1812. They participated in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and McEwen, a lieutenant, drew a map of the battle the morning after their victory (the original is preserved in the Library of Congress).

After they were mustered out in May 1814, McEwen visited Kennedy at his family's home and there met his friend's younger sister Hetty. McEwen and Hetty Kennedywere married the next year and set up housekeeping in Fayetteville, Tennessee, where McEwen owned a dry goods store, among whose customers were many members of the Cherokee nation. In 1828 the McEwens moved to Nashville, Tennesseein order to provide their children with better schooling and more cultural activities. The couple had ten children, seven of whom lived past infancy. In Nashville, McEwen opened another dry goods store which proved very successful. In 1836 the Tennessee State Legislatureelected him Superintendent of Public Schools, a position he held for four years. After he left government service, he ran the collection service for Eastern Merchants, Brokers, and Bankersfor the rest of his working life.

The McEwens were a well-known and prosperous family; their sons went to college and their daughters married professional men. Their youngest daughter "Kitty" McEwenwas sent on trips north and then to Europefor her health. She met a young physician, John Scott Coleman, from Augusta, Georgia, in the party on this tour; they were subsequently married in 1867. Dr. and Mrs. Coleman were the parents of Warren Coleman, the donor.

The family was also known for its piety and patriotism. They were devout Presbyterians, with McEwen serving as an elder for thirty years. Politically they were Whigswho despised the Democratic party. Although they had African-American servants they vehemently opposed the breakup of the Union in the 1860s. Throughout the war Hetty McEweninsisted on flying a hand-made Union flag from her roof. After Union troops captured the city in 1862, her flag was replaced by a silk flag given by the Federal Commander in respect for her bravery. In the postwar period this incident became part of local legend and poems were written to commemorate "Hetty's brave deed."

The McEwen offspring grew up to found long-lived and similarly prosperous families who revered their ancestors and cared for the family heirlooms. Many of the family treasures had come to Kitty McEwen Coleman, who willed them to her son Warren when she died in 1929. At that time the McEwen descendents, led by Dr. Coleman, collectively decided that their family papers and heirlooms of historical interest should be made accessible to the public and donated them to various archives and museums. Among the most interesting were the original map of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and several items pertaining to the War of TexasIndependence (including General Santa Anna's jewelled saddle) given to Robert McEwenby his first cousin Sam Houston.

The collection is valuable for the light it sheds on pioneer and early nineteenth century life in the upper South. The folders of letters and memoirs are probably the most interesting and entertaining items, detailing domestic and social life, and the genealogical materials also record family and thus local history of Nashvilleand its residents. The travel journal kept by Kitty McEwen Colemanon her 1859 European tour is an excellent source for European as well as American social history, and the account of the voyage home is more harrowing than fiction could be.

Acquisition information:
The material in this collection (# 1794 ) was given to Alderman Library by Warren Coleman , M.D., on November 24, 1943.
Physical location:
Physical description:
290 items