Benjamin Stoddert Ewell Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Benjamin Stoddert Ewell Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Summary

Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet
Creator:
Ewell, Benjamin Stoddert, 1810-1894, Office of the President, and Ewell, Elizabeth S., 1814-
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Benjamin Stoddert Ewell Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains materials dated 1784-1934. It includes correspondence, legal papers, and accounts, chiefly 1830-1892, of Benjamin S. Ewell, professor at the U.S. Military Academy, Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee College, and the College of William and Mary (which he served as acting president, 1848-1849, and president, 1854-1888). Letters from Ewell during the Civil War when he was assistant adjutant-general to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston are included as well. Among the correspondents are members of the Tyler, Ewell, Campbell, and Brown families of Virginia and Tennessee. The collection also contains the memorandum book on the Ewell family by Elizabeth S. Ewell.

Biographical / historical:

Benjamin Stoddert Ewell was born in Georgetown, D. C., June 10, 1810, the son of Thomas Ewell and Elizabeth Stoddert. He graduated from United States Military Academy and taught there. He taught at Hampden- Sydney College and at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). In 1848, he was elected professor of mathematics and acting president of College of William and Mary and in 1854, became president. He was colonel of 32nd Virginia Infantry Regiment and later assistant adjutant-general to Joseph E. Johnston. He was president of William and Mary 1854-1888 and died in 1894. He was the brother of Richard Stoddert Ewell, had another brother, William Stoddert, a sister Elizabeth S. Ewell, and a daughter, Elizabeth S. Ewell Scott.

Acquisition information:
Gift: 1,128 items of Mrs. R. M. Crawford, 12/31/1935. Gift: 100 items, Elizabeth S. Hamlin, 03/30/1936. Gift: 25 items, Mrs. C. Hughes Lyon, 05/1/1957. Gift: 1 item, Percy Hamlin, 04/1973. Gift: 1 item, Kenneth Lemley, 03/1973. Acc. No. 2001,14A, gift, 1 item, of Staunton Aylor, 04/14/2001. Acquisition information for material received after 7/13/2009 is available by consulting a Special Collections Research Center staff member. The West Point Diploma was acuired in 2001 (Mss. Acc. 2011.020)
Custodial history:

The original finding aid references "Photographs of pages from the Ewell Family Bible"; however, these were not located with the collection as of April 11, 2018. Karen King, SCRC Staff.

Processing information:

Acc. 2011.020 added by Benjamin Bromley in January 2011.

Arrangement:

This collection has been organized into six series.

Series 1 includes letters arranged alpabetically by writer. A uniform entry has been adopted for each name, and persons of the same name have been identified and distinguished from each other by indicating their relationship to Benjamin S. Ewell or other persons. For example, the entry Brown (Harriot S.) is used for letters signed H. S. Brown and Hattie, and the entry Ewell (Elizabeth), daughter of Benjamin S. Ewell, is used for letters signed Lizzy Ewell or simply Lizzy.

Series 2 includes papers from various sources.

Series 3 is the plat of Ewell property.

Series 4 contains the Ewell Family Bible, published by Williams and Whiting in 1810, and signed by Thomas Ewell. Family records are in the center of the Bible. The first entry is the birth of Thomas Ewell in 1784 and the last entry is from 1918.

Series 5 is a scrapbook of mostly newspaper clippings from mid to late 1800's. Page 15 has an article, "A Yankee's description of Williamsburg." Page 66 has a clipping, "The Old Garden" by Elizabeth J. Galt. Page 155 has an article about lightning striking the home of Beverly S. Scott, son-in-law of Benjamin Ewell. There are some handwritten poems and many published poems in the newspaper clippings. (Acc. No. 2008.196)

Series 6 is the diploma of Benjamin Stoddert Ewell from the United States Military Academy at West Point. (Acc. No. 2011.020)

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard