Series 1. Journal of Virginia Haymond

Containers:

Box 1, Box 2, Folder 1, Box 2, Folder 2

Scope and content:

This series includes Virginia Haymond's original journal/diary as well as typed and handwritten excerpts copied from it. Virginia C. Haymond (January 20, 1834 - August 18, 1865) lived near Fairmont in Marion County, [West] Virginia. Her father was Colonel Thomas S. Haymond, who served as a representative to the Virginia House of Delegates and the US House of Representatives before serving the Confederacy during the Civil War. Alpheus F. Haymond was her brother. Virginia's journal begins in 1859, lacks entries for 1860, and in January of 1861 she was in Richmond with her family, since her father was called in for the extra session of the House of Delegates and her brother attended the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 as a representative for Marion County. Her journal skips from late January to early July 1861, but she gives a summary of what happened in the interim regarding secession. Her family was aligned with the secessionists, and her diary gives her thoughts and impressions of a turbulent time in the state's history, when her father and brother were not safe at their home because of their alliances. Virginia faces many trials including hiding a deserter in her family's Marion County home in January 1862 (John Matthews, who "joined Showalter's Company" but then decided he did not want to serve with them). The journal ends in April 1863.

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