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.
Open to researchers without restrictions.
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.
Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney
Gift. Accession #A78-8
Additional accesions made in June 1978 and January 1979.
Prior to September 2020, the collection was known as the Elizabeth Calvert Page Dabney Papers.
Warren Spencer Collection (MG 121) also contains information about the Whittle family.
[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
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
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, The Gordon Family-Genalogical Data, undated, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
This diary recounts life in Scotland and England, then follows the journey to the United States and then life in Virginia (typed transcript)
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Diary of Agnes Knox Gordon, 1812-1839, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Typed transcript of a diary, written in Norfolk, Virginia during the Civil War, describing the Union's occupation of Norflok and the city's reaction to one of its own, Admiral David Farragut, leading the U.S. Naval Forces in the capture of New Orleans.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Camilla Frances Loyall Diary, 1862 May 1-June 14, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Relates to a story of Whittle's first action in the United States Navy, when he was serving as a midshipman on the USS Preble. The action occured off Anton Lizardo near Vera Cruz, Mexico and involved U.S. Naval vessels and two steamships flying no flag whose objective was to assist General Miramon in his rebellion against President Juarez of Mexico. The two vessels sailed from Havana, Cuba
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Account of Action Taken on USS Preble, 1860 March, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, Written by Captain C. Whittle, An Officer on Board, 1910, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Shaw-Niemyer (?) Camp, Berkley, Virginia.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Handwritten Speech Delivered to the United Daughters of the Confedracy, undated, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 7, Jefferson Davis Home Association Life Membership-William C. Whittle, undated, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 8, Certificate of Merit-Edmonia L. Whittle-First Fighter Command Auxiliary Aircraft Warning Service, 1943 January 1, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 9, Confederate Bond-$500, circa 1860-1865, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Grand Camp, Confederate Veterans, Proceedings, Department of Virginia
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 10, Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of Confederate Veterans, 1916 October 24-26, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Address by Miss Mildred Lewis Rutherford, Historian General, United Daughters of the Confedracy-"Historical Sins of Omission and Commission "-San Francisco, California
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 11, Address, Historical Sins of Omission and Commission by Mildred Lewis Rutherford, 1915 October 22, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
In reference to the sale of a lot and dwelling at 161 Duke Street, Norfolk
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 12, Letter between Samuel Hirsch and Sarah Alexina Page, 1898 November 10, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 13, Receipt for Payment of Real Estate Commission by Richard L. Page to Pannill Bros., 1898 November 10, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 14, Receipt of the Purchase of a Slave, Catherine, with Her Two Children, by Mr. R.L. Page, 1854 December 27, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 15, By the Reverend Carl E. Grammer in Christ Church, Norfolk, 1901 August 18, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 16, Report of the Ivanhoe Land and Improvement Company of Ivanhoe, Wythe County, Virginia, 1890-1892, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 17, Booklet on Norfolk History, 1904, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 18, The Gray Jacket, 1893 November, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 19, The Gray Jacket, 1893 December, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 20, The Gray Jacket, 1894 March, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 21, The Gray Jacket, 1897 November, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 22, The Jamestown Bulletin-Jamestown Exposition, 1906 July, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 23, Charleston News and Courier-"Reunion-United Confederate Veterans", 1899 May 10, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 24, Raleigh News and Observer, 1902 May 11, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 25, Norfolk Landmark, 1905 June 11, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 26, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 1918 February 10, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 27, The History and Adventure of Little James and Mary by Lucy Watkins, 1819, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 28, Envelope Postmarked and Addressed to Captain William C. Whittle, 1885 July 11, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 1, Edmonia Lee Whittle: Diploma for The Phillilps and West School, Norfolk, Virginia, 1902 June 11, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 2, Edmonia Lee Nelson: Diploma for Patapsco Female Institue, Ellicott City, Maryland, 1852 July 25, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 3, Edmonia Lee Whittle: Certificate of Distinction for The Phillips and West School, Norfolk, Virginia, 1900 June 13, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 4, Edmonia Lee Whittle: Certificate of Distinction for The Phillips and West School, Norfolk, Virginia, 1901 June 14, Whittle Family Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.