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.
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.
The collection is open for research use.
MSS 16415, Gay family papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
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.
Materials have been placed in chronological order.