David Gilmer Watts and Clara Watts papers
Scope and Content
This collection primarily consists of letters written between Clara and Gilmer Watts between August 1862 and July 1864. Her letters deal with her management of the family and her new occupation as a teacher. Clara’s letters also include her encouragement of Gilmer’s desire to become a preacher, as well as occasionally soliciting his advice. Gilmer writes about his sicknesses, poor rations, sporadic pay, and vagaries of camp life. His letters document his unit’s movements through Kentucky and Indiana, and also include descriptions of his time as a prisoner of war in Maryland and Missouri. After his release, Gilmer rejoined his unit and continued to write about the hard edged life of a soldier in camp until his death.
In addition to Gilmer’s and Clara’s correspondence, which include several letters written in 1855, the collection contains two separate death notices for Gilmer; currency; his enlistment papers; and three small books entitled The Soldier’s Hymn Book, A Rainy Day in Camp, and The Roll Call or How will You Answer It. Gilmer also kept a journal in which he recorded his army movements as well as a list of letters he received and sent, a list of addresses, and a list of money accounts. The remainder of the collection includes correspondence, poetry, and other Zeph family documents.
Dates
- 1855- 1889
- Majority of material found within 1862 - 1864
Creator
- Watts, Clara, 1836-1884 (Person)
- Watts, David Gilmer, 1829-1864 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the Kenan Research Center.
Administrative/Biographical History
David Gilmer Watts (1829-1864), referred to primarily as Gilmer, was born in Madison Ohio. Clarrisa C. Eames (1836-1884), commonly referred to as Clara, was born in Vermont. Gilmer married Clara in 1856 and the two settled in La Salle County, Illinois and had two children, Alpha and Walter. Gilmer was a teacher before joining the Union Army in 1862. After Gilmer enlisted, Clara also taught. In April 1863, Clara moved to Sandoval, Marion County, Illinois to live with Gilmer’s parents.
Gilmer enlisted as a private in Company B of the 88th Illinois Infantry in 1862. He fought in the Battle of Perryville, and on December 31, 1862 was wounded in the Battle of Stone’s River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and taken prisoner. While a prisoner, he was sent to a hospital in Annapolis, Maryland where he stayed from January 28 until March 11, 1863. From Annapolis he travelled to Benton Barracks in Missouri, where he stayed until June 2, 1863. Watts was freed in an exchange of prisoners and fought in battles in Chattanooga, and later in the Atlanta Campaign. He was killed during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 19, 1864.
Around April 1864 Clara moved to Normal, McLean County, Illinois to study for a teaching certificate. She remained in Normal after Gilmer’s death. In 1870 Alpha, and likely Walter, stayed in the Soldiers’ Orphans Home in Normal. Clara died in 1884. Alpha married Randolph Zeph in 1877, and they lived in Pontiac, Livingston County, Illinois and had two children, Walter (b. 1879), and Olive (b. 1883). Walter Watts moved to Gainesville, Florida in November 1882.
Extent
2 linear ft. (2 document cases, 1 oversized box)
Language
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, 2009.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcriptions of all correspondence in the collection are available in box 2.
General
America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia received support from a Digitizing Historical Records grant awarded to the Atlanta History Center, Georgia Historical Society, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Digital Library of Georgia by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Description Control
Collection processed in 2009.
- Title
- David Gilmer Watts and Clara Watts papers
- Author
- Paul Crater
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository