Etta Bailey Burgiss papers

Items

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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — January 30, 1865

  This letter from Victoria to her sister holds a delightful denial of her interest in W. C. Bailey, who remains unnamed and simply referred to as the "widower." She would get married to him 9 months later.
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  Letter from Victoria Cunningham Bailey to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — August 22, probably 1863 or 1864
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — June 5, 1864
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — April 25, 1864
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan and Mary — February 22, 1863
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — June 19th, 1862

  This is the last letter from Victoria which mentions her brother Mike, fighting in the Civil War; he would be killed in battle about a week later. This letter, likes the last, mentions her future husband W. C. Bailey, but not by name; she refers to him as "the widower."
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — May 9, 1862

  This letter discusses Victoria's future husband, W. C. Bailey, though not by name; she refers to him as "the widower."
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  Envelope of letter from Victoria Cunningham to Margaret Sullivan — May 9, 1862

  Envelope reads: Paid .5 Pleasant Grove S.C 9th May — Mrs Nancy M Sullivan Tumbling Shoals Laurens Dist So. Carolina
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — March 31, 1862
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  Envelope of letter from Victoria Cunningham to Margaret Sullivan
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — January 28, 1862

  This is the first time Victoria mentions the man who would become her husband, W. C. Bailey.
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — December 16, 1861
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — October 9, possibly 1861

  This letter has been entirely crumpled up, then flattened; it has stains, is very worn, and many parts are nearly illegible. She’s flirting with men who aren’t W.C. Bailey, which implies this is before their relationship develops; and she references deserters being rounded up, indicating the war has been going for a little while.
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham Sullivan — June 25, 1861

  This letter from Victoria Cunningham to her sister, Margaret Sullivan. It references “Mike” — Michael M. Cunningham, their younger brother, who would be killed in battle one year later. He entered as a second lieutenant and ended a first lieutenant. He was Captain of Company D, 6th Regiment, 13th Infantry. Received a gunshot wound to the thigh on June 30, 1862 in a Seven Days Battle before Richmond. Admitted to Chimborazo Hospital No. 4, Richmond, Virginia on July 1, and he died July 5, 1862 from gangrene. The letter also mentions Chevis Crawford Montgomery, an uncle who was in the company, or his son.
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  Envelope of letter from Victoria Cunningham to Margaret Sullivan
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  Letter from Victoria Elizabeth Cunningham to Margaret Cunningham (possibly Sullivan) — August, c. 1860-61

  Victoria Cunningham, age 18 or 19, is writing her sister Margaret, who is seven years older. Margaret had married at age 16, but her husband died a year or two before this letter was written; she remarried just after this letter. This letter is very unusual in several respects. It is not fully dated, as most of Victoria's letters are. It begins with “Dear Margaret,” a striking departure from the normal “My dear Sister.” The grammar and spelling are less developed; and the “sound” of her writing feels younger and less mature than her other letters. It doesn’t mention their brother Mike at war, which implies it was written before he left. The postscript is also very unusual, and seems to indicate an early discomfort with letter-writing (many other American womens’ letters from this period have requests to burn or destroy or hide or protect the letter, but Vic does this no other time — even for letters discussing rather private matters). For these reasons, I tend to think this is August, 1860. She does mention Ben Morgan being elected Lieutenant, but the Confederate military had not yet begun muster at that point; that could indicate an August 1861 date. However, all the other factors point to an earlier date, and it’s entirely possible Ben is in the state militia — which was in massive growth and development in August 1860. The letter makes no mention of Washington Sullivan; Margaret married him in December of 1860.
• Bailey – Burgiss communication: steel box

  Tinned steel box, lacquered black; double red striping top and bottom. This box, likely from the mid- to late-1800s, was kept for generations in a drawer of a hallway secretary. It held numerous letters and photographs. They center around the families of William Clark and Victoria Cunningham Bailey, their daughter Etta, and her husband William Wesley Burgiss.