McAmis Family Papers
The bulk of this collection consists of letters that family and friends in Tazewell, Tennessee wrote to Mattie (Weir) McAmis in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil War. Many of these letters were authored by Mattie's eldest daughters, Mary and Maggie. These letters, while mostly personal in content, also discuss Corinth, Mississippi and describe East Tennessee during the Federal occupation of early 1862. The collection also houses correspondence written to and from Mattie (McAmis) Mitchell (Mattie (Weir) McAmis's youngest daughter) and correspondence between Eppie (Mitchell) Frazier (Mattie (McAmis) Mitchell's daughter) and her son, Joseph A. Frazier, during World War II.
Dates
- 1860 March 10-1944 December 16 (bulk 1861-1866, 1944)
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
0.2 Linear Feet
Abstract
The bulk of this collection consists of letters that family and friends in Tazewell, Tennessee wrote to Mattie (Weir) McAmis in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil War. Many of these letters were authored by Mattie's eldest daughters, Mary and Maggie. These letters, while mostly personal in content, also discuss Corinth, Mississippi and describe East Tennessee during the Federal occupation of early 1862. The collection also houses correspondence written to and from Mattie (McAmis) Mitchell (Mattie (Weir) McAmis's youngest daughter) and correspondence between Eppie (Mitchell) Frazier (Mattie (McAmis) Mitchell's daughter) and her son, Joseph A. Frazier, during World War II.
Biographical/Historical Note
Matilda Mattie Weir was born in about 1818 in Northern Ireland. She immigrated to the United States, settled in East Tennessee, and married Anthony Alexander McAmis (1818-1860) in January 1840 in Claiborne County, Tennessee. A. A. McAmis helped to found the town of Tazewell, Tennessee in the 1840s. A. A. and Mattie McAmis had eight children: Mary E., Margaret Maggie A., James A., David C., William Houston, Reuben, Elizabeth, and Matilda Mattie. During much of the Civil War, Mattie McAmis lived in Huntsville, Alabama.
A. A. and Matilda (Weir) McAmis' youngest daughter, Mattie, was born in Rogersville, Tennessee on March 29, 1861. She married Adolphus Mitchell (1850-1926) and the couple settled in Summerfield, Florida, where they had at least one daughter, Eppie, on June 8, 1890. Eppie married J. A. Frazier and the couple had two sons, Kenneth M. (1907-1938) and Joseph A. (1911-2003). After living briefly in Georgia, the family resided in Gainesville, Florida. Mattie (McAmis) Mitchell joined them after her husband's death and died in Gainesville on June 23, 1933. During World War II, Joseph A. Frazier served in the military and was stationed in Sardinia and France. Eppie (Mitchell) Frazier died in Levy County, Florida on January 30, 1977.
Arrangement
This collection consists of four folders.
Acquisition Note
Special Collections purchased these letters in 2009.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository