"Short Account of the Experiences of Edward Mitchell Whaley"
E. M. Whaley begins this memoir with a description of his early life, his study in Vevey, Switzerland (from whence he ran away) and in Heidelberg, Germany, and his return to the U.S. He goes on to recount obtaining a position on Governor F. W. Pickens' staff, his return to Germany, his service with the Westphalian Corps (during which time he fought ten duels), and his return to America to serve with the Charleston Light Dragoons (C.S.A.) and the 1st South Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.) during the Civil War. Whaley ends his account with a description of his return to his family, his brief term practicing law with his father, and his marriages. Also included are two newspaper articles from the Charleston Evening Post. One describes the sinking of the Housatonic; the other is an obituary for E. M. Whaley. All of these items are typewritten transcriptions of the originals.
Dates
- 1909 September 8
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Extent
0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)
Abstract
E. M. Whaley begins this memoir with a description of his early life, his study in Vevey, Switzerland (from whence he ran away) and in Heidelberg, Germany, and his return to the U.S. He goes on to recount obtaining a position on Governor F. W. Pickens' staff, his return to Germany, his service with the Westphalian Corps (during which time he fought ten duels), and his return to America to serve with the Charleston Light Dragoons (C.S.A.) and the 1st South Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.) during the Civil War. Whaley ends his account with a description of his return to his family, his brief term practicing law with his father, and his marriages. Also included are two newspaper articles from the Charleston Evening Post. One describes the sinking of the Housatonic; the other is an obituary for E. M. Whaley. All of these items are typewritten transcriptions of the originals.
Biographical/Historical Note
Edward Mitchell Whaley was born to William and Rachel Louisa (Mitchell) Whaley in Edingsville, Edisto Island, South Carolina on October 15, 1840. His father sent him to study in Europe at the age of 15, and he attended school in Vevey, Switzerland and in Heidelberg, Germany before returning to the United States. He soon returned to Heidelberg, where he studied law and was a member of the Westphalian Corps. During this time, he was involved in numerous duels, one of which left him badly wounded. Whaley returned to the United States in 1861 and served with the Charleston Light Dragoons (C.S.A.) and the 1st South Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.) during the Civil War. After the war, he practiced law briefly with his father before becoming a planter. He operated a rice plantation on the Cooper River before taking over his grandfather's Greens Point Plantation (which cultivated cotton) on Edisto Island, South Carolina. Whaley eventually had to give up his plantation due to the unfavorable financial climate and worked as a magistrate on Edisto Island from 1883 to 1905. He moved his family to Charleston in 1905, where he worked as a clerk in the judicial magistrate's court until his death on July 10, 1915.
Whaley was married three times: first to Jennie M. Pickens (d. 1866), second to Caroline Mitchell (his cousin), and third to Maria Adelaide Whaley (1849-1931). He had five children with second and third wives: Edward Mitchell (1868-1929), Charles Crowley (1881-), Abigail Mitchell (1883-1918), Benjamin Seabrook (1884-1956), and Rachel Louisa (Whaley) Hanckel (1885-1970).
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single folder.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository