Edmund Harrison autograph book

Content Description

This addition to RG-30/17/1 (Administrative, Operations and Extraneous Records/ Student Albums/ Autographs) contains an autograph book of Edmund Harrison(1837-1916), a student at the University of Virginia from 1859 to 1860. The book is hardcover bound in full leather with "Autographs" printed in gilt on the front. It includes a collection of about forty-five University of Virginia student and professor signatures and inscriptions, including five with photographic images pasted in. Many were active soldiers and officers in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Harrison wrote updates above many of their inscriptions on what happened to them during and after the war. Many died while other students became officers, chaplains and one a surgeon in the Confederate Army. Signatures include: Gessner Harrison, Beverly St.; George Tucker; Richard Walker, Jr. (Norfolk); Jno. Johnson (Charleston); James McD. Graham; Isaac P. Heiskell (Moorefield, Va.); Jno. Murray (Suffolk, Va., minister); A.R. Boykin, Alia Tony (surgeon in the Confederate States of America); Thos. Pollack (Fauquier Co., Va.); G.W. Nelson (Hanover, Va.); A.H. Gaines (Charlotte Court House, Va.); William Allen (Winchester, Va.); Edward C. Anderson (Savannah, Ga.); Eugene Blackford (Lynchburg, Va.); A. Crisfield (Somerset Co., Md.); W. Rand Berkeley; Peter Fontaine (Hanover Co., Va.); Charles J. Armistead (Richmond, Va.); R. Rives; F. Elmore (Lima, Peru); Charles N[?]; B. Minor (Lynchburg, Va.); Charles Minor, Jr. (Va.); E.L. Martin (Delaware; became a member of Congress); R.M. Venable (Prince Edward Co. Ho., Va.); George W. Carrington (Richmond, Va.); Jas. A. Turner (Hicksford, Va.); Edward T. Harrison (son of Gessner Harrison); W.T. Haskell (Abbeville, SC); Alex B. Cochran; John L. Massie (Waynesborough, Va, with photo pasted in); Osborne Ingle (Washington, D.C.); Auguste Elmoz (Lima, Peru, written in Spanish); W.N. Rockford (Montgomery Co., Va.); Paul C. Venable (Farmville, Va.); Robert P. Page (Clarke Co., Va.); William Norwood, Jr. (with photo pasted in); Jas. M. Boyd (with photo pasted in); Rodes Massie (Augusta Co., Va., with photo pasted in); James Carrington (Charlottesville, Va., with photo pasted in); Richard L. Maury (Washington D.C., son of Commodore Maury); J. B. Taylor, Jr. (Chaplain, Confederate States of America); CLC Minor (took degree of A.M., Captain of Ordnance); Marion Stewart (Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee). The first signature, Gessner Harrison, was a professor at the University at that time. Gessner Harrison (1807-1862) was the 5th student to register at UVA in 1825 and was the first graduate from the University to join the faculty at the age of twenty-one. Harrison was born in Amelia County, Virginia. During the Civil War, he joined the Powhatan Troop, Company E, of the 4th Regiment of Virginia Cavalry (July 10, 1861). At the opening of 1862, he served under Jeb Stuart, and in March, he was assigned to Major Powers, the brigade Quartermaster. In November, he was sent to Richmond to the Nitre Bureau. After the War, he became a minister. In 1916, he died while visiting his son, Dr. Edmund Harrison, in Greensboro, NC. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Acquisition Type

Purchase

Provenance

Purchased from Pages Past Used and Rare Books, 2 June 2023.

Language of Description

English

Script of Description

Latin

Restrictions Apply

No