Introduction | Biographical Sketch | Scope and Content | Series Description | Inventory

Introduction

The Webb family papers date from March 24, 1844, to December 19, 1947. They include correspondence to John Charles Webb from various family members and acquaintances. Of special interest are letters written to him by his wife, Eliza P. Webb, during his service in the Union army in the Civil War. The papers were transferred to the Center for Archival Collections on April 21, 1988 from the Wood County Historical Museum. This register was prepared by April S. Dougal, graduate student in Public History at Bowling Green State University, in September 1988.

Biographical Sketch

John Charles Webb, born on September 2, 1822 in Canton, Ohio was taken to Perrysburg, Ohio by his parents John C. Webb and Elizabeth (Charles) Webb on November 26, 1822. The elder John Webb was born August 27, 1795, in New York, New York. Elizabeth C. Webb was born in 1794, in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, where the two met and married. Immediately following their marriage, the couple moved to Canton, where Mr. Webb operated a hat-making business. When the new family moved to Perrysburg, Mr. Webb continued in the hatter's trade for two years. He participated in local government from 1824 to 1854 as county clerk, was sheriff for three terms, and even occupied the position of internal revenue collector at one time. The younger John C. Webb, known as Charles, had five biological siblings, including Susanna, Rebecca, Catherine, Sarah, Thomas, and Henry. Elizabeth C. Webb died on December 17, 1833.

John Webb remarried in July of 1834. His second wife, Mary (Dean) Webb, left four children upon her death on February 14, 1849. These were: Mrs. Mary E. (Young) Marshall, Mrs. Sarah Ann Smith, and Corwin. Mr. Webb was married a third time, to Mary A. (Jones) Webb of Perrysburg, on February 23, 1851. This union produced three additional step-siblings: Ellen Dustin, Eliza H. Taylor, and Lewis.

After his education in the Perrysburg school system, J. Charles Webb traveled fairly extensively, as alluded to in letters from his father, brother, and associates. Upon returning to Perrysburg and establishing a farm, he met and married Eliza P. Jones, originally of New York, on January 16, 1861.

Charles enlisted for service in the Union army on February 11, 1864, and served in Company C, Twenty-first O.V.I. as a member of the Army of the Tennessee. He was involved in the battles at Goldsboro and Resaca, and served under General Sherman during the March to the Sea. He also participated in the Carolina campaign, and was honorably discharged on July 25, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

At this juncture, J. Charles Webb returned to his young family, which had increased from three to four members in his absence. Charles made a living as a Perrysburg farmer until his death in May, 1904.

Scope and Content

The Webb family papers are a collection of 45 letters written by various family members and their acquaintances between 1844 and 1947. The vast majority of this correspondence was directed to John Charles Webb, known throughout the collection as Charles. His father, John C. Webb, wrote the earliest series of letters, which span the period of Charles' life between 1844 and 1852, when he was traveling the region and held several jobs. Some of the locations in which he lived include Massillon and Cuyahoga Falls, both in Ohio, and Hartleton, Pennsylvania. The last letter in this series suggests that Charles will venture to California or even Japan.

The set of letters directed to Charles from his brother Thomas encompasses the period between 1850 and 1857. These letters include scattered information about members of the Webb family, agricultural news, and information on a cholera epidemic in Perrysburg in the summer of 1854. The letters include news of some family deaths, and some details of townsfolk who died. This correspondence also gives indications of Charles' changing residences, which include: Wilmington, Delaware, Petersburg, and Gettysburg, Virginia. This correspondence includes travel information in the form of directions to, and a description of Sault Ste. Marie.

The collection contains letters from Charles' miscellaneous acquaintances, which do little more than indicate places he was located and the type of people he met. A series of letters from Charles' sister, Mary E. (Young) Marshall, in Ingersoll, Canada, are of little importance except that they indicate the general date of Charles' death.

One major drawback regarding the preceding sets of correspondence is that all are of scattered dates. For example, there may be as much as four years separating two letters from the same person.

By far, the most important series of letters in this collection is the one written by Eliza P. (Jones) Webb, during the period of time Charles was serving in the Civil War, June 27, 1864, to June 22, 1865. Although these letters make some mention of Charles' role in the war, their main concentration is to exemplify the problems and responsibilities faced by a wife and mother effectively "on her own" during the war. Eliza's letters convey her everyday concerns for her husband's welfare, their child, and farm. They also indicate the extraordinary responsibilities she had taken on, such as buying bonds and land, writing a will, hiring and firing help. Eliza was compelled to make decisions between placing the purchase of bonds and land in Charles' or her own name, as she was in constant fear of his death, and sought security for their child. Aside from these relatively unusual responsibilities, she was pregnant, and presumably due in January, 1865. As a result of this, she feared she would die in childbirth, and Charles would be killed in the war, leaving their son Charley orphaned.

A major weakness of this series is Eliza's physical writing Webb Family Papers style, which is extremely small and difficult to read. In addition, some of the letters are faded, which compounds the problem.

The Women's Studies historian will take interest in Eliza P. Webb's letters as an example of a woman's life during the Civil War. Local and medical historians alike will find the various letters on the Perrysburg cholera epidemic of the summer of 1854 interesting. This collection may also serve as a supplementary resource for area genealogical studies, through the mention of townsfolk in the Webb papers.

Series Description

CORRESPONDENCE

JOHN CHARLES WEBB CORRESPONDENCE
March 24, 1844 - October 21, 1863
Arranged chronologically
Contains correspondence from various family members and acquaintances. Includes two letters of unknown origin.

ELIZA P. WEBB CORRESPONDENCE
June 27, 1864 - June 22, 1865
Arranged chronologically
Contains correspondence to John Charles Webb during his service in the Civil war.

WEBB FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE - MISCELLANEOUS
July 10, 1901 - December 19, 1947
Arranged chronologically
Contains correspondence from Mary E. (Young) Marshall. Includes a letter from Eliza P. Webb to Mary Marshall, and an item to Miss J.E. Webb.

LITERARY PRODUCTIONS

FAMILY BIBLE NOTES
1820-1938.
Notes on Webb Family births, marriages, and deaths, written on flyleaves of family Bible, inscribed to John C. Webb.

Inventory

Box 1

1. Folder 1: John Charles Webb Correspondence
   • 1)March 24, 1844 Perrysburg, OH
     Father acknowledges Charles' new job; lists boarders with the Webb family; step-siblings are ill; "new religious theory" threatens local churches' memberships.
     April 10, 1844 (same document)
     Step-mother Mary is ill, separate church formed as a result of new theory - lists some families that converted.
   • 2)October 11, 1846 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Indicates that Charles is in Cuyahoga Falls, OH; family illnesses, some county deaths over the summer.
   • 3)September 30, 1849 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Indicates Charles is in Hartleton, Pennsylvania; family illnesses; death of hired girl; admonition to settle down.
   • 4)April 17, 1852 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Advice to choose work at a naval yard in California as opposed to service on the Mississippi bound for Japan; advice on working for the government.
2. Folder 2: John Charles Webb Correspondence
   • 1) December 16, 1850 (Perrysburg, OH)
     From Charles' brother, Thomas, who recently married Mary E. Radcliff.
   • 2) October 26, 1851 (Sault Ste. Marie, MI)
     Discussion of their second step mother - comments on her youth; father in county clerk's office; Thomas' unspecified marital problems; directions to, description of Sault Ste. Marie.
   • 3) July 31, 1854 (Buffalo, NY)
     Thomas has moved his family from Perrysburg because of cholera epidemic; estimates 60 deaths in Perrysburg; lists some of the dead.
   • 4) July 10, 1855 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Family health; town news.
   • 5) September 21, 1857 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Their father is up for election to the office of clerk; other town political news; good agricultural season; family and town news; note from Molly.
3. Folder 3: John Charles Webb Correspondence
   • 1) May 21, 1850 (Kennedyville,?) To Charles in Wilmington, Delaware, from Jenny;
     news of her teaching at Avoca village and Kennedyville; classes, their size; her family news.
   • 2) January 13, 1855 (Perrysburg, OH) To Charles in Petersburg, Virginia, from Mary A. Webb, his stepmother;
     news of the cholera epidemic of the previous summer; lists and describes family deaths; other family news.
   • 3) July 12, 1859 (Philadelphia, PA) To Charles in Gettysburg, Virginia, from Dr. Charles R. Dovan;
     description of Dovan's brother-in-law's death and burial.
4. Folder 4: John Charles Webb Correspondence
   • 1) October 20,1863 (Washington, DC) (Unknown sender and receiver)
     News of application to Professor Henry for an air gun invention denied.
     October 21, 1863 (Washington, DC) Postscript, Other business contacts suggest proposing the gun for armament on a war vessel under development.
5. Folder 5: Eliza Webb Correspondence
   • 1) June 27, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Lists some local men killed or missing from Chickamauga; family news; crop news; she believes she is pregnant.
   • 2) July 7, (1864) (Perrysburg, OH)
     Talks about battles he may have been in; farm news and family news.
   • 3) July 14, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Discusses her fears of both he and she dying and leaving little ones as orphans; farm news and prices of crops; family news.
   • 4) July 28, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Eliza indicates she has bought bonds, she must sign them before they can be delivered; she is also writing her own will; family news; President calls for 500,000 to enlist or there will be a draft; local news of a Union prisoner of war held in Anderson, GA who escaped back to Perrysburg; financial news and plans to buy land.
   • 5) August 5, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Comments on Charles' commander's drunkenness; news about Charley, their son; her search for a hired girl; financial news; neighbor trouble; weather description; wartime poem.
   • 6) August 11, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     General farm, family, financial news.
   • 7) August 14, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     News of her trip to Perrysburg.
   • 8) August 24, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Text of Eliza's will (August 12, 1864); she has had photos of herself and Charley taken and sent to Charles; farm news.
   • 9) September 1, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Charley is ill; farm news; her mother's visit; her "confinement" due to pregnancy will start in January, when she hopes to hire a girl to help; war news of a draft for "home guard;" an equal exchange of prisoners with the "rebs."
   • 10) September 8, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Sending Charles some money; farm news; worry her pregnancy and finding hired help.
   • 11) September 15, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Comments on Atlanta campaign; family, financial, and farm news.
   • 12) October 20, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Concern over how she will endure her last trimester and care for two children; financial news; comments on battles at Richmond.
   • 13) October 27, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     She has chosen some land she wishes to buy, with Charles' consent; concern over whose name the deed should be in.
   • 14) November 6, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Comments that he expected rest at Atlanta, but did not get it; expresses regret at taking the liberty of buying a house, but felt the decision had to be made.
     October 4, 1864 (Hartleton, PA)From Charles' uncle S.C. Wilt; (Same document) patriotic; notes military successes in Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley; calls James Buchanan a traitor, praises Lincoln; comments on slavery.
   • 15) November 20, 1864 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Eliza has received news of the burning of Atlanta and march to Charleston; rejoices in Lincoln's re-election, but does not believe it will end the war; tax news.
   • 16) June 22, 1865 (Perrysburg, OH)
     Expresses disappointment that Charles will not be discharged and must go fight in the West; fears he will be sent to Texas; description of the new baby girl.
   • 17) Small note, n.d.
     Family news.
6. Folder 6: Webb Family Correspondence
   • July 10, 1901-Sept.20 1904 (Ingersoll, ONT, CAN)
     Correspondence from Charles' sister, Mary E. (Young) Marshall; includes some family news; information on fares to and from Ingersoll, Ontario.
7. Folder 7: Webb Family Correspondence
   • June 12, 1904 (Ingersoll, ONT, CAN),
     Letter to Eliza P. Webb expressing grief on learning of Charles' death.
8. Folder 8: Webb Family Correspondence
   • December, 19, 1947 (no return address)
     Christmas card, no text, postmarked Isle of Man, ENG.
9. Folder 9 - Bible, with Webb Family genealogical notes, 1820-1938.

MS 518 - Web Family Transcript List
Manuscripts by Subject | Civil War Collections