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Grimball, John, 1840-1922. Correspondence, 1856-1909.

Title: Correspondence, 1856-1909.

Correspondence of the 1850s includes letters from Grimball on board the U.S.S. Macedonian at foreign ports including Leghorn, Italy and Alexandria, Egypt to his family members describing shore leave in Marseilles, France, and elsewhere and a fancy ball given by the "Pacha" of Egypt; and letters to Grimball from W.A. Kerr, a friend serving on the U.S.S. Roanoke. Civil War correspondence consists of letters between Grimball and his family and friends during his service on the Confederate ships Shenandoah, Lady Davis, Fingal, Arkansas, and Baltic. Correspondents include his father and mother, sister Elizabeth (Munro), George Strong Storrs (Alabama), and George W. Gift (C.S.S. Chattahoochee). His parents' letters from Charleston and Spartanburg, S.C., (a wartime refuge for the Grimballs) relate news of the war and family members. Grimball's correspondence with his family contains descriptions of his daily life and includes letters concerning reports of U.S. troops landing at Beaufort, S.C. (1861 June 13); his difficulty finding the C.S.S. Arkansas, which had sailed up the Yazoo River (Miss.) for safety (1862 May 2); and conditions in Vicksburg (1862 May 8). Early post-war correspondence includes a letter (1865 Nov. 26) from John at Caen, France, to his mother regarding his future plans and the possiblity of sheep ranching near Buenos Aires; and letters (1866) to John in Liverpool, England, and Cordova, Mexico, from his father. Later correspondence mainly consists of letters to John in Charleston, S.C., and New York City from his brother Berkley in Charleston regarding family, estate, and business matters; and John Grimball's legal and business correspondence, including a letter (1870 Oct. 8) to him from D.M. Scales in Memphis, Tenn., and many letters (1878-1906) to Grimball and Richard B. Tunstall from Lewis and Carrie (Ostenheim) Morris (New York residents living in Europe) regarding Morris financial affairs.

ArchivalResource: 0.25 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70974900 View

Grimball, John, 1840-1922. John Grimball family papers, 1804-1893, bulk 1858-1885.

Title: John Grimball family papers, 1804-1893, bulk 1858-1885.

This collection chiefly consists of correspondence, mostly letters to John Grimball from his mother and other family members. Letters of the 1850s, to John Grimball while he was serving in the U.S. Navy, concern family matters, life at the Grove Plantation, social life, and political events at home. Several letters (1858) mention the capture of the slave ship Echo and the disposition of the Africans brought into Charleston. Two letters (1859) from John B. Grimball to his son John concern his views on the reopening of the slave trade, and other family letters from that year discuss John Brown's raid on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, South Carolinians being on the alert for slave uprisings, and the possibility of secession and war ("there would undoubtedly be a most bloody war, for the north would not like the most valuable section to go."). Wartime correspondence includes letters to John Grimball in France from his family in Spartanburg, S.C., and elsewhere, and from fellow Confederate naval officers, including W.C. Whittle, E.G. Read, Dabney Minor Scales, Charles E. Lining, and John T. Mason. There is also a note to Grimball from Matthew Fontaine Maury (13 July 1863). There are a few letters from John Grimball to his family, including one (22 Jan. 1861) describing social life in Mobile, Ala., and a clergyman's condemnation of parties and dancing in a sermon. Just after the war, the letters often concern the fate of the officers of the CSS Shenandoah. John T. Mason's letter (17 Dec. 1865) reports he has been told that "none of the officers of the 'Shenandoah' could go back to the U.S. without standing trial for piracy." Postwar correspondence traces the economic and personal struggles of various members of the Grimball family. Letters of this period from John Grimball's mother, brothers, and sisters, including Gabriella Grimball, Charlotte ("Lottie") Grimball, Berkley Grimball, Arthur Grimball, Lewis Grimball, Harry Grimball, and Elizabeth Grimball Munro, often concern friends and social life in Charleston. Letters (1881) include notes of condolence to John Grimball on the death of his mother, mostly from members of the Morris family.

ArchivalResource: 1.25 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/326878800 View