Coleman, John Nathan.

The John and Virginia Adkins Coleman Papers include correspondence and financial documents pertaining to John and Virginia Coleman. A major portion of the collection are the letters written during the American Civil War between John and his fiancée Virginia Eliza "Jennie" Adkins. The correspondence between them detail life on the home front in Marshall, Texas, and John's service in the 3rd Texas cavalry, Confederate army, serving in Arkansas, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, and Georgia.

John Nathan Coleman, born in Georgia in 1835, moved to Harrison County, Texas, in 1854. He established a mercantile business in the area, J.N. Coleman & Co., and soon became wealthy. With his Southern ties, it is no surprise that he chose to fight for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. At the time of his enlistment, he was courting the local girl Virginia Eliza "Jennie" Adkins. Since she was the daughter of a hotel keeper, her family was quite wealthy, with her father having a net worth of over $50,000 in 1860. At 15 years old at the start of their letters, Jennie was ten years his junior.

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