Mahone, William, 1826-1895

Confederate Army officer, railroad administrator, politician.

From the description of Papers, 1853-1895; (bulk 1876-1892). (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 23371607

Politician and senator, leader in "Readjuster" movement to readjust state debt.

From the description of Letter : Petersburg, to Merideth Watson, Nottoway County, 1880 April 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122539121

James Barron Hope was born 23 March 1829 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was the grandson of Commodore James Barron (1769-1851) and son of Wilton Hope and Jane Armistead (Barron) Hope (1791-1862). James Barron Hope graduated from the College of William and Mary. He practiced law and was the commonwealth's attorney for Norfolk. He married Annie Beverley Whiting (1825-1920) in 1857. The couple had two daughters, Jane ("Janey" or "Jennie") Barron Hope (b. 1859?) and Ann ("Nanny") Hope. James Barron Hope is known primarily for his poetry, serving as the official poet of the 250th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. He published several volumes of writings and also edited newspapers. Hope died in 1887.

From the guide to the James Barron Hope Papers (II), 1820-1923., (Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary)

Confederate general.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Petersburg, to "Dear Statham", 1881 Oct. 24. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270606938

Mahone, educated as an engineer, served as a general in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. After the Civil War, he was active in Virginia politics as a U.S. Senator and leader of the Virginia Republican Party.

From the description of Papers, 1890-1895. (Auburn University). WorldCat record id: 42644638

Mrs. Darling was born in New Hampshire in 1840, a descendant of Henry Adams who settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1636. She married Col. Edward Irving Darling, 22 years her senior, in 1860, and went with him to live at his Louisiana home. He died of wounds received in battle, December 2, 1863. Her only son was Edward Erving Darling, a minor musician-composer, who died July 13, 1894. Mrs. Darling suffered from repeated attacks of malarial fever and, after 1876, from deafness. Her years of widowhood were spent in writing Mrs. Darling's Letters, or Memoirs of the Civil War A Social Diplomat and other books.

From 1889 to 1896 her major interests and efforts were devoted to the founding of women's patriotic societies. Mrs. Darling's obsession for organizing and ruling patriotic societies, and her willingness to abandon one when her opinion or desires were thwarted, is illustrated by the rapid succession with which the societies followed each other: Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) founded October 11, 1890; Daughters of the Revolution (D.R.) founded June 18, 1891; Daughters of the United States of the War of 1812, founded January 8, 1892; founded because of disagreement over policies of the D. A. R., policies adopted over the protest of Mrs. Darling. This collection is composed almost entirely of letters written to her during these years of controversy. There are some delightful, pithy and well-written letters in the group.

From the guide to the Flora Adams Darling Papers, 1862-1908, (Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary)

• 1826, Dec. 1: Born Monroe, Southhampton Co., Va.
• 1847: Graduated from Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va.
• 1850: Became Assistant Engineer of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
• 1852: Became Chief Engineer, Fredericksburg and Valley Plank Road Company
• 1855: Married Otelia Butler
• 1861: Became President and Chief Engineer of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad
• 1861: Commissioned Brigadier General in the Confederate Army
• 1863: Elected to the Virginia State Senate
• 1864: Commanded unit known as "Mahone's Brigade" at the Battle of the Petersburg Crater
• 1865: Simultaneously became President of both the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad and the South Side Railroad
• 1870: Created the privately owned Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad (AMandO)
• 1877: Defeated in seeking the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nomination
• 1879: Organized and assumed leadership of the Readjuster Party in Virginia
• 1880: Elected to the United States Senate and pledged his allegiance to the Republican Party
• 1882: Became Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture
• 1886: Ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the United States Senate
• 1889: Ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Virginia on the Republican ticket
• 1895, Oct. 8: Died in Washington, D.C. Buried in Petersburg, Va., where the Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument to him

From the guide to the William Mahone Papers, 1853-1895, (Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)