Lewis Neale Whittle was a native of Mecklenburg County, Va., who settled in Georgia in 1836 and eventually lived in Macon, Ga. Whittle started out as an engineer connected with railroad building, but turned to the practice of law; and served as a Confederate Army officer. The collection contains family and business letters, mainly 1834-1872, of Lewis Neale Whittle and his wife, Sarah (Powers) Whittle, and of Sarah's sister, Mary (Powers) Griffin, and her husband, Daniel Griffin (1807-1866), of Columbus, Ga. Griffin was associated with railroad building and other enterprises. Letters to the Whittles were written by family in Virginia and Georgia. Family members included planters, naval officers, and Episcopal clergy, namely Stephen Elliott (1806-1866), Alexander Gregg (1819-1893), and Bishop Francis M. Whittle (1823-1902), and these activities are reflected in the correspondence. Griffin family materials include letters, 1858-1859, to Richard Potter of Macon, Ga., whose connection is unclear. Potter was an Irish immigrant and the letters to him are from his family in Ireland. There are also letters from Daniel Griffin describing a steamboat trip, 1849, and while on an extended business trip to New York and the upper Midwest, 1857. Civil War materials include letters to Whittle concerning organizing and financing a Confederate regiment. Other family members served in the Confederate Army and wrote from various places in Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia, and many letters were exchanged among the women of the family. Postwar letters are scattered in date and content.
