Brown-Ewell Family Papers, 1781-1984
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Brown-Ewell Family
Title: Papers, 1781-1984
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 6.33 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss. A B877a
Scope and Content Note
The Brown-Ewell papers contain materials relating to this prominent family of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. This collection includes papers of George Washington Campbell, the Polk family, Brown family, Plunket family, and Richard S. Ewell. The majority of the collection contains correspondence, but also features land indentures, diaries, miscellaneous items, and genealogical information about these interconnected families.
The correspondence section includes family letters relating to activities and experiences of these allied families in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Of particular interest are the antebellum political and Civil War military papers of the families.
The earliest papers are from George Washington Campbell (1769-1848). Many reflect his early work as an attorney specializing in land claims, chiefly in Tennessee. The collection also includes correspondence between Elizabeth McKay [Lizinka] Campbell Brown (1820-1872), her husband Confederate Gen. Richard S. Ewell and her two children George Campbell and Harriot Stoddert Brown during and after the Civil War.
The papers continue through the lifetime of Percy Brown (1874-1934) a son of Campbell Brown and Susan Rebecca Polk (1847-1922). Percy married Gertrude Margarete Plunket (1883-1936) and this collection includes a voluminous Plunket and Brown correspondence. Also, correspondence from their children, Percy (1912-1964) and Gertrude Polk Brown Albrecht concerns the Brown-Foreman distillery and twentieth century culture.
The other sections contain land indentures, diaries from various Brown family members, miscellaneous materials, and genealogical information on each of the families.
Biographical Note
George Washington Campbell (1769-1848), lawyer, senator, secretary of the treasury, diplomat, born in Scotland. Campbell was also U.S. ambassador to Russia and member of the U.S. Commission assigned to carry into effect the claim convention signed with France in 1831. For a full biographical sketch see Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1929), III:452.
William Polk (1758-1834), Revolutionary soldier, North Carolina businessman and legislator. Son of Thomas Polk. Unsuccessful Federalist gubernatorial candidate in several elections, who later supported Andrew Jackson. For a full biographical sketch see Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935), XV:43- 44 .
Elizabeth McKay [Lizinka] Campbell Brown (1820-1872), daughter of George Washington Campbell. Married first James Percy Brown, and second her cousin Richard Stoddert Ewell (1817-1872) in 1863.
Richard Stoddert Ewell (1817-1872), Confederate General and son of Thomas Ewell. Graduated West Point, 1840 and served in the Mexican and Civil Wars . For a full biographical sketch see Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons, 1931), VI:229-30.
George Campbell Brown (1840-1893), son ofLizinka Brown Ewell, served on the staff of Gen. Richard Ewell (stepfather) during the Civil War. After the war settled in Tennessee.
Percy Brown (1874-1934), a son of Campbell Brown and Susan Rebecca Polk (1847- 1922). Percy married Gertrude Margarete Plunket, daughter of James Dace and Jennie Swope Plunket.
Folder List
Box 1
Introductory materials
Folder 1: Campbell, George Washington, Correspondence, 1799-1806
Folder 2: Campbell, George Washington, Retained Letterbook Drafts, 1807- 1821
Folder 3: Russian Period, 1817-1819, Letter re. land to Wm. Polk, 1818
Folder 4: Polk Family Papers, 1820-1824
Folder 5: Polk Family Papers, 1825-1829
Folder 6: Van Buren, Martin, Correspondence with Miss Eastin, 1829-n.d. [c.1831]
Folder 7: Polk Family Papers, 1830-1835
Folder 8: Polk Family Papers, 1844-1849
Folder 9: Brown Family Correspondence, 1850-1857
Folder 10: Brown Family Correspondence, 1860
Folder 11: Brown Family Correspondence, 1861
Folder 12: Brown-Ewell Correspondence, 1861-1864
Box 2
Folder 13: Brown and Ewell family correspondence, April 20 through May 31, 1865. Ewell and G. C. Brown write from Fort Warren prison in Boston Harbor.
Folder 14: Brown-Ewell Family Correspondence 1865
Folder 15: Brown and Ewell Family Correspondence, July-Sept 1865
Folder 16: Correspondence, 1866-1869
Folder 17: Correspondence, 1870-1875
Folder 18: Correspondence, 1882-1888
Folder 19: Correspondence, 1891-1898
Folder 20: Correspondence, n.d.
Box3
Folder 21: Correspondence, 1889-1898, between some of the members of the family of Geo. Campbell Brown [1840-1893] and Susan Rebecca Polk [1847-1922].
Folder 22: Correspondence between members of Gertrude and Percy Brown’s family, 1905-1919.
Folder 23: Correspondence, Dec 1920-June 1922
Folder 24: Correspondence, July-Dec 1922
Folder 25: Correspondence, 1923-1924
Folder 26: Correspondence, 1925-Aug 1926
Folder 27: Correspondence, Sept-Oct 1926
Folder 28: Correspondence, Nov-Dec 1926
Box 4
Folder 29: Correspondence, 1927
Folder 30: Correspondence, Feb 1927
Folder 31: Correspondence, March 1927
Folder 32: Correspondence, April 1927
Folder 33: Correspondence, May-Sept 1927
Folder 34: Correspondence, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec 1927
Box 5
Folder 35: Correspondence, Jan-Sept 1928
Folder 36: Correspondence, Oct 1-14, 1928
Folder 37: Correspondence, Oct 17-23, 1928
Folder 38: Correspondence, Oct 25-31, 1928
Folder 39: Correspondence, Nov-Dec 1928
Folder 40: Correspondence, Jan-April 1929
Box 6
Folder 41: Correspondence, May-August 1929
Folder 42: Correspondence, Sept-Dec 1929
Folder 43: Correspondence, 1930
Folder 44: Correspondence, March 1932-Dec 1933
Folder 45: Correspondence, 1940s
Folder 46: Correspondence, 1950s
Folder 47: Correspondence, June 1965-1977
Folder 48: Correspondence, 1980s
Folder 49: Correspondence, n.d.
Folder 50: Correspondence to Percy Brown, Jr., n.d.
Folder 51: Correspondence, General, n.d.
Box 7
Folder 52: Percy Brown, Jr., Receipts and Bills
Folder 53: Percy Brown, Jr., Report Cards, 1926-1928
Folder 54: Percy Brown, 1874-1934, Family Papers, Misc., 1894-1934
Folder 55: Percy Brown, 1912-1964, Misc. Papers, 1918-1939
Folder 56: Correspondence to Gertrude Polk Brown, 1913-1983, Jan-March 1932
Folder 57: Correspondence to Gertrude Polk Brown, 1913-1983, April-July 1932
Box 8
Folder 58: Gertrude Polk Brown, 1913-1983, Materials from her New Orleans Debut, 1932-1933
Folder 59: Correspondence to Gertrude Polk Brown from her family, Jan-Dec 1933
Folder 60: Misc. papers of Percy Brown, Jr., 1912-1964. Papers dated 1933- 1964
Folder 61: Brown Family Correspondence to Gertrude Polk Brown, 1913- 1983
Folder 62: Correspondence to Gertrude Polk Brown, 1935
Folder 63: Correspondence between Gertrude Polk and Gertrude Brown, n.d.
Box 9
Folder 64: Diary of Campbell Brown, 1850s-1860s.
Folder 65: Diary of Gen. Richard S. Ewell, 1866
Folder 66: Diary of Gertrude Plunket Brown, 1911-1915
Folder 67: Christmas Diary of Gertrude P. Brown, 1907-1926
Folder 68: Diary, [1922?]
Folder 69: Diary of Percy Brown, 1923
Folder 70: Diary, n.d.
Folder 71: Diary of Percy Brown, Jr., 1922
Folder 72: Diary of Gertrude P. Brown, 1932
Folder 73: Travel Diary of Gertrude P. Brown, n.d. fl. 74 Travel Dairy of Gertrude P. Brown, 1964 fl. 75 Address book of Gertrude P. Brown,
Folder 76: Travel Diary of Gertrude P. Brown, 1969
Folder 77: Travel Diary of Gertrude P. Brown, n.d.
Box 10
Folder 78: Percy Brown, 1874-1934, Business Correspondence, 1913-1917
Folder 79: Percy Brown, 1874-1934, Business Correspondence, 1918
Folder 80: Percy Brown, 1874-1934, Business Correspondence, 1919
Folder 81: Percy Brown, 1874-1934, Business Correspondence, 1920-1924
Folder 82: Polk Family, Business Papers, 1836-1878
Folder 83: Richard Stoddert Ewell, 1817-1872, Checks, 1870-1871
Folder 84: Brown Family Legal Papers, 1822-1866 fl. 85 Brown Family Legal Papers, 1891-1924
Folder 86: Plunket vs. Brawn, 1919-1922
Box 11
Folder 87: Land indentures, 1813, 1817, 1823, 1828, 1834 for the Polk family, Ewell Family, Mary Eastin and David Hubbard, for land in Tennessee, North Carolina, Washington City, New Orleans, La., and Alabama
Folder 88: Land Grants
Folder 89: Military Commission, 1861
Folder 90: Autographs
Folder 91: Autograph Book
Folder 92: Civil War Memoirs of Major Campbell Brown, Vol. I
Folder 93: Civil War Memoirs of Major Campbell Brown, Vol. II
Folder 94: Typescript copies of letters from George Washington, Andrew Jackson, et. al.; also a typescript copy of Mary Catherine Rogers’s 1860 diary
Box 12
Folder 95: Memoirs and Stories by Percy Brown [1874-1934]
Folder 96: Misc. Papers of Gertrude Plunket Brown: Poetry, notebooks, etc.
Folder 97: Gertrude Plunket Brown: Misc. poetry and notes.
Folder 98: Writings, Anonymous
Folder 99: Letters of Rebecca Stoddert, 1799-1811; also a plat of Ewell Farm.
Box 13
Folder 100: Newspaper Fragments
Folder 101: Plunket Correspondence, Feb 9, 1834-Nov 17, 1848
Folder 102: Plunket Correspondence, May 1, 1851-Dec 6, 1854
Folder 103: Plunket Correspondence, July 14, 1855-Dec 26, 1859
Folder 104: Plunket Correspondence, Jan 1860-1863
Folder 105: Plunket Correspondence, 1864-1866
Folder 106: Plunket Correspondence, Jan 20, 1867, 1868, 1870-1875
Folder 107: Plunket Correspondence, 1876-1880, 1883, 1923
Folder 108: Plunket Correspondence, n.d.
Box 14
Folder 109: Plunket, James Dace, Autobiographical Reminiscences, 1839-1920
Folder 110: Papers of James Dace and Eliza Jane Plunket, 1910-1934
Folder 111: Plunket, Joseph Munro Compositions, poetry
Folder 112: Plunket Family Misc. Papers, 1837-1918
Folder 113: Plunket, James Dace, Account Book, 1918-1923
Box 15
Folder 114: Skipped
Folder 115: Skipped
Folder 116: George Garvin Brown Family Letters, 1910
Folder 117: George Garvin Brown Family Letters, 1920s
Folder 118: George Garvin Brown Family Correspondence, 1932
Folder 119: George Garvin Brown Family Correspondence, 1933
Folder 120: George Garvin Brown Family Correspondence, 1940s
Folder 121: Brown Family Correspondence, 1939-1945
Folder 122: Brown Family Correspondence, 1952-1954
Folder 123: George Garvin Brown Family Correspondence, 1950s
Folder 124: Brown Family Correspondence, 1956-1957
Folder 125: Brown Family Correspondence, 1960-1967
Folder 126: George Garvin Brown Family Correspondence, 1969
Folder 127: Brown Family Correspondence, 1971-1972
Folder 128: Brown Family Correspondence, 1978
Folder 129: Brown Family Correspondence, 1983-1984
Box 16
Folder 130: Brown Family Correspondence, n.d.
Folder 131: Brown Family Papers, Lyons and Clay Correspondence, 1863-1911
Folder 132: George Garvin Brown Papers, Misc., Business papers, pictures 1950s-1960s
Folder 133: Photo of James Brown Journal, 1780 Clark Expedition
Folder 134: George Garvin Brown Papers, Misc. 1969-1978
Folder 135: Misc., Christmas cards, etc.
Folder 136: Brown Family Papers, Architect Drawings of Brown Foreman Distillery
Box 17
Folder 137: Gertrude P. Brown, Misc.
Folder 138: Brown Family Papers, Legal papers
Folder 139: Brown Family Papers, Orient Trip, 1969, Receipts, cards, brochures
Box 18
Folder 140: Civil War Newspapers
Folder 141: Brown Family Newspaper Clippings
Folder 142: Envelopes
Folder 143: Misc. Cards, Invitations
Folder 144: Misc.
Folder 145: Gertrude P. Brown Christmas Book, 1940-1982
Folder 146: Brown Family Genealogy
Box 19
Folder 147: Genealogy: Brown, Owsley, Bodley, Temple Families
Folder 148: Genealogy: Brown, Plunket, Swope Families
Folder 149: Genealogy: Brown, Hawkins, Polk Families. Estate records, clippings
Folder 150: Genealogy: Brown Family fl. 151 Genealogy: Brown Family
Folder 152: Genealogy: Hunton Family
Oversized
Folder 153: Gertrude Margaret Plunket diploma, DAR certificate, Cemetery headstone sketch – Percy Brown, Sr. and Gertrude Plunket Brown
