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Daniel N. Speer papers
mssDNS 1-110
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Title: Daniel N. Speer papers
Dates: 1851-1899
Collection Number: mssDNS 1-110
Creator OR Collector:
Speer, Daniel N. (Daniel Norwood), 1836-1893
Extent:
114 items including ephemera
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2203
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: Personal and military correspondence of Daniel N. Speer.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the
Reader Services Department. For more information, please go to following
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The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Daniel N. Speer papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Purchased from Cowan's Auctions, November 2014.
Daniel Norwood Speer (1836-1893) was born into a prominent Georgia planter family; his parents William Alexander Speer (1810-1862)
and Martha Jane Norwood Speer (1816-1888) had moved to Troup County, Ga. from Abbeville, S.C. Speer graduated from Oglethorpe
College in 1858, and opened a law practice with his brother John Andrew Speer (1833-1879) in LaGrange, Ga. On July 5, 1860
he married Aurelia Roberta Moreland (1842-1905), daughter of Dr. John Fletcher Moreland (1817-1878) and Sarah Ann Amoss (182201877).
In September 1861, Speer enlisted in the Confederate army as Captain of the 4th Battalion of Georgia Infantry (Fannin's Greys),
a regiment of the state guards organized by William H. Stiles. The unit was employed on building defenses on Skidaway Island.
In March, 1862, the Confederate forces evacuated the island, and the battalion became Co. B. of the 60th Regiment of Georgia
Infantry; Speer was commissioned Captain of Co. S. On Jan. 10, 1863, he was promoted to Acting Quartermaster of Lawton's Brigade,
and in April received the rank of a major. In the fall of 1863, Speer was assigned to the staff at the headquarters of the
Trans-Mississippi Department. He was paroled on June 4, 1865, at Alexandria, La. After the war, Speer returned to his law
practice in LaGrange. From 1880 to 1884, he served as the State Treasurer; he was one of the original financiers of the Exposition
Cotton Mills Company.
The collection is arranged chronologically. It is housed in two boxes.
The largest portion of the collection consists of personal and military correspondence that Daniel N. Speer kept during his
Civil War service. Also included are pieces of correspondence of John F. Moreland, his father-in-law, and documents dealing
with family slaves.
Speer's letters to his wife discuss the life in the Confederate Army, including the organization of the 4th Regiment of Georgia
Infantry Battalion; the defenses of Skidaway Island and its evacuation; the organization of the 60th Regiment of Georgia Infantry;
the Maryland campaign of 1862, including the battle of Antietam, the campaign in Virginia in the summer of 1863. The letters
from Speer's wife and in-laws describe their life in LaGrange, Ga. Also included are a few letters by his brother John A.
Speer. Speer's military correspondence includes letters, orders, and communications, both incoming and outgoing, that cover
the period from July 7, 1861 to March 1865 and deal mostly with logistics and transportation.
Moreland, John F. (John Fletcher), 1817-1878
Speer, Aurelia Roberta Moreland, 1842-1905
Speer, Daniel N. (Daniel Norwood), 1836-1893
Speer, John A. (John Andrew), 1833-1879
Confederate States of America. Army -- Georgia Infantry Regiment, 60th (1861-1865)
Confederate States of America. Army -- Officers -- Correspondence
Confederate States of America. Army. Trans-Mississippi Department
Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862 -- Personal narratives, Confederate
Maryland Campaign, 1862 -- Personal narratives, Confederate
Slaves -- Georgia
Women -- Georgia -- Correspondence
Confederate States of America -- History -- Sources
Georgia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
Louisiana -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
Maryland -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate
Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
Family papers -- Georgia -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Confederate States of America
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865