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Archibald S. Dobbins Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS D651 238

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, military commission, land and legal records, photographs, printed materials, and other records created or received, 1852-1869, by Confederate military officer and post-war emigre Archibald S. Dobbins, or collected as relating to him.

Records pertain, variously, to Dobbins' personal, familial, military, and political interests and activities in Arkansas, to his post-Civil War emigration to Brazil, and to his estate. Places from which letters are dated include: Washington, Helena, and Columbia County, Ark; New Orleans, La.; Memphis, Tenn.; Rio de Janiero and elsewhere in Brazil.

Of the twenty-one letters in the collection, only two were written during the war, one dated February 3, 1862, from merchants Coleman and Withirs of New Orleans to Dobbins discussing produce prices, and another dated August 10, 1864, from O. H. Oates, Washington (Hempstead County), to B. W. Green, (Phillips County), discussing election procedures for county and state races. The balance of the letters are from Dobbins to his wife immediately following the war outlining his plans to move to Brazil, and letters from Dobbins while residing in Brazil. Post-war correspondence also includes twentieth-century letters from parties interested in Dobbins's ultimate fate in South America and the disposition of his property.

Dates

  • 1852-1965

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Archibald S. Dobbins served as a colonel in the First Arkansas Cavalry during the U. S. Civil War. Originally from Tennessee, Dobbins entered the Confederate service at Phillips County in late 1862 as an aide-de-camp to Major General Thomas C. Hindman and later became colonel of his own regiment of cavalry. Involved in the squabble between generals Walker and Marmaduke during the capture of Little Rock, Dobbins was court-martialled and relieved of command on November 23, 1863. He finished out the war in the Trans-Mississippi, and following his surrender on July 15, 1865, at Galveston, Texas, Dobbins made plans to emigrate to Brazil. He settled near Santarem, Brazil, in 1867 and made arrangements for his family to follow him in exile before his disappearance sometime after 1870.

Extent

0.04 Linear Feet (4 folders)

Arrangement of the Papers

Arranged in five series:

  1. 1, Correspondence, 1852-1869
  2. 2, Legal Records, 1852-1862
  3. 3, Photographs, circa 1860-1862
  4. 4, Post-mortem correspondence, 1921-1961
  5. 5, Printed Material, 1954-1965

Acquisition Information

The Archibald S. Dobbins Collection was donated to Special Collections by the Rosenberg Library in Galveston, Texas, through Robert Harris Dalehite of Galveston, Texas, in November 1975.

Processing Information

Processed by Samuel Sizer; completed in February 1978.

Title
Archibald S. Dobbins Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Samuel Sizer
Date
February 1978
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Department Repository

Contact:
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444