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Z 1792.000
DUNN (MATTHEW A.) FAMILY PAPERS
1859; 1862 - 1865

Matthew Andrew Dunn was a farmer in Amite County prior to the Civil War. He was married to Virginia Leonora Perkins, affectionately called Stumpy by M. A. Dunn. They had three children, Angeline (Dink), Carey, and Hollis. M. A. Dunn entered the service of the Confederate Army on August 31, 1862, being mustered into Company K, 33rd Mississippi Infantry in Amite County. He was killed at the Battle of Franklin (Tennessee) on November 30, 1864. V. L. P. Dunn's maternal grandfather was Henry Hunt, who apparently lived between Natchez and Liberty.

The bulk of this collection consists of eighteen letters written by M. A. Dunn to his wife, as he served with the 33rd Mississippi Infantry during the period 1863–1864. The letters are headed as follows:

The letters for the most part reflect good camp conditions (Dunn always refers to himself as being in good health). He writes of other Amite County soldiers, providing news of them as well as commenting on news about persons he hears from Amite County. In 1863, one of his duties was the guarding of deserters, and he writes of the shooting execution of three deserters (10.03.1863). Writing from Bear Creek Camp he mentions Jefferson Davis making a speech several days earlier in Meridian and the loss of the substitute privilege for the soldiers (11.07.1863). In several letters he comments on what he hears are problems between the Confederate cavalry and citizens back in Amite County (03.31.1864, 04.19.1864, 07.06.1864). Despite the mention of the loss of the substitute privilege, he writes that he might obtain a forty day furlough if he can provide a non-conscript substitute, who "must bring a certificate from his parents to show that they are willing for him to join the Service" (07.08.1864). Dunn apparently only received a furlough in 1862, and that when he was sick. At one point he wrote, "I never wanted to be at home worse in my life and little idea had I when I left that it would be twelve months before I returned. But not being a Commissioned Officer is all that has caused it. A great distinction is being made between the two. I could tell you a great deal that I can't write" (11.01.1863).

There are two letters in the collection, one from C. P. Neilson (12.06.1864) and one from John C. Wilkinson (02.01.1865), written to Dunn after her husband's death. Two additional letters, written by V. L. P. Dunn's grandfather to her, on the occasion of her father's death (09.11.1864), and one in early 1865, complete the letters in this collection. In the second letter, Hunt writes, "We are so near Natchez that the deserters comes (sic) and steals (sic) everything they can get" (04.30.1865).

A group of miscellaneous papers complete the collection: furlough slip (May 1862); receipt for payment of tax in kind (01.02.1865); deed, David A. Faust and Lorena A. Faust to Matthew A. Dunn for twenty-nine acres in Amite County (08. 25. 1859); CSA Depository Office receipt (03.03.1864); Newsclipping (1862). Also included are two newspapers: Feliciana Democrat (Clinton, Louisiana) No. 67. 09.26.1864; The Advocate (Liberty) 09.10.1864.

Series: 1. Correspondence., 1863–1865. 22 items. 2. Miscellaneous Papers. 1859; 1862; 1864–1865. 5 items. 3. Newspapers. 1864. 2 items.