The Reverend William Whit and Nancy R. Nash were originally from Alabama. In 1846, the Nash family moved to a farm near Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi, where Reverend Nash made his living independently of the Baptist church. Reverend Nash soon organized and built the first Baptist church in Kosciusko, and he served as its pastor for some time. He also assisted in organizing several other Baptist churches in the area. The Nashes had eight children: Eugenia Elizabeth, Hasseltine, John C., Lavinia, Nimrod Newton, Sarah T., Susan Emmaline, and William Whitfield.

Newton Nash married Mary Louise (Mollie) Campbell, the daughter of the Reverend Robert Bond and Mary A. Patterson Campbell. After their marriage, the Nashes lived and farmed in Attala County. They later moved to Goodman, Holmes County, Mississippi. When the Civil War was declared, Newton Nash enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. His wife visited him briefly while he was still in camp in Mississippi, but after that they were apart until Nash obtained a furlough early in 1863. He was killed in battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1863. The Nashes had no children. After the war, Mollie Campbell Nash lived with her brother, Josiah Campbell, and his family in Canton. She married Kosciusko physician John Watkins Scarborough in 1875. The Scarboroughs also had no children. Mollie Campbell Nash Scarborough died in 1897.

The Reverend Robert Bond Campbell came from South Carolina to Mississippi in 1845 to serve as pastor of the Camden Presbyterian Church in Madison County and the Franklin Presbyterian Church in Holmes County. The Campbells, in addition to their daughter, Mary Louise, had four sons, Charles Henry Baxter, James Alexander, Josiah Adams Patterson, and Robert Bond, Jr., and another daughter, Jane Elizabeth (Bettie) Campbell.

All of the Campbell brothers served in the Confederate army. The eldest, Robert Bond Campbell, Jr., was also a Mexican War veteran. He organized Company C, Fortieth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, in April of 1862, and he was promoted to major in January of 1863. Campbell was wounded during the siege of Vicksburg, and he died on June 28, 1863.

Charles Henry Baxter Campbell joined the Thirteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, where he attained the rank of captain. Although Campbell was wounded at Chickamauga, he recovered and served until the end of the war. Campbell was married to Susan Emmaline Nash, sister of Newton Nash.

James Alexander Campbell was a colonel in the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. He was captured at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, and he died as a prisoner-of-war on Johnson’s Island on February 4, 1864. Campbell was married to Amanda Sharkey.

Josiah Adams Patterson Campbell was married to Eugenia Elizabeth Nash, another sister of Newton Nash, on May 23, 1850. He was elected to the Mississippi legislature from Attala County in 1851 and again in 1859, becoming speaker of the House of Representatives. Campbell was also a delegate to the Mississippi Constitutional Convention that adopted the Ordinance of Secession. He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in Company K, Fortieth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. Campbell was wounded at Corinth, but he recovered and served until the end of the war. After the war, Campbell returned to Kosciusko, where he was elected as circuit judge of Attala County. He moved to Canton, Madison County, Mississippi, in 1867. Governor John M. Stone appointed Josiah Campbell to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1876, and he was reappointed by Governor Robert Lowry. Campbell held this position for eighteen years, serving part of the time as chief justice.

In failing health, the Reverend Robert Bond Campbell and his wife moved to Canton to live with their son, Josiah Campbell. Reverend Campbell died in 1870, and Mary A. Patterson Campbell died in 1871.

This collection contains one 1856 letter, a large number of Civil War letters, and genealogical information on the Campbell family of South Carolina and Attala and Madison counties in Mississippi.

The majority of the letters were written to Mary Louise Campbell Nash from Newton Nash while he was serving in the Confederate army. Other letters to Nash are from her mother, Mary A. Patterson Campbell; her brothers, James Alexander, Josiah Adams Patterson, and Robert Bond, Jr.; and Frank M. Ross, who served in the same unit as Newton Nash and was married to Nash’s sister, Hasseltine. A letter from Mary A. Patterson Campbell implies that her daughter left home to visit Nash. The letters from the Campbell brothers describe the battles in which they fought and places they have been, but they are also full of family news. The letter from Frank M. Ross informs Mary Louise Campbell Nash of her husband’s death and of friends who were killed or wounded at Gettysburg.

The letters written by Nash trace the movements of the Thirteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, during the first two years of the war. From Corinth, Mississippi, Nash went to Union City, Tennessee, and from there to many places in Virginia, including Ashby’s Gap, Balls Mills, Camp Holly, Culpepper Court House, Fredericksburg, Leesburg, Yorktown, and the Shenandoah Valley. The last letter from Nash was written from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during the approach to Gettysburg. He reports details of camp life, including sleeping accommodations, food preparation, illnesses, clothing needs, prices of goods and supplies, problems obtaining furloughs, and morale. Nash describes traveling by railroad and marching through the countryside. He relates how he and his brother-in-law, Charles Campbell, avoided hospitals by staying with local farmers when they were ill. Nash faithfully reports on Charles Campbell’s progress in the ranks, along with any news he has of other relatives and friends. He recounts one incident in which both Confederate and Union soldiers on picket duty crossed the lines to converse. Nash names a few slaves who accompanied their masters to the battlefield, and he describes some of their duties. The letters express his patriotism and strict code of honor, along with his growing disenchantment with the war. He often writes humorously, but his longing for his wife and their home in Attala County is evident from his frequent laments over their prolonged separation and his regular inquiries about and advice on the farm and livestock. Nash writes many of these letters on Sundays, so he usually comments on the church services he attends, the various brigade chaplains, and their ministry among the soldiers. Occasionally, Nash mentions Colonel (later General) William Barksdale and his leadership of the soldiers. Nash describes the battle, Chickahominy, one of the Seven Days’ Battles of the Peninsular Campaign, on June 27, 1862. He also describes his unit’s march through the Manassas battlefield early in September of 1862 while it was still littered with the corpses of Union soldiers. Nash typically reports on Confederate and Union troop movements, along with victories, losses, conscription, and politics.

1. Correspondence (Incoming). 1856; 1861-1863; n.d. 5 folders.

   This series contains letters written to Mary Louise Campbell Nash from her husband, her mother, and three of her brothers during the Civil War. One letter, dated August 12, 1856, is from James A. Campbell to Colonel George Huie, and it discusses a legal case.

2. Genealogical Material. n.d. 1 folder.

   This series contains genealogical information on the Campbell family. One item is an annotated typescript of an 1861 letter written to Mary Louise Campbell Nash from her mother, Mary A. Patterson Campbell. The other item is a list identifying various Campbell family members.