Webb family papers

The Webb family papers are a collection of 45 letters written by various family members and their acquaintances between 1844 and 1947. The vast majority of this correspondence was directed to John Charles Webb, known throughout the collection as Charles. His father, John C. Webb, wrote the earliest series of letters, which span the period of Charles' life between 1844 and 1852, when he was traveling the region and held several jobs. Some of the locations in which he lived include Massillon and Cuyahoga Falls, both in Ohio, and Hartleton, Pennsylvania. The last letter in this series suggests that Charles will venture to California or even Japan.

The set of letters directed to Charles from his brother Thomas encompasses the period between 1850 and 1857. These letters include scattered information about members of the Webb family, agricultural news, and information on a cholera epidemic in Perrysburg in the summer of 1854. The letters include news of some family deaths, and some details of townsfolk who died. This correspondence also gives indications of Charles' changing residences, which include: Wilmington, Delaware, Petersburg, and Gettysburg, Virginia. This correspondence includes travel information in the form of directions to, and a description of Sault Ste. Marie.

The collection contains letters from Charles' miscellaneous acquaintances, which do little more than indicate places he was located and the type of people he met. A series of letters from Charles' sister, Mary E. (Young) Marshall, in Ingersoll, Canada, are of little importance except that they indicate the general date of Charles' death.

One major drawback regarding the preceding sets of correspondence is that all are of scattered dates. For example, there may be as much as four years separating two letters from the same person.

By far, the most important series of letters in this collection is the one written by Eliza P. (Jones) Webb, during the period of time Charles was serving in the Civil War, June 27, 1864, to June 22, 1865. Although these letters make some mention of Charles' role in the war, their main concentration is to exemplify the problems and responsibilities faced by a wife and mother effectively "on her own" during the war. Eliza's letters convey her everyday concerns for her husband's welfare, their child, and farm. They also indicate the extraordinary responsibilities she had taken on, such as buying bonds and land, writing a will, hiring and firing help. Eliza was compelled to make decisions between placing the purchase of bonds and land in Charles' or her own name, as she was in constant fear of his death, and sought security for their child. Aside from these relatively unusual responsibilities, she was pregnant, and presumably due in January, 1865. As a result of this, she feared she would die in childbirth, and Charles would be killed in the war, leaving their son Charley orphaned.

A major weakness of this series is Eliza's physical writing style, which is extremely small and difficult to read. In addition, some of the letters are faded, which compounds the problem.

The Women's Studies historian will take interest in Eliza P. Webb's letters as an example of a woman's life during the Civil War. Local and medical historians alike will find the various letters on the Perrysburg cholera epidemic of the summer of 1854 interesting. This collection may also serve as a supplementary resource for area genealogical studies, through the mention of townsfolk in the Webb papers.