Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Cicero Coleman family papers

Abstract

The Cicero Coleman family papers (dated 1850-1972, undated; 5.44 cubic feet; 12 boxes) comprise letters, legal documents, personal papers, and newspaper clippings that document the Coleman family of Fayette County, Kentucky and their relatives in Colorado, Missouri, and Texas from 1850 to the mid-1970s.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Cicero Coleman family papers
Date
1850-1972, undated (inclusive)
Extent
5.44 Cubic Feet
Subjects
Death
Family.
Female friendship -- United States.
Friendship.
Health
Hospital patients.
Letters.
Love-letters
Man-woman relationships -- United States -- 19th century
Man-woman relationships -- United States -- 20th century
Marriage
Marriage proposals.
Morgan's Ohio Raid, 1863.
New York (N.Y.)
Travel.
Washington (D.C.)
Widowhood
Women -- Employment -- Kentucky.
Women in agriculture
Women in higher education
Arrangement
Collection is arranged into two series: Letters and Papers; the Letters series is further broken down into sub-series by family member. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
Finding Aid Author
Sarah Coblentz
Preferred Citation
2009ms132.0345: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Cicero Coleman family papers, 1850-1972, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
Cicero Coleman (1833-1915) was born in Fayette County, Kentucky to Horace Coleman (1790-1846) and Anna B. Ellis Thompson (1799-1885). Coleman was raised on his family's farm and spent the majority of his life in agriculture. In 1862, he enlisted in the Confederate Service and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Eights Kentucky Cavalry, serving under General John H. Morgan in both Indiana and Ohio. By August 1863, Coleman had been captured by the Union Army and held as a prisoner of war in the Ohio Penitentiary until early 1865 when he was released to Fort Delaware. After returning to his farming practices in Kentucky, he married Evaline Moore Field (1843-1916) of Boone County, Missouri in 1867. Together the couple had one child, a son, Horace W. Coleman (1868-1910). Horace married Elizabeth Goodman (1880-1971) in 1902, and together the couple had two daughters, Frances Field Coleman (1903-1988) and Evelyn Goodman Coleman (1908-1975). Horace passed away due to complications with a goiter while under care of a doctor in New York City in 1910. His daughter Frances eventually took over managing the family farm and Evelyn was an office clerk and schoolteacher. Neither daughter married, and both remained in Lexington their entire lives.
Relatives of the Coleman family included the Goodman family: Jesse L. Goodman (1848-1937), the father of Elizabeth Goodman, and Rose Goodman Haley (b. 1884), Elizabeth's sister. Rose married Samuel Martin Haley and they had one child, Fannie Summers Haley (1912-1991). Fannie married Doctor Ira C. Evans (1912-2007) and they had two children, Libby and Jimmy. Rose and Elizabeth were very close, with their daughters spending a majority of their lives together. Elizabeth and Rose were very close with their aunt, Fannie Tucker Summers (1855-1943), who lived in Georgetown, Kentucky.
American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include A Visit with Harlan Hubbard; High Upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College; A Song in Native Pastures: Randy Atcher's Life in Country Music; and Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge.
Source: Johnson, E.P. (1912). A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The leaders and representative men in commerce, industry, and modern activities (Vol. 3). Kentucky: Lewis Publishing Company.
Scope and Content
The Cicero Coleman family papers (dated 1850-1972, undated; 5.44 cubic feet; 12 boxes) comprise letters, legal documents, personal papers, and newspaper clippings that document the Coleman family of Fayette County, Kentucky and their relatives in Colorado, Missouri, and Texas from 1850 to the mid-1970s. The majority of the collection are letters sent to the members of the Coleman family, Cicero and Eva, their son Horace, his wife Elizabeth, and their two daughters Evelyn and Frances coming from mainly relatives and friends. The letters to Cicero come from friends, family, and men that he served with in the Civil War. Many of the letters discuss experiences during the war, including raids conducted, men who served under John H. Morgan, time spent in prison, and battles seen. Cicero also receives letters from researchers asking about who were members of the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry and his experiences in the war. Letters to Eva come mainly from her relatives, discussing everyday life, school, and personal health. She does receive a letter from Cicero while he is imprisoned, which was allowed to be sent by the prison warden due to him finding Cicero's attempts to reach her funny, as Cicero was not allowed to write letters to anyone but blood relatives at the time. Horace receives the majority of his letters from his wife, Elizabeth Goodman, while he is in New York City visiting doctors and having surgery to take care of his goiter issues. She writes to Horace about their daughters, their education and upbringing, how his parents are, living with Cicero and Eva, her daily life, missing him, social events attended, and visits from friends and family. Other letters to Horace come from friends and family, mainly wishing his good health and that he will be able to return to his family soon.
Elizabeth receives letters from her family and friends, with the majority coming from her husband Horace and her children. The letters from Horace are from the time of the couple courting, the first few years of their marriage, and his time in hospital. In the letters prior to his hospitalization he writes about working on the farm, plans for their wedding, traveling, social visits from friends and family, and his personal health. While hospitalized in New York Horace writes to Elizabeth about the music he listens to, what he has read in the local papers, his happiness about the growth of his daughters, missing the family, how he is feeling, what the doctors are saying about his prognosis, and his opportunities to get outside the hospital and see the city sights. The letters to Elizabeth from her daughter Evelyn discuss her education at Marjorie Webster Junior College, going out with friends in Washington, D.C., trips taken, personal health, and employment interests and opportunities. Frances writes to her mother about her education, visiting friends, and her personal health. Friends write to Elizabeth about their families, updates on moves and jobs, mutual friends serving in the military, personal health, inquiries about her daughters, and daily life. Evelyn receives the majority of her letters from friends and classmates, along with her mother and sister. The letters from her friends discuss their time at Marjorie Webster Junior College, how classes and studying are going, visits from friends, going on dates with boys, invitations from friends at other colleges to visit them, moving, getting married, and employment opportunities. Evelyn also receives letters from two men who are interested in her, with them telling her about their work, social visits, and one even asking her to consider marrying him. Frances receives letters from suitors, friends, and family discussing education, employment, personal health, social visits from friends and family, moving homes, traveling for work, agricultural work, and updates on the writer's daily life.
Other letters in the collection include letters to Fannie Summers Haley Evans, the niece of Elizabeth Goodman, which discuss her marriage to Ira Evans, the couple moving to different cities, and inquiries about her children. The letters to David Eastin come from a woman he was courting in Texas while he lived in Lexington, KY. She writes to him about wanting to make their relationship work, visiting each other, trying to boost his spirits, her excitement over getting engaged, and subsequent sadness when he calls it off. Fannie Tucker Summers, an aunt of Elizabeth and Rose Goodman, receives letters from friends and family discussing their personal health, social visits, desires to visit her or have her visit them, and questions on family genealogy.
The collection also includes a variety of personal papers from various family members, such as legal documents, programs, press passes, research on John Hunt Morgan and the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, papers from the Confederate Veteran Association, newspaper clippings about marriages, deaths, and interesting stories; and a diary from Hoarace Coleman in 1889 while he traveled around in Kentucky, Colorado, Kansas, and Washington, D.C.
The Cicero Coleman family papers are part of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Use Restrictions
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.

Contents of the Collection

Letters, 1850-1972, undated

Cicero Coleman, 1850-1914, undated

Personal letters to Cicero Coleman, 1850-1897, 1910-1913

  • Box 1, folder 1
To top

Letters to Cicero Coleman re: Civil War, 1863-1914

  • Box 1, folder 2
To top

Bishop David Moore to Cicero Coleman, 1912-1914

  • Box 1, folder 3
To top

Letters from Cicero Coleman, 1864-1913, undated

  • Box 1, folder 4
To top

Eva Field Coleman, 1850-1916, undated

Thomas Field Van Meter to Eva Field Coleman, 1904-1911

  • Box 1, folder 5
To top

Letters to Eva Field Coleman, 1850-1909

  • Box 1, folder 6
To top

Letters to Eva Field Coleman, 1910-1916, undated

  • Box 1, folder 7
To top

Horace Coleman, 1891-1910, undated

Cicero Coleman to Horace Coleman, 1910, undated

  • Box 2, folder 2
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Horace Coleman, 1909

  • Box 2, folder 3-4
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Horace Coleman, 1910

  • Box 2, folder 5-7
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Horace Coleman, undated

  • Box 2, folder 8
To top

Family to Horace Coleman, 1901-1910, undated

  • Box 2, folder 9
To top

Letters to Horace Coleman, 1891-1910, undated

  • Box 2, folder 10
To top

Letters from Horace Coleman, 1895-1902, undated

  • Box 3, folder 1
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1896-1969, undated

Evelyn G. Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1928

  • Box 3, folder 2
To top

Evelyn G. Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1929

  • Box 3, folder 3
To top

Evelyn G. Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1932-1950, undated

  • Box 3, folder 4
To top

Frances F. Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1935-1937, undated

  • Box 3, folder 5
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1900

  • Box 3, folder 6
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1901

  • Box 3, folder 7-9
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1902-1906

  • Box 4, folder 1
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1909

  • Box 4, folder 2
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1910

  • Box 4, folder 3
To top

Horace Coleman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, undated

  • Box 4, folder 4-5
To top

Gayle Cord to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1959-1969

  • Box 4, folder 6
To top

Mary "Mamie" Cord to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1951-1964

  • Box 4, folder 7
To top

Cousin Dudley to to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1933, 1949-1956, undated

  • Box 4, folder 8
To top

Fannie Summers Haley Evans to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1940-1949

  • Box 4, folder 9
To top

Fannie Summers Haley Evans to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1951-1969, undated

  • Box 4, folder 10
To top

Libby Evans to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1953-1961, undated

  • Box 4, folder 11
To top

Grace M. Farris to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1964-1969

  • Box 5, folder 1
To top

Jesse Goodman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1902

  • Box 5, folder 2
To top

Rose Goodman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1902, 1928-1933, undated

  • Box 5, folder 3
To top

Waller and Laura Goodman to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1935-1938, undated

  • Box 5, folder 4
To top

Kitty to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1945-1954, undated

  • Box 5, folder 5
To top

Virginia H. Lytle to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1953-1968, undated

  • Box 5, folder 6
To top

Aunt Mattie to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1902, 1920-1936, undated

  • Box 5, folder 7
To top

J. Harrison and Rosa Planck to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1902, 1931-1937, undated

  • Box 5, folder 8
To top

Susan Stuart to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1947-1948

  • Box 5, folder 9
To top

Fannie Tucker Summers to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1905, 1914-1942, undated

  • Box 5, folder 10
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1896-1899

  • Box 5, folder 11
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1900-1908

  • Box 5, folder 12
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1909-1919

  • Box 5, folder 13
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1920-1929

  • Box 6, folder 1
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1930-1939

  • Box 6, folder 2
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1940-1949

  • Box 6, folder 3
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1950-1959

  • Box 6, folder 4
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1960-1968

  • Box 6, folder 5
To top

Letters to Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, undated

  • Box 6, folder 6
To top

Letters from Elizabeth Goodman Coleman, 1909, undated

  • Box 6, folder 7
To top

Evelyn G. Coleman, 1922-1961, undated

Annie Bell to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1927-1928

  • Box 6, folder 8
To top

Frances Bigler to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1927-1931

  • Box 6, folder 9
To top

Bob to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929-1932

  • Box 6, folder 10
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928

  • Box 7, folder 1-2
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929

  • Box 7, folder 3-4
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1937-1938, undated

  • Box 7, folder 5
To top

Frances F. Coleman to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928

  • Box 7, folder 6
To top

Frances F. Coleman to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929, 1937, undated

  • Box 7, folder 7
To top

Margaret Early to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928-1929

  • Box 7, folder 8
To top

Elizabeth "Libbie" to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928-1929

  • Box 7, folder 9
To top

Fannie S. Haley Evans to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928-1929, 1940-1957, undated

  • Box 8, folder 1
To top

Margaret Felix to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1927-1931

  • Box 8, folder 2
To top

Rose Goodman Haley to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929-1930, undated

  • Box 8, folder 3
To top

Kitty Halliday to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1928-1939

  • Box 8, folder 4
To top

Martha Jane to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1924-1930, undated

  • Box 8, folder 5
To top

Ed Jones to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1930-1961

  • Box 8, folder 6
To top

Sylvester Keese to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929-1930

  • Box 8, folder 7
To top

Mabel Marshall to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1927-1929

  • Box 8, folder 8
To top

Letters to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1922-1928

  • Box 8, folder 9
To top

Letters to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1929

  • Box 8, folder 10
  • Box 9, folder 1
To top

Letters to Evelyn G. Coleman, 1930-1939, 1961

  • Box 9, folder 2
To top

Letters to Evelyn G. Coleman, undated

  • Box 9, folder 3
To top

Letters from Evelyn G. Coleman, 1925-1934, undated

  • Box 9, folder 4
To top

Frances F. Coleman, 1909-1970, undated

Evelyn G. Coleman to Frances F. Coleman, 1919, 1928-1929, undated

  • Box 9, folder 5
To top

Frances Lee Dugan to Frances F. Coleman, 1924-1940, undated

  • Box 9, folder 6
To top

Fannie Summers Haley Evans to Frances F. Coleman, 1940-1948, undated

  • Box 9, folder 7
To top

Lewis J. "Denny" Mann to Frances F. Coleman, 1923

  • Box 9, folder 8
To top

Lewis J. "Denny" Mann to Frances F. Coleman, 1924

  • Box 9, folder 9
To top

Lewis J. "Denny" Mann to Frances F. Coleman, undated

  • Box 9, folder 10
To top

Jim Offutt to Frances F. Coleman, 1929, undated

  • Box 9, folder 11
To top

Parents to Frances F. Coleman, 1909, undated

  • Box 9, folder 12
To top

Jack Sterrett to Frances F. Coleman, 1947, 1965-1966, undated

  • Box 9, folder 13
To top

Fannie T. Summers to Frances F. Coleman, 1913-1915, undated

  • Box 9, folder 14
To top

Emilie Watson to Frances F. Coleman, 1923-1954, 1970, undated

  • Box 9, folder 15
To top

Letters to Frances F. Coleman, 1909-1926

  • Box 10, folder 1
To top

Letters to Frances F. Coleman, 1927-1959

  • Box 10, folder 2
To top

Letters to Frances F. Coleman, undated

  • Box 10, folder 3
To top

Letters from Frances F. Coleman, 1929, undated

  • Box 10, folder 4
To top

Fannie Summer Haley Evans, 1912-1955, undated

"Dad" to Fannie Summers Haley Evans, 1940

  • Box 11, folder 3
To top

Mrs. J. O. Evans to Ira and Fannie Evans, 1940-1941

  • Box 11, folder 4
To top

Letters to Fannie Summers Haley Evans, 1912-1941, undated

  • Box 11, folder 5-6
To top

Fannie Summer Haley Evans to Sam Martin Haley, 1940-1955, undated

  • Box 11, folder 10
To top

Fannie Tucker Summers, 1884-1943

Belle Cox to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1903

  • Box 11, folder 11
To top

Belle Cox to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1904

  • Box 11, folder 12
To top

Belle Cox to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1905

  • Box 11, folder 13
To top

Belle Cox to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1906

  • Box 11, folder 14
To top

Belle Cox to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1907-1908

  • Box 11, folder 15
To top

Letters to Fannie Tucker Summers, 1884, 1898-1943

  • Box 12, folder 1-2
To top

Letters from Fannie Tucker Summers, 1899-1900

  • Box 12, folder 3
To top

Coleman family, 1889-1972, undated

Horace Coleman to parents, 1898-1910, undated

  • Box 1, folder 8
To top

Elizabeth Goodman Coleman to Cicero and Eva Coleman, 1909-1912

  • Box 1, folder 9
To top

Elizabeth and Horace Coleman to Cicero and Eva Coleman, 1909

  • Box 1, folder 10
To top

Letters to Cicero and Eva Coleman, 1901-1912

  • Box 2, folder 1
To top

Letters to Frances F. and Evelyn G. Coleman, 1909-1940, 1969-1972, undated

  • Box 10, folder 5
To top

Letters to Coleman family, 1900-1938, undated

  • Box 10, folder 6
To top

Letters to Thomson R. Bryant, 1907-1908, undated

  • Box 10, folder 7-8
To top

Belle Bates to David Eastin, 1924-1926, undated

  • Box 10, folder 9-10
To top

Letters to David Eastin, 1926

  • Box 11, folder 1
To top

Letters from David Eastin, 1926, undated

  • Box 11, folder 2
To top

Letters to Eva O. Field, 1901, 1913

  • Box 11, folder 7
To top

Letters to Jesse L. Goodman, 1889, 1902-1923, undated

  • Box 11, folder 8
To top

Letters to Rose Goodman Haley, 1911-1912, 1934

  • Box 11, folder 9
To top

Letters from Horace and Elizabeth Coleman, 1900-1910, undated

  • Box 12, folder 4
To top

General letters, 1889-1961

  • Box 12, folder 5
To top

General letters, undated

  • Box 12, folder 6
To top

Papers, 1874-1938, undated

Basil Duke and John Hunt Morgan biographical information, undated

  • Box 12, folder 7
To top

Coleman family papers, 1902-1938, undated

  • Box 12, folder 8
To top

Confederate Veteran Association, 1896, 1904

  • Box 12, folder 9
To top

Legal documents, 1874-1879, 1895, 1903

  • Box 12, folder 10
To top

Morgan's Men information, 1893, undated

  • Box 12, folder 11
To top

Newspaper clippings, 1889, 1910-1937, undated

  • Box 12, folder 12
To top

Horace Coleman diary, 1889

  • Box WH-31, folder 10
To top

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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.

Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

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You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.