Conditions Governing Use

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Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

Antonia Ford Letters, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Antonia Ford Letters were purchased with the assistance of the Presson fund.

Biographical / Historical

Antonia Ford (1838-1871) was born in Fairfax, Virginia. She attended the Buckingham Female Collegiate Institue as a young woman. During the Civil War, she became a spy for the Confederacy. Her espionage work contributed to the Confederate victory at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and she is also credited with helping John Singleton Mosby capture Union General Edwin H. Stoughton from his headquarters in 1863. Her work as a spy was soon after discovered and she was arrested and jailed by the Union for six months. However, Major Joseph Willard, who Antonia had met some time previously and fallen in love with, gained her release and she gave an Oath of Allegiance to the United States. They married soon after. Only one of their three children survived infancy and Antonia died in 1871 as a result of health complications of being in jail.

Content Description

Four letters written by future Confederate Spy Antonia Ford. The letters were written to Ford's school friend Frances "Frankie" Carper. Two were written during Ford's terms at the Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute and two were written from her home in Fairfax, VA. The letters include details of her social life as well as her view on her boarding school experiences.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Personal narratives
• United States--Women--History
• Virginia--History--19th century
• Women--History--Virginia
• Women--Southern States--History