Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Goodwyn Family Papers, Accession #mss 00453, Archives, Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute

Acquisition Information

The papers were donated to VMI through the estate of Margaret Lang Davis, 2004

Biographical/Historical Information

Philo Hiram Goodwyn was born in New York and died in New Orleans in 1860. By the 1840's he was residing in New Orleans, where he was a merchant. He married Martha S. McGavock, daughter of Randall McGavock and Almira Haynes. Their children included McGavock R. (VMI Class of 1863); Frank W. (VMI Class of 1862); Philo H.; George; David; and Grace.

Scope and Content

The collection is comprised of the papers of the Philo H. Goodwyn family of New Orleans, Louisiana. The bulk consists of letters (1840-1858) written by Philo H. Goodwyn to his fiance & later wife, Martha S. McGavock. Other items of correspondence include two letters from Almira McGavock to her daughter Martha, and one letter from McGavock R. Goodwyn (later VMI Class of 1863) to his father, Philo. In addition, the papers contain miscellaneous legal and financial papers relating to the family; the Civil War amnesty oath (1865) signed by McGavock R. Goodwyn, and two commission documents (1865, 1866) appointing McGavock Goodwyn a Brigadier General in the Louisiana militia.