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Dall-Tardy Letters

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-4157
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Scope and Contents

The collection contains thirty letters from members of the Dall and Tardy families of Baltimore, Maryland, and Mobile, Alabama, and written between 1840 and 1908. The bulk of the letters are from James and Henrietta Dall of Baltimore, Maryland, to their niece and foster daughter Clara Austin Tardy in Mobile, Alabama. There are also letters to and from Clara's husband Balthazar Tardy, son Alexis H., and daughter Henrietta Cecelia, as well as letters between other members of this close-knit family.

Dates

  • Creation: 1840-1908

Creator

Biographical / Historical

Clara Austin, the youngest of the eight children of Horace and Elizabeth Richards Austin, was born on August 22, 1818, in Herculaneum, Missouri. Her parents both died before she was seven years old and she was "taken in" by her father's sister and brother-in-law Henrietta Austin and James Dall, who became her foster parents, and to whom Clara always referred to as "Mother" and "Father."

Clara married Balthazar Tardy on February 1, 1836, in Mobile, Alabama. The couple had five children, of whom only three survived childhood. Alexis Horace was born in 1843 (he was killed in a duel at age 31), Henrietta Cecilia was born in 1846, and Caroline Mary was born in 1852. Two other daughters died in infancy, one in 1842 (only three days old) and the other, Clara Virginia, in 1858 at three months of age. Clara died in Mobile on March 29, 1858, one week after the birth of Clara Virginia.

Extent

0.2 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Letters from members of the Dall and Tardy families of Baltimore, Maryland, and Mobile, Alabama, written between 1840 and 1908.

Provenance

gift of Dr. Harry Porter, Clara P. Cavett, Ann P. Davis, and Eleanor Streit, 2015

General

To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Email us at archives@ua.edu if you find mistakes or have suggestions to make this finding aid more useful for your research.

Processed by

Martha Bace, 2015

Source

Title
Guide to the Dall-Tardy Letters
Status
Completed
Date
October 2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0266
205.348.0513