544 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 02/1998. Last revised 02/2022

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. The original Julia Chase diary is now held by the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Permission to publish the diary in whole or in part should be requested from the Small Library.

EXTENT: 0.21 linear feet

DATE: 1861- 1864

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Julia Chase Collection contains transcripts of the Civil War diary kept by Julia Chase from 1861 to 1864, an index to the diary, her obituary of 1906, and an article about the diary’s history from the Winchester Evening Star, dated December 20, 1927.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Julia Chase was born in Maine in 1831 to Charles and Nancy Chase. She moved to Winchester with her family when she was young (an aunt had married George Miller of Winchester). She lived on North Loudoun Street during the Civil War. She remained in Winchester after the War and became a prominent member of Winchester Society and was involved in the Presbyterian Church. She is buried in Winchester’s Mt. Hebron Cemetery.

CUSTODIAL HISTORY: Julia Chase gave her diary to Dr. W. S. Miller, who then passed it on to his daughter, Miss Katie Miller, both of Winchester.  Miss Miller donated the diary to Handley Library in 1927. Transcriptions of the diary were made in the 1930s. At some point before the official opening of the Handley Library Archives in 1979, the library sold the original diary to a private collector. In 2020, the University of Virginia purchased the diary through a private auction house.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Foreman, Michael M. Some Worthy Women. Winchester, VA: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 2007; Mahan, Michael G., ed. Winchester Divided: The Civil War Diaries of Julia Chase and Laura Lee. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.

CITE AS: Julia Chase Collection, 544 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

Chase, Julia –Diary, July 2, 1861-Sept. 25, 1864 (includes Pt.1 and Pt.2), 1 item, bound, typescript

Chase, Julia –Diary, May 1863-Sept. 25, 1864 (Pt.2), 1 item, bound, typescript

Chase, Julia –Index to diary, July 2, 1861-Feb.8, 1863 (Pt.1), 8 leaves, typescript

Chase, Julia –Index to diary, May 1863-Sept. 25, 1864 (Pt.2), 27 leaves, typescript (carbon copy)

Chase, Julia –Obituary, autographs, news articles - 3 leaves, printed; 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy)