David Hunter Strother Collection

300 WFCHS/THL

 Inventory created by Archives Staff 10/1997.  Last revised 03/2022

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, 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.

EXTENT: 0.21 linear feet.

DATE: 1864-2005

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The David Hunter Strother Collection contains David Hunter Strother’s “Personal Recollections of the War by a Virginian,” published in Harper’s Weekly on Sept. 1866, Oct. 1866, and April 1868. Other items in this collection an address given by General Strother on July 4, 1876, reprinted by Frederick T. Newbraugh in 1973. There are also several articles and information about an exhibit of Strother’s career as an artist.

Researchers may find other works by and about David Hunter Strother in our published book collection. Please ask Archives staff for assistance in locating these works in the Library’s catalog.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: David Hunter Strother was born in Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), on September 16, 1816. He was the son of Colonel John Strother, who was the proprietor for many years of the Berkeley Springs Hotel. He studied art in Europe and New York and in 1853 began to contribute to Harper’s Magazine under the signature “Porte Crayon.” During the Civil War he served under Major-General David Hunter and became Colonel of the Third West Virginia Cavalry. He was breveted Brig. General in 1865. He died of pneumonia on Thursday, March 8, 1888, and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Martinsburg, WV.

RELATED MATERIAL: Strother, David Hunter. “Account of John Brown’s Death,” Thorton Tayloe Perry Collection, Virginia Historical Society, Microfilm, Reel 6 [located in Archives Reading Room, Microfilm Cabinet]

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Eby, Cecil D. “Porte Crayon”: The Life of David Hunter Strother. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1960.

CITE AS: David Hunter Strother, 300 WFCHS/THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

 Articles and Exhibit Notes about David Hunter Strother (Porte Crayon) unnumbered items, printed

July 4, 1876 -Historical address delivered by Gen. David Hunter Strother in Morgan County, WV, reprinted by Frederick T. Newbraugh, 1973, printed, 4 copies.

“Personal recollections of the War” by a Virginian published in Harper’s Weekly:

            September 1866, No. CXCVI, vol. XXXIII, pages 409-428

            October 1866, No CXCVII, vol. XXXIII, pages 545-567

            April 1868, pages 567-582