Bragg Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 1257

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, genealogical materials, photographs, and other materials relating to the Samuel and Hosea Bragg family. Family correspondence includes letters written during the era of the antebellum South as well as the Civil War. Included in Folder 12 is a list of birth dates, and in some cases death dates, of persons enslaved by Hosea Bragg. Also included is correspondence during the period 1866-1911, as well as letters written during the First World War. Genealogical materials relate to the Bragg and Engles families. Legal documents include receipts for the sale of enslaved persons and land deeds belonging to Hosea Bragg. John Bragg materials relate primarily to his service in World War II. They include newspaper clippings, maps, books, and photographs. Photographs feature post-battle New Caledonia; the Philippines, especially Manila; and occupied Japan.

Dates

circa 1836-1993

Creator

Bragg, John S. (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

Fragile items cannot be removed from their protective sleeves. User copiers are available for reproduction.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Samuel Brewton Bragg (1802-1880) and Hosea Bragg (1804-1899) were plantation owners and enslavers during the mid-nineteenth century in Ouachita County, Arkansas. Moving from Alabama, the two brothers settled in Arkansas during the early 1840s. Walter Newport Bragg, a son of Hosea, was a farmer who retained most of the old Bragg plantation.

Peter Newport Bragg Sr. (1887-1963), the grandson of Hosea, was born to Walter and Annie Bragg. He was a graduate of the University of Arkansas and Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I as a second lieutenant in the 339th Field Artillery unit. He found a career in public schools as a teacher and principal of Helena High School; principal of Fayetteville High School; and superintendent of Texarkana schools. Afterwards he taught mathematics at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville until his retirement. He married Gladys Smith of Fayetteville, a descendant of the Engles family of Washington County.

The children of Peter and Gladys included John Smith Bragg (b. 1921). John graduated from the University of Arkansas and worked as a farmer and rural mail carrier in Ouachita County. His service in World War II included the Philippines campaign in 1944-1945. He was assigned to Company A, 161st Infantry, 25th Division. A first sergeant, he commanded three mortar squads and two light machine gun squads.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged into four groups: correspondence; genealogical, financial, and legal materials; World War II materials; and oversize materials.

Acquisition Information

The Bragg Family Papers were donated to Special Collections on July 20, 1993, by John Smith Bragg of Chidester, Arkansas. Bragg received the majority of the materials in the collection from his Aunt Kate Bragg, who had collected the materials. Additional materials were donated in 1995 by Michael Strickland of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Processing Information

Processed by Michael Strickland; completed in August 1993. Additional materials processed by Todd E. Lewis; completed in 2010. Finding aid language was updated by Katrina Windon in September 2023 as part of a project to update outdated or harmful description related to slavery or to enslaved persons. Description was also updated with additional information about records related to enslaved persons in Folders 12 and 16.