Inventory of the Alvin Coe Voris Letters, 1860-1865

Biography of Alvin Coe Voris, 1827-1904

Alvin Coe Voris was born in Stark County, Ohio April 27, 1827. In 1834 his parents, Peter and Julia (Coe) Voris moved their family to Bath Township. After attending the common school and the Twinsburg Institute Voris attended Oberlin College. He served as deputy clerk and acting probate judge from1850 to1852 in Summit County.

Voris married Lydia Allyn on June 20, 1853. He was also admitted to the bar that same year. He was a partner in practice with General Lucius V. Bierce until 1859. Voris having been elected to the State Legislature served during the1859-1860 term.

He entered the service in September of 1861 as a private in the 45th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) and in early January of 1862 was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel and transferred to the 67th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Voris and the 67th OVI moved to Virginia as part of the forces arrayed against General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson during his Shenandoah Valley campaign where Voris lead the 67th in the First Battle of Kernstown.

In July of 1862, Voris and the 67th moved south to support General George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. The following February, Voris was ordered to move the regiment to Hilton Head, South Carolina. They made camp at Morris Island near Fort Sumter. It was during an attack on Fort Wagner, also on Morris Island, that Voris was wounded in his left side. He was nursed back to health by Clara Barton- the nurse who founded the American Red Cross and her nursing staff. In the fall he returned home to recuperate, then in January of 1864 he rejoined his regiment at Charleston, South Carolina.

Voris and the 67th OVI were ordered to the Washington D.C. area and assigned to the Army of the James. He participated in the final campaigns in Virginia. During this time Voris was promoted first to Brevet-Brigadier General and finally to Brevet-Major General; commanding a Brigade and then a Division, respectively during the last two years of the war. Following the surrender at Appomattox Voris was assigned command of a military sub-district in Virginia.

General Voris returned home in late 1865 to resume his law practice. In 1873, he was elected to the constitutional assembly and elected judge of the court of common pleas for Summit, Medina, and Lorain Counties. Lydia Allyn Voris passed away March 16, 1876. In 1882 Alvin Coe Voris married Lizzie (Ladd) Keller. Voris died on July 28, 1904 and is buried in Glendale Cemetery in Akron.

Scope and Content

The Alvin Coe Voris letters consists of correspondence from Voris to his wife, Lydia Allyn Voris throughout the course of the Civil War. The letters include his correspondence from Columbus when he was attending sessions of the Ohio Legislature from January 5, 1860 to May 5, 1860. In them he speculates about future events and if war can be avoided. With the call for volunteers Voris began his military career. His letters home relate his experiences as a soldier and officer in the Union Army. Of note are letters relating his thoughts on meeting Clara Barton, the presidential election of 1864, the surrender at Appomattox, learning of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and his experiences as a commander of a military sub-district of Virginia in 1865.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on access; except not available through interlibrary loan. Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron

William T. Sawyer Family Papers, 1832-1981 John J. Polsley Papers, 1839-1948 Sidney Edgerton Papers, 1846-1901 Grand Army of the Republic, Buckley Post #12 Records, 1870-1938 Joseph Sailor Papers, 1862-1863

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Alvin Coe Voris Letters, Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to The University of Akron University Libraries Archival Services by Allan Johnson Jr., grandson of Alvin C. Voris, in 2004.

Detailed Description of The Collection