Mf. 1063 -- Blanch (Spurlock) Bentley Papers, 1761-1942. 300 items. Tennessee State Library and Archives. 1 reel. 35 mm.
Papers belonging to Mrs. Bentley, a writer and genealogist. They are composed of correspondence, genealogical data, indentures, maps, a Mexican War muster roll from Captain A. Northcut's Company, and historical notes and sketches, mostly centered in McMinnville and Warren County. Sixteen of the letters were written by a Federal soldier of the 19th Michigan Volunteers who was with Sherman's army; they give vivid descriptions of the destruction wrought in Georgia and South Carolina in late 1864 and early 1865. There are very good abstracts of the Civil War letters, which describe fighting around Atlanta, at New Hope Church and Savannah, and during Sherman's march through Georgia, South and North Carolina.
There are six folders of genealogical material on the following families, most of which have Warren County connections: Archer, Argo, Armstrong, Bentley, Black, Bolling, Bonner, Bostock, Branch, Buchanan, Coffee, Cunningham, Edmondson, Eldridge, Faffar, Fisher, Garretson, Gay, Goode, Gwin, Harding, Heath, Henderson, Higgenbotham, Hoge, Laughlin, Lee, Loyd, Looney, McGee, Mitchell, Powell, Poythress, Rodgers, Rolfe, Rowan, Rust, Smartt, Sniper, Soane, Spurlock, Trent, Vaughn, Wilcher, Williams, Wilson, Woodson, and Woorsham. There are some useful sketches as well on early Tennessee immigrant roads.