John Waltus Judd Jr. papers, ca. 1850-ca. 1919.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Housed with Mrs. Grissom's Salads Records, box 1.

Photocopies.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Abstract: Photocopies of a variety of documents relating to John Waltus Judd, Jr. from the 1850s to 1919.

Scope and content: Materials include letters written to Judd during his internment at Camp Chase, Ohio, a prisoner of war camp for captured Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Materials also include a list of pupils of John W. Carter at the "old log school house" on Woods Ferry Road in the 1850s, probably located in either Robertson County or Sumner County, Tenn. Other items consist of various documents relating to Judd's Masonic activities and his career as a lawyer and judge. News clippings provide biographical information and obituaries of Judd. Family history documents trace Judd's ancestry into the early 1700s and mention numerous allied families, including the Stark family, the English family, and the Primm family.

The most substantial portion of the collection are letters from the Civil War, predominantly from Aug. 1864 to Jan. 1865, with one letter dated Oct. 3, 1861 from Cumberland Gap. The latter is from T. C. Judd, who was serving with the 17th Tennessee Infantry at Camp Buckner. He mentions difficulties in transportation, especially rail travel, getting from Nashville, Tenn. to his regiment, his wonder at the mountains, and the salt works in the area.

The rest of the correspondence, from the fall of 1864 into early 1865, is primarily letters written to John W. Judd while he was imprisoned at Camp Chase. Most letters are from Judd's cousin, Nashvillian Andrew (Jacob Andrew) Cartwright, and a woman named Lamiza, who is believed to be Andrew's sister. Andrew was attending Yale University, and Lamiza was attending the Packer Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. These letters provide an interesting glimpse into the education and social lives of young men and women from the South who attended school in the North during the Civil War. Subjects discussed include their studies and friends, illnesses and deaths, dinners and entertainment, holidays, and their encounters with a number of individuals who were also from Nashville or Tennessee. A few letters are also from A.C. (Alexander Cotton) Cartwright, a school teacher in Nashville, and Andrew's father. A.C. Cartwright's letters mention his school operations, his efforts to get supplies and gifts to Judd during his imprisonment at Camp Chase, and financial and family matters. The letters contain very little information about military matters, and the Battle of Nashville is not mentioned at all.

There is conflicting information about Lamiza's relationship to John. In her letters, she addresses him as "brother" and refers to herself as his sister. But according to the 1860 Federal census for Davidson County, Andrew Cartwright has a sister named Lamiza Cartwright. Furthermore, a letter from John's uncle and Andrew's father, A.C. Cartwright, states that all of A.C.'s extra money is going to sponsor Andrew and Lamiza in school. For this reason, it is believed that Lamiza is Andrew Cartwright's biological sister, and her use of the term "brother" to address John is more a term of endearment rather than an expression of literal kinship.

One item of special note is the list of pupils of John W. Carter's school in Robertson County, Tenn. The list was compiled at an unidentified date, though the scholars listed attended the school sometime in the 1850s. John W. Judd's name appears on the list. Approximately 100 other individuals are listed, both boys and girls. In addition, there are notations indicating who was still living at the time the list was compiled, who was deceased, and unknown whether living or dead.

Cite as: John Waltus Judd Jr. Papers, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Source of acquisition unknown;,Acc. RT-100.

Associated materials: The Cartwright Family Papers are held by the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

John Waltus Judd Jr. was the son of John W. and Lydia (Stark) Judd, born in Sumner County, Tenn. on Sept. 6, 1839. He read law with his uncle, Judge Joseph C. Stark of Springfield, and obtained his license to practice law in Robertson County in 1861, During the Civil War, Judd enlisted in Company C, 49th Tennessee Infantry, and was captured at Fort Donelson. About six months later, he was exchanged and rejoined his regiment at Vicksburg. He later transferred to the 9th Tennessee Cavalry. On June 9, 1864, he was severely wounded at the battle of Mt. Sterling, Ky. where he was captured and then imprisoned at Camp Chase, Ohio for the remainder of the war.

After the war, he resumed his law practice with his uncle in Springfield, and during the 1870s, represented several different railroads in Tennessee. In 1878, Governor James D. Porter appointed him as a special judge on the State Supreme Court to sit in place of Judge William F. Cooper. In 1886 and 1887, he was president of the Tennessee Bar Association. In 1888, Judd was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah, a position he resigned a year later. Subsequently, President Cleveland appointed him U.S. District Attorney for Utah in 1893, where he remained until 1898, when he returned to Nashville. In 1899, he became Assistant District Attorney for the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad. He began teaching law in 1903 at Vanderbilt University, and in 1907, he resigned his position with the L&N to devote himself entirely to the university. In 1910 and 1911, he spent eight months on a special mission to Puerto Rico at the request of Secretary of War J.M. Dickinson in the Taft Administration.

He was a Mason, a Knights Templar and a Shriner; was a member of the Methodist church; and was an honorary member of the Alabama Bar Association.

On May 11, 1870, he married Mrs. Lee G. Miller (Gilbert) in Springfield; she died on April 8, 1878. On Jan. 4, 1881, he married Eliza H. Bayless. He died on Jan. 26, 1919, survived by his wife and his children, Bayless Judd, John Judd, Joseph H. Judd, and Mrs. S.H. Babcock. He was buried at Springfield Cemetery.

In English

Unknown provenance.

Process;,2010;,Linda Barnickel;,removed from Biography (Persons) Ephemera Subject Files.

No further accruals are expected.