Your Devoted Lorraine

Civil War letters offer Rome resident a valuable link to his family's past

Ina worn orange envelope that reads simply “Elrod Family Information,” Rome resident Brandon Elrod keeps a bundle of papers and photos that give him a glimpse into his family’s past.

There are photos of family members. And there is also correspondence between Brandon’s great aunt Lorraine Elrod and a man named Parker Elrod. Parker seems to have done the bulk of the research to gather the materials in this envelope, from birth certificates to newspaper clippings and lists of family members.

The families united on these pages are the Elrods, Triggs and Swanns covering their movements through South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

And there are two documents in particular that are very special — letters written by Brandon’s great-great-great grandfather, Hugh Lorraine Swann, while he was fighting in the Civil War. The letters are not the originals. They’re hand copied from the originals but are still treasures to Brandon.

Hugh was born in York County, South Carolina in 1828 and he married Jane Latimer or Lattimer who was born circa 1829 in York County as well. They married on April 23, 1850. They had eight children including Julia Virginia Lorraine Swann, Jane Adaline Smith (born Swann) and Ella Ida Elrod (born Swann). Brandon traces his line to Hugh through Ella.

Hugh (who went by his middle name Lorraine) enlisted for service in the Confederate Army on June 12, 1862 with Company 6 of the 5th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. He left for the Civil War from South Carolina. Jane came to live with family in Georgia while he was away.

The following are the letters (in their entirety) that Lorraine wrote to his sister Mary and his wife Jane while camped near Chattanooga in October, 1863. They are a tiny but valuable piece of Civil War history.

This letter is to Lorraine’s sister, Mary, and it appears that although their correspondence had been infrequent, Lorraine was still very affectionate toward her. This letter is to Jane, his wife: