University of Virginia Library

Section F. Manuscripts.

Virginia has been a happy hunting ground for manuscripts,
the hunters including not a few sharpshooters from other States.
There are several notable collections within the State's boundaries;
and information concerning the fairly numerous smaller
and special collections is likely to prove of service for
research.

The largest collection in Virginia is at the State Library
and comprises approximately 1,500,000 items. These are limited
to Virginia and cover the history of the Commonwealth from the
early seventeenth century to the present. The collection is
filed and accessible for use, and the following printed calendars
have been issued:-

Aside from the archival material, which includes manuscript
records of the Commonwealth and of some of its governmental subdivisions
and letters and papers of the governors and other
officials, there may be noted the following collections:- the
Abercrombie letter books (1746-1773), the Allason papers (17231815),
the Emma Read Ball collection concerning the Ball family,
the Beaumarchais papers (American Revolution), thirty-eight
pieces, the William Brent, Jr., miscellany, 1821-39 (including
copies of certain original deeds, plats, etc., dated 1651-1757),
the N. F. Cabell papers (1722-1879), the Campbell-Brown letters
(1793-1886), the papers of the Society of the Cincinnati (17831810),
the George Rogers Clark papers, 19,958 pieces, the
Captain James Culbertson collection concerning Augusta County
during the Revolutionary period, 421 pieces, the letter book of
Andrew Dunscomb (February 1784-February 1787), the Francis Walker
Gilmer letters (1800-1830), John Hook's letter book (1772-99) and
twenty-seven letters written to him by various persons but mostly
by David Ross, the Lee-Custis letters, sixty-four pieces, the
McBryde papers concerning the presidency of the University of
Virginia, the Angus W. MacDonald papers, being chiefly lists of
documents comprising the MacDonald transcripts, the Martin
papers, the farm journal of William Massie, of Nelson County,
1819-44, the letter book of William Nelson (1766-73) and of
Thomas Nelson, Jr. (1772-75), the J. Ross Perkins collection of
116 Confederate letters written by several soldiers in the Ross
family, the W. B. Rogers collection in regard to the Virginia
geological survey, Edmund Ruffin's farm journal for Marlbourne
(1844-51), a Southern Historical Society collection (1793-1815),
being chiefly military papers of 1814, eighty-one pieces, and a
small collection of the papers of George Washington.

The State Library collection includes a considerable number
of account books and diaries, oither originals or photostat
copies. Among the original account books are those of a merchant
of Alexandria (1823-28), of Patrick Henry (1770-74, 178395),
of a merchant of Lynchburg (1832-37, 1865-66), of the Rev.
James Morrison (1824-57) who is remembered for his connection
with the First Independent Church of Richmond, of John, James,
and B. Oliver, merchants in Caroline and Hanover Counties (17901800),
in four volumes, of Samuel Patterson (1805-08), and of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Richmond (1851-75). The diary

originals include records by Charles Fenton Mercer of a trip
abroad (1854-55, 1856-58), the Confederate diary in six volumes
of George M. Neese, notes on a trip abraod by William L. Sheppard
in 1860, and the thirteen volume diary of Colonel Taylor
of Orange County (1786-99).

A rough estimate of the number of manuscripts at the
Library of the College of William and Mary, including the
official papers of the College which are in the library vault,
is from 150,000 to 175,000 pieces. These manuscripts are generally
of Virginia families or of families related to Virginia
families or to southern districts near Virginia. Some of them,
more particularly the Southall papers, have been carefully
arranged and an inventory is ready for use. The others are in
process of arrangement. The more notable of the collections are
the following:- Ambler papers, Alexander Balmaine journal,
Berkeley family papers, Blackwell family papers, Brodnax papers,
Buckingham Female Institute papers and ledgers, Landon Carter
family papers, William Chamberlayne papers, Coupland family
papers, the Flora Darling papers relating to patriotic societies,
Dorsey family papers, the Gen. Jubal A. Early papers, the Col.
Benjamin S. Ewell papers and his letters in relation to the
College from 1854 to 1890, Huffman papers, the Robert M. Hughes
collections relating (1) to the State Board of Law Examiners and
(2) to William and Mary College from 1890 to 1935, the letters
(143 pieces) written by Thomas Jefferson to William Short, Jerdone
family papers, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston papers, Leavenworth family
papers, McGavock family papers, the Madison papers (including
both the President and the Bishop), the papers of John Marshall
(about 150 pieces), Massey family papers, Merritt papers, the
papers of James Monroe (about fifty pieces), the papers of the
Rev. Robert Nelson, missionary to China, the minutes and papers
of the Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Robert Pleasants
papers, the John Preston papers, Southall papers, Thweat family
papers, Timberlake papers, P. N. Tyler papers, student notebooks
of the University of Virginia 1830-80, and student notebooks of
William and Mary College from 1790 to date, and the papers of the
College of William and Mary including minutes of the Board of
Visitors, of the faculty, and of the literary societies, and the
books of the treasurer.

A printed catalogue (120 pages) of the manuscripts in the
collection of the Virginia Historical Society was issued in 1901
as a supplement to the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
This extensive collection relates primarily to Virginia, and its
items extend over the whole period of Virginia history to 1900.
It is for the most part accessible for use. The most notable
divisions of this material (including the accessions since 1901)
are connected with such names as Adams, Ambler, Robert Anderson,
Banks, John Barrett, Berkeley, Beverley, Black, Blair, Blakiston,
Bland, Bolling, Byrd, Cabell, Campbell, Carter, Cary, Claiborne,

Cocke, Custis, Bishop Early, George Gilmer, Harrison, Henry,
Huntington, Johnson, Jefferson, Kent, Knox, Ludwell, Madison,
Marshall, Massie, Monroe, Moseley, Powell, Raines, Randolph,
the Donald Robertson School, Robinson, Semmes, Spotswood, and
Washington — a veritable roll call of famous Virginia families.

At the University of Virginia also the manuscripts — numbering
approximately 500,000 items, a portion of which, however,
are on deposit and are not owned by the University Library —
are mainly a Virginia collection. They comprise lotters, diaries,
account books, unpublished archives, and records of the University;
and they are filed and partly catalogued. Of the manuscripts
which are the property of the University Library the
following are among the most important:- Blackwell papers, Brooke
papers, E. P. Buford papers, Brunswick County (1890-1930), the
Cabell collection, John Warwick Daniel papers, the Davis-Terrell
papers from Albemarle County, the Francis Walker Gilmer letters,
the Armistead Churchill Gordon papers and letter books, the
Grinnan business letters and accounts (1770-1830), the Henry T.
Harris papers of Nelson County, the Humphreys autobiographical
letters, the John L. Burt papers of Pittsylvania County, the Gen.
John D. Imboden papers (1831-95), the Thomas Jefferson collection,
the Jones papers from Surry County, the Morris family
papers from Hanover and Louisa Counties, the William Mullen
papers, the Palmore papers and the Perkins letters from Cumberland
County, the W. M. Seward records of Brunswick County, the
Smiley family papers of Augusta County, the Stanard papers, the
Sterrett family papers of Rockbridge County (1828-92), the John
R. Thompson collection, the Twyman papers of Albemarle County,
Joseph Waddell's diary (1855-59, 1862-65, four volumes), the Wallace
family letters dating from 1750, and the Withrow papers,
Waynesboro (1880-1910).

Among the literary miscellany are the manuscripts of several
books and of a number of fugitive pieces and autograph letters.
The writers include Kate Bosher, Gamaliel Bradford, W. C.
Brownell, Sarah Cleghorn, John Esten Cooke (Mohun), Arthur K.
Davis, Jr. (Traditional Ballads of Virginia), Walter de la Mare,
Lord Dunsany, Basil L. Gildersleeve, Armistead Churchill Gordon,
J. H. Ingram (Life of Poe — a revision later than any of the
published editions), Thomas Jefferson (Essay on the Anglo-Saxon),
D. H. Lawrence, Amy Lowell, Percy Mackaye, Edwin Markham, Edgar
Allan Poe, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Mary Stuart Smith (translations
from the French of Pouvillon and from the German of Lenbach),
Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Arthur Symons, and Marguerite
Wilkinson.

In Richmond, in addition to the manuscript material in the
State Library and in the Virginia Historical Society, there are
a number of smaller collections.

For example, manuscripts relating to the history of the

Confederacy are to be found at the Confederate Memorial Institute
Battle Abbey Library and at the Confederate Museum Library. For
the latter collection Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman in 1908
compiled A Calendar of Confederate Papers.

At the library of the University of Richmond there are, the
property of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, several
thousand items of material relating to the history of the Virginia
Baptists, including church records, manuscript sermons, and
the correspondence of J. L. M. Curry (1825-1903) and of George W.
McDaniel (1875-1927). In the case of this collection, as has
also been true of several other collections in the state, advantage
has recently been taken of the aid afforded by the Historical
Division of the Works Progress Administration for the arrangement
and filing of manuscripts.

Another collection significant for research in religious
history is located at the Spence Library of the Union Theological
Seminary in Richmond. For this is the official depository for
the manuscript records of the Presbyterian Synods of Virginia and
of North Carolina; and it also holds in custody many records of
the Synods of Appalachia and West Virginia. This collection includes
297 manuscript volumes of synod and presbytery minutes,
sessional and congregational records of individual churches, and
419 manuscript items, bundles of letters, and histories of churches.
This material dates from 1755, and is accessible to any serious
research student. Among the Presbyterian leaders represented are
Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), George Addison Baxter (1771-1841),
Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-98), Samuel Davies (1723-1761), William
Hill (1769-1852), John Blair Hoge (1790-1826), Henry Patillo
(1726-1801), and John Holt Rice (1777-1831).

There is also a small collection of manuscripts, relating to
the Episcopal Church in Virginia, which is housed in the library
conducted in connection with the Mayo Memorial Church House in
Richmond.

The well known Poe Shrine shelters several autograph letters
of Edgar Allan Poe.

One more general collection in Richmond should be mentioned:
that at the Valentine Museum. This includes a few European items,
including autographs of Napoleon, Frederick the Great, and several
noted scientists; and also about a hundred letters of Americans
outside of Virginia: P. T. Barnum, Longfellow, Daniel Webster,
and others. But here, too, the material is chiefly Virginiana,
and comprises archives, business accounts and correspondence,
family papers, and a literary miscellany. The nucleus is the
extensive Valentine family collection covering the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Other material includes John Adams's
accounts and business letters (1800-30), the Barron papers (1802-41)

which include contemporary accounts of the naval war with Tripoli,
the business records of John Bolling (1706-13) and of William
Bolling (1804-14), Daniel Call's legal papers (1789-1830), Confederate
manuscripts of the quartermaster department and of Generals
Jackson and Lee, Patrick Henry's store accounts (1758-70), which,
with the later account books in the State Library, give an unusually
full record of his business transactions, the Norton
papers (1760-1820), some of which were recently published in the
volume[4] compiled by Frances Norton Mason, and the Robinson-Shields
(1820-50) and Woods-Warwick-Stuart (1782-1863) family letters.
In the last group mentioned is some material on the war of 1812.
Miscellaneous letters and documents include items by Wade
Hampton, Thomas Jefferson, Bishop Richard Channing Moore, John
Randolph of Roanoke, and George Washington. The literary manuscripts,
some published, some unpublished, include writings of
the following: H. C. Alexander, George W. Bagby, John D. Blair,
James Barron Hope, J. B. Jeter, Dabney H. Maury, and John B. Tabb.

In Tidewater Virginia there are, in addition to the important
collections at the College of William and Mary, several significant
groups of material. Two special libraries are rapidly
gathering and making accessible for research use transcripts or
film copies of rather widely scattered material. The Library of
Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, has, indexed by subject and
name, transcripts of all York County records dealing with Williamsburg,
and more than a score of volumes of typed transcripts of
miscellaneous source material concerning the buildings at Williamsburg.
At the Yorktown headquarters of the Colonial National
Historical Park efforts are being made to collect film copies of
source material on the Revolutionary War in the South. This
quest, started in 1936 and commencing with Yorktown, already consists
of approximately 50,000 sheets of enlarged films. The collection
at Yorktown also contains copies of domestic material on the
earlier history of the region included in this National Park.

Further along the James River are three other collections.
At the Coast Artillery School are preserved the official archives
both of the Artillery School and of Fort Monroe, covering the
years from 1824 to 1906. In its collection relating to the Negro,
the library at Hampton Institute includes a group of manuscript
records of slave inventories and of slave sales. Accessible in
the Mariners' Museum are about 1,500 manuscripts of naval matters,
ranging from logbooks, ships' account books, and ship papers,
signed by the Presidents from Washington to Hayes, to Mark Twain's
pilot license (12 April 1859) permitting him to act as pilot on
the Mississippi River.

South of Richmond at Petersburg, the Public Library contains

the letters of H. D. Bird, a railway engineer, covering the years
1832-75; the Bolling family papers (1795-1880); the Nimmo notes,
these being ten volumes of gleanings from various county records
(many of the originals having meantime disappeared); the minutes
of the Petersburg Board of Health for the years 1821-32; and sundry
military records of various encampments during 1814 and 1815.

Among the manuscript collections in Piedmont Virginia, in
addition to the material at the University of Virginia, are those
at the Packard-Laird Memorial Library of the Episcopal Theological
Seminary near Alexandria, at the Library of Hampden-Sydney
College at Hampden-Sydney, and at the Library of the Randolph-Macon
Woman's College in Lynchburg. The Virginia Theological Seminary
possesses thirty-six volumes of manuscripts and about 500
pieces, including three volumes of miscellaneous autographs of
famous Episcopal churchmen, approximately 100 manuscript essays
submitted by candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity,
and class minutes and minutes of various church organizations.
This library also contains sundry clay tablets from Ninevah,
dating from the ninth century, B.C. Religious records are also to
be found in the Hampden-Sydney Library. These comprise approximately
5,000 pieces of manuscript material including various
record books of the Presbyterian Church and of the College, and
eighty-three volumes of minutes and of other accounts of the
activities of the local literary society. At the Randolph-Macon
Woman's College there is an interesting example of specialization
in collection, its significant manuscript holdings consisting of
material relating to John Randolph. These comprise an original
manuscript and forty-six letters from Randolph to St. George
Tucker, his step-father, written between 1795 and 1810.

In the Valley section of the State there are at least five
collections which deserve mention. The bibliography at Washington
and Lee University has already been referred to. In this
Library also are the papers of William Fleming (1729-95) comprising
about 460 pieces, both personal and official. The personal
papers include letters, deeds and other papers relating to
land, and the diary of Colonel Fleming for the years from 1782
to 1790. The public papers consist chiefly of miscellaneous
letters, reports, and commissions. There is also the journal of
the first Kentucky convention (27 December 1784 to 5 January
1785).

At the Roanoke Public Library there is a small but notable
collection of illuminated European manuscripts and, in addition,
several Arabic and Persian manuscripts. This collection dates
chiefly in the fifteenth century, but the sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries are also represented.

Also in Roanoke is the Transportation Library of the Norfolk
and Western Railway, in which are preserved various early manuscript

records and reports significant for the railway history of Virginia
and of the South.

The Holston Conference records of the Southern Methodist
Church have been preserved and are accessible in the Library of
Emory and Henry College.

At Big Laurel in southwest Virginia is a semi-private
genealogical collection known as the James Taylor Adams Library.
This includes about 10,000 letters containing data on the various
branches of the Adams family, and half that number on other families,
mostly of Virginia and Kentucky. There is also a considerable
collection of notes and manuscripts on the pioneer
families of Wise County, in which Big Laurel is located. These
letters are not indexed.