Sherwood Farm Papers (MS100)

Access and use

Location of collection:
Alexandria Library
Alexandria Library
Local History/Special Collections
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Patricia Walker, Branch Manager
Phone: (703) 746-1719
Phone: (703) 838-4577
Fax: (703) 706-3912
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Sherwood Farm Papers, MS100, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Summary

Extent:
.42 Linear Feet 1 box
Creator:
Ballinger Family and Wilkinson family
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Sherwood Farm Papers, MS100, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The Wilkinson Family papers consist of Sarah Kirk Wilkinson's day books, a few of her son Francis' school papers, and assorted Wilkinson correspondence. There are also two diaries from Unionville, Pennsylvania, unsigned, which most likely belonged to Quaker relatives. The Sherwood Farm papers include: Woodlawn Farmer's Club correspondence, describing various social activities of the Quaker farmers and their families from the area; Woodlawn Horse Company correspondence, which includes the constitution and by-laws of this anti-horse theft organization; Woodlawn Housekeeping Association correspondence, constitution, by-laws and minutes; records from the Woodlawn Literary Association; Sherwood Hall Sunday School records; and blank Sherwood Farm Dairy Records showing how the milk production was recorded and sold from 1918-1940. There is also a newspaper article from the Sunday Star in 1905, describing Quaker families and history in this area.

Biographical / historical:

The history of Sherwood Farm, which served as an ad hoc Quaker Community Archives, began in 1858, when one hundred acres of land north of the Accotink Turnpike was purchased by Charles Ballinger, a Quaker. He married Maria Gibbs and built a house on the acreage in 1859. Seven years later, he purchased an additional hundred acres of land south of the Accotink Turnpike. This two hundred acre spread comprised Sherwood Farm, which belonged to the Ballinger/Wilkinson families for five generations. Mary Alice Ballinger was born there in 1866. She married Francis H. Wilkinson, also a Quaker, who was a son of Morris R. Wilkinson and Sarah Kirk Wilkinson of Gray's Hill Farm, in 1891.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Joyce Wilkinson in 1981
Arrangement:

By subject: therein chronologically. Series 1 is the Wilkinson Family Papers; Series 2 is the Sherwood Farm Papers.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard