Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952. Accessions 40242 and 40397, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Blow-Cook Family
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952. Accessions 40242 and 40397, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers, 1811-1952, of the Blow and Cook familis of Sussex County, Portsmouth, and Norfolk, Virginia, including the allied families of Allmand and Freeman. The collection contains correspondence, subject files, ledgers, and photographs relating to the descendants of Judge George Blow (1813-1894) and his brother William Nevison Blow (1822-1901), as well as Emma Blow Freeman (b. 1876) and her husband Allen M. Cook (1870- 1941).

Biographical / historical:

The Blow family were prominent residents of Sussex County and Portsmouth, Virginia. George Blow (1787-1870) and his wife Elizabeth Waller (1791-1841) were married in Williamsburg on 12 December 1807. They had thirteen children. Among them were George Blow (1813-1894) and William Nevison Blow (1822-1901). George Blow was an attorney, and later judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court. He married Elizabeth Taylor Allmand (1823-1868) in Norfolk on 27 August 1846. They had twelve children, including Emma Blacknall Blow (1847-1914). She married Arthur Clarico Freeman (1845-1908) in Norfolk on 5 March 1873. They had four children, including Emma Blow Freeman (b. 1876). She married Allen M. Cook (1870-1941).

William Nevison Blow (1822-1901) married Lavinia Cargill (1821-1868) in Norfolk on 4 March 1847. They had ten children, including a son also named William Nevison Blow (1855-1907). He married Mary Elizabeth Thomas (1863-1943) of Maine on 27 October 1882 in Denver, Colorado. They later resided at "Tower Hill," the family plantation in Sussex County, Virginia. They had one son, William Thomas Blow (1883-1943), who inherited the property after his father's death.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Mr. Joe Woolard, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 26 November 2002.
Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: Series I. Correspondence
Series II. Subject Files
Series III. Ledgers
Series IV. Photographs

Physical location:
Personal Papers Collection, Accessions 40242 and 40397
Physical description:
3.525 cubic feet