Daniel Family Papers, 1794-1898

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:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Daniel Family Papers, 1794-1898. Accession 23952. Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Daniel Family
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Daniel Family Papers, 1794-1898. Accession 23952. Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers, 1794-1898, of the Daniel family of Stafford County and Richmond, Virginia, consisting of letters, 1794-1813, from Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) concerning American relations with Spain, France, and Great Britain, politics, William Short's (1759-1849) performance as minister to Spain, Thomas Pinckney's (1750-1828) appointment as a commissioner to Spain, Jay's Treaty, Randolph's resignation as Secretary of State, and family and personal matters; letters, 1811-1861, of the Daniel family concerning personal and family matters, the Civil War, and election of the Confederate Congress; deeds, 1807-1846, for property in Stafford County; notes, 1811-1878 and no date, on religion, Page family genealogy, insurance, Thomas Nelson (1738-1789), and Rochester and Canandaigua Lakes, New York; tombstone inscriptions, copied 1898, of the Burwell, Mann, and Page families of Gloucester County, Virginia; law license, 10 March 1843, for Peter V. Daniel, Jr. (1818-1889); and roster of the Union Volunteer Cavalry of Richmond, ca. 1812-1815.

Biographical / historical:

Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) attended the College of William and Mary from 1770 to 1771 and studied law. He served in the Fifth Virginia Convention which adopted the state's first constitution. Randolph served as Virginia's Attorney-General from 1776 to 1786 and was elected to Congress, serving there in 1779 and 1781-1782. Randolph was elected governor of Virginia in 1786 and served until 1788. Randolph also attended the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the state ratifying convention in 1788. Washington appointed Randolph United States Attorney-General in 1790 and Secretary of State in 1794, resigning in 1795. Randolph spent the rest of his life as a lawyer and author. He married Elizabeth Carter Nicholas (1753-1810) 29 August 1776, and they had 4 children. His daughter Lucy Nelson Randolph (1788-1847) married Peter Vivian Daniel (1784-1860) of Stafford County, Virginia, 20 April 1810. He studied law under Randolph. He represented Stafford County in the House of Delegates from 1809 to 1812, when he was appointed to the Council of State. As a member of the Council, Daniel served as lieutenant governor of Virginia. He was appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1840. Peter V. and Lucy Daniel had 3 children, including Peter V. Daniel, Jr. (1818-1889) who was a lawyer and a civil engineer. He was president of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad from 1843 to 1860, and of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad from 1860 to 1873. Daniel, Jr., married Mary Robertson (1815-1890) 1 December 1846, and they had 2 children. Daniel, Sr., married Elizabeth Harris (d. 1857) and they had 2 children.

Acquisition information:
Lent for copying, March 1953, by Mrs. Robert Daniel of Brandon, Virginia, through Samuel M. Bemiss, Richmond, Virginia.
Physical description:
109 leaves, negative photostats