Thomas/Rawlings/Carver Family Collection, 1840-1988

Access and use

Location of collection:
Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
200 Second Street, NE
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (434) 296-1492

Summary

Extent:
16 boxes (10 linear ft.)
Creator:
Velora Carver Thomson, Mary Norris Rawlings, Marjorie Carver, Stella Carver, Thomas Payne Carver
Abstract:
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains personal papers and numerous photographs of Velora Carver Thomson, Mary Norris Rawlings, Marjorie Carver, Stella Dunham Carver and Thomas Payne Carver. The three women and their family had an active civic life in Charlottesville and Albemarle County and were part of numerous organizations.

Biographical / historical:

Velora Carver was born in Charlottesville on June 28, 1900. She graduated from Charlottesville High School in 1919. She married James Rawlings Thomson. Mrs. Thomson was a member and council of the Albemarle County Historical Society, the Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle County; the Board of Commyn Hall, the Albemarle Art Association, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Business and Professional Women's Club in Charlottesville. She worked at Peoples National Bank for 27 years, and was the first woman to hold the position of head teller. She also worked as Executive Secretary of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and the Bessie Dunn Miller Cancer Detection Center. One of her great achievements was in her own words "instigator of the opposition to remove the trees on High Street," that led to the formation of the Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. She was involved in many civic organizations in Charlottesville. She died on November 8, 1988.

Mary Norris Rawlings was born December 15, 1873 in Charlottesville. She attended Edgehill School for Girls. She was founding member of the Albemarle Historical Society and of the Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle. In 1950 she was made honorary president of the Albemarle Historical Society. She was an amateur historian and wrote several books about Charlottesville history and architecture. She also wrote short stories and poems under the pen name Minor Watson. She died June 8, 1960 at Martha Jefferson Hospital.

The Carver Family Collection consists primarily of correspondence and memorabilia related to Marjorie Dunham Carver and Stella Carver. Marjorie Carver was born in Charlottesville, Va. on April 2, 1903. She was the daughter of Thomas Payne Carver and Stella Dunham Carver, and sister of Velora Carver Thomson. Marjorie graduated from Charlottesville High School in 1920 and soon afterwards began working for the University of Virginia Library. She attended Library Sciences courses at the University of Virginia Extension and became a cataloguer. She was involved in the conversion of UVA library books from the Dewey System to the Library of Congress system. She was member of the First Baptist Church in Park Street. During WWII she was member of the Charlottesville and Albemarle Civil Air Patrol Squadron as Assistant Adjutant and Public Relations Chairman. She was an active member of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Charlottesville Albemarle Historical Society. She died on August 1, 1984.

Acquisition information:
This collection was donated by the Estate of Velora Carver Thomson in 1988.
Arrangement:

The papers are organized in four series:

Series I: Velora Carver Thomson papers.

Series II: Mary Norris Rawlings Papers

Series III: Photographs and other miscellaneous documents.

Series IV: Carver Family Collection

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

Velora Carver Thomson

Box 1

f. 1: Accession folder

f. 2: Albemarle Historical Society, Charlottesville Statutes, Vinegar Hill - miscellaneous correspondence, 1930-1934

f. 3: AHS - correspondence, 1964-1974

f. 4: AHS - correspondence [includes ACHS Bulletin of 1984], 1976-1984

f. 5: Albemarle County Courthouse cannons - correspondence and news clippings, 1921, 1965, 1972, n.d.

f. 6: Allied Cinderblock Plant noise, 1946-1976

f. 7: Bessie Dunn Miller Center for Cancer Prevention - financial reports, minutes, correspondence, 1944-1978

f. 8: Charlottesville/Albemarle history, 1957-1958, 1974, n.d.

f. 9: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission - correspondence, 1977-1981

f. 10: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission - history, 1978-1979

f. 11: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission - minutes, 1977-1979

f. 12: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission - miscellaneous, 1974-1975

f. 13: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission - survey Forms, 1974, undated

f. 14: Charlottesville Historic Landmarks Commission- list of landmarks in Albemarle County, undated

f. 15, f. 15a: Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle - constitution, ordinances, membership lists, correspondence, 1951-1996 (2 folders)

f. 16: Enderly House on Watson Avenue, Charlottesville - research by Velora Thomson, undated

f. 17: First Baptist Church (Park St., Charlottesville) - administrative information, remarks about the new church, financial statements, long range planning documents, 1975-1978

f. 18: High Street preservation of trees and other Charlottesville Downtown issues (renaming Free Bridge Road), 1949 -1988

f. 19: Martha Jefferson Hospital recognition of Jo Blanton - correspondence, brochures, news-clippings, 1975-1978

f. 20: Paul G. McIntire (gifts to Charlottesville), 1966, 1988

f. 21: Municipal Facility Committee (Charlottesville) - minutes, lists of committee members, Junior Chamber of Commerce Report on the Vinegar Hill area; Committee Report on need to enlarge municipal facilities in Charlottesville, blueprint, 1959-1961

f. 22: National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Virginia Courthouse Survey, 1962

f. 23-24: North Downtown Residents Association - newsletters, By-laws, bulletin, 1973-1984 (2 folders)

f. 25: Old Charlottesville, Inc. - newsletters, correspondence, 1980-1981

f. 26: Queen Charlotte Square (Charlottesville) - correspondence, 1980

f. 27: Vinegar Hill - correspondence related to development of Vinegar Hill and other downtown matters, 1949-1970

f. 28: Zoning and Architectural Design Control Committee to Study the Zoning and Architectural Controls of Charlottesville Courthouse Area, 1972, 1979, 1983-1987

Box 2 (Velora Thomson Personal Papers)

f. 1: Carver House (100 W. High St., Charlottesville) - correspondence, photographs, 1985-1987, undated

f. 2: Carver Property (104 High St., Charlottesville) - correspondence, blueprints, sales agreement, 1922-1988

f. 3: Comyn Hall (Home for the Aged) - history research paper, news-clippings, notes, 1970-1976

f. 4: Velora Carver Thomson Astrological Chart and miscellaneous correspondence, 1918-1925

f. 5 - f.16: Velora Carver Thomson Miscellaneous Correspondence (12 folders), 1960-1974

Box 3 (Velora Thomson Personal Papers)

f. 1 - f.9: Velora Carver Thomson Miscellaneous Correspondence (9 folders), 1975-1982, undated

f. 10: Velora Carver Thomson - Massie-McLeod Correspondence, 1920-1940

f. 11: Library - Miscellaneous notes, correspondence, etc., 1972-1984

f. 12: Account book, address book, autograph book, undated

Mary Rawlings Papers

f. 13: Captain Thomas S. Watson Correspondence (1840-1860); correspondence to Mary Rawlings re: Watson Family (1939),

f. 14: Mary Rawlings miscellaneous correspondence, 1898, 1908

f. 15: Mary Rawlings correspondence re: publications and research, 1911-1934

f. 16: Mary Rawlings correspondence related to old homes in Albemarle County, 1935

f. 17 - f. 24: Mary Rawlings miscellaneous correspondence (7 folders), 1940-1960

Box 4

f. 1: Albemarle County Historical Society - list, correspondence, 1949-1960

f. 2: Collection of Debt Owed to Rev. J.M. Rawlings, 1894-1901

f. 3 - f. 4: Correspondence re: St. Louis Property (2 folders), 1898-1923

f. 5: Courthouse Tour - script, galleys, notes, undated

f. 6: Historical Guide to Old Charlottesville, 1954

f. 7: Legal Documents - deeds, leases, etc., 1898-1907

f. 8 - f. 9: Michie Tavern - correspondence, notes, copies of indentures, research (2 folders), 1953-1962

f. 10: James Monroe - notes and correspondence, [1951-1953]

f. 11- f. 13: Richardson Family - correspondence, research, notes (3 folders), 1926-1932

f. 14: Unidentified typescript of journal, presumably from UVA MS6436-E, undated

Box 4a

f. 1: Rawlings, Mary: "Short history of Charlottesville and Albemarle County," prepared for the Charlottesville and Albemarle Chamber of Commerce and the Albemarle Historical Society, July 1949

f. 2: "Ante-Bellum Albemarle" - proof pages, undated

f. 3: "Battle Blenheim" - notes, undated

f. 4: "Albemarle of Other Days" - notes, undated

f. 5: "Sheridan Raid" notes, undated

f. 6: "Annals of an American Family" - text, notes, undated

f. 7: "Early Charlottesville 1963" - notes

f. 8: Salling, John Peter - notes, undated

Box 4b

Rawlings, Mary - shorts stories and poetry handwritten notes

Genealogical Research

Box 5

f. 1: Beck, Virginia Herdon (Carver) genealogical research and notes, undated

f. 2: Boston Family research and notes, undated

f. 3 - f.4: Carver Family Research and notes (2 folders), undated and1960-1970s. [There are photos of a Broadhead Mountain Cabin, 1964]

f. 5: Carver Family Coat of Arms (1920) and undated report

f. 6: Central Virginia Genealogy Association Surnames and Queries, undated

f. 7: Correspondence related to genealogical research, 1935 - 1978

f. 8: Marshall, Alice Goodyear (Stevens) - research for wedding bows, 1983

f. 9: Payne Family Genealogical Research, undated

f. 10: Rawlings, James Henry miscellaneous documents, 1895-1898

f. 11: Thomson, James Henry Rawlings miscellaneous documents, 1957, 1964-1965

f. 12: Woodson Family research, undated

Virginia Herndon Carver Bible

Bettie Watson Rawlings Bible

Photographs

Box 6

f. 1: Photo Album, 1919-1924, 1956, 1975

f. 2: Photo Album [Clinchfield Railroad?], undated

f. 3: Albemarle County Historical Society - photos of buildings, 1964, 1970

f. 4: Beck, Virginia Carver and Nelson Beck, undated

f. 5: Carver Family photos, undated

f. 6: Carver, Marjorie photos, 1903, 1942, 1975

f. 7: Charlottesville Midway/West Main/ Ridge Street/Water Street Intersection, (Holsinger Photograph), 1920s

f. 8: Charlottesville Statutes, undated

f. 9: Miscellaneous photographs, undated

f. 10: Rawlings Thomson photographs, undated

f. 11: Rawlings Thomson, Velora, undated

Box 7

f. 1: Concentration Camp - unidentified photos, undated

f. 2: Mountain Lake, VA, [1948s-1950s]

f. 3: Pennsylvania photographs, 1909-1915, 1938

f. 4: Pennsylvania photographs, undated

f. 5: Miscellaneous photos, some identified, 1920-1970s

f. 6: Miscellaneous photos, 1910-1950

Box 8

f. 1 - f. 3: Miscellaneous unidentified photos, 1960-1980s, and undated (3 folders)

f. 6: Slides, 1974

Two framed photographs of unidentified persons

"Mrs. Thomas Payne Carver," framed photograph, undated.

Travel book of Mary Rawlings, 1938

Box 9

Four photo albums and loose photographs.

Box 10

f. 1: Beck Family Photographs at Milton Farm, undated. [Virginia Herndon Carver was married to Charles Nelson Beck]

Unidentified Photo Album

Box 11

Unidentified Photo Album, undated

Box 12

Day books, autograph book, Mary Rawlings passport (1938), Velora Ames Carver Commencement Memory Book (1919)

Box 13

Carver Family Papers

f. 1-4: Marjorie Dunham Carver - miscellaneous correspondence and memorabilia, 1916-1948, undated

f. 5: Marjorie Dunham Carver - First Baptist Church Sunday School Classes, 1931-1951

f. 6: Marjorie Dunham Carver - funeral record, 1984

f. 7: Marjorie Dunham Carver - miscellaneous personal papers, 1916 -1981

f. 8: [Marjorie Dunham Carver] - Unidentified typescript of journal [presumably from University of Virginia MS 6436], undated

f. 9: Stella Carver - miscellaneous correspondence, 1891-1901

f. 10: Stella Carver - get well cards, 1951

f. 11: Stella Carver - invitations, Christmas cards, 1937

f. 12: Stella Carver - correspondence, invitations, 1930s - 1950s

f. 13: Stella Carver personal ephemera, 1923, undated

f. 14: Thomas Carver correspondence, 1901, undated

f. 15: Thomas Carver - checks, receipts, 1934-1935

Box 14

f. 1: Carver Family invitations

f. 2: Postcards

f. 3: Photographs - Carver Family, Beck Family and unidentified, 1880s - 1940s

f. 4: Miscellaneous Albemarle History, undated

Printed materials

Harold Waitland Carver - Baby Life. A Remembrance of Baby Days [book], ca. 1898

Miran Dunham and Velora Ames book: Pinckney, Cotesworth: The Wedding Gift, to all who are entering the Marriage State. New York, Ensign, Bridgman, and Fanning, [1864]

Album of Polaroid Pictures, undated.

Physical location:
Archive Room Shelves
Physical description:
.