Correspondence

Scope and content:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1827-1913, chiefly contains letters written to Siram P. Henkel with correspondents including members of the Koiner/Coiner family of Augusta County, the Miller family of Winchester, and the Rupert family of Augusta County. The correspondents report on family and community news, marriages, health and illnesses, deaths, weather, harvest and planting updates, crop yields, and include fellow merchants requesting advice on the market of certain goods and numerous requests for Dr. Henkel's pills. Of particular interest are the letters written to Siram by his sons Lewis and Luther while serving in the American Civil War. The sons, and Luther in particular, write about camp life and general updates related to the war. In a December 21, 1861 letter to his father, Lewis P. Henkel writes from Winchester and mentions General Stonewall Jackson. He also refers to General Gilbert S. Meem as "Genl. Drunk."

This series also contains correspondence to/from other Henkel family members including Dr. Solomon Henkel, Samuel G. Henkel, Solomon D. Henkel, Maggie Henkel Renalds, Lillian Henkel, and Margaret Koiner Henkel.

The documentary record confirms that Margaret Koiner Henkel's family were enslavers and given the date of much of the correspondence, a portion relates to slavery and enslaved persons. Delia Koiner Overholt wrote to her sister Margaret Henkel on May 28, 1847 relaying the news of their grandfather's death. She goes on to write that "eleven or twelve blacks are to be sold and a great deal of property." In a January 24, 1857 letter to Siram Henkel, Delia Koiner Overholt writes again to describe in detail describes the sale of enslaved persons from her grandfather's estate. A similarly noteworthy letter, dated August 13, 1835, was penned by Siram Henkel to his wife Margaret in which he describes a large "drove" of enslaved persons that passed through the Valley. He describes the scene as follows: "There were eighty-four chained together to one long chain; there were also a great many women and children that were also in company; the whole number of men, women & children was two hundred and forty." There are two original copies of this letter in the collection.

All correspondence addressed to Dr. Solomon Henkel and/or Solomon Henkel P.M. is filed with Solomon Henkel (1777-1847), who was a practicing physician and served as Shenandoah County's first postmaster. A concerted effort was made on behalf of the archivist to not confuse his papers with those of his son Solomon David Henkel (1815-1872).

Much of the correspondence includes envelopes or address leaves. The correspondence is arranged primarily by recipient, but in cases where the recipient is unknown (e.g. non-specific salutations and greetings or lack of return address), the correspondence is filed with miscellaneous correspondence. Some of the letters have non-original annotations on the address leaves relating to content or the correspondents.

Access and use

Contents