Roller Family Papers 1828-1974

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society
P.O. Box 7311
428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd
Richmond, VA 23221-0311
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Laura Stoner
Phone: (804) 342-9662
Phone: (804) 342-9677
Fax: (804) 355-2399

Summary

Abstract:
Includes correspondence, account books and loose accounts, commonplace books, and miscellaneous materials documenting the close relationship between members of the Cabell and the related Micklem and Eubank families, especially among the women. Prominently represented are Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell of "Inglewood," Nelson County, Va., who maintained a large household made up of her immediate family, her husband's sister, children who attended the school run by her son and daughter, and summer boarders; and her daughters, Mary Caroline Cabell, a teacher who ran the school at Inglewood; Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who married John Edwin Roller of Harrisonburg, Va., and had an active domestic and social life; and Margaret Etta (Cabell) Matthews, who married an Anglican missionary and lived with him for several years in Liberia; and Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore, of Richmond, Va., and Glens Falls, N.Y., daughter of Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who maintained an extensive social correspondence with friends, many of whom lived in or frequently travelled to foreign countries. In general the correspondence concerns domestic activities, including courtship and marriage, the births of children, illnesses and deaths, problems with servants, and the procurement of clothing and other household articles; the running of the Inglewood school and the work of other family members, split between teaching and the law; and social activities in Nelson County, Harrisonburg, and Richmond, Va., among the Cabell and Roller families and a wide network of friends and relations. Also included are the papers of John Edwin Roller, a Harrisonburg, Va., lawyer and active member of the Republican Party, largely concerning his plans to run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 1872 and his relationships with his wife, her daughters, and his daughters from his first marriage.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Chiefly the papers of Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell, her daughters Mary Caroline Cabell and Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, Lucy's husband, John Edwin Roller, and Lucy and John's daughter, Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore, consisting primarily of correspondence among the various members of the Cabell family.

Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell's correspondence with her nine children documents their attendance at various Virginia universities, their work as lawyers, teachers, and engineers, their marriages and the births of their children, and her domestic activities running the large household at Inglewood and the taking of summer boarders.

Papers of Mary Caroline Cabell include correspondence with her siblings concerning the activities of various family members, social events in Nelson County, and the running of the Inglewood school.

Papers of Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller include correspondence with female family members and friends concerning her marriage, the births of her daughters, the activities of her Cabell relatives, and her involvement with several patriotic societies.

Papers of John Edwin Roller consist primarily of correspondence concerning his plans to run for election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1872, and, after his marriage in 1896, the well-being of his wife and daughters, especially the activities of daughters Frances and Margaret while attending the Woman's College, Frederick, Md. [now Hood College], and Virginia Female Institute, Staunton, Va.

Papers of Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore consist mainly of correspondence with aging Cabell and Roller relations and with friends in America and abroad while she lived in Glens Falls, N.Y., and concern her social life and family news.

Biographical / historical:

Records of three generations of the Cabell family of "Inglewood," Variety Mills, Nelson co., Va., and two generations of the Roller family of Harrisonburg, Va.

Represented are George Washington Cabell (1802-1869), farmer and planter, and his wife, Mary Anne (Anthony) Cabell (1808-1868), daughter of Christopher Anthony, Jr. (1776-1835), attorney of Lynchburg, Va.; their son-in-law, Joseph Laidley (1829-1861); their daughter, Lucy Brown Cabell (1836-1911), called "Lucie," who never married; their son, Patrick Henry Cabell (1837-1907), called "Pat," professor at Lynchburg Military College, Superintendent of Schools for Nelson co., and employee of Southern Railway; Patrick Henry Cabell's wife, Elizabeth Willis Eubank (1843-1907), called "Bettie," daughter of Royal H. Eubank of Nelson co., Va.; and their children, Patrick Henry "Carey" Cabell (1864-1920), of Richmond, Va., lawyer and representative of the Travelers Insurance Company; Mary Caroline Cabell (1866-1942), called "Callie," a Hollins Institute graduate who ran a school at the family home, "Inglewood"; Anne Woolston (Cabell) Flowers (1869-1958), graduate of the State Female Normal School at Farmville, Va. [now Longwood College], who married Charles H. Flowers of Vandemere, N.C.; Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller (1871-1914), called "Lily," teacher, who married John Edwin Roller of Harrisonburg, Va.; George Washington Cabell (1873-1943), of "Inglewood," Nelson co., Va., farmer and justice of the peace, graduate of the Virginia Military Institute who later studied law at the University of Virginia and ran, with his sister, Mary Caroline Cabell, the Inglewood school; Margaret "Etta" (Cabell) Matthews (1876-1969), who attended the State Female Normal School at Farmville, Va. [now Longwood College], and taught at schools in western Virginia, married the Rev. Nathan Matthews, Anglican missionary and priest from Newfoundland and lived with him in Liberia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Massachusetts; Royal Eubank Cabell (1878-1950), who attended Roanoke College, Salem, Va., Princeton University, the University of Virginia, and Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), lawyer of Richmond, Va., later U.S. Postmaster of Richmond, 1906-1909, and Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Theodore Roosevelt before returning to Richmond to resume his law practice; and Somers Eubank Cabell (1885-1919), who studied electrical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, Va., and later worked for General Electric and the Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company.

Also represented are Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller's husband, John Edwin Roller (1844-1918), prominent lawyer of Harrisonburg, Va., Confederate veteran, instructor at the Virginia Military Institute, which he attended, and active member of the Republican Party; his daughters by his first marriage, Frances Lewis (Roller) Grattan, called "Lewie," of Harrisonburg, Va., and Margaret Stuart (Roller) Cannady Ogilvie Merryman, called "Marco," of Harrisonburg, Va., and W. Va.; and his daughters with Lucy Brown Cabell, "Lucy Cabell" Roller (1899-1949) of Harrisonburg and Richmond, Va., who attended Randolph-Macon Women's College and Columbia University; Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore (1902-1993) of Harrisonburg and Richmond, Va., who attended Chatham Hall, Randolph-Macon Women's College, and Wellesley College, and married William Gordon Bottimore of Richmond and Glens Falls, N.Y.; and Anne Woolston (Roller) Pyle (1904-1977) of Richmond, Va., who attended Chatham Hall and Wellesley College and married Wilfred Pyle (b. ca. 1907), son of artist Howard Pyle.

Also included are scattered letters of the Micklem, Eubank, Calwell, and related families.

Acquisition information:
The Roller Family Papers were received by the Virginia Historical Society in 1989 as the gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore. They were accessioned 25 September 1995.
Arrangement:

The papers of the Cabell and Roller families are arranged into series as follows:

Series 1.
George Washington Cabell (1802-1869) account book, 1833-1839.
Series 2.
Mary Anne (Anthony) Cabell (1808-1868) commonplace book, 1828-1834.
Series 3.
Joseph Laidley (1829-1861) diary, 1853.
Series 4.
Lucy Brown Cabell (1836-1911) papers, including correspondence, 1854-1906; accounts, 1882-1893; commonplace book, 1849-1859; materials concerning Margaret Clifford Cabell (1835-1888), 1887-1888; and miscellaneous materials, 1852-1888.
Series 5.
Patrick Henry Cabell (1837-1907) papers, including correspondence, 1859-1906; accounts, 1898-1899; school materials, including school exercise books, 1854- 1858, commonplace book, 1858-1859, and class notes, 1858; and invitations, 1899-1906.
Series 6.
Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell (1843-1907) papers, including correspondence, 1897-1907; accounts; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 7.
Patrick Henry Carey Cabell (1864-1920) papers, including correspondence, 1896-1920; issues, 1877, of the Amateur Press, published in Monte Vista and Montreal, Va.; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 8.
Mary Caroline Cabell (1866-1942) papers, including correspondence, 1899-1940; financial materials, 1931-1932; school materials, 1853-1932; scrapbook; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 9.
Anne Woolston (Cabell) Flowers (1869-1958) correspondence, 1890-1951.
Series 10.
John Edwin Roller (1844-1918) papers, including correspondence, 1870-1916; financial materials, 1894-1918; historical manuscripts; school materials; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 11.
Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller (1871-1914) papers, including correspondence, 1888-1914; accounts, 1896-1912; materials concerning the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Virginia; materials concerning the Daughters of the American Revolution, Massanutten Chapter; invitations; visiting cards; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 12.
George Washington Cabell (1873-1943) papers, including correspondence, 1899-1920; and accounts, 1911-1914.
Series 13.
Margaret Etta (Cabell) Matthews (1876-1969) papers, including correspondence, 1888-1954; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 14.
Royal Eubank Cabell (1878-1950) correspondence, 1897-1912.
Series 15.
Somers Eubank Cabell (1885-1919) school materials, 1903-1904.
Series 16.
Frances Lewis (Roller) Grattan correspondence, 1897-1959.
Series 17.
Margaret Stuart (Roller) Cannady Ogilvie Merryman correspondence, 1899-1947; and school materials, 1897-1898.
Series 18.
Lucy Cabell Roller (1899-1949) correspondence, 1899-1947.
Series 19.
Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore (1902-1993) papers, including correspondence, 1927-1960; financial materials, 1955; certificates; commonplace books, 1942 and n.d.; invitations; and miscellaneous materials.
Series 20.
Anne Woolston (Roller) Pyle (1904-1977) correspondence, 1912-1959.
Series 21.
Miscellaneous Cabell, Micklem, and Roller family correspondence, 1872-1907.

Physical description:
This collection consists of ca. 3.400 items, held in 33 manuscript boxes.