Thomas J. Nottingham Diary 1883-1885

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Military Institute Archives
Preston Library
Virginia Military Institute
345 Letcher Ave.
Lexington, VA 24450-0304
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Jeffrey S. Kozak
Phone: (540) 464-7516
Phone: (540) 464-7566
Fax: (540) 464-7089

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of the diary (1883-1885) written by Virginia Military Institute Cadet Thomas J. Nottingham. It contains a consistent record of the daily cadet routine as it existed during the mid- 1880's and is an excellent source for information about student life during that era. Included are specific references to recitations, fights, dress parade, the Dialectic Society (a student debating society), YMCA, girls, baseball and football games with Washington College students ("minks"), the death and funeral of John D. Letcher, the destruction of the VMI arsenal, the death of Henry W. Williamson (VMI Class of 1845 and staff member), and the death of Sarah Henderson Smith. Some special events are also mentioned, including the election of President Grover Cleveland and the local (Lexington, Virginia) Democratic Party celebration in November 1884. The volume also includes a list of letters sent and received by Nottingham, along with lists of staff and class members.

Biographical / historical:

Thomas Jacob Nottingham was born in Richmond, Virginia on September 1, 1864. He was the son of Thomas J. Nottingham (b. 1834 Northampton County, VA, d. 1891 Norfolk, VA) and Mary B. Tarrall (b. 1835 Mathews County, VA., d. 1886 Norfolk, VA). Nottingham entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1882 and graduated in 1886.

After graduation, Nottingham was a businessman in Norfolk, Virginia, primarily associated with the wholesale coal and lumber industry. He served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. He married Minie Virginia Mapp on December 12, 1888 at Baltimore, Maryland. They had one son, Thomas Jacob Nottingham, Jr., born at Norfolk in January 1903. Nottingham died June 8, 1953 at the home of his son in Arlington, Virginia. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Norfolk.

Physical description:
The collection consists of one item.