Fairfax Harrison Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Fairfax Harrison Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers, 1736-1945, of and collected by Fairfax Harrison. Papers collected include colonial era documents, deeds, surveys, the diary of Sally Fairfax (1771-1772), legal papers, a copy of the Dettingen Parish (Prince William County, Va.) vestry book which contains minutes, indentures, and other (1745-1802), and photostat copy of the letterbook (1801) of Col. John Tayloe of Mount Airy, Va. Fairfax Harrison's papers include his correspondence with individuals and institutions concerning his interest in Virginia History. Prominent correspondents include John Stewart Bryan, David I. Bushnell, Worthington C. Ford, Douglas Southall Freeman, William G. Stanard, Clayton Torrence, Earl Gregg Swem, Lyon G. Tyler and Langbourne M. Williams. Subjects include Sir Edmund Andros,Francis Nicholson, Francis Fauquier, debtors' prisons, parish boundaries, Culpeper family, thoroughbred horses, county records, and the publishing of Harrison's works as well as the publishing of Robert Armistead Stewart's Index to Printed Virginia Genealogies and E. G. Swem's Virginia Historical Index. The collection also includes notes by Wilson Miles Cary concerning the Cary family and the books at "Carysbrook," Fluvanna County, Va.

Biographical / historical:

Fairfax Harrison was born in New York 13 March 1869, the son of Burton and Constance (Cary) Harrison and the brother of Francis Burton Harrison. He graduated from Yale in 1890 and got a M. A. degree from Columbia University. He practiced law in New York and was solicitor for the Southern Railway, president of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway; and president of the Southern Railway from 1913-1937. Harrison was the author of many works including the Devon Carys, Landmarks of Old Price William, Proprietors of the Northern Neck, the Belair Stud, the Equine FFVs, the Roanoke Stud and the Virginia Carys. He died 2 February 1938. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: .

Acquisition information:
Presented
Physical description:
6116 items