Armbrister Family Papers 1811-1883

Access and use

Location of collection:
Wytheville Community College
F.B. Kegley Library
Wytheville Community College
Smyth Hall, Room 103
1000 East Main Street
Wytheville, VA 24382
Contact for questions and access:
POC: William A. “Bill” Veselik
Phone: (276) 223-4876
POC: George Mattis
Phone: (276) 223-4744
Fax: (276) 223-4745

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection is divided into three series. Series I, Correspondence, includes three letters dated 1839 to 1893, and two undated letters.

Series II, Financial Records (1811-1878, undated), is comprised of receipts, account statements, and tax records of the Armbrister and other families. Most records document transactions of Elizabeth, Senah, and George Armbrister.

Series III, Miscellaneous Records (1831-1854, undated), includes a list of marriages performed by Rev. James A. Brown.

Biographical / historical:

This collection primarily documents the financial transactions of George Armbrister Jr., his wife Elizabeth Whitman Armbrister, and daughter Senah Armbrister. George, the grandson of Philip Armbrister who settled near Reed Creek in Wythe County, Virginia in 1791, married Elizabeth Whitman and had two daughters. Senah Armbrister never married while Elizabeth Armbrister married Andrew Nye.

At his death in 1839, George Armbrister Jr. had amassed considerable wealth. His estate appraisal, made on 15 July 1839, listed six slaves, a wagon, twenty-nine sheep, $400 in cash and notes, and several pieces of furniture including a set of Windsor chairs. His widow died in 1878 at age ninety-four.

Daughters Senah Armbrister and Elizabeth Armbrister Nye partitioned the property inherited from their parents. Senah claimed 170 acres north and Elizabeth 140 acres south of Old Stage Road. Dr. George L. Nye, son of Elizabeth Armbrister and Andrew Nye, lived in the Nye house (also known as the Armbrister tavern) during the 1930s. The house has since burned and been razed.

Acquisition information:
Donated by an anonymous donor in 1996 in memory of Guy H. Warden.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically within the three series.

Physical description:
7 folders.