Blair-Howard Family Papers 1788-1913

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 Blair-Howard Family Papers provide information on the families of John Blair, his daughter Lucinda Blair, her husband Thomas J. Blair, and their immediate and extended family of Tennessee, Carroll County, Virginia and Grayson County, Virginia. The collection is arranged into six series.

Much of Series I, Correspondence (1848-1918, undated), deals with the investigation of copper ore fields and potential for mining in Carroll County land owned by Thomas J. Howard and the estate of his father-in-law, John Blair. Other correspondence includes discussion of family illness, marriages, deaths, and other events in the neighborhoods in Carroll County, Grayson County, and Tennessee.

Series II, Financial Records (1820-1906, undated), consists primarily of receipts and tax records. Other records include court witness receipts for persons serving as witnesses in the case State of Tennessee v. Thomas J. Howard in 1850 and John L. Howard v. Norfolk and Western railroad Company in 1891.

Series III, Land Records (1788-1913, undated), include land patents signed by Gov. Edmund Randolph (1788), Gov. Henry Lee (1792), Gov. Robert Brooke (1796), Gov. John Tyler (1809-1810), and others. Also included are various surveys and notes as well as plats from the William Bourne estate.

Series IV, Miscellaneous Records (1827-1900, undated), include legal documents from the case Mrs. E. P. Carter et al v. John Howard et al, and various flyers, recipes, and a 1829 broadsheet by John Blair. Also included are several drafts of patterns for weaving.

Series V, Photographs (undated), contains photographs of railroad construction along the Snake River, unidentified people, and World War I.

Series VI, Books (1860, [1874]), contains a Kyle family Bible, and a Blair-Howard family Bible with birth, marriage, and death records.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Burl Lawson in 2009.
Physical description:
64 folders; 2 books..