Collections

Correspondence, 1833-1855, of members of the Ayres family including John W. Ayres at Chillicothe and Cincinnati, Ohio; and Fort Madison and Agency City, Iowa (with his father John B. Ayres at Diana Mills, Buckingham County, Va.), Robert H. Ayres, Hillsboro, Ohio and Jackson, Tenn. (with John B. Ayres, Matthias L. Ayres and Suckie Ayres) and Nathan W. Ayres (with Matthias L. Ayres and William Ford & Co., Richmond, Va. Letters concern the Methodist Church, abolitionists, politics, Thomsonian medicine; and passing the examination to be admitted to practice law in Iowa.

This collection in comprised principally business and family correspondence and general papers of the Baer family of the Panther Gap vicinity of Rockbridge County, Va. with a concentration of papers relative to the family's land holdings such as maps, indentures, and wills. Other highlights are a group of twenty-one manuscript weaving drafts for making household textiles, a family Bible in German(l744), local militia fines, genealogical materials, some relating to the Decker and Hite (Heyt) families, and two farming account books of Joseph Baer, 1853-1859.

Collection includes papers, 1656-1848, concerning Essex County, Va. including land records and wills, many of which relate to the Rowzee family. Many of the records date from the seventeenth century.

Correspondence, bonds, and accounts of Jacob Baker of Monongalia County, West Virginia and Nelson Baker and Jonathan W. Baker of Alleghany County, Maryland. Includes letters written from Washington, Iowa, Piedmont, West Virginia, and from Missouri as well as letters written by a student at St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland.

This collection consists of ten pieces of Bank of Rockbridge currency dated 1857-1862 and one Lexington lottery ticket dated 1803. The currency includes bills in the amount of five, ten, and twenty dollars between 1857-1859. The 1861 bill is for two dollars, and the 1862 bill is for one dollar and twenty-five cents.

This collection consists of one bank document, issued on August 4, 1840, from the Buchanan office of the Bank of Virginia to Jacob M. Ruff, Proctor of Washington College. The notice states that Ruff, as co-signer for J. W. Pettigrew who cannot make payment, is responsible for repaying the sum of $825.

Four separate letters directed to Catholic Priests in various localities in Cuba asking for the Baptism of children of enslaved individuals. One letter asks for Baptism from an emancipated man by the direction of Public Works for the state. Translations provided.

The scrapbook is a genealogical compendium of the Welsh family of Rockbridge County, Virginia and their descendants and includes many family photographs and documents.