Collections

Formerly identified as "Account book of an unknown merchant, probably from Sussex County, Virginia. Some accounts include people from Isle of Wight County, Virginia and Surry County, Virginia", updated 6/3/2025.

The collection contains 20 paper manuscripts. The papers were written by members of the Betty Washington Lewis family. Some papers were signed by Lewis. The papers date from 1783 - 1844.

This collection contains correspondence, publications, and other material kept by Carl R. Dolmetsch, a professor in the Department of English at the College of William and Mary. Included in the collection are publications, a drawing, and a poster related to author H.L. Mencken; correspondence concerning potential visiting lecturers to events in the Department of Engllish; and letters written to Carl R. Dolmetsch by persons who had contributed material to Smart Set magazine as well as letters received by Dolmetsch as chairmanship of the Committee on Arts and Lectures at the College of William and Mary. Prominent correspondents include Faith Baldwin, Jacques Barzun, S. N. Behrman, Rudolf Bing, Kenneth Burke, James Branch Cabell, Padraic Colum, Babette Deutsch, William Golding, H. L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, C. P. Snow, Louis Untermeyer, Mark Van Doren, Colin Wilson and Edmund Wilson.

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.

Typed carbon transcript from a draft of John Bartram's journal of a trip to Maryland and Virginia in 1738. Note on transcript "most important, never published in full, EGS." EGS is Earl Gregg Swem. Another note states, "the journey of 1738, which is outlined in [William] Darlington, letter to [Peter] Collinson, December 1738. See 'Brothers of the Spade' [by E.G. Swem]." Includes notes and correspondence on John Bartram by Earl Gregg Swem in 1926.

One letter from John Brown of Philadelphia to his brother, James Brown. The letter concerns life in the military. Brown describes the conduct of Benjamin Logan, Colonel of the Kentucky County, Virginia militia, the sale of Brown's property on Potts Creek in Virginia, and the possible resignation of General Arthur St. Clair from the army.

Letter from John Hoskins Stone, the Governor of Maryland, Annapolis, Maryland to Robert Brooke, Governor of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia to transmit a copy of resolution passed by the Maryland General Assembly relative to the boundary line between the two states.

The Maury family papers contains materials documenting the lives of the Maury Family of Virginia, New York City and Liverpool, England from 1777-1977. The collection includes the letters and business papers of James Maury (1746-1840), the first American consul to Liverpool, England, and the letters of his second wife, Margaret Rutson Maury (1805-1882), of Liverpool. Letters, business papers, legal papers, and diaries of the next two generations of the Maury family, including Ann Maury (1832-1890) of Liverpool and New York, Rutson Maury (1805-1882) of Liverpool and New York, and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) are also included. The collection also contains genealogical material, photographs and cookbooks. Subjects covered include tobacco and cotton trade, general discussions about the Civil War from both the American and British perspective, travel, and gender studies.

Original 1782 map (Mss. Acc. 2013.184): The Plan de la ville et environs de Williamsburg en Virginie, America (a 11 mai 1782, levé au pas), also known as the Frenchman's Map is a map of Williamsburg dated May 11, 1782.It was drafted by an unknown Frenchman probably stationed with Rochambeau's army. Its detail suggests perhaps a billeting map for the French army following the battle of Yorktown. It has been called the "Bible of the Restoration of Williamsburg" because of the detail of the original buildings shown. It has also been used to illustrate town planning in eighteenth century America. Relief shown by hachures.

Artificial collection of papers relating to various cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia.