Collections : [Virginia Historical Society]

The Edwin Fisher Conger papers focus primarily on several of Conger's business operations, specifically the production of treated telephone and electrical poles. Two of Conger's chief operations, Norfolk Creosoting Company and the Piedmont Wood Preserving Company (later simply the Piedmont Company) figure most heavily in the collection, along with information regarding Conger's first endeavor in this field, E.F. Conger Creosoting Company, his extensive timber holdings near Aiken, South Carolina, and his financial, social, and philanthropic dealings as a wealthy businessman living in Virginia.

Chiefly papers, 1826-1884, of Charles James Faulkner (1806-1884), consisting of correspondence concerning his legal and political career; records of his law practice, including materials concerning the disagreement between Virginia and West Virginia over the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, and materials concerning the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company; political files relating to his activities in the Whig and Democratic parties and including campaign materials for Virginia elections and for the presidential election of 1856, papers relating to his U.S. ambassadorship to France, 1859-1861, and materials concerning the West Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872; and miscellaneous items relating to the Martinsburg & Potomac Railroad Company and the Berkeley County Agricultural & Mechanical Association. Also includes papers, 1866-1915, of Charles James Faulkner, Jr. (1847-1920), consisting of correspondence, financial records, and legal documents concerning his law practice and his service in the U.S. Senate, 1887-1899; papers, 1793-1816, of Martinsburg, Va. (now W. Va.), merchant James Faulkner (1776-1817), including records of his service in the Virginia militia during the War of 1812; papers of lawyer Elisha Boyd, including correspondence with Richmond, Va., lawyer John Wickham; and records of Boyd's father-in-law, merchant Andrew Waggener of Berkeley County, Va. (now W. Va.).

FitzGerald Bemiss's papers cover his career in the Virginia General Assembly, his work on various government commissions, and other related political activities and interests. Commissions on which he served include the Commission on Public Education (a.k.a. the Gray Commission), the Virginia Outdoor Recreation Study Commission, the irginia Metropolitan Areas Study Commission, and the overnor's Commission on Virginia's Future. His areas of particular interest included educational and environmental issues.

Papers of Joseph Gwathmey (1754-1824), planter, major in the Virginia militia, and deacon of Beulah Baptist Church, consist chiefly of records for his estate. Papers of William Gwathmey (1794-1875), planter and physician, trustee for Beulah Baptist Church, include diaries, 1833- 1874 (20 v.), primarily concerning weather conditions, farming operations, the health of slaves, physician's visits, and church activities (Civil War diaries provide his views on the war and document local events); correspondence, 1819-1875, with family members, many concerning church activities; accounts books, 1825-1875 (3 v.), for farming operations and physician's services (containing also records of family and slave births); loose accounts, 1833-1875; deeds and bonds, 1818-1873; and Beulah Church records, 1829-1872. Papers of Joseph Hardin Gwathmey (1846-1918), planter, insurance agent, and superintendent of King William County schools, include diaries, 1872 and 1910; correspondence, 1885-1918, chiefly with family members; and account books, 1887-1917 (2 v.), concerning farm operations. Papers of John Ryland Gwathmey (1888-1982), planter, include correspondence, 1918- 1982, chiefly with family; account books, 1951-1980, concerning farming operations; accounts, 1919-1982; checks and bank statements; and materials concerning the creation of the Burlington-Gwathmey Memorial Foundation. Papers of Anna Garnett Gwathmey (1879-1979), insurance agent, include correspondence, 1913-1975, with family; account books, accounts, and bank records, 1916-1979; and business records, 1921-1970, documenting her career in New York City and King William County, and include account books and client files. Papers of Mary Burnley Gwathmey (1883-1974), teacher and artist, include correspondence, 1910-1973; accounts, 1930-1974; school notes, artwork, and materials documenting her work with the Virginia 350th Anniversary Commission.

Abstract: This collection concerns a family locally prominent in social, political, governmental and religious affairs in Culpeper and Madison counties, Va. Physicians, educators, planters, ministers and members of various Baptist congregations, a number of the leading persons in these papers figured in significant events locally and across the state over two centuries. Includes correspondence and other materials representing Ambrose Powell Hill's service as justice of the peace, sheriff, and legislator from Culpeper County, Va., his records of the building of the Germanna Bridge over the Rapidan River, and his presidency of the Thornton's Gap Turnpike Company, as well as estate papers; materials of John Booton (1786-1845) of "Chestnut Grove," Madison County, Va., planter, deputy sheriff, and politician, whose two runs for the Virginia House of Delegates resulted in contested elections; materials of William Alexander Hill (1817-1890) as a physician and Baptist minister, of "Glendalough," Madison County, Va., including letters written during his service in the Confederate Army and records of his pastorates of Liberty Church, Greene County, Va., and Antioch Church, Culpeper County, Va., an African American congregation. Also, include materials of John Booton Hill (1841-1913), including letters written during his service in the Confederate Army and reminiscences of his war-time experiences; materials relating to Hugh Hodge Hill (1858?-1937), concerning his service as resident physician at Mountain Lake Hotel, Giles County, Va., and his attendance at Locust Dale Academy, Locust Dale, Va.; and Francis Irvin Hill (1860-1946), including a diary of farm and local events, 1899, kept at "Millwood," Madison County, Va.

Correspondence, 1925-1983; speeches, 1927-1979; financial and legal papers, 1948-1978; scrapbooks, 1934-1963; newspaper clippings, 1931-1987; miscellaneous volumes; certificates and awards. Correspondence is non-official, but touches on Almond's term as Governor of Virginia and on his appointment to the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Scrapbooks and clippings document his campaigns and terms as attorney general and governor of Virginia, and contain a great deal of information on Virginia's resistance to school desegregation. Also included in the collection are correspondence, speeches, and miscellaneous papers of Almond's wife, Josephine Katherine (Minter) Almond (1901-1992), some of which concerns her service as First Lady of Virginia.

Chiefly correspondence and other materials of Robert Taylor Scott (1834-1897) and his wife Fanny Scott (Carter) Scott (1838-1923). R. T. Scott was a lawyer in Warrenton and Prince William and Fairfax counties, a member of the constitutional convention of 1867 and the Virginia General Assembly of 1881-1882, and served as attorney-general of Virginia from 1889 to 1897. At the beginning of the Civil War he organized a company of infantry and served as captain of Company K, Eighth Virginia Regiment, C.S.A., until he was appointed to the staff of General George Edward Pickett. His materials include extensive correspondence, chiefly with his wife, both before and during the Civil War, discussing family and personal matters, legal education, admittance to the bar and practice of law, and the impending conflict. War-time correspondence describes the secession convention of 1861, general camp life, duties as quartermaster, and Union activities in Fauquier County and near Leesburg, Va. Also included are legal records and some records for Company K, Eighth Virginia Regiment. Records of Fanny Scott (Carter) Scott include general correspondence, accounts, land records, miscellany, and materials from her term as president of the Black Horse Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, at Warrenton, Va.

Correspondence, accounts, land records, Society of Friends (Hopewell Meeting) records, miscellany and estate materials of David Lupton (1757-1822) of Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick County, Va. Also include correspondence, accounts,mercantile records and estate materials of Nathan Lupton (of Winchester, Va.). Also, include correspondence, accounts, bonds, Civil War materials and miscellany of Jonah H. Lupton (of Frederick County, Va.). Also, include letters, account books, accounts, bonds, agricultural records, saw mill records, patent materials and miscellany of Joel Lupton (of Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick County, Va.). Also, include letters, accounts, student notebook, literary club records, fam materials of David P. Lupton (of Springdale," Frederick County, Va.). Also, include materials of Mary Walker (Lupton) Irish, David Lupton (1786- 1814), Edward Walker Lupton, Hugh Sidwell Lupton, Isaac Lupton, Joseph Lupton (1718-1791), Joseph Lupton (1781-1825), and Lewis Lupton.

Includes correspondence, account books and loose accounts, commonplace books, and miscellaneous materials documenting the close relationship between members of the Cabell and the related Micklem and Eubank families, especially among the women. Prominently represented are Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell of "Inglewood," Nelson County, Va., who maintained a large household made up of her immediate family, her husband's sister, children who attended the school run by her son and daughter, and summer boarders; and her daughters, Mary Caroline Cabell, a teacher who ran the school at Inglewood; Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who married John Edwin Roller of Harrisonburg, Va., and had an active domestic and social life; and Margaret Etta (Cabell) Matthews, who married an Anglican missionary and lived with him for several years in Liberia; and Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore, of Richmond, Va., and Glens Falls, N.Y., daughter of Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who maintained an extensive social correspondence with friends, many of whom lived in or frequently travelled to foreign countries. In general the correspondence concerns domestic activities, including courtship and marriage, the births of children, illnesses and deaths, problems with servants, and the procurement of clothing and other household articles; the running of the Inglewood school and the work of other family members, split between teaching and the law; and social activities in Nelson County, Harrisonburg, and Richmond, Va., among the Cabell and Roller families and a wide network of friends and relations. Also included are the papers of John Edwin Roller, a Harrisonburg, Va., lawyer and active member of the Republican Party, largely concerning his plans to run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 1872 and his relationships with his wife, her daughters, and his daughters from his first marriage.