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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Gordon W. Miller Collection on Gabriel Thomas Barbee, 1787-2005, SC 0193, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Donated by Gordon W. Miller in January 2005.
In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in 2017-2018.
Gabriel Thomas Barbee was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in 1814. In 1834 he moved to Petersburg in Hardy County (then Virginia, now West Virginia), where he worked as a merchant and a dealer in land. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1847-1851. After a short and apparently unsuccessful stint in wholesale trade in Baltimore in the 1850s, Barbee returned to Hardy County and resumed his business interests there, including a small amount of farming. In the 1860s Barbee moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, but also purchased land in Bridgewater, VA and moved there in the 1870s, where he and his family ran a hotel called the Barbee House. In 1878 he was elected major of Bridgewater and from 1880-1883 served as editor of
These materials were gathered by Gordon W. Miller, history reference librarian at JMU's Carrier Library from 1977-2003, during more than a decade of research on the life of Gabriel Thomas Barbee and in particular Barbee's role as primary organizer of the Virginia Farmers' Alliance, 1887-1894. Except for Mr. Miller's original publication on Barbee, all materials are photocopies, and represent an in-depth research effort to compile information from all possible sources.
The collection is arranged in three series:
A copy of Miller's
Series 1, Biographical and Genealogical Data on G.T.Barbee, contains documentation used to inform Gordon W. Miller's book titled
Series 2, Farmer's Alliance, includes the Constitution of the Farmer's State Alliance of Virginia, 1889 and 1891. Prospectus of the Alliance of the Fertilizer Works of West Point, Virginia, 1891; Farmers Alliance Co-operative Mfg. Co., Iron Gate, Virginia, 1890; Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Session of the State Farmer's Alliance, 1890; related articles from the Virginia Sun, 1893; several letters by Secretary-Treasurer, J.J. Silvey, 1892-1894, and one by Barbee, 1891; roll of delegates, 1891; excerpts from books and journals on the Farmers' Alliance, including "National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union Ritual," 1890; issues if the Official Organ of the Farmer's Alliance (1889-May, 1890).
Series 3, Research trail, includes letters by Mr. Miller to institutions and individuals concerning his search for traces of Barbee, with some responses and notes on research sources, 1990-1993.