A Guide to the Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952
Accession Number 40242, 40397
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia

Contact Information:
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.lib.va.us (Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.lib.va.us/

Processed by: Jim Greve
Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

© 2002 By the Library of Virginia.

Conditions of Use

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952. Accessions 40242 and 40397, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Mr. Joe Woolard, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 26 November 2002.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Library of Virginia
Accession number: 40242, 40397
Title: Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1952
Physical Location: Personal Papers Collection, Accessions 40242 and 40397
Physical Characteristics: 3.525 cubic feet
Language: English
Creator: Blow-Cook Family

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1811-1952, of the Blow and Cook familis of Sussex County, Portsmouth, and Norfolk, Virginia, including the allied families of Allmand and Freeman. The collection contains correspondence, subject files, ledgers, and photographs relating to the descendants of Judge George Blow (1813-1894) and his brother William Nevison Blow (1822-1901), as well as Emma Blow Freeman (b. 1876) and her husband Allen M. Cook (1870- 1941).

Biographical Information

The Blow family were prominent residents of Sussex County and Portsmouth, Virginia. George Blow (1787-1870) and his wife Elizabeth Waller (1791-1841) were married in Williamsburg on 12 December 1807. They had thirteen children. Among them were George Blow (1813-1894) and William Nevison Blow (1822-1901). George Blow was an attorney, and later judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court. He married Elizabeth Taylor Allmand (1823-1868) in Norfolk on 27 August 1846. They had twelve children, including Emma Blacknall Blow (1847-1914). She married Arthur Clarico Freeman (1845-1908) in Norfolk on 5 March 1873. They had four children, including Emma Blow Freeman (b. 1876). She married Allen M. Cook (1870-1941).

William Nevison Blow (1822-1901) married Lavinia Cargill (1821-1868) in Norfolk on 4 March 1847. They had ten children, including a son also named William Nevison Blow (1855-1907). He married Mary Elizabeth Thomas (1863-1943) of Maine on 27 October 1882 in Denver, Colorado. They later resided at "Tower Hill," the family plantation in Sussex County, Virginia. They had one son, William Thomas Blow (1883-1943), who inherited the property after his father's death.

Organization

Organized into the following series: Series I. Correspondence
Series II. Subject Files
Series III. Ledgers
Series IV. Photographs

Contents List

• Series I.: Correspondence
  The correspondence covers the years 1811 to 1939, but the bulk of it dates from 1900 to 1915. The earlier correspondence is sparse, but it includes a number of interesting letters. There is an 1819 letter to Richard Blow (d. 1833) regarding financial matters and the purchasing of stock in the Bank of the United States. Among the other early letters are those from Eliza (Waller) Blow (1791-1841) to her son George while he was away at school. They concern the health of the family, weather, and she also gives her son advice on the importance of a good education. There are also letters in the 1850's to Honoria Allmand (b. 1829) from her brothers John O'Grady Allmand (1831-1909) in Baltimore, and William H. Allmand (1820-1864) while he was serving in the Navy and stationed in England. Detailed descriptions of England and Ireland are given, including the religious observations of the citizens, and he also describes the various tourist attractions he visits. There is an 1878 letter from George Blow to his son George Preston Blow (1860-1922) while the latter was attending the United States Naval Academy. William Nevison Blow describes his poor financial situation and the possibility of losing his plantation "Tower Hill" in an 1887 letter to his son William N. Blow (1855-1907).
  The majority of the letters after 1895 are written by Allen M. Cook (1870-1941) to his wife Emma Blow (Freeman) Cook (b. 1876). Subject include their courtship and marriage and family matters. Much of it also relates to his naval service in South America and South Africa, his duty during the Spanish-American War, in the Philippines and China during the Boxer Rebellion, as well as in this country.
  Finally, there is a large amount of correspondence from William T. Blow (1883-1943) during the period 1914 to 1915. Much of it is to his mother Mary "Molly" Elizabeth (Thomas) Blow (1863-1943), as well as to officials at the American Farmers School in Minneapolis concerning correspondence courses in which he was enrolled.
• 1811, 1819 Box: 1 Folder: 1
  
• 1826,1838 Box: 1 Folder: 2
  
• 1840 Box: 1 Folder: 3
  
• 1851-1855 Box: 1 Folder: 4
  
• 1865-1868 Box: 1 Folder: 5
  
• 1877-1878 Box: 1 Folder: 6
  
• 1883-1889 Box: 1 Folder: 7
  
• 1891 Box: 1 Folder: 8
  
• 1892 Box: 1 Folder: 9
  
• 1894 Box: 1 Folder: 10
  
• 1896 (January-June) Box: 1 Folder: 11
  
• 1896 (July-December) Box: 1 Folder: 12
  
• 1897 (January-February) Box: 1 Folder: 13
  
• 1897 (March-December) Box: 1 Folder: 14
  
• 1898-1899 Box: 1 Folder: 15
  
• 1901 Box: 1 Folder: 16
  
• 1904 Box: 1 Folder: 17
  
• 1905 (January-February) Box: 1 Folder: 18
  
• 1905 (March, December) Box: 1 Folder: 19
  
• 1906 Box: 1 Folder: 20
  
• 1907 Box: 1 Folder: 21
  
• 1908 (January-September) Box: 2 Folder: 1
  
• 1908 (October) Box: 2 Folder: 2
  
• 1908 (November) Box: 2 Folder: 3
  
• 1908 (December) Box: 2 Folder: 4
  
• 1909 (January 1-18) Box: 2 Folder: 5
  
• 1909 (January 19-31) Box: 2 Folder: 6
  
• 1909 (February 1-21) Box: 2 Folder: 7
  
• 1909 (February 22-28) Box: 2 Folder: 8
  
• 1909 (March) Box: 2 Folder: 9
  
• 1909 (April) Box: 2 Folder: 10
  
• 1909 (May-July) Box: 2 Folder: 11
  
• 1909 (August) Box: 2 Folder: 12
  
• 1909 (October, December) Box: 2 Folder: 13
  
• 1910 Box: 2 Folder: 14
  
• 1911 Box: 3 Folder: 1
  
• 1912 Box: 3 Folder: 2
  
• 1913 (February-July) Box: 3 Folder: 3
  
• 1913 (August-December) Box: 3 Folder: 4
  
• 1914 Box: 3 Folder: 5
  
• 1915-1917 Box: 3 Folder: 6
  
• 1922-1923 Box: 3 Folder: 7
  
• 1930-1939 Box: 3 Folder: 8
  
• 1940-1952 Box: 3 Folder: 9
  
• n.d. Box: 3 Folder: 10-11
  
• Series II.: Subject Files The subject files contain a variety of materials, including accounts and receipts, agreements, cancelled checks, an 1861 crop book, deeds, estate papers, genealogical notes on the Blow, Cook, and other families, an 1842 report card from West Point, resolutions of respect for Allen M. Cook, tax receipts, a transcription of Waller family Bible records, and other items.
• Accounts and Receipts Box: 4 Folder: 1
  
• Agreements Box: 4 Folder: 2
  
• Appointment, 1874 Box: 4 Folder: 3
  
• Autograph Book Box: 4 Folder: 4
  
• Cancelled Checks, 1900-1902 Box: 4 Folder: 5
  
• Cancelled Checks, 1913-1919 Box: 4 Folder: 6
  
• Cemetery Plot Diagram Box: 4 Folder: 7
  
• Clippings Box: 4 Folder: 8
  
• Crop Book, 1861 Box: 4 Folder: 9
  
• Daughters of the American Revolution Box: 4 Folder: 10
  
• Deeds Box: 4 Folder: 11
  
• Edgewater Garden Club Box: 4 Folder: 12
  
• Envelopes Box: 4 Folder: 13
  
• Estate of Harrison Allmand Box: 4 Folder: 14
  
• Estate of Mary Louisa Allmand Box: 4 Folder: 15
  
• Estate of William D. Blow Box: 4 Folder: 16
  
• Estate of Henry C. Cook Box: 4 Folder: 17
  
• Estate Papers - Misc. Box: 4 Folder: 18
  
• Genealogical Notes - Blow Box: 4 Folder: 19
  
• Genealogical Notes - Cook Box: 4 Folder: 20
  
• Genealogical Notes - Misc. Box: 4 Folder: 21
  
• Genealogy of the Furnas Family by Tanzy R. Furnace (1897) Box: 4 Folder: 22
  
• Guide Books Box: 4 Folder: 23
  
• Journal of Allen Blow Cook Box: 5 Folder: 1
  
• Memorandum Book Box: 5 Folder: 2
  
• Miscellaneous Box: 5 Folder: 3-4
  
• Poetry Box: 5 Folder: 5
  
• Postcards Box: 5 Folder: 6
  
• Programs Box: 5 Folder: 7
  
• Promissory Notes, 1874, 1902 Box: 5 Folder: 8
  
• Publications Box: 5 Folder: 9
  
• Report Card - West Point, 1842 Box: 5 Folder: 10
  
• Resolutions of Respect - Allen M. Cook, 1941 Box: 5 Folder: 11
  
• Resume - Cook, Clarice A. Box: 5 Folder: 12
  
• Suit Papers - Atkinson vs. Freeman Box: 5 Folder: 13
  
• Suit Papers - Freeman vs. Barraud Box: 5 Folder: 14
  
• Surveys Box: 5 Folder: 15
  
• Tax Receipts, Box: 5 Folder: 16
  
• Waller Family Bible Records, 1716-1786 Box: 5 Folder: 17
  
• Wedding Invitation (Cook/Gardner) Box: 5 Folder: 18
  
• Will of Allen M. Cook, 1931 Box: 5 Folder: 19
  
• Series III.: Ledgers There are three volumes of ledgers belonging to William Nevison Blow (1855-1907) relating to the operation of "Tower Hill" plantation. They include farm and household accounts and expenses, as well as valuations of lands owned in Sussex and Southampton Counties, logs of persons employed, and amounts of various crops picked.
• 1873-1884 Box: 6
  
• 1894-1898 Box: 6
  
• 1894-1899 Box: 6
  
• Series IV: Photographs There is one box of loose photographs and two boxes containing photograph albums. Many of the photographs are unidentified. The albums are in need of preservation.
• Loose Photographs Box: 7
  
• Photograph Albums Box: 8-9