Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Ambler and Barbour Family Papers, Accession #1921, -a, -b, 1964, 1997, 1998, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was loaned to the library in 1944 by Mr. Beverly Gish.

Scope and Content Information

This collection of Ambler and Barbour family materials includes accession numbers 1921, -a, -b, 1964, 1997, and 1998. There are two other collections of related material (#38-77 and #1140) which will be of interest to anyone researching the Ambler family. The first member of the Ambler family to arrive in Virginia was Richard Ambler from York, England in 1716. He married Elizabeth Jacquelin (daughter of Edward and Martha Cary Jacquelin) in 1729. Richard's son Edward gained title to the family house in Jamestown and married Mary Cary. Edward died in 1768, and Mary Cary Ambler moved her family and possessions to Hanover County. Colonel John Ambler (1762-1836) was the son of Edward and Mary Cary Ambler. He married three times, and his third wife was Catherine Bush Norton. They had eight children, the first of whom was John Jacquelin Ambler (1801-1854). John Jacquelin Ambler married Elizabeth Barbour, and they had three children, the eldest of whom was John Jacquelin Ambler, Jr. (1828--1901).

The Ambler family material in the collection is comprised chiefly of the personal and business papers of John, John Jacquelin, and John Jacquelin Ambler, Jr. They owned the estates of Glenambler and Jacquelin Hall in Amherst and Orange Counties. Early correspondence includes letters to Edward, Richard, and Mary Ambler. A 1748 April 28 letter from Martha Jacquelin to Edward Ambler mentions moving to Jamestown because of smallpox. Business letters to Edward Ambler include those from Thomas Ludwell Lee, John Shaw, Robert C. Nicholas, William Dabney, George Shaw, and Samuel Athawes.

A few letters from Richard Ambler (1748-1752) to his sons Edward and John (1734-1766) provide fatherly advice on the proper education for them and on making the most of their time at Wakefield Academy in England. Letters during the 1820's to Colonel John Ambler pertain mostly to agriculture. Dabney T. Phillips writes to Colonel Ambler (1824 December 5) with advice on whipping slaves for their discipline and clearing land for tobacco crops.

Letters to John Jacquelin Ambler include a few from his parents while he was in England for his education in the early 1820's. Catherine Ambler wrote from Richmond to her son (1823 Oct 27) mentioning Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Gilmer. An 1825 February 5 letter from James Ambrose mentions the presidential election; Ambrose predicts Jackson will win. In an 1842 January 26 letter, Richard Cary Ambler announces the death of their brother Norbonne and his lack of a will. Another letter from John Jacquelin, Jr. to his father tells of his attendance at a temperance lecture and joining a "tetotal" society (1842 February 7).

Political matters are discussed in an 1842 Feb 24 letter from B.M. Yancey (secretary of the Tippecanoe Club) in which he mentions the purchase of a flag for the Richmond [Whig] Convention one year ago. There are also letters about extending the Louisa Railroad beyond Gordonsville (3 June 1847 and 12 September 1847). Agricultural discussions abound in these letters, and in an 1854 August 23 letter from John Jacquelin, Jr. to his father, he asks whether he should sell their wheat at the current market price ($1.55 per bushel) or store part of it.

Letters to John Jacquelin Ambler, Jr. include several letters with parental advice while he was attending the University of Virginia. An 1848 March 20 letter mentions the loss of a servant girl to consumption. John Jacquelin congratulates his son on being at the University of Virginia rather than William & Mary (27 October 1848). The railroad question surfaces again in a letter dated 1852 December 11.

Barbour family material includes letters to E.P. Barbour, Frances F. Barbour, and Philip P. Barbour. Most of these are family letters, except for a number of letters to Philip P. Barbour regarding legal cases he was involved in as a lawyer and several on political matters. There is an 1830 [Sep ?] 28 letter signed by Martin Van Buren offering Philip Barbour the position of District Judge of Virginia. William R. Robinson writes to Barbour about the Virginia General Assembly election, his brother's candidacy, and party politics in an 1830 May 9 letter. An 1835 October 4 letter to Philip Barbour requests that he be the "umpire" in a contested election in Albemarle County. Thomas W. Gilmer wrote to Barbour about running for the Vice Presidency on the Jackson ticket on 4 November 1831. Also of interest is a notice dated 1832 November 14 sent to Philip Barbour about a runaway slave named Moses.

Miscellaneous correspondence includes a memorandum dated August 1821 ("Amherst Memorandum") regarding the hiring of an overseer. The writer gives very specific instructions about the most desirable candidate and how the estate should be run. Also included in this file is a 16 September [18]33 letter of advice from Philip P. Barbour to "My young friend". Other correspondents include James Maury (1823 Aug 18); Edmund Randolph to Robert Carter Nicholas concerning the Revolutionary War (1777 Jul 24); Governor James Barbour to John J. Ambler (1838 Jun 15 & Nov 26) About one-third of this folder is business correspondence, and about two-thirds is family correspondence.

Several letters, one from James Monroe to John Brockenbrough (1823 Jun 25, Monroe Papers) regarding John Ambler, Henry Clay to Philip N. Nicholas (1823 Feb 26, Clay Papers), Martin Van Buren to Philip P. Barbour (1830 [Sep?] 28, Autograph File) and another from Washington Irving (1823 Nov 5, Autograph File) have been copied and the originals placed in the vault.

Legal materials in this collection include the wills of:

Matthew Miller July 10, 1753
John Hopkins (copy) August 1765
David Rodes February 1794
Michael Carpenter (copy)(oversize) November 26, 1805
Thomas Payne March 15, 1809
William C. Wibby March 2, 1814
Philip P. Barbour December 20, 1840

All of these wills (foldered separately from the other legal material) mention slaves and arrange for their disposition to the various heirs. The folder of legal papers contains land grants for King William County, a law suit in Orange County, oaths of office for the judgeship of the district court of the United States, and a record of the sale of a mulatto boy to Philip Barbour (20 January 1841). There are also petitions to Philip Barbour from the freeholders of Madison and Louisa Counties. Also notable is a legal action against Benjamin Cottrill by Benjamin Moseley for the loss of a slave boy named Will. The slave died while trying to take Cottrill's horses across the Slate River in Tillotson Parish, Rockingham County.

The financial papers include a detailed two page doctor's bill from Dr. Samuel McAffee to Mr. Francis Hague, memoranda concerning crops and lists of property for Colonel Ambler's upper plantation, including slaves and their ages. Most of the financial papers are from the Barbour family, including accounts and tobacco sales. There is an undated list of "People upon the Lower Places in Amherst" which is broken down by sex for Westham, Lakeland, Mill Farm, and Cottage. There is also an undated list of "Negroes at Colonel Ambler's quarters in Amherst," divided into upper and lower quarters, listing their occupations. Single women and children are also included in this list.

The small bound volumes in this collection include a coverless notebook (1821) with notes for "Cottage", "Mill Farm", and "Lakeland". It lists clothing of slaves, livestock, tools, and tobacco crops. In the back of this volume there are pencil sketches of figures and partially obscured notes in pencil. An 1831 coverless volume contains the travel notes of John Jacquelin Ambler on a trip to Richmond and Baltimore. He describes in some detail an illness he is seeking treatment for, and the treatments he has tried. There is also present a pocket calendar (1848) with a few notes.

The hand-written addresses by Philip P. Barbour include one entitled "To the Congressional District composed of . . . Spotsylvania, Louisa, Orange, and Madison," and the other is "An Answer to Gilmer". The oversize material (see OS P-4 and temporary location Processing Hall Shelf 30) includes a broadside, the "Catalogue of the Law Library of the Late Judge Barbour" dated August 2, 1841. Also notable is a broadside notice for the sale of "15 Likely Servants" December 8, 1841 by Frances Todd Barbour. There is a document appointing Philip Barbour associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, signed by Andrew Jackson.

There are genealogical notes , probably by Beverly Gish at the end of the collection, and an incomplete genealogical chart for the Ambler family in the oversize material.