Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Holmes Family Papers, Accession #14748, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These papers were given to the University of Virginia Library Special Collections by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph J. Stoudt, Charlottesville, Virginia on July 15, 2009.

Scope and Content

The collection is a mixture of original material and handwritten or typed transcripts of earlier documents with explanatory notes.

The letters of Annamaria Pemberton Holmes chiefly convey family and social news, 1835-1837.

The journals of Charlotte Isabaella Holmes describe an extended stay in Le Havre and Dunkirk, France, 1849-1851, and family life in England, 1880. Her letters, 1853-1883, describe life in England.

The farm diary, 1861, of Edward Anderson Holmes, has a few scattered mentions of national events. His correspondence includes descriptions of surveying on Minnesota roads in the 1850s, land deals in Wisconsin, his Civil War service including essays and chronology about his capture in the third battle for Winchester, Va., with the 21st Virginia Cavalry, and imprisonment at Johnson's Island, Ohio. The collection also contains copies of poems, some original poems, lists of books read, personal and regimental accounts of provisions including fodder for horses and rations for prisoners, and lists of correspondents.

The collection also contains poems of Joseph Henry Hendon Holmes, 1816, and a note giving a horse to his daughter, 1819.

Letters of Maryanne Pemberton Holmes to Edward Anderson Holmes, 1852-1853, convey family and social news, and comment on life in the United States where sons Edward and George were living. The collection also includes miscellaneous writing by her including notes on property, an evening prayer, codicils to her will listing bequests, and brief diary entries on son Edward's schooling, 1838-1845. Of interest are her notes on Demerara [now Guyana], where her husband served as Judge Advocate General, including references to Doll Thomas, references to slaves both in general and in their employ, prices from account books, a translation of a South American Indian song, and lists of native plant and animal species, with two small sketches of a flamingo and a trumpeter bird. Also notes on her estate by R. T. Wilkinson, 1883-1884.

Letters to Sallie Campbell Starritt (Mrs. Edward Anderson) Holmes contain news of family and friends including a very brief reference to the breaking of the bank in Charlottesville, 1876, and a letter from her son Edward Buchanan Holmes, a student at the University of Virginia in 1890.

Papers of John and Mary Laurence include copies of their wills, 1731 and 1736

Papers of Elizabeth Pemberton, sister of Maryanne Pemberton Holmes, include letters describing a tour of the Lake district, 1819, and instructions regarding her property, together with her will, 1851.

Also of interest are prayers, poems and sermons of Dr. Stephen Pemberton and a series of letters to family discussing finances and theology.

Arrangement

The original organization of documents by family name has been retained.