A Guide to the Robert Wiley Collection, 1843-1956 Robert Wiley Collection MSS 06-21

A Guide to the Robert Wiley Collection, 1843-1956

A Collection in The Fairfax County Public Library

Record Group Number MSS 06-21


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Fairfax County Public Library
City of Fairfax Regional Library
Virginia Room
10360 North Street
Fairfax, VA 22030-2514 USA
Virginia Room: 703-293-6227 x6
Fax: 703-293-2155
Email: va_room@fairfaxcounty.gov
URL: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/virginia-room

© 2017 Fairfax County Public Library. All rights reserved.

Repository
Fairfax County Public Library
Record Group Number
MSS 06-21
Title
The Robert Wiley Collection, 1843-1956
Extent
0.5 linear feet
Creator
Wiley, Robert (1840-1932)
Language
English
Abstract
The Robert Wiley Collection consists of correspondence, ephemera, newspaper clippings, a book and book fragments, and a photocopy of the roll and minutes of the Marr Camp United Confederate Veterans of Fairfax.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None

Use Restrictions

Consult repository for information

Preferred Citation

Robert Wiley Collection, MSS 06-21, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

Acquisition Information

Gift of Robert Wiley’s granddaughter Mary Lee Bryant, October 1994

Processing Information

Chris Barbuschak, December 2017
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2017

Historical and Biographical Information

Robert Wiley was born on August 16, 1840, to Joseph and Catherine Wiley in the Mount Vernon District of Fairfax County. He began service with the Confederate army in September 1861 serving as a scout. On March 8, 1862, Wiley enlisted in Company K of the Nineteenth Georgia Infantry at Occoquan in Prince William County. He took part in the battles of Williamsburg, West Point, Seven Pines, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Ox Hill, Harper's Ferry, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Olustee, Drewry's Bluff, and the Seven Days' battles. He was severely wounded multiple times and was briefly captured as a prisoner of war following the Battle of Fredericksburg. He surrendered in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 30, 1865, and returned home on May 20, 1865.

After the war, he served as Justice of the Peace for the Mount Vernon District. He was elected Commissioner of the Revenue for Fairfax County from 1871-1891 and then served as County Treasurer for 24 years. He was the Commander of the John Q. Marr Camp, United Confederate Veterans at Fairfax; vice president of the Lorton Valley Democratic Club; and a trustee of the Fairfax Cemetery Association.

Wiley married Mary Elizabeth Lee, of Fairfax, on June 26, 1867. The couple had seven children. The Wiley family lived in Lorton, Virginia where the present day Wiley Drive is located. He and his family later moved to the Town of Fairfax and lived in the Roberts/Chichester House at 3701 Chain Bridge Road from 1902 until his wife’s death in 1923. Wiley died at his daughter’s house in Fairfax following a long illness on February 13, 1932. He is buried in the Confederate section of the Fairfax Cemetery.

Scope and Content

The Robert Wiley Collection consists of correspondence, ephemera, newspaper clippings, a book and book fragments, and a photocopy of the roll and minutes of the Marr Camp United Confederate Veterans of Fairfax. Correspondence to fellow Confederate veterans include James Madison Arnold of Barstow County, GA.; J. Ryland Epps of Richmond, VA.; William Selwyn Ball of McLean, VA.; Abraham V. Sager of Vienna, VA.; James M. Love of Fairfax, VA.; Leonidas Rosser Houchens of Fairfax, VA.; Isaac A. Roe of Calhoun, GA.; and John Coxe of Groveland, CA. Also included are correspondence with John B. Webster of Lorton, VA (postmaster of Springman, VA. and later Lorton, VA.); Maude A. Harnsberger, wife of Rev. Alfred L. Harnsberger; and state senator R. Walton Moore. Of particular note is an original postcard of the Willcoxon Hotel in Fairfax, VA.; a page from a family Bible that notes the marriage date of Daniel McCarty Fitzhugh and Sinah Ellen Chichester Lee; and an 1843 letter from John Cadle of Marion County, MO to his brother-in-law Edward L. Bates of Lorton, VA.

Related Material

Fairfax County Office of County Treasurer 1893-1894 Tax Account Book, MSS 09-22

Separated Material

Original Marr Camp U.C.V. record book and other collectibles owned by Robert Wiley donated to the Fairfax City Museum


Index Terms


Adjunct Descriptive Data

Container List

Box 1 Folder 1
Roll and Records, Marr Camp, United Confederate Veterans, 1908-1929 [Photocopy], 1908-1929
Box 1 Folder 2
Lyrics sheet, “The Battle of Manassas” Miss Mary E. Lee’s song written by Mr. Athey, Undated
Box 1 Folder 3
Poem, “Farewell to Johnsons Island” Copy by W.P. Moncure, , Undated
Box 1 Folder 4
Newspaper clippings regarding Marr Camp U.C. V. and a fragment of a wedding dress, 1928-1956, Undated
Box 1 Folder 5
Letter, J.M. Arnold to Robert Wiley, 1902 October 15
Box 1 Folder 6
Letter, J.M. Arnold to Robert Wiley, 1906 January 9
Box 1 Folder 7
Letter, J.M. Arnold to Robert Wiley, 1909 December 31
Box 1 Folder 8
Letter, J. Ryland Epps to Robert Wiley, 1911 June 8
Box 1 Folder 9
Letter, Corinne M. to Robert Wiley [letter mentions Titanic sinking] , 1912 December 31
Box 1 Folder 10
Letter, John Coxe to Robert Wiley [mentions skirmish at Colchester], 1915 May 14
Box 1 Folder 11
Letter, Corinne M. to Mr. & Mrs. Robert Wiley, 1918 December 21
Box 1 Folder 12
Letter, J.B. Webster to Robert Wiley, 1919 January 12
Box 1 Folder 13
Letter, R. Walton Moore to Robert Wiley [includes forwarded letter from William Beverley of Broad Run, Va.], 1922 August 1
Box 1 Folder 14
Letter, J.M. Love to Robert Wiley, 1926 April 9
Box 1 Folder 15
Letter, William S. Ball to Robert Wiley, 1927 August 27
Box 1 Folder 16
Letter, I.A. Rowe, Capt. Company K of 19th Georgia Infantry to Editor of the Fairfax Herald, c. 1927
Box 1 Folder 17
Letter, L.R. Houchens to Robert Wiley, 1928 June 15
Box 1 Folder 18
Postcard of Shenandoah Valley, Mrs. A.L. Harnsberger to Robert Wiley, 1928 August 20
Box 1 Folder 19
Letter, A.V. Sager to Robert Wiley, 1929 April 25
Box 1 Folder 20
Postcard of Willcoxon Fairfax Hotel, Fannie to Mrs. Robert Wiley, 1929 June 8
Box 1 Folder 21
Bible Page, Marriage of Daniel M. Fitzhugh to Ellen Lee (June 30, 1830), Undated
Box 1 Folder 22
Letter, John Cadle to E.L. Bates, Occoquan, Va. , 1843 November 23
Box 1 Folder 23
Invitation, Daniel McC. Lee to Columbian Literary Society Anniversary Celebration, 1857 March 28
Box 1 Folder 24
Deed, Robert and Mary Wiley to John W. Cranford, 1879 November 15
Box 1 Folder 25
Letter transcript, George Washington to Peter Wagoner (11/20/1781) copied by E.R. Holbrook, 1902 February 12
Box 1 Folder 26
Book fragment, “Wearing of the Gray” by John Eston Cooke pp. 585-598,, c. 1867
Box 1 Folder 27
Book, “Historical Collections of Virginia” by Henry Howe (Babcock & Co.) [missing pp. 1-96], 1845