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Anson-Greene-Gravely Family Papers, 1832-1999. Accession 38550, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Gift of Nina Anson Gravely, 1 November 2001.
Frederick Anson was born on 28 March 1811. He was made Canon to Queen Victoria in 1846. The year before he married Caroline Maria Vernon. She was born on 1 January 1826 and was the daughter of George John Warren, Fifth Lord Vernon, of Sudbury Hall. She died on 20 August 1918. Rev. William Anson died on 9 September 1885. They had 14 children.
Their son Alfred William Anson was born at Windsor on 24 June 1852. He emigrated to America at the age of 21, and settled in Augusta County, Virginia. In 1876 he married Georgina Frances Greene. She was born in 1851 and was the daughter of Rev. William Greene and Frances Whittle. They had come to America from Antrim, Ireland in 1872 and settled on their farm "Willowbrook" in Snyder, Augusta County. Alfred W. Anson also owned a farm near there. In 1890, Anson decided to enter the priesthood. He was ordained at St. John's Church in Richmond. After serving in Lynnhaven Parish in Princess Anne County, the family moved to Martinsville. Alfred W. Anson and his wife had six children. She died on 4 November 1892. Alfred W. Anson then remarried in 1894 to Mrs. Elena Moore Greene, the widow of his first wife's brother Augustus Newport Greene (1854-1890). She had three children from her previous marriage, and had two more daughters by Alfred Anson.
The children of Alfred W. Anson and Georgina Frances Green were: 1) Caroline Frances. She was born 15 March 1877. She married William H. Gravely (1864-1934). They had two children - William H., Jr. (1903- 1990) and Georgina Anson (b. 1905). Caroline Frances Gravely died on 29 December 1963. 2) Mary Ellen. She was born on 19 June 1880. She was married on 22 April 1903 to Thomas Granville Burch (1869-1951), a former mayor of Martinsville, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and United States Senator. Mary Ellen Burch died on 7 January 1960. 3) Lucy Georgina. She was born on 24 June 1882. She never married, and died in March 1970. 4) Ethel Laura. She was born on 16 September 1884. She never married, and died in 1972. 5) Grace Evelyn. She was born in 1886. She married John Cary Jamison (1886-1959). 6) William Frederick Alfred. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1900 and was later a surveyor and engineer with the Virginia Department of Highways in Russell County. He married Vera Louise Seay on 14 October 1915. He died the following year on 19 July.
Papers, 1832-1999, of the Anson, Greene, and Gravely families of Augusta, Henry, and Norfolk Counties, Virginia, and Georgia, Maryland, England and Ireland. The bulk of the collection covers the period 1900 to 1940. Includes correspondence, subject files, photographs, albums, scrapbooks, and publications. This collection was originally three accessions, but all have been filed together in Accession 38550.
Organized into the following four series: I. Dated Correspondence; II. Undated Correspondence; III. Subject Files; IV. Photographs, Albums, Scrapbooks, and Publications; V. Ledgers.
Most of the pre-1880 letters relate to the Greene family of Antrim, Ireland, and later Augusta County, Virginia, specifically Rev. William Greene (1807-1885) and his wife Frances Whittle (1816-1897). Subjects include legal matters, church issues, including a letter of appreciation from his congregation, as well as letters from their children which include family news, information on their travels, their health, and other routine matters.
The Anson family letters appear around 1876 with a letter from Rev. Frederick Anson (1811-1885) to Rev. William Greene concerning the engagement of Alfred William Anson (1852-1923) to Georgina Frances Greene (1851-1892) and the couple's future financial situation. There is also a circular from Rev. Anson resigning his rectorship of Sudbury in 1877. After 1880, the Anson correspondence consists mainly of letters to and from Alfred W. Anson and his wife from their parents and other relatives, and other acquaintances in England and Ireland. The subject of the letters include family news, the family's farming activities in Augusta County, their health, as well as births, marriages, and deaths in the family and the area.
The Gravely family letters begin to appear in the collection around 1880. Many of them are between William H. Gravely (1864-1934) and his father George Dyer Gravely (d. 1904) and concern Virginia politics and legal matters.
The correspondence of the three families in the late 1800's focuses largely on the disposition of family property in Jamaica, England, and Ireland and the settlements of estates belonging to various family members. Also prominent in the letters are matters relating to the education of the Anson children, and Alfred W. Anson's decision to enter the priesthood. Their is a considerable amount of correspondence between his children and their grandmother Frances Whittle Greene and their aunt Jane Ellen Greene (1840-1931).
In 1894, the Anson family moved to Martinsville, Virginia. Afterwards, the children made numerous visits to their relatives in England, and received much of their schooling there. There is a substantial amount of correspondence from them while crossing the Atlantic, as well as during their stay in England, with detailed descriptions of their encounters and family news.
There is a large amount of information concerning World War I, and the opinions of the European citizenry, news of blackouts, and descriptions of territory taken by the German army as the war progressed. The letters between the World Wars deal mainly with family news, much of it concerning the deaths of various members. Also included is information on the education of William H. Gravely, Jr. (1903-1990) and his subsequent teaching career at Norfolk Academy, graduate work at the University of Virginia, and his resumption of teaching duties at the University of Maryland in College Park.
The correspondence during World War II is mainly from Anson Jamison to his family while he was serving in Europe, North Africa, and Italy. The post-war correspondence, and especially the period after 1970, consists of letters mainly between William H. Gravely, Jr. and his sister Nina Anson Gravely (b. 1905).
There is no Box 4 and 5.
See description of Series I.
The subject files include recollections of Alfred William Anson and his wife, as well as their homes at Sudbury and Windsor, written by their daughter Laura Anson. Other items of note include information on the appointment of Rev. William Greene as Vicar of Antrim (1832), and an autograph book of William Gravely while he was attending the University of Virginia (1884). Also included in the subject files are clippings, information on various cruise lines, drawings, sketches, and paintings, genealogical notes on the Anson, Gravely, Greene, Harcourt, and Vernon families, greeting cards, and postcards. There are also numerous invitations to commencements, receptions, weddings, as well as to The White House and Windsor Castle. Also included is a Norfolk Academy catalogue (1926-27), obituaries, poetry, prayers, and hymns, speeches, sympathy cards, published works, and copies of the wills of George D. Gravely and Joseph Greene.
The series of photographs, albums, scrapbooks, and publications contain various categories of photographs - identified and unidentified individuals, buildings, and groups. There are also negatives, and a number of family photo albums. Most of the photographs in the albums have been identified. Also included in this series are oversize photographs, a scrapbook, published books by members of the Anson family, miscellaneous magazines, and guidebooks.
The ledgers relate to the law practices of George L. Gravely and George D. Gravely. Ledger A, 1894-1899, contains accounts of George D. Gravely & Sons. Ledger B, 1886-1899, contains accounts for George L. Gravely & Sons. Ledger C, 1899-1928, includes accounts for George L. Gravely acting as receiver, special commissioner, and trustee. Ledger D, 1916-1929, includes cash and expense accounts, and information on an account with First National Bank of Martinsville. Ledger E, 1922-1928, contains cash and expense accounts for Gravely & Carter, as well as law practice and First National Bank accounts.