Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Should you wish to quote from or reproduce images of any of the materials, you must write to the Librarian of the Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, requesting formal permission to do so. Please note that you do not have to obtain permission if you are quoting fewer than fifty words, or if you are only citing the document. Images made with microfilm-reader printers are for research use only and may not be used for publication without permission.

Preferred Citation

Cabell family Papers, 1778-1893, Robert Alonzo Brock Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

The Robert Alonzo Brock Collection was filmed by The Huntington Library in cooperation with The Library of Virginia with funding provided by The Library of Virginia Foundation with the support of The Roller- Bottimore Foundation and The Robins Foundation. Microfilm received 12 May 2004.

Biographical/Historical Information

Samuel Jordan Cabell (1756-1818), was the son of William Cabell II (1730-1798) and Margaret Jordan (d. 1812) of Nelson County, Virginia. He served during the Revolutionary war under George Washington, raising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He married Sarah Syme (1760-1814) of Hanover County, Virginia. Samuel represented Amherst County in the Virginia House of Delegates (1785-1792) and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1795-1803).

William Cabell (1772-1853), was the son of Nicholas Cabell (1750-1803) and Hannah Carrington of Amherst County, Virginia. In 1795 he married his first cousin, Elizabeth Cabell (d. 1801), and settled in Amherst County, Virginia. In 1805 he remarried to Agnes S.B. Gamble (1783-1863). He served in the Virginia House of Delegates, as state court judge, and Governor of Virginia (1805-1808).

Joseph Carrington Cabell (1778-1856) served in the Virginia General Assembly, 1808-1835, helped establish the James River and Kanawha Canal, and was a founding father and advocate for the University of Virginia.

Nathaniel Francis Cabell (1807-1891) was the son of Nicholas Cabell Jr. and Mary Carter Cabell. He married Anne Blaws Cocke (d. 1862), daughter of General John Hartwell Cocke. In 1867 he remarried to Mary M. Keller. He was a follower of Swedenborgianism, a pietistic and ecumenical sect of Christianity named for founder Emanuel Swedenborg. He was an author, writing genealogies on the Cabell family, on his religious sect, and anonomously edited the correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Carrington Cabell relative to the establishment of the University of Virginia.

James Lawrence Cabell (1813-1899) was the son of George Cabell, Jr. (1774-1827). He attended the University of Virginia, 1829-1833, was a physician, and Professor of Anatomy and Surgery of the School of Medicine in the University of Virginia. He also served as president of the National Board of Health, 1879-1884.

George Craighead Cabell (1836-1906) was the son of Benjamin William Sheridan Cabell. He was a lawyer, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1875-1887, and a Confederate officer during the Civil War.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1778-1893, of the Cabell family of Albemarle and Nelson Counties and Richmond, Virginia. Includes accounts, bills of sale, chancery causes, circulars, correspondence, deeds, promissory notes, receipts, and reports. The letters concern family affairs, business dealings, legal, political matters, and current events, including the affairs of the University of Virginia. Also contains information on the hiring out and sale of slaves. Notable correspondents include: George William Bagby, Robert A. Brock, George Craighead Cabell, James Lawrence Cabell, John Jordan Cabell, Joseph Carrington Cabell, Nathaniel Francis Cabell, William Daniel Cabell, George Callaway, John Hartwell Cocke, Richard Kenner Cralle, Chapman Johnson, James Lyons, St. George Tucker, and Thomas Hicks Wynne.

Also included is a copy of Samuel Jordan Cabell's address to his constituents, 1800; circular by William H. Cabell; and a monthly return for Corotoman   farm, 1856 March. Included are estate papers of Charles Carter and Rebecca C.F. Carter of Corotoman  , Lancaster County, Virginia, administered by John Carrington Cabell. These papers include slave values and cost accounts for moving the slaves from Corotoman to Warminster, Nelson County, Virginia. Also included is a paper, "On the evil effects of overtasking the minds of children," written in 1881 by James Lawrence Cabell, President of the State Board of Health, University of Virginia.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Originals are located at the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.