Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Rives family. Papers, 1841-1865. Accession 24065. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Purchased 10 November 1953.

Biographical/Historical Information

Robert Rives (1798-1869) was born in Nelson County, Virginia, and attended the College of William and Mary, graduating in 1817. He represented Nelson County, Virginia, in the House of Delegates from 1823- 1829. After his service in the House of Delegates, he moved to Albemarle County. Rives was one of the wealthiest men in Virginia before the Civil War began, but he lost most of his fortune during the war. He married Elizabeth Pannhill (1811-1895), daughter of Samuel Pannhill of Campbell County, Virginia, in 1841. They had one child, Cornelia E. Rives (1845-1910), who married Charles Carter Harrison (1842-1882) in 1866. Harrison served as a lieutenant in Company I, 46th Virginia Infantry. After the Civil War, Harrison became a prosperous farmer in Albemarle County.

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1841-1865, of the Rives family of Albemarle County, Virginia, consisting of: a) 36 letters, 1848-1863, from Alfred T. Harris and Harris and Gibson of Richmond, Virginia, to Robert Rives concerning the price and sale of tobacco and wheat, the purchase of state stock and James River and Kanawha Canal stock, dividends from stocks, including bank stock, purchase of agricultural supplies and other items for Rives, sale of slaves, Rives' accounts with Harris and Gibson, and a letter dated 16 May 1862 describing the Union assault on Drewry's Bluff; b) nine letters, 1855-1862, from Samuel Nowlin of Lynchburg, Virginia, to Robert Rives concerning property Nowlin manages for Rives in Lynchburg and discussing rent and repairs; and c) five letters, 1861-1864, from Charles C. Harrison of the 46th Virginia Infantry to Cornelia E. Rives, containing news of camp life and the Civil War, the letter of 31 May 1862 describing the Peninsular campaign and the beginning of the battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) and professing his love for Cornelia.

Also includes: d) nine letters, 1841-1864, to and from members of the Rives family, including a love letter dated 7 April 1841, from Robert Rives to Elizabeth Pannhill to Campbell County, Virginia; a letter dated 19 June 1852, from Samuel Pannhill of Campbell County to Robert Rives containing agricultural information; letters dated 12 December 1859 and 24 April 1861, from Elizabeth Pannhill Rives to Cornelia E. Rives, containing personal news; letter, 19 October 1863, from Charles Edward Rives at the University of Virginia, to his cousin, possibly Cornelia E. Rives; letter 13 February 1864, from Charles Edward Rives to his sister, Eleanor Rosalie Rives, containing personal news and news of the 46th Virginia Infantry; a letter, undated, to Cornelia E. Rives, informing her that Charles C. Harrison had been slightly wounded; and e) miscellaneous accounts and papers, 1865 and undated, of Cornelia E. Rives, including two accounts from William N. Bell and Company of Richmond, Virginia, and a program for the Celebration of the Brookland and Piedmont Literary Societies.