A Guide to the Barnard-Nickels Family Papers, 1929-1972 #44954

Biographical Information

Judith Roane Fenner was born on 14 June 1896. She was the daughter of Benjamin Fenner (1850-1925) and Elizabeth Archer Winfrey (1861-1949) of Prince George County, Virginia. She married Edgar Calhoun Barnard (b. 1895) on 16 June 1917. Judith Fenner Barnard was an elementary school teacher in Hopewell, Virginia, and she lived at her home "Sunnyside" in Prince George County. She died on 27 April 1984, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Her daughter Elizabeth "Beth" Archer Barnard was born on 14 September 1918. She attended State Teachers College in Farmville from 1935 to 1937, and then received a degree in mathamatics from The College of William and Mary in 1939. She was a high school teacher for a short time, and then was employed as a draftsman with Solvay Process Company in Hopewell, and in civil service at Camp Lee during World War II. She was later an architect in Richmond. Beth Archer Barnard married Samuel B. Nickels, Jr. at Merchant's Hope Church in Hopewell on 11 July 1942. She died at "Sunnyside" on 21 March 2012.

Samuel B. Nickels, Jr. was born on 13 November 1918. He was the son of Dr. Samuel B. Nickels and Lois Parsons. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1940, and the following year was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army where he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was awarded the Bronze Star and twice awarded the Purple Heart for his service during World War II. He was part of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, and was trapped during the seige of Bastogne during the "Battle of the Bulge." After the war, he was a chemist until he retired in 1975. Samuel B. NIckels, Jr. died on 31 May 2001, and is buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Contents List

Series I. Correspondence, 1934-1972 .

Boxes 1-7

Extent: 7 boxes.

A large amount of the correspondence was written during World War II, when Samuel B. Nickels, Jr. was serving with the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, first while stationed at Camp Wheeler and Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and then in Nashville, Tennessee, and Evansville, Indiana. Most of the letters are from Beth Archer Barnard to Nickels prior to their marriage. Subjects include courtship, her drafting career and job prospects, teaching duties at Surry High School, health, mail deliveries and phone calls, visits, wedding plans, finances, and social activities in Hopewell.

After Pearl Harbor, her letters begin to express a concern for his safety during his military training, and her fears over his impending deployment. Other topics include fuel and tire rationing and shortages, opinions on the duration and outcome of the war, and news of mutual acquaintances. The correspondence after September 1943 is mainly from Nickels after his unit was deployed overseas to England. He writes about his loneliness and homesickness, weather, news of his comrades, recreational activities, mail and package deliveries, and his health.

The 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment was a part of the D-Day invasion at Normandy on 6 June 1944. The correspondence from this time period is mainly between Beth and her parents, and friends whose husbands were serving with Nickels, and discuss concern for Sam's safety, and the lack of information concerning his whereabouts. Later letters are written by Nickels while he was recuperating in England from wounds to his hand. His unit was also involved in the Battle of the Bulge, and the seige of Bastogne, and there are letters written by him during this period. Finally, there are letters written to Beth from friends and family concerning the end of the war in Europe, and rumors of the unit's return to the United States. There is also a good deal of correspondence to Beth from her mother who was attending summer school sessions at State Teachers College in Farmville, Virginia, and from her father, Edgar C. Barnard (b. 1895), detailing his work as a civil engineer in Texas, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

The post-war correspondence is includes job application letters, and letters written while Sam and Beth were on a trip to St. Louis. The latest letters in the collection are mainly to Judith Fenner Barnard, and are from family and friends in California, Florida, and Washington State. There are also letters written to her from former students, including one who was serving in combat during the Vietnam War. Other topics in the later correspondence relate to Barnard's involvement in various organizations including the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the Society of the Descendants of Francis Epes I of Virginia, the Appomattox Manor Foundation, and her interest in Virginia history and family genealogy.

Chronological.

Box 1 Folder 1
1934-1939 .
Box 1 Folder 2
1940 .
Box 1 Folder 3
1941 (November) .
Box 1 Folder 4
1941 (December 1-15) .
Box 1 Folder 5
1941 (December 16-31) .
Box 1 Folder 6
1942 (January 1-15) .
Box 1 Folder 7
1942 (January 16-31) .
Box 1 Folder 8
1942 (February) .
Box 1 Folder 9
1942 (March 1-15) .
Box 1 Folder 10
1942 (March 16-23) .
Box 1 Folder 11
1942 (March 24-31) .
Box 1 Folder 12
1942 (April 1-19) .
Box 1 Folder 13
1942 (April 20-30) .
Box 1 Folder 14
1942 (May) .
Box 2 Folder 1
1942 (June 1-15) .
Box 2 Folder 2
1942 (June 16-30) .
Box 2 Folder 3
1942 (July 1-10) .
Box 2 Folder 4
1942 (July 11-31) .
Box 2 Folder 5
1942 (August 1-10) .
Box 2 Folder 6
1942 (August 11-20) .
Box 2 Folder 7
1942 (August 21-31) .
Box 2 Folder 8
1942 (September) .
Box 2 Folder 9
1942 (October) .
Box 2 Folder 10
1943 (January) .
Box 2 Folder 11
1943 (June 1-15) .
Box 2 Folder 12
1943 (June 16-30) .
Box 2 Folder 13
1943 (July 1-10) .
Box 2 Folder 14
1943 (July 11-31) .
Box 2 Folder 15
1943 (August) .
Box 3 Folder 1
1943 (September) .
Box 3 Folder 2
1943 (October) .
Box 3 Folder 3
1943 (November 1-15) .
Box 3 Folder 4
1943 (November 16-30) .
Box 3 Folder 5
1943 (December 1-15) .
Box 3 Folder 6
1943 (December 16-31) .
Box 3 Folder 7
1944 (January 1-19) .
Box 3 Folder 8
1944 (January 20-31) .
Box 3 Folder 9
1944 (February) .
Box 3 Folder 10
1944 (March) .
Box 3 Folder 11
1944 (April) .
Box 3 Folder 12
1944 (May 1-15) .
Box 3 Folder 13
1944 (May 16-31) .
Box 3 Folder 14
1944 (June 1-20) .
Box 3 Folder 15
1944 (June 21-30) .
Box 4 Folder 1
1944 (July 1-10) .
Box 4 Folder 2
1944 (July 11-31) .
Box 4 Folder 3
1944 (August) .
Box 4 Folder 4
1944 (September 1-15) .
Box 4 Folder 5
1944 (September 16-30) .
Box 4 Folder 6
1944 (October 1-15) .
Box 4 Folder 7
1944 (October 16-31) .
Box 4 Folder 8
1944 (November) .
Box 4 Folder 9
1944 (December) .
Box 4 Folder 10
1945 (January) .
Box 4 Folder 11
1945 (February) .
Box 4 Folder 12
1945 (March) .
Box 4 Folder 13
1945 (April) .
Box 4 Folder 14
1945 (May) .
Box 4 Folder 15
1945 (June) .
Box 4 Folder 16
1945 (July) .
Box 5 Folder 1
1945 (August) .
Box 5 Folder 2
1945 (September) .
Box 5 Folder 3
1945 (October) .
Box 5 Folder 4
1945 (November) .
Box 5 Folder 5
1945 (December) .
Box 5 Folder 6
1946 (January-June) .
Box 5 Folder 7
1946 (July-December) .
Box 5 Folder 8
1947 .
Box 5 Folder 9
1948 .
Box 5 Folder 10
1949 .
Box 5 Folder 11
1952 .
Box 5 Folder 12
1955 .
Box 5 Folder 13
1957 .
Box 5 Folder 14
1958 .
Box 5 Folder 15
1959 .
Box 6 Folder 1
1960 .
Box 6 Folder 2
1961 .
Box 6 Folder 3
1962 .
Box 6 Folder 4
1965 (January-April) .
Box 6 Folder 5
1965 (May-December) .
Box 6 Folder 6
1966 (January-October) .
Box 6 Folder 7
1966 (November-December) .
Box 6 Folder 8
1967 (January-April) .
Box 6 Folder 9
1967 (May) .
Box 6 Folder 10
1967 (June-August) .
Box 6 Folder 11
1967 (September-December) .
Box 6 Folder 12
1968 (January-February) .
Box 7 Folder 1
1968 (March-April) .
Box 7 Folder 2
1968 (May-June) .
Box 7 Folder 3
1968 (July-August) .
Box 7 Folder 4
1968 (September-October) .
Box 7 Folder 5
1968 (November-December) .
Box 7 Folder 6
1969 (January) .
Box 7 Folder 7
1969 (February-May) .
Box 7 Folder 8
1972 .
Box 7 Folder 9
n.d. .

Series II. Subject Files, 1929-1969 .

Boxes 8-12

Extent: 5 boxes.

The subject files include materials relating to the James River Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, newspaper clippings, information on Beth Nickels's interest in architecture and her drafting career at Camp Lee and Binswanger Glass, school compositions and examinations of Judith Fenner Barnard while she was attending the State Teacher's College in Farmville, greeting cards, insurance papers, wedding invitations, photographs, Bible records of the Pulliam family of Prince George County, poetry, "The Bugle," the 1940 yearbook of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, letters from a former student of Barnard's who was serving with the military in Vietnam, a diary of Beth Archer Barnard covering the years 1933 and 1936 to 1939, and other items.

Box 8 Folder 1
Accounts and Receipts .
Box 8 Folder 2-4
APVA .
Box 8 Folder 5
Architecture .
Box 8 Folder 6
Association for Research and Enlightenment .
Box 8 Folder 7
Automobile .
Box 8 Folder 8
Automobile Accident, 1968 .
Box 8 Folder 9
Berkeley Plantation .
Box 8 Folder 10
Binswanger .
Box 12
"The Bugle" (Virginia Polytechnic Institute Yearbook), 1940 .
Box 8 Folder 11
Calendars .
Box 8 Folder 12
Calling Cards .
Box 8 Folder 13
Camp Lee .
Box 8 Folder 14
Campbell, Volney H. .
Box 8 Folder 15
Certificates .
Box 8 Folder 16
Christmas at New House at "Sunnyside," 1953 .
Box 8 Folder 17
Clippings .
Box 8 Folder 18
Coleman, Bobby L. - Correspondence (Vietnam), 1967-1968 .
Box 9 Folder 1
Compositions and Exams (Judith Fenner Barnard) .
Box 12
Composition Books (5) .
Box 9 Folder 2
Customs Declarations .
Box 12
Diary, 1933, 1936-1939 .
Box 9 Folder 3
Genealogical Notes .
Box 9 Folder 4
Greeting Cards - Anniversary .
Box 9 Folder 5
Greeting Cards - Birth Announcement .
Box 9 Folder 6
Greeting Cards - Birthday .
Box 9 Folder 7-9
Greeting Cards - Christmas .
Box 9 Folder 10
Greeting Cards - Easter .
Box 9 Folder 11
Greeting Cards - Get Well .
Box 9 Folder 12
Greeting Cards - Miscellaneous .
Box 9 Folder 13
Greeting Cards - Mother's Day .
Box 9 Folder 14
Greeting Cards - New Year .
Box 9 Folder 15
Greeting Cards - Thank You .
Box 9 Folder 16
Greeting Cards - Thanksgiving .
Box 9 Folder 17
Greeting Cards - Valentine's Day .
Box 10 Folder 1
Hopewell - History and Map .
Box 10 Folder 2
Insurance .
Box 10 Folder 3
Invitations .
Box 10 Folder 4
Jamestown Drawings .
Box 10 Folder 5
Job Application Letters .
Box 12
"John Randolph of Roanoke" (Book) .
Box 10 Folder 6
King, Willie .
Box 10 Folder 7
Land Survey .
Box 10 Folder 8
Latin Notes .
Box 10 Folder 9
Medical Chart .
Box 10 Folder 10
Membership Cards, Passes, Permits .
Box 10 Folder 11
Merchant's Hope Church - Minutes, 1967 .
Box 10 Folder 12
Miller and Rhoads .
Box 10 Folder 13-14
Miscellaneous .
Box 10 Folder 15
Morris Plan Bank .
Box 10 Folder 16
Photographs .
Box 10 Folder 17
Poetry/Music/Verses .
Box 10 Folder 18
Postcards .
Box 10 Folder 19
Programs .
Box 12
Pulliam Family Bible .
Box 10 Folder 20
Pulliam Family Bible Records .
Box 10 Folder 21
Ration Book .
Box 10 Folder 22
Reader's Digest .
Box 10 Folder 23
Recipes .
Box 10 Folder 24
Religious Writings .
Box 10 Folder 25
Rice Electric Appliance Service .
Box 10 Folder 26
Right of Way (VEPCO) .
Box 11 Folder 1
Student's Record (Grades) - State Teachers College, 1935-1937 .
Box 11 Folder 2
Thalhimer's .
Box 11 Folder 3
Thanksgiving in America .
Box 11 Folder 4
Tourist Brochures .
Box 11 Folder 5
Tractor Sale, 1946 .
Box 11 Folder 6
Tureen Ownership .
Box 11 Folder 7
United Daughters of the Confederacy .
Box 11 Folder 8
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, 1967-1968 .
Box 11 Folder 9
Virginia History .
Box 11 Folder 10
Virginia Military District Newsletter, July 1946 .
Box 11 Folder 11
Vital Statistics .
Box 11 Folder 12
Woman's Clubs .
Box 11 Folder 13
Vonan Rug Company .

Series III. School Teacher Files, 1939-1967 .

Boxes 13-15

Extent: 3 boxes.

The school teacher files document Judith Fenner Barnard's long career at Patrick Copeland Elementary School in Hopewell, Virginia. The series includes class exercises, lesson plans, class photographs, lists of students, calendars, programs, memoranda, and information from workshops and conferences she attended. There are also newsletters of the Hopewell Education Association, and numerous educational publications and instructional aids.

Box 13 Folder 1
"The A to Z Book" by Peter Mabie .
Box 13 Folder 2
Christmas Illustrations by Bess Bruce Cleaveland .
Box 13 Folder 3
Class Exercises and Writings .
Box 13 Folder 4
Class Photos .
Box 13 Folder 5
Class Record, 1953-1954 .
Box 13 Folder 6
Class Record, 1960-1961 .
Box 13 Folder 7
Class Record, 1962-1963 .
Box 13 Folder 8
College Readings - Department of English - State Teachers College, .
Box 15
Educational Publications and Instructional Aids .
Box 13 Folder 9
"The Herald" - Patrick Copeland School, May 1939 .
Box 13 Folder 10-12
Hopewell Education Association Newsletter, 1952-1958 .
Box 13 Folder 13
Lesson Plans .
Box 13 Folder 14
Lists of Students .
Box 13 Folder 15
Memoranda .
Box 13 Folder 16
Miscellaneous .
Box 13 Folder 17
Nameplate .
Box 14 Folder 1-2
Patrick Copeland PTA Birhday Calendars, 1950-1958 .
Box 14 Folder 3
Progress Report Forms .
Box 14 Folder 4
School Programs .
Box 14 Folder 5-6
Workshops and Conferences .