A Guide to the Mary L. Geschwind Papers, 1845-2006 Geschwind, Mary L., Papers, 1845-2006 50461

A Guide to the Mary L. Geschwind Papers, 1845-2006

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 50461


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© 2012 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Processed by: Jim Greve

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Accession Number
50461
Title
Mary L. Geschwind Papers, 1845-2006
Physical Description
20.7 cubic feet (47 boxes)
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Mary L. Geschwind Papers, 1845-2006. Accession 50461. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mary L. Geschwind, Richmond.

Biographical Information

Anton Guenther Bernhard Osterbind was born in Atens, Oldenburg, Germany on 10 June 1820. He emigrated to the United States around 1838, and settled in Richmond, Virginia. He married 1) Mary Ann Copeland (1817-1860) on 19 September 1842, and 2) Sarah J. Jordan (1827-1919) on 25 December 1860. Osterbind was a ironworker and foreman at Tredegar Iron Works. He died in Richmond on 17 September 1919 and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery. His son, Henry Carter Osterbind, was born on 19 April 1851 in Richmond. He also worked at Tredegar Iron Works. He married Ellen Jane Clarke (1852-1928) in Goochland County, Virginia on 25 November 1875. Henry Carter Osterbind died on 1 August 1914 and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Their daughter, Mary Copeland Osterbind, was born in Goochland County, Virginia on 9 December 1876. She married William Frederick Haase (1877-1967), owner of a fur business begun by his father in Richmond, on 25 June 1902. Her sister, Minnie Guenther Osterbind (1879-1952) married Dr. Arthur Stevens Kimball (1878-1921). They resided in Battle Creek, Michigan. Mary O. Haase died on 14 December 1935 in Richmond, and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Their daughter, Margaret Ruppert Haase, was born in Richmond on 16 April 1903. She attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College and the University of Virginia. She married Dr. James Burdine Looper (1899-1950) on 25 August 1927. He was a professor and dean of the medical school at the University of Mississippi. Following Dr. Looper's death, Margaret married Joseph Foster Woodard (b. 1909) on 14 February 1960. She died in Richmond on 23 June 1982, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Her daughter, Mary MacAdam Looper, was born in Oxford, Lafayette County, Mississippi on 3 March 1932. She attended the University of Mississippi, where she met her husband, Herman Geschwind (1930-2006) of Kassell, Germany. They were married in Wiesbaden, Germany on 21 January 1953. They lived in various places, including Greensboro, North Carolina and St. Gallen, Switzerland, where he was employed by Burlington Industries. Mary L. Geschwind died 3 June 2017 in Henrico County, Virginia.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1845-2006, of Mary Looper Geschwind (1932-2017) of Richmond, Virginia, containing genealogical research files and personal papers of the Osterbind, Haase, Looper, and Geschwind families of Richmond, Virginia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Germany and Russia. The collection includes abstracts and transcriptions of church and court records, accounts and receipts, artwork, brochures, class notes, clippings, correspondence, estate administration records, family group sheets, genealogical notes and charts, greeting cards, invitations, obituaries, pedigree charts, photographs, postcards, programs, published sources, sheet music, sympathy cards and notes, tombstone inscriptions, and yearbooks. The papers were originally stored in three-ring binders, but were removed for preservation purposes. Some of the photographs and negatives contained in the collection have been transferred to Special Collections.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

I. Osterbind Family Files. II. Haase Family Files. III. Looper Family Files. IV. Geschwind Family Files. V. Subject Files.

Contents List

Series I. Osterbind Family Files, 1845-2006 .
Boxes 1-11
Extent: 11 boxes.

The Osterbind family files contain information on the descendants of Clauss Osterbind (ca. 1686-1742) of Oldenburg, Germany, including Anton Guenther Bernhard Osterbind (1820-1902), and his son Henry Carter Osterbind (1851-1914). Both Anton and Henry worked at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. The series includes a genealogy of the Osterbind family compiled by Mary L. Geschwind in 1997, information on ancestors who resided in Germany, and the family members who emigrated to the United States, and research on the Clarke, Copeland, Jordan, and Morrison families. There is also material relating to the Osterbind family's connection with Tredegar Iron Works, including original business records from the company (1845-1865), as well as their affiliation with the Methodist Church and the Freemasons. There are also papers concerning Mary Copeland Osterbind and her years at Salem Female Academy in North Carolina, and information on her siblings Minnie Guenther Osterbind Kimball and Carter Clarke Osterbind.

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Series II. Haase Family Files, 1871-2006 .
Boxes 12-24,47
Extent: 14 boxes.

The Haase family files document the descendants of Reinhard Haase (d. 1659) of Hildesheim, Germany, including Christian ("Charles") Gottfried Karl Haase (1828-1907), who settled in Richmond, Virginia and established a fur business in 1857. This series includes a family genealogy compiled by Mary L. Geschwind in 1998, There are also original letters, 1871-1906, between Charles and his cousin Gottlieb Karl Leopold Haase (1844-1917) of Reval, Russia, and his nephew, Wilhelm August Leopold Haase(b. 1842), of Hettstedt, Germany, the latter of whom was also in the fur business. Most of this series, however, relates to Charles' son, William Frederick Haase (1877-1967), who married Mary Copeland Osterbind (1876-1935). There is information on their childhoods, courtship, wedding and honeymoon, and their children, especially Margaret Ruppert Haase (1903-1982). The series documents family vacations, including visits to the Jamestown Exposition in 1907 and Niagara Falls in 1910, holiday celebrations, visits to and from relatives in Battle Creek, Michigan, and student life at Randolph-Macon Woman's College and the University of Virginia.

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Series III. Looper Family Files, 1919-2006 .
Boxes 24-38
Extent: 15 boxes.

The Looper family files document the descendants of Joseph Burdine Looper (1858-1927) of Pickens County, South Carolina, specifically his son, Dr. James Burdine Looper (1899-1950), who married Margaret Ruppert Haase (1903-1982) and settled in Oxford, Mississippi. This series details student life at Furman University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Chicago, marriage, family life, Margaret's interest and involvement in music, art, gardening, genealogy, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, and Dr. Looper's career at the University of Mississippi, where he was professor and later dean of the medical school. There is a large amount of information concerning attempts to establish a four-year medical school during Dr. Looper's tenure at Ole Miss.

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Series IV. Geschwind Family Files, 1912-2006 .
Boxes 38-42
Extent: 5 boxes.

The Geschwind family files contain photographs and originial documents of the Geschwind and Goerke families of Germany, but a majority of the series relates to the family of Hermann Geschwind (1930-2006) and his wife Mary MacAdam Looper Geschwind (1932-2017), including their courtship at the University of Mississippi, marriage in Wiesbaden, Germany, his service in the United States Navy, graduation from the University of Richmond, and the family's relocations to Greensboro, North Carolina, and later St. Gallen, Switzerland, where he was employed with Burlington Industries. There are also files relating to their son, Carl-Henry Geschwind (b. 1965), and his school years at Grimsley Senior High in Greensboro.

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Series V. Subject Files, 1932-2006 .
Boxes 43-46
Extent: 4 boxes.

The subject files contain materials that were not originally organized or filed in three-ring binders. They relate mostly to the Haase and Looper families, and include accounts and receipts, artwork, bank statements, class notes, clippings, correspondence, estate papers of William F. Haase and Dr. James Burdine Looper, sympathy cards and notes, and taxes. Most of this series, however, are genealogical notes on various lines allied with the Osterbind, Haase, and Looper families.

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