Restrictions on Access

There are no restrictions to access or use for research purposes.

Ownership and Custodial History

This collection was donated to the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society by Marie Blanton, a relative of Anne Chamberlayne, in the early 2000s.

Biographical sketch

Anne Atkinson was born in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1877 at Gravel Hill Plantation, the home of her maternal grandfather, George C. Hannah. Her parents were Reverend William Robert Atkinson and Lucy Hannah Atkinson. Her father, a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary in South Carolina and of the University of Virginia, was both a teacher and a Presbyterian minister. He was a professor at the Peace Institute (now William Peace University) from 1875 to 1878, was principal at the Charlotte Female Institute (now Queens University of Charlotte) from 1878 to 1890, and in 1890, he founded the Presbyterian College for Women in Columbia, S.C. Anne Atkinson studied music at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland and was an accomplished pianist. It was at the Peabody Conservatory that she met the German composer, and former student of Franz Liszt, Richard Burmeister. In 1899, Atkinson and Burmeister were married and subsequently moved to Dresden, Germany where both she and her husband performed extensively. In 1911, Anne Atkinson Burmeister returned to the United States with her daughter, Wilhelmina and in 1912 she performed a recital at the White House for President Taft. After divorcing Richard Burmeister, Anne remarried in 1915, to Robert Scott Chamberlayne, who owned and operated a tobacco business in Phenix, Virginia. Anne Atkinson Chamberlayne was a charter member of the Charlotte County Equal Suffrage League and served on their publications committee. In 1921, she ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, one of the first women in the state to run for statewide office. Anne Atkinson Chamberlayne was also a charter member in the founding of the Charlotte County branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. In 1936, she moved to Farmville where she continued to teach piano until her retirement. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Huguenot Society, and the Virginia Historical Society. Anne Atkinson Chamberlayne was also an avid genealogist who, among other projects, spearheaded a comprehensive census of tombstones in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Anne Atkinson Burmeister Chamberlayne died in 1968 and is buried in Cub Creek Cemetery in Charlotte County, Virginia.

Scope and content

This collection, which dates from 1742 to 1963, consists of correspondence, land grants, wills, family histories, and genealogical notes related primarily to the Baldwin, Hannah, Wyllie, Blanton, and Spraggins families.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986.
• Baldwin family.
• Burmeister, Richard, 1860-1944.
• Chamberlayne, Anne Atkinson Burmeister, 1876-1968.
• Eggleston, J. D. (Joseph Dupuy), 1867-1953.
• Hanna family.
• Jennings, John M. (John Melville)
• Thurmond, Strom, 1902-2003.
• Women pianists -- United States.
• Women political candidates -- Virginia -- Charlotte Court House.

General Note

This collection is part of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society Archives which are housed at Greenwood Library Archives and Special Collections