Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

No copies of the Civil War diary of Joseph Prentis Webb may be made without written permission of owner of original diary.

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Webb-Prentis Family Papers, Accession #4136-d, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library on 15 May 1978 by Mrs. Robert H. Webb, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Dr. Joseph Prentis Webb, Central Lake, Michigan.

Scope and Content

This collection, consisting of ca. 1300 items and 29 bound volumes, (4 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1.5 linear shelf feet), is an addition to the papers of the Webb and Prentis families given to the Library on 24 November 1972 (accession number 4136), and contains papers of the relaated Dardens, Allen, and Riddick families, all of Suffolk, Nansemond County, and of Williamsburg, Virginia. The collection spans the years 1735 to 1942, but the bulk of the papers date from ca. 1850 to 1890. Most of the papers relate to members of the above families who lived in uffolk, with only a few papers pertaining to the branch of the Prentis familywhich resided in Williamsburg.

The personal papers in this collection consist of scattered correspondence, financial papers, miscellaneous manuscripts, memorabilia and printed material. The correspondence dates from 1823 to 1939, and for the most part is made up of invitations and calling cards received by members of the above families.

The financial papers date from 1735 to 1887, and consist of 18th century tax receipts from land owned in Virginia, probably by the Prentis family in Williamsburg; bills of exchange, bonds, and bills of lading belonging to William Prentis, John Prentis, and Robert Prentis; and miscellaneous financial papers of various members of the above families.

The miscellaneous manuscripts date from 1771 to 1888, with much of the material undated. These papers consist of poems, quotations from books, songs, memoranda of children's birth dates, lists of subscribers, compositions, gardening notes, recipes, and other assorted papers. Of particular interest in this section is the photocopy of a Civil War diary kept by Joseph Prentis Webb, ca. 1862 to 1863.

The memorabilia is for the most part undated and unidentified, and consists of such items as paper dolls, silhouettes, and locks of hair. There is also a photograph of "Rose Hill," an early home of the Allen family in Suffolk. The printed material dates from 1774 to 1942, and is comprised of newspaper clippings, programs, and advertisements. Of particular interest for local history relating to this collection is a Sketch Book of Suffolk, Virginia, dating from ca. 1886.

The professional papers of Robert Riddick Prentis comprise the next main series in this collection. These papers, mainly correspondence and some related legal material, concern four cases of estate settlement and other fiscal litigation handled by Withers and Prentis, the Suffolk law firm in which Robert R. Prentis was a partner. The series dates from 1812 to 1887. Robert R. Prentis (born 11 April 1818) was the son of Joseph Prentis, Jr., who served as clerk of the Circuit and County Courts for Suffolk, and surveyor and inspector of the port of Suffolk, and Susan Caroline Riddick. Robert R. Prentis served as mayor of Suffolk from 1883 to 1885, and practiced as an attorney in the courts of Nansemond, Isle of Wight and Southhampton counties, and the United States District Court at Norfolk.

A major portion of this collection consists of the financial papers of Joseph Prentis Webb. Webb was the son of Robert S. Webb and Margaret Susan (Prentis) Webb, the sister of Robert R. Prentis. He was born in Suffolk on 30 October 1843, and served in the 13th Virginia Cavalry with the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 to 1865, during which time he wrote the diary referred to earlier. Immediately after the war he started a drug company in Suffolk, and later expanded the business to include paints, building supplies, books, stationery, and a variety of other goods. He served as treasurer of the board of vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Suffolk, a vice-president of the Suffolk Y.M.C.A., and was treasurer of the Suffolk Street Railway Company (formerly the Suffolk Street Car Company).

Webb's papers, dating from 1838 to 1892, are financial and legal records from his various business and service activities. In addition to receipts, accounts, and correspondence relating to his building supply contracts and store, there are deeds, bonds, and other legal records of property ownership, tax and license receipts, pension records, receipts of dues paid the Knights of Huron, and records from Webb's other activities as listed above. Webb's papers extend to within two months of his death on 27 December 1892.

In 1885, a fire swept through Suffolk, destroying not only Joseph P. Webb's store but the business of Darden and Eley. This dry goods and hardware store was established in 1866 by Robert Seth Eley and Algernon Sidney Darden, president of the Commercial Bank of Suffolk, whose daughter, Annie Jordan Darden, in 1881 had married Joseph Prentis Webb. Following the fire the two businesses cooperated in building a new store on Washington Square in Suffolk to house them both. Robert S. Eleydied in 1886, and the business was carried on by A. S. Darden who continued to build and expand it in cooperation with Webb, and to divide the profits from the business with Eliza P. Eley (possibly the former Eliza Jaekson (Prentis) Vickery), the widow of R. S. Eley.

The records of the business of Darden and Eley form the last major series in this collection. These papers, which date from 1867 to 1905, consist mainly of deeds, receipts, and accounts, and chronicle the changes the business went through as a result of the events related above. They include: store receipts of Darden and Eley; deeds made by Darden, Webb, Eley, and others; tax receipts; accounts from the settlement of the estate of R. S. Eley; and receipts and invoices from the building of the new store.

The remainder of the collection is comprised of ledgers, oversize materials, and Bible records. The ledgers and oversize items are listed at the end of this guide. The ledgers date from 1733 to 1907, and include court memoranda books of Joseph Prentis and an 18th century Robert Prentis, various financial ledgers and cashbooks, commonplace books, a diary of Joseph P. Webb, and some pastoral notebooks of the Reverend James Murray. Papers formerly inserted in the ledgers and photocopies made of fragile material in the ledgers can also be found in this section. The oversize material consists of six scattered items pulled from various parts of the collection. The Bible records are electrostatic copies of pages in Bibles of the Allen family, the Darden- Allen- Webb-Prentis family, and the Prentis-Riddick-Webb family, and they are filed in the Bible transcripts tray in the Reading Room. The originals were returned to the owners.

Arrangement

The Webb-Prentis papers are arranged in six series: I. Personal Papers of the Prentis, Webb, Darden, and Allen Families; II. Professional Papers of Robert Riddick Prentis, Attorney; III. Financial Papers of Joseph Prentis Webb; IV. Business Papers of Darden and Eley; V. Ledgers; and VI. Oversize .

The personal papers are arranged in five sub-series: 1. correspondence, 2. financial papers, 3. miscellaneous manuscripts, 4. memorabilia and photograph, and 5. printed material. Sub-series one and three--the correspondence and miscellaneous manuscripts--are divided between the 18th and early l9th century papers of the Prentis and Riddick families and the late l9th century papers of the Webb and Darden families, with some exceptional items foldered separately. The financial papers comprising sub-series two are divided according to type of document. Each sub-series has been arranged chronologically.

The professional papers of Robert R. Prentis--Series II are grouped according to case, as they were arranged when they arrived in the Library. Any notations which appeared on the original wrappings of the papers have been transferred to the present folder headings. Series III, the financial papers of Joseph Prentis Webb, and Series IV, the business papers of Darden and Eley, have also been kept in their original order as far as it existed, and any original labelling which survived has been copied onto the new folder headings. These three series are in chronological order.

The ledgers and oversize material comprising Series V and VI are arranged chronologically. Any titles which appeared on the ledgers have been incorporated in quotation marks into the listing. Papers pulled from the ledgers and photocopies made from the ledgers are filed in chronological order at the end of the ledger series.