Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Dabney H. Maury, Jr. Letters must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Dabney H. Maury, Jr. Letters, Ms2008-063 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Dabney H. Maury, Jr. Letters were purchased by Special Collections in 1993.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Dabney H. Maury, Jr. Letters occurred in August, 2008.

Biographical Information

Dabney H. Maury, Jr. was born in1863 in Mississippi. The son of a celebrated Confederate general and the U.S. minister to Colombia from 1885 to 1889, Maury likely followed his father to South America. In 1900 both Maury and his father were in Peoria, Illinois, when General Dabney H. Maury, Sr. died. While in Peoria, Maury illustrated and provided a detailed description of the auxiliary hydraulic pumping plant of the Peoria Water Company. In 1891-1892, Maury was once again in Colombia working for a mining company. Maury married Mary Macaw in Richmond, Virginia, around 1893; the union produced two children. Dabney H. Maury, Jr. died May, 1933.

Scope and Content

The Dabney H. Maury, Jr. Letters are a collection of three missives written from Colombia in 1891 to 1892 to Lieutenant Wirt Robinson, an officer stationed at West Point. The letters primarily concern Robinson's proposed trip to Colombia. Salient topics include: Maury's trip to England, Colombian topography and weather, the difficulty of bringing arms into the country, the exportation and inflation of skins, bird-hunting, fear of disease, and Robinson's desire to resign from the army. Mentioned geographic locations within Colombia are Honda (Tolima), Barranquilla, and Chaparral.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.