Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Hugh McGavock Papers, Mss. Collection 1993.1, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mary B. Kegley in May 1993; addendum of 2000 tax assessment tickets donated in May 1995.

Biographical Information

Hugh McGavock, son of early settler James McGavock Sr., was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1761 but moved with his family to Fort Chiswell in 1771. During the Revolutionary War, he served as a prison guard in Albemarle County, Virginia. However, he later enlisted in the Virginia State Line and served under Colonel Joseph Crockett. Crockett's troops joined those of George Rogers Clark in defending the Ohio River Valley from Indian and British attack.

Returning home from war, McGavock first married a Campbell from Cripple Creek. His first wife died shortly after their marriage. IN 1785, Hugh McGavock wed Nancy Kent and settled near his father in Max Meadows. Together Nancy and Hugh reared twelve children.

As his family grew, so did Hugh McGavock's prosperity and prominence in the young county of Wythe. He served as Collector of the Revenue, responsible for collecting duties (taxes) on land, slaves, horses, stills and carriages among other items. In 1815, President James Madison appointed McGavock as Tax Assessor for the First District which included most of southwest Virginia. Besides his duties as tax collector, assessor, and farmer, McGavock also worked as a justice of the peace for Wythe County.

All but one of Hugh McGavock's sons embarked upon careers far away from Wythe County. the youngest son, Randal, remained in Max Meadows and assumed the operation of his father's estate. Born in 1803, Randal married Maria Reed in 1826. She died in 1834 and Randal remarried in 1845. His second wife, Cynthia Elizabeth McGavock, was a cousin. Cynthia and Hugh raised five children.

Scope and Content

The Hugh McGavock Papers are arranged in five series comprising correspondence, financial and legal records, Collector of the Revenue records, miscellaneous records, and tax assessment tickets.

Series I, Correspondence (1805-1923), includes letters send and or received by James McGavock, Hugh McGavock, Randal McGavock, and his wife Cynthia Elizabeth McGavock. Letters from Jacob Cloy McGavock, Joseph Randal McGavock, Sallie M. McGavock Robertson, and Lucy Nancy McGavock Kent to their mother Cynthia Elizabeth McGavock are also included. Other correspondents found in this series are Amanda Billups McGavock, S. F. Ewald, Lucy Elizabeth Ewing Brown, and William Ewing. Subjects discussed in these letters focus primarily upon school, family and social activities, religion, and other aspects of life in Wythe County, Virginia, and Franklin, Tennessee.

Series II, Financial and Legal Records (1763-1909), includes account statements, bills, and receipts (1763-1909) saved by family members. Tax receipts (1788-1894), court summons (1804-1839), and legal agreements and judgments (1802-1844) complete this series.

Series III, Collector of the Revenue Records (1798-1817), contains documents pertaining to Hugh McGavock's work as Collector of the Revenue for Wythe County. McGavock also served in 1815 as Tax Assessor for the district encompassing southwest Virginia (see Series V). Included in this series is correspondence (1802-1817) between McGavock and his regional, state, and federal supervisors as well as sundry reports, abstracts of duties (taxes) collected, and receipts for collected duties.

As Collector of the Revenue, Hugh McGavock oversaw the registration of all stills operated in Wythe County. Federal and State law required distillers to register their stills with their Collector of the Revenue. Arranged alphabetically, the registration forms include the distiller's name, still marking, still number, and gallon capacity.

Series IV, Miscellaneous Records (Undated), contains records ranging from recipes and remedies for various ailments to land plats and surveys. Also included in this series is a newspaper, the Universal Gazette , dated 17 March 1808 and a notice fining Randal McGavock for his absence from a mustering of Captain Yerion's militia company in April 1845.

Series V, Tax Assessment Tickets, was added to the Hugh McGavock Papers in June 1995. These tickets were also donated by Mary B. Kegley. These original tax records have been abstracted and published by Kegley in two works: Southwest Virginia Tax Assessments, 1815: Grayson, Lee, Scott, Russell, Washington, and Wythe Counties (1991) and Supplement to Southwest Virginia Tax Assessments, 1815 (1992). The tickets in this series are arranged Alphabetically by county, then alphabetically within each county by landowner last name. most tickets are abstracted and a few are transcribed in whole in Kegley's books. Both books contain last name indices.

As Tax Assessor for the First District of Virginia, Hugh McGavock and his assistant assessors (appointed for each county) surveyed all landowners in the contemporary counties of Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington, and Wythe. The First District encompassed all land west of Peak Creek in present day Pulaski County. An Act of Congress passed on 22 July 1813 charged the Tax Assessor with ascertaining the "value of all lands, lots of ground with their improvements, dwelling houses, and slaves. "