Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

William Alexander Stuart Papers, Mss. Collection 1997.5, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mary B. Kegley in 1993.

Custodial History

The Papers originally formed a portion of a collection of miscellaneous documents found by William Hall of Wytheville, Virginia. Hall subsequently gave these documents to Mary B. Kegley.

Biographical Information

William Alexander Stuart (1826-1892) was the son of Archibald Stuart and Elizabeth Pannill Stuart of Laura Hill in Patrick County, Virginia. His brothers included James Ewell Brown Stuart and John Dabney Stuart. A lawyer and businessman, Stuart was admitted as a deputy clerk of the Circuit Superior Court of law and chancery in Wytheville. He eventually served as clerk of the Circuit Superior Court in 1847 and also worked as a bank cashier. He also owned several businesses including the Preston and King Salt Works in Saltville, Virginia.

William Alexander Stuart first married Mary Taylor Carter of Russell County and had three sons including Henry Carter Stuart, Dale Carter Stuart, and John J. Stuart. His second wife was Ellen Spiller Brown whom he married when he was thirty-seven. The couple had five children including Sue Lee Stuart Campbell, William S. Stuart, Alexander B. Stuart, Archibald Stuart, and J. E. B. Stuart who died young. William Alexander Stuart died in 1892 from a heart attack.

Scope and Content

The Papers consist of three documents: a 1861 letter from Nicholas Chevalier to William Alexander Stuart, a 1869 promissory note from Stuart and George W. Palmer to James H. Gilmore and V. S. Morgan, and a summons to S. R. Huffard and William Alexander Stuart dated 1888.