Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Special permission for reproduction or extensive quotation must be obtained through written application to the Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Preferred Citation

Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution Through the Civil War. Series J : Selections from the Southern Historical Collection, Manuscript Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accession 35353, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

Purchased 29 May 1997.

Scope and Content Information

The Charles W. Dabney Papers, 1716-1865, documents the life and work of Charles William Dabney, as well as four generations of Dabney ancestors residing in King William and Louisa Counties, Virginia, and California, including William Dabney, Charles Dabney, Charles William Dabney, Robert Lewis Dabney, Lavina (Morrison) Dabney, James Morrison, and Mary Chilton (Brent) Dabney. There are letters, business papers, account books, and related papers. Topics include church matters, Hampden-Sydney College and the Union Theological Seminary near Farmville, Virginia, Civil War service, manuscripts and rough drafts of publications, memoirs, and addresses, work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the advancement of scientific, technical, agricultural, and general education, the University of Tennessee, the University of Cincinnati, genealogical information, travel, and family affairs. (Misc. Reels 1615-1619).

The Fredericks Hall Plantation Books, 1727-1863, comprise account books (1727-1775) from Hanover and York Counties, Virginia, and from Fredericks Hall Plantation (1849-1862) in Louisa County, Virginia. There is also a letter book (1757-1775) of Major John Snelson. Principal subjects of the account books include tobacco shipments, imported merchandise, mining and mineral export, the daily work of merchants, and import inventories. The Fredericks Hall Plantation ledgers document lumber production, manufacture and sale of shoes, tobacco production and trade, and merchants' accounts. (Misc. Reels 1620-1624).

The Burwell Family Papers, 1750-1943, consists of correspondence, financial, legal, business, and personal papers of the Burwell family of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and Granville, Vance, and Warren Counties, North Carolina, and of the Williams family of Warren County, North Carolina. Topics include family news, tobacco and cotton farming, slave sales and purchases, and family estates. Financial and legal papers include receipts, insurance papers, school superintendent's papers, and letters from agricultural agents. Also included are advertising circulars, report cards, genealogical material, and thirty-eight volumes of church, school, and farm records, and account books. (Misc. Reels 1624-1629).

The Thomas Edward Cox Books, 1829-1854, document the farming activities of Cox at his farm, Laurel Spring, in Henrico County, Virginia in 1853 and 1854, as well as his medical practice in the 1840's and early 1850's. The seven volumes in the collection consist of two farm account books of Edward Cox, and two physician's ledgers and three farm account/daybooks of Thomas Cox. (Misc. Reels 1629-1630).

The Crenshaw and Miller Family Papers, 1751-1916, consist almost entirely of estate and legal papers, primarily concerning the estates of Major Nathaniel Crenshaw of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Charles Crenshaw, Jr. of Hanover County, Virginia. Included are deeds, wills, bonds, writs of summons, legal correspondence, contracts, land plats, court orders, and articles of agreement. (Misc. Reel 1630).

The Thomas Baylie Cropper Papers, 1832-1879, consist primarily of family and business letters, 1832-1848, received by Cropper. The bulk of the family letters document the personal, financial, economic, religious, and political affairs of Cropper and his relatives in Accomack County, Virginia. (Misc. Reels 1630-1631).

The Howerton Family Papers, 1817-1858, are composed of financial and legal papers of the Howerton family of Halifax County, Virginia, primarily Philip Howerton and Rufus H. Owen. Included are correspondence with commission merchants, receipts, tax lists, and materials relating to the imprisonment of insolvent debtors. (Misc. Reels 1631-1632).

The Cornelius Dabney Diary, 1863-1869, consists of the original, as well as a typescript of Cornelius Dabney of Albemarle and King William Counties, Virginia. Topics covered include family news, work on the farm, social activities, attendance at prayer meetings and Sunday school, the Civil War, and student life while attending the University of Virginia. (Misc. Reel 1632).

The T. L. Jones Journal, 1862-1869, was kept by him at his farm, Pear Point, in Albemarle County, Virginia. The journal records mostly farm work done, crops, and the weather. Other topics include church attendance, travels, visits, schooling, estate sales attended, and local births, marriages, and deaths. (Misc. Reel 1632).

The James McDowell Papers, 1770-1915, includes correspondence, speeches, essays, public addresses and notes, bills, legal papers, and other materials of McDowell, chiefly during his term as a state legislator from Rockbridge County, Virginia, as well as governor, and congressman. Topics covered include slavery, especially in the territories, internal improvements, temperance, nullification, Democratic Party politics in Virginia, colonization societies, collegiate and literary societies, land speculation, currency and credit issues, and education, both public school and higher education in Virginia. (Misc. Reels 1633-1641).

The Meriwether Family Papers, 1791-ca. 1880's, consists of correspondence and financial and legal papers of the Meriwether family of Albemarle County, Virginia, and Kentucky and Tennessee. The correspondence is chiefly letters to Charles N. Meriwether from family and friends. Topics include tobacco sales, estate settlements, family news, slave and tobacco sales, and land disputes and prices. There is a great deal of correspondence from his brother, William D. Meriwether. (Misc. Reel 1641).

The E. H. Riggan Account Book, 1846-1870, contains cash account entries, mainly dated 1854-1864, kept by an individual, presumably E. H. Riggan, who apparently lived in or near Mecklenburg County, Virginia. The book includes records of payments received and of payments made. (Misc. Reel 1641).

The Edmund Ruffin Jr. Plantation Diary, 1851-1873, documents affairs on Ruffin's plantation, Beechwood, in Prince George County, Virginia, between 1851 and 1862, and of his Hanover County, Virginia, plantation, Marlbourne, between 1866 and 1873. The journal provides detailed information on the weather, crop conditions, crop rotations, fertilizers used, plantation finances, and general farm tasks completed by slaves and hired hands at Beechwood and Marlbourne. (Misc. Reel 1642).

The Ruffin and Meade Family Papers, 1796-1906, consists of mainly correspondence of the Ruffin and Meade families of Hanover and Prince George Counties, and Petersburg, Virginia, as well as Alabama and New Jersey. The correspondence is mainly that of the women of the Meade family, and provides extensive information on the social, school and family life, including courtship, friendship, religious devotion, plantation affairs, family relationships, secession, and the outbreak of the Civil War. Postwar letters concern mostly family and financial matters. (Misc. Reels 1642-1644).

The Francis Gildart Ruffin Papers, 1802-1860, consist of the postwar business papers of Francis G. Ruffin of Chesterfield County, Virginia, as well as legal, financial and personal papers of his relatives, Albert and Eliza Ruffin, and Spencer Roane. (Misc. Reels 1644-1646).

The John Walker Papers, 1824-1844, consist of the plantation journal of John Walker. The journal is useful for the study of religious life, plantation finances, and slavery in and around King and Queen County, Virginia. The journal documents his finances, and is also rich as a source for slave genealogy, activities, slave/owner relations, often recording vital statistics, family relationships, and the purchase and sale of slaves. (Misc. Reels 1646-1647).

The Floyd L. Whitehead Papers, 1830-1886, consist chiefly of financial, business, and legal papers of Floyd L. Whitehead of Nelson County, Virginia, including some personal papers, and several items relating to Whitehead's brother, John. Business and financial material includes letters from tobacco dealers, indentures, receipts, tax records, and slave bills of sale. Legal material relates to the settlement of estates, land and property disputes, and the collection of bad debts. (Misc. Reel 1647).

Organization

Charles W. Dabney Papers (Misc. Reels 1615-1619); Fredericks Hall Plantation Books (Misc. Reels 1620-1624); Burwell Family Papers (Misc. Reels 1624-1629); Thomas Edward Cox Books (Misc. Reels 1629-1630); Crenshaw and Miller Family Papers (Misc. Reel 1630); Thomas Baylie Cropper Papers (Misc. Reels 1630-1631); Howerton Family Papers (Misc. Reels 1631-1632); Cornelius Dabney Diary (Misc. Reel 1632); T. L. Jones Journal (Misc. Reel 1632); James McDowell Papers (Misc. Reels 1633-1641); Meriwether Family Papers (Misc. Reel 1641); E. H. Riggan Account Book (Misc. Reel 1641); Edmund Ruffin Jr. Plantation Diary (Misc. Reel 1642); Ruffin and Meade Family Papers (Misc. Reels 1642-1644); Francis Gildart Ruffin Papers (Misc. Reels 1644-1646); John Walker Papers (Misc. Reels 1646-1647); and Floyd L. Whitehead Papers (Misc. Reel 1647).