Papers of James Keith, President, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1843-1910 (bulk 1877-1910) Keith, James, President, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, A Guide to the Papers of, 1843-1910 (bulk 1877-1910) 31211

Papers of James Keith, President, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1843-1910 (bulk 1877-1910)

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 31211

Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

Processed by: Jessie R. Robinson

Repository

The Library of Virginia

Accession Number

31211

Title

Papers of

James

Keith

, President, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1843-1910 (bulk 1877-1910)

Extent

1 cu. ft. (3 boxes)

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Papers of James Keith , President, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1843-1910 (bulk 1877-1910). Accession 31211, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transferred by Allen L. Lucy, Clerk, Supreme Court of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. 26 September 1981.

Biographical/Historical Information

James Keith was born 7 September 1839 in Fauquier County, Virginia. He studied law at the University of Virginia, as well as under John M. Forbes of Warrenton. Keith also served the Confederate States during the Civil War as part of the Black Horse Calvary. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1869, serving one session before being elected to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in 1870. This court oversaw cases from Alexandria, Fauquier and surrounding counties. Keith served as a circuit court judge until 1895 when he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in Richmond, later serving as the court's President (now known as Chief Justice). Judge Keith retired from the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1916 and died in 1918.

Scope and Content

Contains a variety of items and documents belonging to Judge James Keith , President of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The material includes lists of appeals granted and refused, incoming and outgoing correspondence related to personal and court matters, court papers, and speeches. The correspondence includes letters to United States Secretary of War and Secretary of State, Elihu Root, fellow Supreme Court judges John Buchanan and John Harlan, as well as a folder of letters detailing events surrounding the election of 1896. Also included is a speech given by Judge Keith about General Eppa Hunton, and two sets of remarks regarding the installation of portraits in the court house. Additionally, the collection includes a set of Virginia Bar Examination questions from 1900, titled "Questions Propounded by the Court of Appeals to Applicants for License to Practice Law." The original order of the material was maintained as much as possible.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I. Appeals Granted and Refused, 1877-1910 Series II. Correspondence, 1894-1910 Series III. Miscellaneous Papers, 1843-1910

Contents List

Series I. Appeals Granted and Refused, 1877-1910.

Contains five notebooks of appeals granted and refused. The notebooks contain lists of cases with varying amounts of information, such as the date, case number, names of platintiffs and defendents, whether the appeal was granted, which judge oversaw the case, and which session it was part of (Richmond, Staunton, Winchester, or Wytheville). The notebooks with overlapping dates contain different information.

Arranged chronologically.

Box 1 Folder 1
Appeals granted and refused (cases heard after Judge Moncure retired), 1877-1879 .
Box 1 Folder 2
Appeals granted and refused, 1895-1896 .
Box 1 Folder 3
Appeals granted and refused, 1896-1902 .
Box 1 Folder 4
Appeals granted and refused, 1896-1902 .
Box 1 Folder 5
Appeals granted and refused, 1903-1910 .

Series II. Correspondence, 1894-1910.

Contains letters to and from Chief Justice James Keith . The content of the letters includes genealogical and family-related subjects, as well as discussion of court decisions, his Civil War service, and the 1896 presidential election. Also included are letters to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as letters to Elihu Root who served as Secretary of War under McKinley and Secretary of State under Roosevelt. Some folders contain only letters to Justice Keith , others contain letters going both ways, and still others contain only copies of letters sent by Justice Keith .

Arranged in two sections: correspondents with multiple letters (each correspondent gets a separate folder) and correspondents with single letters (many correspondents in one folder). Each section is arranged alphabetically by last name. At the end of the list is one subject folder (1896 election) and two folders of unidentified letters. The original order of the letters varied, and as such, this arrangement was the best compromise.

Multiple Letters.
- Box 1 Folder 6
  Anderson, Archer, 1903 .
- Box 1 Folder 7
  Browning, Judith 1897 .
- Box 1 Folder 8
  Buchanan, Judge John A., 1905 .
- Box 1 Folder 9
  Burks, E.C. (Virginia Law Register), 1896 .
- Box 1 Folder 10
  Caskie and Coleman, 1905 .
- Box 1 Folder 11
  Cauthorn [?], Sara, 1897 .
- Box 1 Folder 12
  Davis, Richard, 1905 .
- Box 1 Folder 13
  Garden, Hugh, 1896-1904 .
- Box 1 Folder 14
  Harlan, Judge John, 1898-1905 .
- Box 1 Folder 15
  Grant, J.R., 1902-1903 .
- Box 1 Folder 16
  Keith , Annie, 1897-1899 .
- Box 1 Folder 17
  Keith , Mary, 1897 .
- Box 2 Folder 1
  Lane, William A., 1897 .
- Box 2 Folder 2
  Lewis, William Draper, 1905 .
- Box 2 Folder 3
  Meigs, S.E., 1905 .
- Box 2 Folder 4
  Root, Elihu, 1901-1905 .
- Box 2 Folder 5
  Smith, Thomas, 1902-1906 .
- Box 2 Folder 6
  Tucker, J.R., 1896 .
- Box 2 Folder 7
  Young, S.B., 1897 .
Single Letters.
- Box 2 Folder 8
  Abbie and Imbrie - Braxton, 1894-1910 .
- Box 2 Folder 9
  Brewer - Hunton, 1899-1905 .
- Box 2 Folder 10
  "Kate" - Logan, 1894-1900 .
- Box 2 Folder 11
  McClanahan - Minor, 1898-1905 .
- Box 2 Folder 12
  Moore - Munford, 1894-1906 .
- Box 2 Folder 13
  Payne - Roosevelt, 1896-1903 .
- Box 2 Folder 14
  Stribling - West Publishing Company, 1905-1906 .
Miscellaneous.
- Box 2 Folder 15
  1896 Presidential Campaign, 1895-1896 .
- Box 2 Folder 16
  Unidentified "Judge" letters, 1902 .
- Box 2 Folder 17
  Unidentified missing page, undated .

Series III. Miscellaneous Papers, 1843-1910.

Contains a variety of items including, but not limited to, financial documents, court papers, and speeches. Several of the documents are undated.

Arranged alphabetically by type of document.

Box 2 Folder 18
Checks, 1904 .
Box 2 Folder 19
Checks, 1905 .
Box 2 Folder 20
Checks, 1906 .
Box 3 Folder 1
Checks (stub book), 1910 .
Box 3 Folder 2
Court Documents (Green v. Smith), 1843-1879 .
Box 3 Folder 3
Court Opinion (W.O. Nolting v. National Bank of Virginia), undated .
Box 3 Folder 4
Manual of the House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia, 1895-1896 Session, 1895 .
Box 3 Folder 5
Picture of Rufus W. Peckham (possibly a magazine insert), undated .
Box 3 Folder 6
Questions Propounded by the Court of Appeals to Applicants for License to Practice Law, 1900 .
Box 3 Folder 7
Receipts, 1898-1905 .
Box 3 Folder 8
Speech (about General Eppa Hunton), undated .
Box 3 Folder 9
Speech (portrait installation, "Mr. Taylor"), undated .
Box 3 Folder 10
Speech (portrait installation, Judge Henry W. Thomas), undated .
Box 3 Folder 11
Unidentified writings (possibly related to election), undated .