Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the G. E. Roberts Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: G. E. Roberts Letter, Ms2019-026, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The G. E. Roberts Letter was purchased by Special Collections in 2018.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the G. E. Roberts Letter was completed in June 2019.

Biographical Note

George E. Roberts was born in 1834 in Montgomery County, VA. He was a white merchant in Central Depot, Virginia. He married Julia A. Cofer on May 4, 1859 in Pulaski, VA. They had five children. Roberts died on June 7, 1887.

Dr. James Preston Hammet (b. 1833) of Christiansburg, VA was a surgeon with both Whites and African-Americans patients. Following an incident where he was shot by an African-American patient, he continued to practice medicine. He died in lived until 1879.

Scope and Content

The G. E. Roberts Letter contains information pertaining to an African American man shooting a white doctor, Dr. Hammet, in Christiansburg, VA. The letter is written to Walter J. Reeve in Central Depot, VA on February 8, 1874.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African Americans -- History
• Correspondence
• Hammet, James Preston, d. 1879
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Roberts, George E. , 1834-1887
• Virginia -- History

Rights Statements for Archival Description

The guide to the G. E. Roberts Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).