Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Provenance

Many of the original documents photocopied in this collection were brought by local residents to the Turner Hams Store on Route 259 in Fulks Run, or the nearby Mt. Carmel Church, for the "Brocks Gap Heritage Day" events first held by compiler Patricia Turner Ritchie in the spring of 1991, where they were copied. Other materials were located by Ritchie through her own research. Ritchie created an annotated index for some of the materials, and notes that some of the documents are not recorded in the Rockingham County Court House.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Patricia Turner Ritchie Collection on Brocks Gap, 1750s-1990s, SC 0145, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection, comprised exclusively of photocopies, was purchased from Pat Turner Ritchie beginning in May 1991 through 2002.

Processing Information

In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 3088.

Bio/Historical Note

Brocks Gap is an area of approximately 200 square miles in northwestern Rockingham County formed by the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Scope and Content

The Patricia Turner Ritchie Collection on Brocks Gap, 1750s-1990s, is comprised exclusively of photocopies of deeds, wills, surveys, patents, road agreements, accounts, letters and a wide variety of other documents relevant to the Brocks Gap area of northwestern Rockingham County, Virginia. The materials document many aspects of rural life. Family names mentioned most frequently are Fawley, Fulk, Turner, and Ruddle, but many others also occur. The "C" series are papers from the Ransom Hess estate; he was the son of Richard and Lydia Shoemaker Hess, grandson of Abraham and Amanda Custer Hess, great grandson of Richard Custer Jr. and Elizabeth Trumbo Custer, and lived on the Custer homestead on Little Dry River Road in Fulks Run.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into informal series or groupings of documents: Brocks Gap (BG), Fulks Run (F), Custer (C), and Turner (T). This arrangement was imposed by the donor. Each document or set of documents was also assigned a numeric identifier by the donor. Corresponding indices are included for the Brocks Gap and Fulks Run documents.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African Americans -- Virginia -- Brocks Gap
• Brocks Gap (Va.) -- History
• Brocks Gap (Va.) -- Social life and customs
• Communities -- Attitudes
• Community life
• Deeds
• Deeds -- Virginia -- Brocks Gap
• Deeds of trust
• Farm equipment -- Patents
• Fawley family
• Fawley family -- Correspondence
• Fulk family
• Fulk family -- Correspondence
• Fulks Run (Va.) -- Genealogy
• Fulks Run (Va.) -- Surveys
• Land use -- Virginia -- Rockingham County
• Letters (correspondence)
• Patents
• Photocopies
• Real property -- Virginia -- Brocks Gap
• Roads -- Virginia -- Rockingham County
• Ruddell family
• Ruddell family -- Correspondence
• Rural families
• Rural population
• Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.) -- History
• Social history
• Turner family
• Turner family -- Correspondence
• Virginia -- Genealogy
• Wills