Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from the Hermann C. Niemeyer Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Hermann C. Niemeyer Papers, Ms1987-062, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Hermann C. Niemeyer Papers were acquired by Special Collections prior to 1988.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Hermann C. Niemeyer Papers commenced and was completed in November, 2018.

Biographical / Historical

Hermann Christian Niemeyer, son of William A. and Sarah Howard Chandler Niemeyer, was born on February 2, 1856. Niemeyer matriculated at Virginia Agricultural & Mechanical College from Portsmouth, Virginia in 1875 and seems to have graduated in 1878. He married Marie Louise Hook in St. Louis in 1882. Census records indicate that the couple moved with their oldest daughter back to Portsmouth, Virginia in late 1883 or 1884. The Niemeyers had four more daughters and lived on Swimming Point in Portsmouth. Through the 1880s and 1890s, Niemeyer tried his hand at several different business enterprises. His obituary reported that he had engaged in the commission business, the book business, and the real estate and rental business. He had also been connected with the Portsmouth Star as a "special man and route agent." City directories of the late 1880s list him as a brick manufacturer. Niemeyer's business connections led him, in 1896, to be elected secretary and treasurer of Portsmouth's board of trade, a position in which he continued to serve until his death, which occurred in his home on July 17, 1899. He was buried in Portsmouth's Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the papers of Hermann C. Niemeyer, a student at Virginia Agricultural & Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech) during the mid-1870s. The collection includes two leaves detailing Niemeyer's expenses while at school in 1876 and 1877, and three leaves containing well-wishes from schoolmates and genealogical data on the Niemeyer family. The collection also includes a certificate, signed by Charles L. C. Minor, commending Niemeyer for "attaining to an average of three-fourths in all his examinations for the session of 1875-76," and a photographic portrait of Niemeyer in his cadet uniform.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• University Archives
• Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College