Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Permission to publish material from the Anna Burton Ellett Collection 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: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Anna Burton Ellett Collection, Ms1974-010, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Anna Burton Ellett Collection was donated to Special Collections in 1974.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Anna Burton Ellett Collection commenced and was completed in November, 2012.

Biographical Note

Anna Burton Ellett, daughter of Henry W. and Anna Elizabeth Bass Burton, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on March 5, 1886. Following the early death of her mother, she spent her childhood at the home of her great uncle, James A. Walker, of Rockbridge County, Virginia. She later attended high school in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from Trinity College in 1906. In 1918, she accepted a position with the Virginia Extension Service in Blacksburg, where she met and married Walter Beal Ellett, head of Virginia Tech's Department of Agricultural Chemistry. She was an active member of both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Anna Burton Ellett died in Shawsville, Virginia on April 28, 1974.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials acquired by Anna Burton Ellett, a resident of Blacksburg, Virginia, through her interest in local and United States history. The collection includes correspondence, legal documents, and military records from Southwest Virginia as well as printed materials relating to the bicentennial commemoration of the 1732 birth of President George Washington.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

Series I. Southwest Virginia Historical Documents, 1751-1841. This series contains materials acquired by Ellett through her interest in local history. The documents focus largely on the Patton and Preston families, particularly James Patton, William Preston, and John Preston. Included are correspondence and legal documents, as well as pay records and rosters of John Preston's company of local volunteer militia. The series also contains a few pieces from other sources, including a justice of the peace certification for Samuel D. King, signed by Daniel Webster; a list of goods apparently stolen from Capt. Adam Levinson; and a survey map apparently showing streams in present-day Montgomery County, Virginia.

Series II. Washington Bicentennial Celebration, 1931-1932. This series contains printed materials produced--mostly by the George Washington Bicentennial Commission--to guide local organizations in commemorating the 200th anniversary of Washington's birth. Included are essays, programs, scripts, music, and promotional materials.

Separated Material

The following items were removed from the collection and cataloged for the Rare Book Collection:

Colonial gardens: the landscape architecture of George Washington's time. Washington, D.C.: United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission, [1932]. SB466 U6 A6 c.2 Large Spec

Ellett, W. B. "Sugar Beets in Virginia." Circular (Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station), no. 1. LD5655 A5231 C45 no. 1 VPI Spec

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Blacksburg (Va.)
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Montgomery County (Va.)

Right Statement for Archival Description

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