Washington and Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives
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Liberty Hall Academy Subscription List (RG 1.03), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
1749: Augusta Academy is founded in near Greenville in Augusta County, Va.
1776: The Academy is moved to Timber Ridge and renamed Liberty Hall Academy. At the time, Timber Ridge was in Augusta County. It became part of Rockbridge County when it formed out of Augusta County in 1778.
1782: Liberty Hall Academy relocates from Timber Ridge to Lexington, Va.
1796: Liberty Hall Academy is renamed Washington Academy following George Washington's gift of James River Canal stock.
1813: Washington Academy is renamed Washington College.
1870: The college is renamed Washington and Lee University following the death of the school's 11th President, Robert E. Lee.
In circa 1775, a group of men representing the Presbytery of Hanover and Augusta Academy traveled to Williamsburg, the capital of the Colony of Virginia, for the purpose of raising funds to "establish and patronize a public academy Timber Ridge in Augusta County to be managed by the Reverend William Graham..." By 1776, enough funds had been raised to move Augusta Academy to Timber Ridge where the school was renamed Liberty Hall Academy. It would eventually move again to Lexington in 1782. It became Washington and Lee University in 1870.
This collection consists of the subscription list presented to members of the House of Burgesses and other leading politicans and judicial officers of that time by the Presbytery of Hanover (Virginia) in an effort to raise funds to move Augusta Academy to a location in Timber Ridge. In addition to outlying the purpose of the funding request and naming who the academy's leadership would be, including Rev. William Graham, the document includes the signatures and financial pledges of the individuals who subscribed their support as well as noting if they paid. Of particular note, in addition to a "who's who" in the earliest days of the history of Virginia and the American Revolution, this list is signed by 5 future signers of the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, and Richard Henry Lee (signed Richard Lee).
At a subsequent time, an unidentified person added a handwritten note "Subscriptions Taken in Wmsburg for Liberty Hall Supposed 1775."
Board of Trustees Records (RG 1), Jacob Fuller Scrapbook (RG 1.04)