Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted.

Preferred Citation

George W. Janney Collection (M 093), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Esther Cowart, Hamilton, VA

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

1994.0001

Processing Information

Donna Jamison and Elizabeth E. Preston, 31 March 2014

Biographical Information

George Wells Janney (1 September 1821-26 October 1873) was born near Hamilton, Virginia to John Janney (1788-1850) and Susan Wells Janney (1790-1822). His father was a storekeeper and businessman with stores in Hamilton and Evansville (in what is now West Virginia). Janney joined his father in business, and in the 1840s they began businesses in Gainsboro, VA, Wardensville, VA (now WV), and Berlin (now Brunswick), Maryland. Janney traded in agricultural products, such as guano, farm implements, and seed, as well as dry goods like fabric, household items, and hardware. He bought much of his supply of goods from merchants in Baltimore, and spent considerable time there.

He married Mary Compher (1822-1913), from the Lovettsville area, on 31 December 1844. He had been courting her for some time, but Mary's mother did not approve of the match and the couple eloped to Frederick, MD. The Janneys had seven children, including John Compher Janney (1851-1880) who became a treasurer of the town of Hamilton.

Janney's father died in 1850, leaving him to administer his estate and take over operations of all the businesses. Janney appears to have sold his father's interest in the Evansville store, but continued to maintain the Hamilton store. His family moved house with some regularity, living in Hamilton, Barry (MD), Berlin (MD), and Baltimore (MD). In the 1850s he served as an officer in the Loudoun and Berlin Bridge Company; Janney was appointed postmaster of Barry, MD in 1851 and Hamilton in 1859.

He did not serve in the Civil War, but his sympathies were with the Confederacy. When the Confederate government reappointed postmasters in Loudoun County, Janney kept his position in Hamilton. He did occasionally own slaves, but they usually came to his household as part of a business transaction with someone liquidating his estate or paying debts to Janney, who would then sell them quickly. Janney regularly hired slaves from nearby farms when he needed labor or household help. Despite his known sympathies and trade with the Confederate forces, Janney was able to secure passes from the US Provost Marshal to cross the Potomac River at Point of Rocks, MD, and engaged in trade with the US Army. In 1863 he signed an oath of allegiance to the United States, which he reaffirmed at the conclusion of the Civil War.

After the Civil War, Janney's business ventures saw continued success. He began working with partners in many of his stores. The store in Hamilton was known as Janney & Slaymaker as well as VanDevanter & Janney; a business in Baltimore was known first as Ridenour, Janney & Co., then Janney, Jordan & Co. He invested in a real estate venture in Pana, Illinois. Janney was an active member of the International Order of Odd Fellows and a founding member of the Hamilton-Thompson Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. At their organizational meeting on 5 May 1868, Janney was appointed "Worshipful Master."

Janney died unexpectedly, after a short illness, while in Baltimore on 26 October 1873. His wife, Mary, lived until 1913. They are both buried in Union Cemetery in Leesburg.

Scope and Content

The collection is made up of the business and personal papers of George W. Janney. The business papers contain accounts and inventories from various stores, court records, tax and insurance information, and paperwork from the settlement of his father's estate. Included is Janney's business correspondence, which contains information about purchasing wholesale goods for his stores, transporting goods, settling debts and collecting on debts owed to him, and negotiating prices. Many bills, notes, and receipts survive, documenting Janney's purchases and debts, as well as items bought at his establishments and monies owed to him. There are 20 account books in the collection from various stores and from the Loudoun and Berlin Bridge Company.

Also included in the collection are papers relating to Janney's family, the education of his children, his appointments as postmaster, and involvement in fraternal groups, as well as some personal correspondence. The personal correspondence is general in nature, mostly concerning small family matters. In the correspondence with Mary Compher Janney is the letter Janney wrote to Mary's mother after the couple eloped. Also of interest is a letter from Dr. Eli Nathan Love (1820-1882). Dr. Love was driven out of Loudoun County because of his loyalty to the Union. His wife died while he was in exile, and Love wrote to Janney, whom he called a "bosom friend," on 5 October 1863 to thank him for kindnesses shown his wife.

NOTES: Formerly catalogued as NUCMC 64

Arrangement

Box: Folder

Related Material

None

Separated Material

None

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Chamberlin, Taylor M. and John M. Souders. Between Reb and Yank: A Civil War History of Northern Loudoun County, Virginia . Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc, 2011.

Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, 1861-1865. Fold3 (www.footnotelibrary.com accessed 7 April 2014).

Federal Census, 1860 and 1870. Ancestry Library edition, (www.ancestrylibrary.com accessed 3 April 2014).

FindAGrave (www.findagrave.com accessed 3 April 2014).

Frain, Elizabeth R. Union Cemetery Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia: Plats A & B, 1784-1995 . Willow Bend Books: Lovettsville, VA, 1995.

George W. Janney Collection (M 093), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

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Other Finding Aid

None

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Technical Requirements

None