Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Grattan and Related Family Papers, Accession 11019, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

These papers were purchased by the Library on October 7 and December 9, 1991.

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the papers of the Grattan , Heneberger , Roller , and Shacklett families of the Rockingham County, Virginia area, 1841-1901, ca. 90 items. The papers include letters, photographs, genealogical information, and miscellaneous items, chiefly the correspondence of Lucien Guy Heneberger (1851-), his sister, Ella Heneberger Grattan , and Maggie Shacklett Roller .

One letter is from former Governor Thomas W. Gilmer , August 11, 1841, to Robert Grattan , mentioning a letter he received from John Thompson of Amherst, Virginia , who was in charge of the management of their bank concerns, which asked Gilmer to advertise an estate for sale for fifteen dollars an acre. Gilmer begs Grattan to buy it and assures him the lowest possible price, says that the Bank Bill will be vetoed, and that the political parties will undergo the reorganization so long predicted and necessary. He also mentions that his friends have told him that the Whigs and Democrats are all against him at home.

Miscellaneous letters to Ella and George Grattan , 1878-1894, discuss news of family and friends, and includes the following correspondents: Kate Herring ; [Jeannie ?] Grattan ; Cousin Elizabeth Grattan ; sister Mabel H [?] re a trip to New York (1881 Oct 20); Emily Gray ; Peachy R. Grattan ; G.W. [Harris ?]; Belle R. Harrison ; G.G. Grattan, Sr. ; and Mattie P. Myers .

Letters from Lucien Guy Heneberger (1851-?), a University of Virginia alumnus who attended from 1869-1871, to Ella Grattan , his sister, 1878-1883, were mostly written while a United States Naval Surgeon aboard the USS Trenton, the flagship of the European fleet, stationed off the coast of France and Italy . His first letter, December 27, 1878, was written while Heneberger was still at the Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C. and mentions his application for sea duty aboard the USS Trenton. In his next letter, January 5, 1879, he describes the presentation of all Naval officers to President Rutherford B. Hayes at the White House , a social in the Blue Room with music by the full marine band, and his other New Year Day's activities. Later correspondence refers to the possiblitity of proceeding to the scene of excitement in Turkish waters (1880 Oct 3); the presidential election of 1880, in which Lucien favors Winfield S. Hancock over James A. Garfield (1880 Nov 3); the sight of Mount Vesuvius belching forth fire and lava and trying to select bronzes and paintings in Italy for his brother-in-law's parlor (1880 Nov 15); and meeting the daughter of William Cullen Bryant at a party (1881 Jan 1).

Charles Colcock Jones, Jr. has written three letters to George Grattan , two about information given to Jones by Grattan about the Civil War battle of Ocean Pond ( Olustee ) used in his book Historical Sketch of the Chatham Artillery (1868 Jan 27 & Feb 3). The third letter is also about his Civil War research in which he asks Grattan to help him illustrate his roster of a company with autographs of all general officers (1872 Jul 12).

General Samuel H. Lewis , Lewiston , writes a letter of sympathy upon the death of Robert Grattan to Grattan's wife, August 27, 1855, and shares a resolution passed by the County Court of Rockingham (of which Grattan was formerly a member).

There is one letter from Matthew Fontaine Maury , March 18, 1869, to George G. Grattan , discussing mining in Augusta County , his fees, and his offer of help in getting one of the Virginia Military Institute professors to analyze the ores.

Franklin Minor , the head of Ridgeway School in Albemarle County , writes to Robert Grattan , September 17, 1854, discussing the school and a visit by Matthew Fontaine Maury , who is described as being "a perfect jewel of original thought and learning." Minor also mentions the completion of Maury's book The Physical Geography of the Sea .

The correspondence in accession 11019-a is chiefly that of Maggie Shacklett Roller , wife of General John E. Roller (married ca. 1878). In a letter to Mrs. Carrie Roller , August 21, 1878, Maggie Roller describes a trip (possibly her honeymoon) to Europe with General John E. Roller , naming Ireland as her favorite place. A letter from Emily H. F [?], March 27, [1896], discusses her difficulties in securing a position with a family and supporting herself and her mother and shows strongly the plight of an unmarried woman trying to support herself in the nineteenth century. Louisa A. Kemper writes, October 13, [n.y.], to General Roller concerning the health of her husband from the National Military Home in Montgomery County, Ohio .

Other correspondence includes brief letters from William Shands ; Winfield Liggett ; Alexander Wendell (a letter of sympathy, April 3, 1871); Betty Brockman (school news, August 16, 1872); John Hart , headmaster of Maggie's school, to Henry Shacklett re Maggie's school work (June 14, 1873); and Thomas L. Broun to Judge Grattan enclosing a photograph of General Lee and Grattan (not present, December 28, 1901).

Photographs in both accessions include: Lucien Guy Heneberger , while a student at the University of Virginia , 1871; Sallie Watson Magruder , a school mate at " Piedmont , " Keswick, Albemarle County , 1866; and Dr. Clayton Williams , Winchester, Virginia , [187?]; and school friends of Maggie Shacklett Roller , Lilly C. Beale , Bessie Gunter , and Catharine Gunter , early 1870's.

Other papers include genealogical material concerning the Effinger , Shacklett , and Rector families, menus, things-to-do list, list of preserves to make, and a calling card.