Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of the Morrison and Related Skinner Family, Accession #5485-a, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated by Mrs. Marshall Timberlake of Charlottesville, Virginia to the library on November 14, 1956.

Scope and Content Information

The Morrison & Skinner Family Papers consist of 76 items from the period 1861 - 1955, with the bulk of the material falling between 1879-1894. The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material, legal papers, photographs, printed material, and stock certificates.

These papers focus primarily on the settlement and distribution of David H. Morrison's estate upon his death in 1882 among his wife, Harriet Skinner Morrison and six children: Charles Carrol Morrison, James H.S. Morrison, Julius Curtis Morrison, Sarah Eliza Morrison Holland, Harriet Gest Morrison Rankin, and Samuel R. Morrison. His estate consisted of both his personal property and the assets of his company, The Columbia Bridge Works. David H. Morrison, a surveyor and engineer in Dayton, Ohio, built many of the bridges in that area and held two patents in the area of bridge building.

The correspondence includes two letters from J. Charles Morrison to his sister Harriet M. Rankin concerning their father's estate and three letters of recommendation for William T. Rankin for a position in the legal department of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago.

The genealogical material consists of two typewritten copies of a family history by Thomas Morrison, father of David H. Morrison. This includes early family history as well as the life and travels of Thomas Morrison, with special emphasis given to his time in Dayton, Ohio. Also included are David H. Morrison's typewritten death announcement which provides details of his life's work; a genealogy of the Morrison family from 1660 to the 1860's; two typewritten histories of the origin of the Morrison family name; and a typewritten biographical sketch of Harriet Skinner Morrison's father and grandfather.

Legal papers comprise the bulk of the collection and include mostly deeds and agreements, but also leases, mortgages, receipts, insurance policies and David H. Morrison's will and accompanying codicil. The majority of the deeds and agreements involve the transfer of property, money, business ownership and stock between Harriet S. Morrison and her six children after the death of her husband in 1882. For a more detailed account of the individual legal documents, see the handwritten list in the control folder.

Included in this collection are two unidentified photographs; one photograph of Louise Rankin Bloom (Mrs. John McLeod Bloom) ca. 1900; and one photograph of a gathering of people in riding habits on the front steps of Clover Hill, with people partially identified.

Printed material in the collection consists of 3 printed copies of "The Story of the Huguenot's Sword" (1929), reprinted from Harper's Monthly Magazine (1851 April) and several newpaper clippings, including death announcements for David H. Morrison (1882 July 22), Harriet Skinner Morrison (1898 Nov 27) and Loren Curtis Diver; a clipping for the Los Angeles Times regarding the last name Morrison; and a clipping from The Nation Tribune: Washington, D.C. Other items of interest include stock certificates from The Columbia Bridge Company to J. C. Morrison (1884 April) and from the Silver Islet Mining and Milling Company to W. T. Rankin ( 1892 April).