Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Seward Forest Papers, Accession #10026, 10026-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Series I, II, IV, archival transfer Mr. [Guy] Estes, November 29, 1974, Seward Forest, Triplet, Virginia. Series III, archival transfer B.F.D. Runk, June 18, 1975, 160-D, Gilmer Hall.

Processing Information

Chronological, alphabetical, and topical arrangement by file folder had been done by unknown persons prior to processing. There is evidence of a filing scheme created by Alfred Akerman for papers compiled prior to his affiliation with the University of Virginia but it was impossible to arrange files in this original order. There is also evidence of subject file arrangement of Seward Forest files but this too was not maintained in processing. Due to overlapping of dates in many files as supplied for processing, considerable refiling was required for much of the collection.

Biographical/Historical Information

John B. Lewis, naturalist, b. Illinois, October 9, 1868, d. June 8, 1957. Naturalist in residence at Seward Forest, 1940-1945. Prior to work at Seward Forest, served as county agricultural extension agent in Norfolk, Amelia, and Brunswick Counties, Virginia. Author of numerous articles on nature in science journals and Virginia newspapers, including the Southside Virginia News (Petersburg) and the Richmond News- Leader.

Walter Merritt Seward, b. September 22, 1860, d. December 20, 1932. Son of [Robert] Merritt Seward and Susan Everett Branch (b. May 20, 1840, d. Aug. 15, 1928), who after her first husband's death married John H. Dunn. Seward was an 1886 graduate of University of Virginia School of Medicine. Practiced in New York City until 1912 then returned to Brunswick County. Bequeathed entire estate to the University of Virginia, including ca. 3,600 acres of land in Brunswick and Greensville Counties, Virginia, for instructional use in forestry.

Alfred Akerman, b. Bartow County, Georgia, July 3, 1876, d. Sept. 20, 1962. One of eight sons of Amos T. Akerman, US Attorney General during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. Forester and first director of University of Virginia Seward Forest (1935-1950). Earned Master's Degree in Forestry at Yale in 1902 where he taught until 1904; served as State Forester of Massachusetts, 1904-1906. Professor of Forestry at University of Georgia where he held the Chair of Forestry in a position endowed by philanthropist George Foster Peabody. Served in the Virginia Forest Service as District Forester for Southeastern Virginia, 1921- 1926. Associate professor of forestry at the University of Virginia beginning in 1928; in 1935, the first year of active development of the Seward Forest, became the Forest director, a position in which he served until 1950 when Guy Estes succeeded him. During retirement continued to live in Brunswick County, Virginia, working part-time on a consulting basis at Seward Forest.

Scope and Content

The Seward Forest papers consist of ca. 17,600 items (50 Hollingers, ca. 21 linear feet), 1833-1974, concerning the founding and operations of the University of Virginia's Seward Experimental Forest (or Seward Forest), a tract of 3,600 acres of land located near Triplet (sometimes or previously spelled Triplett), Virginia, in Brunswick County with part in Greensville County, Virginia. The property was willed to the University of Virginia by Walter Merritt Seward, an 1886 University of Virginia School of Medicine graduate to be used, as stipulated in Seward's will, as "an instrumentality for instruction in the science of forestry, and in the art of cutting, sawing, manufacturing and marketing the products of the forest, and at the same time to aid the University of Virginia in the development of its School of Forestry and to further the usefulness of said institution." The University of Virginia operated Seward Forest from 1935 to 1974, sawing at its mill timber supplied by local woodcutters and selling wood products such as lumber and firewood. It also served as an experimental research facility for studying forestry practices and was used by personnel from the University of Virginia and elsewhere for this purpose.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in the following series: I. Papers of Seward/Dunn Families. II. Papers of John B. Lewis III. Papers of Alfred Akerman. IV. Papers of the Seward Forest. Within series papers are generally arranged alphabetically and chronologically for correspondence and alphabetically by topic for all other materials.

Series I, Papers of Seward and Dunn Families, includes papers from Walter Seward's stepfather, John H. Dunn, and Seward's father, [Robert] Merritt Seward, as well as materials generated by Walter Seward himself. Dunn's papers include an 1842 tax receipt which lists "tax on negroes" at 40 cents each, correspondence, and financial records. Seward's materials include much correspondence with his mother, Susan Everett Dunn (nee Branch), financial records, notes concerning his medical practice, notes from a class on general chemistry given by J.W. Mallet at the University of Virginia in 1885-1886, and an 1888 patient ledger.

Series II, Papers of John B. Lewis, are the papers of John Lewis, for six years in the 1940s naturalist in residence at Seward Forest. Lewis's papers contain correspondence with laymen, scientists, and government officials, checklists on flora and fauna (birds, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians) observed and collected in Kentucky and Virginia, work books, and a card index of plants. Some of Lewis's bird observations in the collection date from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Manuscript and copies of newspaper columns on nature topics written by Lewis for Virginia newspapers are also included.

Series III, Papers of Alfred Akerman, are the papers of the first director of the Seward Forest (1935-1950) and contain material on his pre-Seward Forest career as well as on his activities at the Forest. Akerman's career paralleled the development of forestry in the United States, and his papers in Series III offer insight on the field's evolution. The collection includes his correspondence from the first half of the 20th Century with philanthropist George Foster Peabody and C.A. Schenck of the Biltmore Forest School. There is material covering his career as professor of forestry at the University of Georgia, 1906-1914, including letters to and from University of Georgia Chancellor David C. Barrow and class materials, examinations, and notes on students, Akerman's employment with the Virginia Forest Service from 1921-1926 is well documented in the collection which covers such topics as forest management, warden appointments, and fire protection. Correspondence with one of his brothers, Clement, a professor at Hood College in Oregon, covers fiscal and political topics and includes several papers and reports written by Clement. Copies of reports and pamphlets written by Akerman, including Forests of Surry County Virginia, and The White Cedar of the Dismal Swamp, as well as the notes used in preparing them, form part of the collection. Akerman wrote and saved numerous newspaper articles and letters to the editor, and these are preserved in the collection. Many of the articles, on politics and world affairs, as well as natural science, include his commentary. Akerman's career at the University of Virginia, starting in 1928 as an associate professor of forestry, is documented in the collection by classroom notes and examinations, correspondence with University administration, and material on the founding of Seward Forest in the first half of the 1930s following Walter Seward's death. Akerman was a friend of Walter Seward, and throughout his lifetime wrote often about Seward's life. Included in papers prepared by Akerman on the life of Walter Seward is a copy of Seward's will bequeathing his estate to the University of Virginia. Series III also has a number of unidentified photographs of member of the Akerman and Scudder families.

Series IV, Papers of the Seward Forest, contain chronological files concerning the daily operation of the Forest, with information on Seward Forest personnel, lumber sales and sawmill operations, local and state retail and service businesses (i.e., hardware stores, timber companies, and automobile repairs), payroll and motor vehicle records, and correspondence with University of Virginia administrators, other academic institutions, and county and state government officials. Alfred Akerman and Guy Estes, first and second directors of the Seward Forest, are principal correspondents. Depression-era correspondence contains requests from individuals seeking employment at the Seward Forest. Much of the correspondence from the World War II era concerns Akerman's dealings with rationing, personnel staffing problems due to the draft, and wartime government regulations affecting the operation of the Forest. Postwar correspondence shows an increasing amount of paperwork dealing with University of Virginia and Virginia state regulations and official policies and their effects on Seward Forest operations. Series IV also contains numerous topical file folders including annual reports and budget data, records on tree plantations on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and correspondence of Forest work crew members. One individual on the crew was Ervin H. Wright, from Gasburg, Virginia, whose 1942-1944 correspondence indicates he was with Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. According to a 1947 newspaper article, Wright was killed in action in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. There are several letters and postcards written between Alfred Akerman and Wright. Forest scenes and personnel are featured in a collection of photographs of the Forest. There are also files on Seward Forest infrastructure and utilities (roads, bridges, electricity, water supply, etc.). Numerous bound volumes (notebooks, ledgers, etc.) prepared by Akerman and others prior to the founding of the Seward Forest as well as records kept during Forest operations cover such topics as land surveys, sawmill operations, personnel records, and finances.