Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Sayers Family Papers, Mss. Collection 1993.3, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Donated by the estate of Samuel R. Sayers in 1993.

Biographical Information

William Sayers and his wife Esther Thompson Crockett Sayers settled in Wythe County in the mid-eighteenth century and raised three sons, Robert Sayers, Alexander Sayers, and John Thompson Sayers. The eldest son Robert Sayers (1754-1826) accumulated vast wealth during his lifetime including the profitable Anchor and Hope Plantation near Max Meadows. A bachelor, he willed the Anchor and Hope land to his nephew Robert Sayers.

John Thompson Sayers (1758-1816) served as a major in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and fought under Colonel William Preston. He was wounded severely at the battle of Cowpens, South Carolina on 17 January 1781. Surviving his wound, he married Susanna Crockett in 1784 and raised eight children including Robert Sayers I (1796-1876).

Their second son, Robert Sayers I inherited the Anchor and Hope Plantation. He and his wife, Senah Ross Sayers, raised eight children. Their sons, Robert Sayers Jr. (1826-1911), John Thompson Sayers II (b. 1831), and Samuel Rush Sayers (1833-1914) all served during the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. Robert Sayers Jr. was a colonel of local militia while John Thompson Sayers II enlisted in 1861 in the Wythe Grays (Company 1, 4th Virginia Infantry Regiment) and eventually rose to captain. Federal troops captured him shortly after the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 and imprisoned him at Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio. Military records indicate that he was released in March 1865.

Dr. Samuel Rush Sayers was educated at the University of Pennsylvania during the mid-1850s and practiced medicine in Wythe County. During the Civil War he served as surgeon with the 4th Virginia Infantry Regiment and the 27 Virginia Infantry Regiment. For what he cited as personal reasons, Dr. Sayers unsuccessfully sought a resignation from the Army in May 1863. Citing his valuable medical knowledge and experience, military authorities refused his request and he continued to serve as surgeon throughout the war. Dr. Sayers married Lucy Ann Spiller; one his children was Robert Sayers III.

Scope and Content

The Sayers Family Papers are arranged in three series. Series I, Correspondence (1849-1888, Undated) includes letters received and sent to Senah Ross Sayers and her family from 1849 to 1888. Correspondents include Robert Sayers Jr., John Thompson Sayers II, Dr. Samuel Rush Sayers, Anne C. Sayers, and Robert Sayers III. Topics discussed in this correspondence document daily life at Anchor and Hope Plantation and Wytheville, Virginia. School life at Emory and Henry College (1849), Hampden-Sidney College (early spelling) (1888), United States Naval Academy (1888), and the University of Virginia (1888) is also covered in these letters.

The bulk of the correspondence, however, offers a fascinating glimpse at life during the Civil War from both a soldier's and civilian's perspective. Robert Sayers Jr. served as a colonel in the local militia while John Thompson Sayers and Dr. Samuel Rush Sayers both served in the Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate States Army. Samuel Rush Sayers worked as a regimental surgeon throughout the war with the 4th Virginia Infantry Regiment and the 27th Virginia Infantry Regiment. His letters reveal much of camp life and battles (Second Manassas, Winchester, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Wilderness, and the siege of Petersburg). His brother served as a lieutenant and eventually captain of the Wythe Grays (Company A, Virginia Infantry Regiment). John Thompson Sayers was captured at Gettysburg and sent to Johnson's Island, a prison camp near Sandusky, Ohio. Several letters to and from the prisoner and family members are included.

Series II, Military Records (1779-1865) includes records of John Thompson Sayers including an order from Colonel William Preston in 1779 during the Revolutionary War and 1797 and 1799 commission papers as captain and major of the 35th Regiment, Virginia Militia.

Series III, Miscellaneous Records (1854-1863, Undated) contains records including a library card and lecture pass for Dr. Samuel Rush Sayers from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1854. Also contained in this series is a Confederate States of America bond dated 1863 issued to Robert Sayers. Genealogical notes, newspaper clippings, and photocopies of correspondence in Series I complete this series. The photocopies contain a note in the upper left hand corner indicating in which folder the original will be found.