Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Letters to W. A. Stuart must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Letters to W. A. Stuart, Ms2013-041, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was purchased by Special Collections in July 2013.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Letters to W. A. Stuart was completed in August 2013.

Biographical Note

Addressed to W.A. Stuart (and, in one case, Stewart), the letters were likely sent to William Alexander Stuart, brother of James Ewell Brown (J.E.B.) Stuart. Genealogical records link William Stuart to Saltville, Virginia, which is mentioned on the letterhead of the August 21, 1891 letter. Additional papers on William Alexander Stuart can be found at the Kegley Library in Wytheville, Virginia, including another letter between Stuart and his business partner, George W. Palmer.

Born on May 3, 1826, William Alexander was the son of Archibald Stuart and Elizabeth Pannill Stuart of Patrick County, Virginia. Stuart was one of eleven children and older brother to the Confederate States Army general J.E.B. Stuart. Following the Civil War, William became the patriarch of the family. As a lawyer and businessman, William Stuart was admitted as a deputy clerk of the Circuit Superior Court of law and chancery in Wytheville. He eventually owned several businesses including companies in Saltville, Virginia.

With his first wife, Mary Taylor Carter of Russell County, Stuart had six children, the eldest of whom (Henry Carter Stuart) would go on to be governor of Virginia. His second wife was Ellen Spiller Brown whom he married when he was thirty-seven, producing five children. William Alexander Stuart died on February 6, 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is buried in Elizabeth Cemetery in Wytheville, Virginia.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of two letters addressed to W. A. Stuart (also Stewart in one case) dated August 8, 1891 and August 21, 1891. The August 8th letter is from a William H. Ballon(?) and discusses a newspaper article containing a notice about White Sulphur Springs, a corporation in West Virginia. The August 21st letter is from G.W. Palmer and discusses meeting with Stuart at White Sulphur Springs.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Montgomery White Sulphur Springs (Va.)
• Stuart, William Alexander, 1826-1892