Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Barringer Family Papers, Accession #2588, -a, -b, -c, -d, -e, -g, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Barringer Family Papers were given to the Library by various members of the Barringer family between 1937 and 1981.

Scope and Content

The Barringer Family Papers comprise ca. 2,830 items (twelve Hollinger boxes and 1 oversize folder, 5.2 linear shelf feet), 1828-1963, consisting of correspondence, legal and financial documents, literary manuscripts, genealogical material, newsclippings, photographs and keepsake items, certificates and commissions, printed articles and pamphlets, monographs and broadsides. These papers pertain chiefly to Paul Brandon Barringer (1857-1941) and other members of his family, most notably General Rufus Barringer (1821-1895) and Victor C. Barringer (1828-1896). A few of these papers also pertain to T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson and his wife, Anna Morrison Jackson who were related to the Barringer family by marriage. Additional genealogical data exist for the following families: Brandon, Graham, Hannah, Massey, Morrison, Spragins, Washington, and Woodson.

The bulk of the Barringer material consists of the personal papers of Paul Brandon Barringer professor of medicine and chairman of the faculty of the University of Virginia founder of the University of Virginia Hospital president   of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Virginia (presently Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), a member of the Virginia Board of Health and Virginia Board of Agriculture an inventor, and author on topics varying from family history to racial affairs. Little of this material illuminates his professional life with the exception of those documents associated with his tenure at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The chief focus of his papers is social and intellectual.

Most of the correspondence in these papers deals with Barringer family affairs and personal matters concerning Paul B. Barringer. Topics include family illness, real estate dealings and other financial matters, speaking engagements, the American Negro, and occasionally, politics (especially Barringer's unsuccessful attempt to be appointed United States Secretary of Agriculture). Among the correspondents are: Edwin A. Alderman Harry F. Byrd John Armstrong Chaloner Lenoir Chambers William A. Clark Hugh S. Cumming Charles W. Dabney John Dalzell Josephus Daniels Noah K. Davis R. T. W. Duke E. C. Glass Carter Glass Armistead C. Gordon Hugh S. Johnson Fitzhugh Lee Andrew J. Montague R. Walton Moore John L. Newcomb Robert C. Ogden Lee S. Overman Thomas N. Page Thomas W. Page William L. Phelps John F. Rixey Albert Shaw C. Alphonso Smith Claude A. Swanson Benjamin R. Tillman J. Hoge Tyler Oscar W. Underwood Henry A. Wallace and John Sharp Williams. Among those corresponding with Paul B. Barringer concerning racial matters are: Lyman Abbott Frank P. Brent John W. Daniel H. B. Frissell Armistead C. Gordon Thomas W. Harrison Hilary A. Herbert Edgar G. Murphy Clarence Poe Charles D. Warner and Booker T. Washington. Additional correspondence includes editorial letters written by Paul B. Barringer which discuss political, civic and social issues. A small group of letters (11 items) contains typed and autograph documents by President   Theodore Roosevelt chiefly concerning his visit to the University of Virginia in 1903.

Correspondence from the nineteenth century also includes letters by Daniel Laurens Barringer (Congressman, North Carolina), Daniel Moreau Barringer (Congressman, North Carolina ; Minister to Spain), T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson (photocopies) and his wife, Anna (Morrison) Jackson and General Rufus Barringer who offers a detailed account of life as a Confederate prisoner of war at Fort Delaware, Delaware (ALS-Photostat). Other occasional references to Civil War news (especially during 1863) and to the sale, price and investment value of slaves also appear in some of these early letters. Letters dated from the 1870's include accounts of boarding school life (Bingham School, Mebaneville, North Carolina; Kenmore University School, Amherst Court House, Virginia; A. F. Seminary, Staunton, Virginia) by Paul B. Barringer and Anna Barringer.

An important group of correspondence and related papers documents a series of investigations stemming from charges made by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association Welfare Committee against Paul B. Barringer while he was president   of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1907-1913). Included in these documents are newsclippings, affidavits, evidentiary exhibits, copies of formal charges and Barringer's replies to them, and printed matter regarding the investigation. An additional set of documents concerns charges made against R. J. Noell of the Radford State Normal School by the Radford Record (1913).

The Barringer Family Papers also contain autograph and typescript notes and literary drafts, as well as printed articles and monographs, written chiefly either by or about Paul B. Barringer. Included are essays, memoirs and several printed monographs by Barringer, but most of the material comprises note and draft fragments. Anthropology, race, religion and theology are the predominant topics in these writings. Other subjects, including economics, history, medicine, prohibition and biography, are also represented. Additional authors include General Rufus Barringer and Daniel Moreau Barringer.

A separate group of documents (104 items) contains drawings, legal papers, printed specifications and patent certificates ( United States of America Canada Great Britain) for a fire extinguisher which Paul B. Barringer invented.

Among the miscellaneous items within these papers are documents referring to the University of Virginia Michel Ney (Marshal of France) (1769-1815), and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-). Miscellaneous financial documents include receipts of Victor C. Barringer General Rufus Barringer and Paul B. Barringer accounts from Paul B. Barringer 's ophthalmology practice, canceled checks, and bank statements and utility accounts compiled during Paul B. Barringer 's tenure at Virginia Polytechnic Institute Certificates commissions and licences (many oversize) awarded to Paul B. Barringer and Nannie (Hannah) Barringer include his license to practice medicine in Virginia (1890). Engravings and numerous photographs depict various family members and " Gravel Hill " a home in Charlotte County, Virginia.

In addition, these papers contain numerous newsclippings pertaining to the Barringer and Morrison families in Virginia and North Carolina and three theater broadsides featuring Edwin Booth in leading roles. Bound volumes, which include a commonplace book of General Rufus Barringer Paul B. Barringer 's case book, and a scrapbook of newsclippings pertaining to the "Negro question," are also included.

Photographs of interest include Robert E. Lee with former Confederate generals at White Sulphur Springs, 1869 and Dr. Paul Barringer and Dr. William Mann Randolph in a buggy at "the Corner," 1906.

Organization

The Barringer Family Papers are arranged in eight series: I. General Correspondence; II. Virginia Polytechnic Institute Papers; III. Fire Extinguisher Papers; IV. Literary Manuscripts; V. Genealogical Material; VI.Printed Material; VII. Miscellaneous; VIII. Bound Volumes. These series are ordered chronologically with two exceptions: Series IV. Literary Manuscripts, which is arranged alphabetically by fragment topics and essay titles; Series V. Genealogical Material, which is arranged alphabetically by family name. Most letters have been filed under Series I. General Correspondence. However, letters pertaining exclusively to Barringer's tenure at Virginia Polytechnic Institute to his fire extinguisher patents, or to genealogical topics, have been placed in those respective series.