Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers and genealogical notes on more than fifty Loudoun and Prince William counties, Va., families, 1725-1970, Accession # 10771, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased by the library from Beverley S. Thomas of Culpeper, Virginia on July 11, 1988.

Scope and Content Information

The papers of over 40 families primarily from Loudoun and Prince William Counties contains ca. 1200 items (4 Hollinger boxes, 1.75 linear feet) and consists of original material, such as financial and legal papers, personal correspondence, photographs and printed material as well as non-original genealogical notes.

The Alrich, Beans, Berkeley, Blackwell-Hunton-Smith, Gaskins, Heineken-Peters, and McIntyre families together contain a large portion of the primary material in the collection. Other family files contain mostly genealogical research but may have some original material.

Letters, school records, photographs and printed material concerning Bethel Military Academy in Faquier County can be found in this collection. There are two folders devoted to Bethel Military Academy which contain much of the information on the academy, but more may be found in the Blackwell-Hunton-Smith and McIntyre Family folders, which contain information pertaining to the two owners of the school, Major Albert Galatin Smith and Major R.A. McIntyre. Major Smith founded the school in 1867 and retained ownership until his death in 1892. He left the school to his son-in-law, Major McIntyre, who kept it until it closed in 1910. Major McIntyre was a member of the faculty of the academy from 1886 until 1899. For more information on the history of the academy, see University of Virginia masters thesis number 1353.

This collection also contains a group of letters (1800-1807) of Harriot Harrison written from her home, "A Soldier's Repose". They are in the form of an original copy book and a much clearer typewritten transcript. Due to the size of the copy book, the folder is filed as the last folder in Box 4.

Much of the genealogical research included in the collection is the work of either the Rev. Melvin Lee Steadman or Mrs. Walter Jewell.

The material found in each family's file is listed after their name. Financial and legal papers include deeds, wills, receipts, lawsuits, plats and business correspondence. Personal correspondence are letters written by or sent to the family. The category of genealogical notes includes family trees, inquiries from other researchers and brief family histories. Photographs, although often unidentified, have been kept in their original folder. Finally, printed material includes news clippings, announcements, invitations, programs and bulletins.

Arrangement

The collection is organized alphabetically by family name, preserving the original order.