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Preferred Citation

Gregory and Whitmore Family Papers, 1990-1993, Accession # 10754-c, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library on July 7, 1993, by Page Gregory Whitmore of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Scope and Content Information

These are three computer printouts, 1990-1993, pertaining to the Gregory and Whitmore families. Included is an incomplete typescript draft of letters, 1900-1919, from Mrs. [Mary Susan] Sue Gregory Whitmore to her son Harry Gregory Whitmore (d. 1960). The two other typescripts are: "A History of Unbaffled Virginians by William Mulford/Dedicated to The Unflagging Will and Determination of Women Descendants of William Howson Clark" and "Trip To California, Going Thru The Panama Canal and Returning Thru The Canadian Rockies [July-August 1915]" by Harry Gregory Whitmore.

Sue Gregory Whitmore's letters to her son are filled with personal, family, and local news as well as occasional references to subjects of national interest. Letters during 1900-1902 were sent to Harry Whitmore at the University of Virginia. Topics mentioned during 1900 include: seeing the children of Charles Pinckney Jones, Rector of the University (September 19); local school board meeting (October 9); the Bryan/McKinley ballots and saying that "all the niggers turned out for fear they would be disfranchised" (November 5); the Stonewall Band (November 27); and Mr. [Scott] Randolph's Wild West Party performing at Churchville on Christmas day (December 16).

During 1901 her letters mention: varioloid among the students and the Randolph party; her son's debate at college and smallpox in Charlottesville (February 3); reading His Great Self and To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston (February 27); a report signed by J[ames] M[orris] Page, Professor of Mathematics, University of Virginia (March 13); [John Shelton] Patton's articles in the Dispatch (March 18); the railroad being built up Mosey Creek to Mt. Solon to Dora Coal Mines (April 2); Walter Kerr petitioning the State Board of Education for the County Superintendent position (April 2); Board of Education and requirements for the appointment of the County Superintendent (April 14); the death of Rev. Bowman and reading Richard Carvel (April 22); a fire set to Little Mountain and the damage (May 5); reading Mary Johnston's Prisoners of Hope (May 13); brief story about astronomer David Todd (1855-1939) (May 26); railroad work near Mt. Solon and a dynamite explosion killing "one negro" and nearly killing Charlie Peyton (June 3); his Latin and German examinations (September 19); the new railroad being finished soon (November 5); a railroad wreck on October 24 in which several were injured, including Joseph Martin Whitmore (1823-1912) (November 4); the death of mining engineer Frazier Bell in the Bluefield mines (November 20); and a visit and tour in Lexington, her son's reports in Latin, German, Chemistry, and Geology (December 10).

Letters written in 1902 refer to various topics: Professors [ ? ] Harrison and his comment on his report, [John William] Mallet and the Chemistry examination, [William Elisha] Peters, and [Christopher] Wright at the University of Virginia (January 14); reading two Emma Southworth books Ishmael, or In the Depths and Self raised or From the Depths (January 26); the Stonewall Band; Dave Peyton, a "black man who had a farm and was janitor to Baptist church in Staunton..."; and Professor [William Elisha] Peters (February 3); reading When Knighthood was in Flower about Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor (February 23); the Good Roads Convention having a practical test on the Monticello Road on April 2 (March 16); Collins Denny (1854-1943), and Noah K[nowles] Davis (March 30); Colonel [William Elisha] Peters, Professor of Latin at the University (April 29); Professor of English Literature, [Charles William] Kent (May 14); a story of a scandal involving Marshall Burton and Miss Lineweaver; he was arrested on a Saturday for having seduced her and "Doctor Sam" [Burton] married her the following Monday (June 2).

When the letters resume in September 1903 Harry Whitmore is in McGaheysville, Rockingham County, Virginia. Topics referred to include: Captain J[ohn] H. Whitmore, Adjutant, St. Charles Military College in St. Charles, Missouri; reading The Last of the Era by John S. Wise (October 7); news of [John Shelton] Patton being elected Librarian at the University (November 16); reading Leopards' Spots by Thomas Dixon and The Virginian by Owen Wister, and John Whitmore's stable being burned (December 16). Letters continue to be sent to McGaheysville in 1904, and refer to various topics: expectations of the arrival of Rev. James Bernard Hedrick (1878-1942) (January 12); reading The Heart's Highway by "Miss Mary Walk-Ins" [Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman] (January 19); husband, John Addison Whitmore reading John King's Question class of Children (January 26); news of the fire in Baltimore, Maryland (February 8); reading Furry of Eagle's Nest by John Esten Cooke (February 17); reading In the Palace of the King by Marion Crawford (February 23); inquiries of the Yanceys and the Classical Department (March 1); Dr. [James Morris] Page and Prof. [William Beverley?] Stone, and W. H. H. Joyce (March 22); description of St. Charles Military College and St. Louis, Missouri, including a street car and ferry trip (March 27); Dr. [James Morris] Page delivering an address to the graduating class (March 29); wanting him to attend the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and reading The Conquerer by Gertrude Atherton (April 5).

During September 1904 through May 1905 Harry Whitmore was in "Red Hill," Albemarle County. Sue Whitmore's letter of September 15 refers to the death of her husband, John Addison Whitmore, and his last will and testament. Whitmore died on August 30, 1904, of tuburcular consumption, at "Brook Hill." Other topics include: attending the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in Staunton, and problems concerning the will (October 6); General Edmund Pendleton Gaines and his wife, Lucinda, who was a first cousin of Sue Whitmore's grandmother, Frances Gaines Botts (October 12); the discomfort of having strangers live in her home, and Professor [John William] Mallet (October 16); and, the last day of "the great World's Fair," visiting St. Charles and St. Louis, Missouri (December 1). References to various topics continued in 1905: proposed road and right-of-way problems (January 11); measles epidemic at school (January 31); Gaines family genealogy (February 7, 14, 22); hassles with the estate and certain conditions (February 26); her son, Samuel Lewis Whitmore working in the Palace Shoe and Clothing Company and having conflicts with the Jewish owner (April 10); Thomas Nelson Page (1853-1922) and Professor [William] Thornton (May 11); and, Rosewell Page (1858- 1939) and William Thornton's speeches (May 24).

During September 1905 through April 1906 Harry Whitmore was at the University of Virginia. Sue Whitmore's letters to him touch upon such subjects as: Dr. [Edwin A.] Alderman delivering an address at Kable's School on November 30, the anniversary of the fire; and G[eorge] Ben[jamin] Johnson (October 11); reading The Gift of the Morning Star by [Armistead Churchill] Gordon (October 17); Sam Whitmore being ill with malaria and "southern itch," and her enjoyment of the University of Virginia Glee Club (October 29); letter from Sam Whitmore re railroad wrecks, the possibility of statehood [for Oklahoma] and that it may be named "Sequoyah after the Author of the Cherokee alphabet" (October 31); cases of typhoid fever (November 12); a letter from Sam Whitmore concerning Carrie Nation lecturing in Missouri (November 11). Topics continued in 1906: financial problems and her interest in joining the Daughters of the Revolution and the Daughters of the Confederacy (January 23); Professor [Francis Perry] Dunnington [Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry] (January 29); attending a meeting of the Missionary Society (February 25); interest of J[ames] M[orris] Page in Harry Whitmore (April 2); problems with the "laboring classes" (April 12); and, news of the earthquake [San Francisco, California] and the burning of Leland Stanford University (April 18).

There is a break in the correspondence from late April 1906 until late September 1911. During September 28, 1911 until June 18, 1912, Harry Whitmore was at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Topics include farming references such as crops, labor, stock, seeding, orchards. Letters of note or interest during 1911 include: hearing "Polk Miller and his negro quartette" (October 8); her comments on labor, "the big prices for labor have spoiled nearly all the hands, they want a fine house, plenty of money and but little work" (October 19); and, inquiries of [William Buell] Meldrum (1887-1956), a student at Harvard (November 26). Letters of interest or note during 1912 include: the "strongest fight for Woman Suffrage" now in the legislature, presentations on the rights of women by Mary Johnston (1870-1936) and Miss [Bessie Carter] Randolph (1885-1966), and Mrs. [Caro Syron] Valentine (1855- ) (January 5); a visit to the Capital in Richmond and cousin James [William] Gregory [Lt. Gov.] (1846-1912), a member of the House of Delegates (January 12); the neglect of the voters and taxpayers by the present legislature and Lucy Lewin attending a training school for teachers of the hearing impaired (March 12); the death of James [William] Gregory (March 16); the million dollar bond issue for road improvement (March 24); letterhead of Sam Whitmore/House Physician/Natural Methods' Sanitarium, Asheville, NC (March 25); [William Buell] Meldrum (April 17); an outing to Congregationalist Church and Wellesley College, the sinking of the Titanic, Mary Johnston's lecture on Woman's Suffrage, and reading Johnston's The Long Roll (May 1); the marriage of Sam Whitmore and Claire Rutherford (May 26); letterhead of Sam Whitmore/Dean & Whitmore/Chiropractic Doctors/Asheville, North Carolina (June 1); and, Reel Gilkeson purchase of an automobile (June 9).

From September 29, 1912 through November 17, 1912, Harry Whitmore was at Eastern College, Manassas, Virginia. November 8 refers to the "rejoicing of the American nation over the political victory" and grief over the death of cousin Emmett H. Whitmore who shot himself with a pistol. November 17 refers to a visit by Dave Peyton, a black farmer, introducing "a colored man named Harris" and asking for a place as a farm hand.

During January 4 through May 19, 1917, Harry Whitmore was in Dallas, Texas, and from September 12, 1917 to December 31, 1919, he was at the College of Industrial Arts in Denton, Texas. Topics covered in these letters include personal news and news of family and friends, finances, farming business, genealogy, the American Clan Gregor Society Gathering and the Triplett family. Subjects referred to in letters of 1917 include: a newsclipping re the arrest of S. Dabney Crenshaw, Jr. for the burning of the chemical laboratory at the University of Virginia (March 3); a visit to Richmond and Mexico, Missouri (March 17, 18); a letter from Sam Whitmore concerning the automobile business slowing down because of increased prices and an additional war tax (June 27); the quarantine against infantile paralysis (September 24); and sewing for a Red Cross Society (November 15). In 1918, topics include: soldiers camped near Augusta, Georgia and soldiers going to France (February 24); the Rev. Mr. Gypsy Smith of England preaching in Staunton (April 9, May 8); and, the Spanish flu epidemic (October 20). Letters of 1919 include topics: the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Church South in Staunton (March 23, 28); a newsclipping re John Armstrong Chaloner twenty- two years after his being declared legally insane (April 11); a newsclipping re a gift for the establishment of a School of Fine Arts at the University of Virginia from Paul G. McIntire (April 12); and, the return of hometown soldiers, Emmett Randolph and Paul Jones (July 4).