Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Francis B. Harrison Papers, Accession #1289, #1293, #1308, #1325, #1417, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These accessions were made a gift to the Library by the Honorable Francis Burton Harrison of Charlottesville, Virginia: #1289 and #1289-a on November 29 and December 6, 1941; #1308 on December 27, 1941; #1325 on January 13, 1942. #1293 was loaned to the Library by the Honorable Francis B. Harrison on December 8, 1941. #1417 was purchased by the Library on May 2, 1942.

Scope and Content Information

This collection is comprised of 111 items, 1735-1938, mostly papers from the families of both of Francis B. Harrison's parents--the Harrisons of New Orleans and the Carys of Virginia. Francis B. Harrison (1873- 1957) and his two brothers, Fairfax and Archibald, were born and reared in New York City, where their father Burton Harrison (1839?-1904), earlier President Jefferson Davis' private secretary, was an attorney.

Their mother, Constance Cary Harrison (1843-1920), was the author of many articles and novels chronicling the life of the first families of Virginia. Through generations of marriage, the Carys were related to virtually all of the well-known Virginia clans: the Jeffersons, Carrs, Randolphs, Tuckers, Carters and the Lords Fairfax, and so her stories and articles carried a great air of authenticity. Her memoir, Recollections Grave and Gay (1911), fills in an important segment in the social history of the Southern noncombatant population during the Civil War

Francis Harrison followed his brother Fairfax and his father in graduating from Yale, but thereafter pursued a career in politics. He served as congressman from New York in 1903-05, and from 1907 to 1913, and Governor-General of the Philippine Islands from 1913 to 1921.

Most of the items in the collection are inherited from his mother. They include originals and copies of his Grandfather Archibald Cary's letters, magazine articles written by his mother, copies of 18th century letters to family members, and miscellaneous letters of his mother's. From his father's family are included original newspaper editorials written by Jesse Burton Harrison, Francis B. Harrison's grandfather and the editor of the Louisiana Advertiser in 1836, and miscellaneous letters to J. B. Harrison written in the 1830s.

There are many items of interest to the social and political historian in this collection. Of special note are Archibald Cary's letters to his sister Patsy Jefferson Cary detailing trips to cities on the eastern seaboard (1837-1838), and his letters to his older brother Wilson Miles Cary. These letters comment faithfully on life in the deep South between 1837 and 1843, dwelling on both social and political themes.

The editorials written by J. B. Harrison on the eve of the 1836 presidential election illustrate the Whig point of view, and grassroots political action and organization. Although difficult to decipher, the diary kept by J. B. Harrison in 1829 and 1830 when he was studying in Germany gives valuable insights into European life and the later stages of the Romantic movement. The letter, ca. 1735, from Colonel William Byrd to Sir John Randolph provides an amusing exchange between two very prominent colonial Virginians. Likewise, the letter, 1763, from Colonel Wilson Cary to his daughter Elizabeth, Lady Fairfax, provides a homely glimpse of the apex of colonial Virginia society.