Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Sively Family Papers, Accession #1277, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased by the Library from Arthur Wood of Charlottesville, Virginia, on November 24, 1941, and is unrestricted.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists primarily of ca. 125 business and family letters, 1877-1899, and 1917, to and from members of the George L. (d. 1883) and Mary C. Sively family of Mountain Grove, Bath County, Virginia, and miscellaneous papers. Included are letters from Sallie (Sively) Erwin written while a student at Hollins Institute and after her marriage to Dr. James E. Erwin, describing her migrations from Barboursville, West Virginia, to Hazleton, Kansas, and to Coal Creek, Tennessee

There is also considerable correspondence between Mary C. Sively and her sister, Elizabeth B. Skeen of Franklin County, Virginia, and her family concerning their common interest in the rental or sale of the "old homeplace" and farm, which was apparently willed to them following their father's death in 1873. The sisters had trouble with delinquent renters, trespassers and timber cutters who wanted to cut off the timber from their land without recompense (1888 Jul 9).

Other items of note include: a description of the town of Alderson, West Virginia, where one son attended the school of H.B. Laird (1878 Sep 25); the mention of the hanging of two blacks for arson (1890 Aug 23); mention of the anticipation and excitement of the opening of the Cherokee Strip just six miles south of Sallie Erwin's home and a description of members of her family staking out their claims (1893 Mar 17 & Oct 10); the lynching of a black at Warm Springs (1893 Mar 17); a severe drought in the Cherokee Strip area and the general discouragement of the people with prospects in Kansas (1894 Aug 31); financial losses of Elizabeth Skeen due to the failure of the Rocky Mount Bank (1895 May 22); and letters from family members attending Berea College, Berea, Kentucky (1917).

The miscellaneous papers consists of business accounts, school reports, a rental agreement, and advertisements.

Geneological Note

The children of George L. and Mary C. Sively include: 1) [Lewis ?] J. Sively 2) Ada Sively 3) Sallie B. (Sively) Erwin 4) George Sively.

The children of Elizabeth B. and [John ?] Skeen include: 1) Ira Sively 2) Mattie Sively 3) Mary Sively 4) Jimmie