Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

MSS 4030 Atcheson L. Hench papers, 1776-1939, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Professor Atcheson L. Hench of the University of Virginia's Department of English presented this collection to Alderman Library in 1953. The vast majority of this material represents Professor Hench's purchases from Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wood, Charlottesville antique dealers in the 1940's and 1950's.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of the correspondence, receipts, deeds, indentures and writes of various unrelated Virginia families, ca. 5,000 items, with a date range of 1776 to 1939 but with the majority of material from the years 1830 to 1890. They were collected by Atcheson L. Hench, a professor in the Department of English at the University of Virginia and a student of etymology and word usage. A few of the families and localities represented are the Davis, Henderson, Henson, Martin, Robertson and Sutherland families of Orange, Madison, Louisa, Nelson, Albemarle and Fluvanna counties.

The subjects of the correspondence are diverse, including migration westward, courting customs, education, the Civil War, and agricultural and economic conditions in Virginia, the "New South," and the West. The collection contains many deeds and receipts from the early nineteenth century and thirteen nineteenth century scrapbooks, albums, record, and cyphering books. The medical casebook of Dr. Thomas Smith, 1815- 1849, is of special note. This collection would be of interest to students of central Virginia history in particular and Southern society in general.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged alphabetically by family name. Within each family group papers were categorized as to type-correspondence, receipts, documents, or miscellaneous items-and arranged chronologically within the category.

Beathe Family Correspondence, 1857-1874 This correspondence mainly consists of the courting letters to the widowed Mrs. Beathe from Sergeant Christian Kuhl of the 31st Virginia Infantry which declare his affection and describe battles near Winchester, 1864. (ca. 39 items)

J. B. Bradford and E. C. Moore Letters, 1850-1852 The two letters of Bradford, a Virginian "fourty-niner," relates his western travels, with particular accounts of Fort Kearney, geysers, and the mining towns of California. E. C. Moore's two letters regard a gold transaction in Virginia (4 items)

Davis Family Papers, 1776-1852 Although the Davis family was clustered about Orange and Albemarle counties, this correspondence chiefly concerns commodity prices and land litigation in Kentucky, where Captain Thomas Davis had extensive holdings during the 1820's. There is some discussion of Virginia politics, with two letters of Governor James Barbour that discuss Andrew Jackson and "the Bank" being of special interest. The family documents span the years 1776-1844 and consist of deeds, land surveys, writs, a forfeiture of dowry and a few papers of the Swift Run Gap Turnpike Company, ca. 1812. (ca. 220 items)

Dempsey Family Papers, 1826-1875 Largely taken up with personal matters, the correspondence is noteworthy for several letters that describe Indiana in 1848. There are a few letters from the Civil War and a body of receipts. (ca. 70 items).

Gaar family legal documents, 1805-1850, 12 items

Garland Family Papers, 1815-1872 The range of topics in the Garland correspondence (1831-1869) is essentially limited to personal and family affairs with the exception of several letters from Alexander Rives that comment on the pardon of Gordon Hatcher and secession. There is a body of deeds, indentures and receipts, 1815-1872. (ca. 37 items)

Garth Family Papers, 1805-1851 Deeds, indentures and family correspondence. (6 items)

A. J. Gillespie Civil War Diary, 1862-1863 A sergeant in Pendleton's corps of artillery, Gillespie gives brief accounts of the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. (1 item)

A. B. Griffin Correspondence, 1919 A small group of letters from a rural Virginia soldier serving in the American Occupation Army of Germany, 1919. (8 items)

Hammer Family Correspondence, 1864-1865 Four letters of William and Mary Hammer, relating to the attitude and privations of a soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia during the winter of 1864-1865.

Henderson Family Papers, 1801-1833 Consisting mainly of bills and receipts, this collection of the Madison County Hendersons includes a "Proclamation to the People," 1814, a printed letter of Linn Banks, and a petition for a road, 1813.

Hiner and McLaughlin Families' Papers, 1838-1892 Many letters of these two Pocahantas County, Virginia-later, West Virginia-families are from the Civil War period and give brief accounts of cavalry skirmishes in the Valley of Virginia, Gettysburg, and Cold Harbor. There are deeds and indentures for both families, 1838-1878. (ca. 56 items)

McMaster and McVey Families' Papers, 1844-1897 Two of the subjects of this interesting series of letters are western migration to Ohio and Kansas, ca. 1858, and the conflict between pro- and anti-slavery factions in Kansas. There is a group of receipts from the later years. (ca. 70 items)

Martin Family Papers, 1776-1934 These papers consist largely of receipts, promissory notes, and business correspondence, but there are also an oath of allegiance for 1776, several eighteenth century indentures and many deeds from the early 1800's. (ca. 1500 items)

Maupin Family Correspondence, 1862-1886 Personal and family matters occupy this correspondence. (10 items)

Melton Family Correspondence, 1848-1855 These letters relate the personal and family affairs of this central Virginia family (Nelson and Buckingham Counties). (ca. 45 items)

Peake Family Correspondence, 1824-1868 The Peake family correspondence contains several letters from a family member in Illinois that briefly comment on prices and settlement and two letters from the Civil War period that describe battles in the West under generals Van Dorn and Forest. (ca. 40 items)

Robertson-Hart Family Papers, 1801-1905 This extensive and interesting correspondence spans a hundred years (1805-1905) and two generations of the Robertson family. Of note are the letters of James Hart to his daughter Fannie which describe antebellum agricultural conditions at Fruitlands Plantation, Alabama, and the courting letters of Fannie Hart and F. J. Robertson. Student life at Hampden-Sydney College and tin mining in western Virginia are among the subjects discussed in a letter group of letters by the nephews of F. J. Robertson in the 1880's. There are two sets of documents, one consisting of papers of the Virginia Tin Mining Company, another containing two professional diplomas and a surgeon's comission, C. S. A. (ca. 850 items)

Rogers Family Correspondence, 1835-1852 The letters that describe California society in the 1840's highlight this personal and family correspondence.

Hench Correspondence Regarding Thomas Smith, 1940 and William Smith Letter, 1854 After acquiring Dr. Thomas Smith's notebook, Professor Hench wrote the Universities of Maryland and Pennsylvania to obtain more information on Dr. Smith. The letter from Pennsylvania relates that a Thomas Smith of Fauquier County matriculated in 1843-1844. Also included among this correspondence is a letter to "Dr. Thomas" from a William Smith, travelling in New York in 1854. One of the most interesting items in the entire collection, this letter describes the city and harbor, discusses the respective merits of Southern and Northern society, abolition, and the political future. (4 items)

Sutherland Family Correspondence, 1855-1892 Many of the letters that comprise this large correspondence are from the Civil War period. James Sutherland was in the 44th Virginia Infantry, his brother Dumfreys served with the cavalry and in the exchange of letters with their sister Jane, mention is made of economic conditions in Palmyra, the defense of Richmond, local magisterial elections, and the draft. (ca. 150 items)

Cameron Waddell Correspondence, 1866-1875 In this courting letters, Mr. Waddell describes his legal studies and career as an agricultural machinery salesman in North Carolina. (12 items)

Wood Family Papers, 1827-1909 This collection is made up largely of the receipts of John H. Wood of Albemarle County. There is a small group of business letters and papers, the latter including an abstract of the duties of the Surveyor of Roads, 1868, and many writs. (ca. 500 items)

Miscellaneous Civil War Correspondence Allen, Brown, Burrer, Estes, Gilbert, Roudabush, and Thomas are the names of the correspondents comprising this group of unrelated letters which generally narrate camp life and the soldiers' attitudes. Of note is a Confederate "tax in kind" return of N. W. Berkeley, 1864; and a letter of March 28, 1863. (ca. 40 items)

Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1859-1912 Letters of John Armstrong, N. W. Bradley, George Clarke, John Mesh, John West and others. (ca. 45 items)

Miscellaneous Items from the Saunders(?) Blacksmith Account Book, ca. 1855-1870 and n.d. Advertisements, newspaper clippings, and recipes. (ca. 25 items)