Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of John Armstrong Chaloner, Accession #38-394-a, -b, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The papers were a gift to the Library of the John Armstrong Chaloner Estate ca. 1935.

Biographical/Historical Information

A brief biography of Chaloner and his Albemarle County estate "Merry Mill" may be found in Volume 73, January 1965, of The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, pp. 3-21. The article's chronological history of Chaloner's many lawsuits and explanation of his "X-Faculty" which enabled him to write will no doubt be of help to any researcher.

The correspondence, mostly copies of letters written by Chaloner, gives a colorful picture of his character and personality. Correspondence received from others is often covered with comments written in blue pencil or crayon. Unfortunately Chaloner's handwriting is difficult to read and his notes sometimes obscure the original letter.

The legal papers are largely copies of briefs field with the court and testimony taken from court records. These are both in typescript and printed. Since Chaloner was a member of the New York Bar, he often wrote out drafts of briefs for his lawyers in blue colored pencil. Chaloner eventually changed his last name to "Chanler," which accounts for both spellings appearing attached to various documents.

Chaloner's literary writing was all done through his "X-Faculty" which took over his mind. All of his manuscripts are written in blue colored pencil and annotated in red. Many of his poems or plays which were published are in typescript. There are also galley proofs of his magazine "Scorpio" and his play Brief for Defense.

Scope and Content

The John Armstrong Chaloner Papers, 1881-1933, consist of ca. 2000 items (2 linear feet) largely correspondence, legal papers and briefs concerning his many law suits (some on charitable and business matters) and copies of his poetry and plays. There are fragments of briefs from his law suits and Chaloner's notes on them. Prominent among them are Washington Post vs. Chaloner, 1917; and Chaloner vs. Sherman and related property restitution trials, 1908-16.

There are also manuscript or galleys for "Robbery under law," "A brief for the defense...," "The serpent of the Old Nile," "The infernal comedy--Hell per a spirit message therefrom," "An answer to Omar Khayyam," and "Scorpio," copies of "The Confederacy and the solid south,"and "The X-faculty," as well as reviews and notes for "Lunacy Law of the World." There are also papers re the J. A. Chaloner Paris prize foundation, the McCormick-Chaloner eclipse expedition, 1927, his program to bring movies to rural America, and the "Lost city of Nevada" pageant he sponsored.

The collection also contains a 1913 letter to William H. Taft requesting safe conduct to Washington D.C. to impeach district court of New York Judge George Chandler Holt and clippings re Chaloner and the Merry Mills and a photograph of a document signed by Napoleon that was owned by Chaloner. Other correspondents include Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, John W. Fishburne, Armistead Churchill Gordon, John Henry Ingram, George Perkins, and Anselm Phelps.

Arrangement

The papers are divided into two segments: the first consists of correspondence, bills, and receipts arranged chronologically. The second includes all other papers arranged chronologically where possible, and alphabetically if undated.