James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse, 1842

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

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Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse, 1842, Ms2024-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.1 Cubic Feet 1 folder
Creator:
Eveleth, James, 1809-1891
Abstract:
The James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse was written by James Eveleth in Washington D.C., on April 22, 1842, to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse. The letter is informing Nourse that the Board of Trustees of F Street Church, the church she attended, had resolved that the pew she used be "tendered to her free of rent".
Language:
The materials in this collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse, 1842, Ms2024-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse was written by James Eveleth in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 1842, to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse. The letter is informing Nourse that the Board of Trustees of F Street Church, the church she attended, had resolved that the pew she used be "tendered to her free of rent".

Biographical / historical:

James Eveleth was born in 1809 in Maryland. He married Harriet McKenzie (ca. 1815-1891), sister of Congressman Lewis McKenzie, and they had a daughter, Mary. James Eveleth was a clerk for the Engineering Department in the Department of War from 1829 until his death, and while in that position also served as superintendent of the Winder Building in Washington, D.C. In 1852, he was appointed by Robert E. Lee as his agent to hire out and receive payment for the work of Philip Minday (also Meriday), a man Lee enslaved. He also served as the Secretary of the "F" Street Church in Washington, D.C. Eveleth died on April 16, 1891, and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

External Sources:

U.S. Federal Census, 1860-1880.

"James Eveleth", FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122148085/james-eveleth, accessed Jan. 30, 2024.

"H. Ex. Doc. 36-20 - Winder's building. Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a plan and estimate for constructing certain conveniences about Winder's building. December 31, 1860. -- Referred to the Committee of Ways and Means and ordered to be printed", U.S. Government Publishing Office, available online at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-01097_00_00-008-0020-0000/summary, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

Death notice for James Eveleth, Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, D.C.), April 17, 1891, p. 3, retrieved from the Library of Congress's Chronicling America, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85025007/1891-04-17/ed-1/?sp=3&r=-0.019,0.012,0.547,0.38,0, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

"Worked Sixty-Two years for Uncle Sam" [Obituary for James Eleveth], Muscatine News-Tribune (Muscatine, Iowa), April 21, 1891, p. 8, retrieved from Newspapers.com, https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/542061698/?terms=james%20eveleth, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

Death notice for Harriet McKenzie Eveleth, Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, D.C.), July 20, 1891, p. 3, retrieved from the Library of Congress's Chronicling America, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85025007/1891-07-20/ed-1/?sp=3&r=-0.025,0.82,0.552,0.384,0, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

"Lease for a Slave, 1852 August 1", Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2015 September 4, from The Archives of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Papers of the Lee Family, Box 3, M2009.217, Jessie Ball duPont Library, Stratford Hall, transcription online at https://leefamilyarchive.org/lease-for-a-slave-1852-august-1/, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

Maria Louisa (or Louise) Bull (1765-1850) was born in Philadelpia, Pennsylavania. She married Joesph Nourse (1754-1841) in April 1784, and they had several children, including Charles (1786-1851). They moved from Pennslyvania to New York City and finally to Washington D.C. Joesph Nourse was the first Register of the U.S. Tresuary from 1781 to 1829 and Charles served as Acting Adjutant if the U.S. Army. The family enslaved several people, including a cook named Dinah and a servant named Bacchus. The Nourses' home, called Dumbarton House, is now a museum.

External Sources:

"Nourse Artists Legacy Project", NourseArtists.omeka.net, https://nourseartists.omeka.net/exhibits/show/maria-nourse/bio/bio, accessed Jan 30. 2024.

"Charles Josephus Nourse", FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41347493/charles-josephus-nourse, accessed Jan. 30, 2024.

"Joesph Nourse", FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41347496/joseph-nourse, accessed Jan. 30, 2024.

"Maria Louise Bull Nourse", FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41347497/maria-louise-nourse, accessed Jan. 30, 2024.

"The Hidden Figures of Dumbarton House: Slavery and Servitude within the Nourse family Household," Dumbarton House, https://nourseartists.omeka.net/exhibits/show/maria-nourse/bio/bio, accessed Apr. 4, 2024.

Acquisition information:
The James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in July 2016.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the James Eveleth Letter to Maria Louisa Bull Nourse was completed in January 2024.