Personal papers

Scope and content:

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1831-1940, includes correspondence, financial and legal documents, account books, and pencil drawings and sketches. The materials primarily document William F. Rupp and his immediate family. Documents also relate to the Spitzer family.

Of note are the materials documenting William F. Rupp's profession as a fresco painter and paperhanger. These materials include business letterhead, account books, sketches, his apprentice certificate, and invoices and financial records. Rupp's sketchbook includes a bird's-eye view of Luray, Virginia that is featured in the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society's publication Folk and Decorative Art of the Shenandoah Valley, pg. 16, fig. 220. Rupp's account book dated 1867-1930 records the work he did for private individuals as well as work in public buildings. These include Rader's Lutheran Church in Timberville, the Shenandoah County Court House court room, the Methodist Church in Edinburg, the United Brethren Church in Hawkinstown, the New Market Bank of Virginia, and many others. An 1856 document outlines Rupp's plan for providing drawing lessons to the pupils at the New Market Female Seminary and associated charges.

Additional William F. Rupp materials include his 1858 citizenship certificate, two 1866 deeds documenting the purchase of his New Market house (now known as the Spitzer-Rupp House) from the Spitzer family, and his July 1865 oath of allegiance to the United States. Correspondence from R.C. Rupp, William's brother in New York, is written in German.

In addition to bound accounts, the financial documents primarily comprise annual tax receipts.

Charles E. Rupp's diary documents a trip from New Market to the Pacific coast and back with his three companions.

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