Alexander Brown Papers (I), 1815/1910

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
400 Landrum Drive
PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Restrictions:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the William & Mary assumes no responsibility.

Terms of access:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred citation:

Alexander Brown Papers (1), Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Summary

Extent:
7.50 Linear Feet
Creator:
Brown, Alexander, 1843-1906, Adams, Herbert Baxter, 1850-1901, Cabell, Mayo, Curry, J. L. M. (Jabez Lamar Monroe), 1825-1903, Deane, Charles, 1813-1889, and Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Alexander Brown Papers (1), Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Background

Scope and content:

Inventory contains the papers of Alexander Brown (1843-1906), farmer, merchant and author who lived in Nelson County, Virginia.

Includes correspondence relating to his books, The Genesis of the United States, The First Republic in America, The Cabells and Their Kin, New Views, and other correspondence and business papers of Brown including letters written from Australia, England, Wales, and Egypt1(1867-1869). Correspondents include Herbert Baxter Adams, Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, Charles Deane, and Lyon Gardiner Tyler.

The collection also includes papers of Mayo Cabell and ledgers of Mayo Cabell and Co., Lynchburg, Virginia, and of the Lynchburg Female Seminary; accounts of "Belmont," "Benvenue," and "Norwood" plantations (in Nelson County); and genealogical material on the Brown and Cabell families.

In 2011, the following items were added to Box 1, Folder 25: January 24, 1876 letter from R.V. Pierce, M.D. of "Chronic Diseases of Either Sex" to Alexander Brown where Dr. Pierce states "the affection you describe is some form of venereal disease" with an enclosure about remittance of money .

Alexander Brown Papers, Box 1. 112 letters from Brown to Charles Deane is available on microfilm in Swem Library's microforms area, 1 reel, call number Mss. 65 B83. NOTE: original letters are with the Massachuestts Historical Society.

Biographical / historical:

Born at Glenwood, Nelson County, Virginia, Alexander Brown was deafened while serving in the Confederate Army in the explosion of a powder-boat near Fort Fisher, N.C. He married Caroline Augusta Cabell and after her death, Sarah Randolph Cabell. He was the author of The Genesis of the United States, The First Republic in America, The Cabells and Their Kin and other works.

Administrative History: Born at Glenwood, Nelson County, Virginia, Alexander Brown was deafened while serving in the Confederate Army by the explosion of a powder-boat near Fort Fisher, N.C. He married Caroline Augusta Cabell and after her death, Sarah Randolph Cabell. He was the author of The Genesis of the United States,The First Republic in America,The Cabells and Their Kin, and other works.
Acquisition information:
Purchase of 2914 items from Mrs. Arthur Dugdale on 5/6/1941; gift of 5 items by John Stewart Bryan on 3/22/1944; and purchase of 30 items on 5/9/1946.
Arrangement:

This inventory has been organized into ten series: 1. Correspondence of Alexander Brown; 2. Business Receipts of Alexander Brown; 3. Business Receipts and Papers of Various Members of the Cabell Family; 4. Papers of Mayo Cabell; 5. Papers concerning the books written by Alexander Brown; 6. Bills, Receipts and Papers of Mayo Cabell and His Son; 7. Correspondence of Alexander Brown; 8. Miscellaneous Materials of Alexander Brown; 9. Papers of R. L. Brown, the son of Alexander Brown; 10. Page Proofs of the Books Written by Alexander Brown.

Physical description:
949 items