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This collection of historic manuscripts dates from 1607-1933, with the bulk of materials dating from 1738-1868. The correspondence, journals and diaries, legal and financial records, estate documents, and printed ephemera in the collection primarily relate to the Washington and Custis families, the Revolutionary War, and society life in antebellum Washington D.C. and Virginia.

This collection consists of papers collected by various members of the Peter families. It includes letters from George Washington, letters of condolence to Martha Washington after George Washington's death, estate documents, Major George Peter's military papers, land plats and surveys, photo albums, letterbooks, and notebooks that tell of the life of this prominent family in Virginia and the City of Washington.

Papers, 1768-1817, of Andrew Lindamood, of Shenandoah County, Va. Includes accounts and a deed, 18 August 1789, signed by Beverley Randolph, governor of Virginia, granting land in Shenandoah County.

Papers, chiefly 1783-1846, of Archibald Woods of Ohio County, West Virginia. The papers concern his family, the Poage family, and the Houston family, as well as his business dealings. Correspondents include Levi Barber, Daniel Call, Philip Doddridge, Chapman Johnson, Henry Lee, James Pindall, Benjamin Ruggles, Daniel Sheffey and John Tyler, Edgar Campbell Wilson, George Washington Wilson and Thomas Wilson. Subjects dealt with in the collection include banking, cholera, the Cumberland Road, land speculation, pioneer life near Wheeling, West Virginia and in Kentucky and Indiana, formation of and early days in Belmont and Monroe counties, Ohio (including the founding of Woodsfield, Ohio), the Northwest Territory, Indians of North America, family life, marriage and courtship, Virginia militia during peacetime and in the War of 1812, Ohio politics, sale of slaves and the Whiskey Rebellion. There are also letters of members of the Baker and Morgan families of Fauquier County, Virginia and Wheeling, West Virginia which concern life in St. Louis, Missouri during the 1840's.

Correspondence, 1756-1764, of Maria Carter Armistead (including letters written by Mrs. Thomas Feilde); business papers, 1782-1828, of William Cocke of "Bremo," Henrico County, Virginia and of "Oakland," Cumberland County, Virginia; and letters, 1861-1863, of William Fauntleroy Cocke, Thomas Lewis Preston Cocke and Edmund Randolph Cocke concerning their service in the Confederate States Army (including the Battle of First Bull Run).

Papers and correspondence of three generations of Samuel Barrons, all of whom were involved in naval affairs. Papers, 1793-1809, of Samuel Barron (1765-1810), commander of one of the Mediterranean squadrons sent to defeat Tripoli. Papers concern naval business and the War with Tripoli. Includes correspondence with his brother James Barron, Stephen Decatur, William Eaton (concerning his controversy with Tobias Lear over the Tripolitan peace settlement), Tobias Lear, Edward Preble, John Rodgers, Robert Smith (Secretary of the Navy), and Thomas Truxton. Includes letters written by Preble and Rodgers on board the USS Constitution and letters concerning the capture of William Bainbridge and the seamen of the USS Philadelphia.

Accounts, 1752-1786, of Benjamin Layman, Shenandoah County, Va.; and accounts, 1788-1815, concerning Layman's estate kept by Godfrey Wilkin, his executor.

This collection contains materials dated 1784-1934. It includes correspondence, legal papers, and accounts, chiefly 1830-1892, of Benjamin S. Ewell, professor at the U.S. Military Academy, Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee College, and the College of William and Mary (which he served as acting president, 1848-1849, and president, 1854-1888). Letters from Ewell during the Civil War when he was assistant adjutant-general to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston are included as well. Among the correspondents are members of the Tyler, Ewell, Campbell, and Brown families of Virginia and Tennessee. The collection also contains the memorandum book on the Ewell family by Elizabeth S. Ewell.

Letters, chiefly 1765-1817, of the Blair, Banister, Braxton, Horner, and Whiting families. Correspondents include John Blair (1732-1800), Anne (Blair) Banister and Mary (Blair) Braxton Burwell Prescott. Many of the letters are written by women.

Papers, 1770-1875, of the Blow family of "Tower Hill," Sussex County, Va. and of the Waller family. Prominent correspondents in the collection include Philip Barraud, John Hartwell Cocke, Henry Lee and Edmund Ruffin. Most of these accessions were integrated as the collection was partially processed, but some are boxed separately.