Collections : [Virginia Historical Society]

Virginia Historical Society

Virginia Historical Society
P.O. Box 7311
428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd
Richmond, VA 23221-0311
Primary Collecting Areas:
The VMHC collects the history of Virginians.
Description:
The VMHC collections consist of a wide range of objects, including books and bound serials, Confederate imprints, sheet music, broadsides, newspapers, family and personal papers, business and organizational records, genealogical materials, maps, paintings, prints, postcards, weapons, militaria, glass plate negatives, and photographs from the nineteenth century to the present.
POC: Laura Stoner
Phone: (804) 342-9662
Phone: (804) 342-9677
Fax: (804) 355-2399
Start Over Repository Virginia Historical Society Collection Roller Family Papers 1828-1974

Roller Family Papers 1828-1974

Includes correspondence, account books and loose accounts, commonplace books, and miscellaneous materials documenting the close relationship between members of the Cabell and the related Micklem and Eubank families, especially among the women. Prominently represented are Elizabeth Willis (Eubank) Cabell of "Inglewood," Nelson County, Va., who maintained a large household made up of her immediate family, her husband's sister, children who attended the school run by her son and daughter, and summer boarders; and her daughters, Mary Caroline Cabell, a teacher who ran the school at Inglewood; Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who married John Edwin Roller of Harrisonburg, Va., and had an active domestic and social life; and Margaret Etta (Cabell) Matthews, who married an Anglican missionary and lived with him for several years in Liberia; and Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore, of Richmond, Va., and Glens Falls, N.Y., daughter of Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller, who maintained an extensive social correspondence with friends, many of whom lived in or frequently travelled to foreign countries. In general the correspondence concerns domestic activities, including courtship and marriage, the births of children, illnesses and deaths, problems with servants, and the procurement of clothing and other household articles; the running of the Inglewood school and the work of other family members, split between teaching and the law; and social activities in Nelson County, Harrisonburg, and Richmond, Va., among the Cabell and Roller families and a wide network of friends and relations. Also included are the papers of John Edwin Roller, a Harrisonburg, Va., lawyer and active member of the Republican Party, largely concerning his plans to run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 1872 and his relationships with his wife, her daughters, and his daughters from his first marriage.
  1. Virginia Historical Society

Series 10.1.: Correspondence, 1870-1916 Box 15-18

Correspondence of Gen. John Edwin "Ned" Roller, chiefly falling into two periods, 1870-1872, concerning Roller's plans to run for election to the Virginia House of Delegates, and 1895-1916, concerning his marriage in 1896 to Lucy Brown Cabell, and after, concerning his family life. Many correspondents from the earlier period give details of political sentiment on the local level (see William Withers Adams, William B. W. Brooking, Henry B. Harnsberger, Henry Marcellus Keyser, John Marshall McCue, William Merry Perkins, E. D. Pettit, Charles Summerville Rohr, Lawrence Royster, Ezra Eugenius Stickley, William Harrison Triplett, John Richard Wingfield, Charles Junius Woodson, and others). Non-family letters from the later period are typically letters of congratulations on his marriage.
Letters to Lucy Brown Cabell during their courtship discuss the objections of Roller's teenage daughters to their marriage, the age difference between Roller and Lucy, and Lucy's father's objections to the proposed marriage settlement. Letters after their marriage are chiefly exchanged while Roller is traveling on business and during Lucy's annual visits to her family at Inglewood, Nelson co., and discuss their children and domestic issues.
Letters to Roller from daughters Frances Lewis (Roller) Grattan and Margaret Stuart (Roller) Cannady Ogilvie Merryman concern their attendance at Woman's College, Frederick, Md. (now Hood College), in particular social activities and financial needs. Letters from Roller to daughters Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore, Anne Woolston (Roller) Pyle, and Lucy Cabell Roller contain family news and fatherly advice while they are away visiting Cabell relatives.
Also included is scattered correspondence with Roller's brothers, Oliver Brown Roller, Peter Samuel Roller, Robert Douglas Roller, and William Wirt Roller, largely concerning the financing of their respective educations. Oliver attended the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. Peter attended Augusta Military Academy. Robert attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary of Virginia.

  1. Virginia Historical Society
  2. Roller Family Papers 1828-1974
  3. Series 10.: John Edwin Roller (1844-1918) papers, 1835-1918

Series 10.5.: Miscellaneous materials Box 19

Includes wedding invitations, dinner invitations, commencement invitations for Woman's College of Frederick, Md. (now Hood College) and the Virginia Female Institute, Staunton, Va. (now Stuart Hall), responses to invitations, calling cards, and commissions, 1866 and 1868, appointing Roller vice-president of Mt. Crawford and Rockingham co. councils, Virginia State Council of the Friends of Temperance.

  1. Virginia Historical Society
  2. Roller Family Papers 1828-1974
  3. Series 10.: John Edwin Roller (1844-1918) papers, 1835-1918

Series 11.1.: Correspondence, 1888-1914 Box 20-26

Correspondence of Lucy Brown "Lily" (Cabell) Roller of Harrisonburg, Va., chiefly with her family and female friends discussing family activities (marriages, births, and deaths), social activities, and visits. Prominent correspondents include her daughter Elizabeth Henry (Roller) Bottimore (while accompanying her father, John Edwin Roller, on trips west, 1907 and 1908, and visiting the Cabells at "Inglewood," Nelson co., Va.), brother John Willis Cabell (while living at "Inglewood," Nelson co., Va., attending Roanoke College, Salem, Va., while working on railroads in Tennessee, and in Richmond, Va., working for his brother, Patrick Henry Carey Cabell, lawyer for the Travelers Insurance Company, concerning news of family and friends, social activities in Nelson co., railroad construction in Tennessee, and his engagement to Anne Elizabeth "Bessie" Moore); sister-in-law Lillian Hoge (Lorraine) Cabell (of Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C., wife of Royal Eubank Cabell, discussing her children and social life in Richmond; letter of 1905 November 19 includes illustrations of children in various poses); cousin Lucy G. Cabell (of Norwood, Wingina, and "Union Hill," Nelson co., Va., giving news of Cabell relations, discussing the health of her invalid mother and brother-in-law, and discussing her embroidery work), cousin Mary Holmes (McGuire) Cabell (of Waynesboro, Va., concerning her domestic life), Virginia C. Gardner (of Valley Farm, Broaddus, Va., and other places, concerning her work as a school teacher, her recreational reading, mutual friends, clothing, social activities, the births of Lucy's children, and various Cabell marriages), Minnie (Cox) Graham (while visiting Summerville, S.C., and Rockbridge Alum Springs, Va., and while living at Tazewell, Va., after her marriage to Judge Samuel Cecil Graham, concerning her social activities at Rockbridge Alum Springs, her views on Arctic exploration, her decision to break her engagement in order to accept Judge Graham's proposal, her wedding plans, and the birth of a daughter); step-daughter Frances Lewis "Lewie" (Roller) Grattan (while attending the Woman's College, Frederick, Md. [now Hood College], 1896-1897, and visiting relatives along the Eastern seaboard, concerning school life, clothing, and social activities), Lucy Bailey Heneberger (of Harrisonburg, Va., concerning the Massanutten Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution), cousin Caroline Elizabeth "Carrie" (Micklem) James (of "Roseland," Nelson co., Va., and at "Inglewood," Nelson co., Va., while attending Mary Caroline Cabell's school, discussing family life), sister Margaret "Etta" (Cabell) Matthews (while living with her missionary husband at Cape Mount and St. John's Station, Liberia, describing her daily life in Africa, 1904-1906 and 1909-1910, and while living at home at "Inglewood," Nelson co., Va., discussing family news), stepdaughter Margaret "Marco" Stuart (Roller) Cannady Ogilvie Merryman (while attending Woman's College, Frederick, Md. [now Hood College] and Virginia Female Institute, Staunton, Va., discussing school life, clothing and social activities), sister-in-law Caroline (Booker) Roller (of Charleston, W. Va., wife of Rev. Robert Douglas Roller, discussing family life), daughter Lucy Cabell Roller (during visits to Cabell relatives in Nelson co., Va., discussing social activities and family news), and Emma Louise (Lorraine) Sanders (of Richmond, Va., discussing social and family life and the activities of Frances Lewis (Roller) Grattan).

  1. Virginia Historical Society
  2. Roller Family Papers 1828-1974
  3. Series 11.: Lucy Brown (Cabell) Roller (1871-1914) papers, 1888-1913

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