Collections : [University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.]

The Somerville family papers (1821-2013) consists of correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and extensive genealogical files. The papers and research detailing the history of the Somerville family, mainly in America, range from its colonial background to contemporary times. The extensive genealogical research is comprised of notes and charts, along with correspondence, photographs, military records, personal notes, clippings, and printed materials. The collection also includes records detailing financial history of family assets, including wills, estates, and records of the sale of enslaved laborers and land. Scattered throughout the collection are photographs, negatives, and daguerreotypes of many Somerville family members, as well as some sheet music, and artifacts. Part of the collection also details the backgrounds of other families genealogically related to the Somervilles, such as the Stringfellow and Nottingham families.

This collection consists of thirty-four leaves of a poetry album from Richmond, Virginia. Four poems are those of John Esten Cook (1830-1886), an American poet, novelist, and Confederate soldier, lawyer, and biographer of Jefferson, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. The other thirty pages consist of poems written by a variety of other authors noted by initials or their names. Many of the poems are to a woman named Edmonia or "Monie." These pages appear to be extracted from an album dedicated her.