Collections : [James Madison University]

Series 5: 2018 Accessions, 1867-1995, comprises materials acquired in two separate accessions in 2018. Personal papers, research and genealogical materials, and photographs relate directly to immediate and extended Yount family members, specifically the children of Myrtie Stephens Yount and J.B. Yount.

Series 2: Correspondence, 1857-1931, 1991, contains letters to and from several members of the Stephens and Yount families. Corresponding envelopes are included as are envelopes with no corresponding letter.

Series 5: 2023-0329 Accession, 1864-1923, includes Henkel family correspondence, Renalds family correspondence, and letters written to Ray Renalds while he was admitted to Rockingham Memorial Hospital in 1923 for an undisclosed illness.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1827-1913, chiefly contains letters written to Siram P. Henkel with correspondents including members of the Koiner/Coiner family of Augusta County, the Miller family of Winchester, and the Rupert family of Augusta County. The correspondents report on family and community news, marriages, health and illnesses, deaths, weather, harvest and planting updates, crop yields, and include fellow merchants requesting advice on the market of certain goods and numerous requests for Dr. Henkel's pills. Of particular interest are the letters written to Siram by his sons Lewis and Luther while serving in the American Civil War. The sons, and Luther in particular, write about camp life and general updates related to the war. In a December 21, 1861 letter to his father, Lewis P. Henkel writes from Winchester and mentions General Stonewall Jackson. He also refers to General Gilbert S. Meem as "Genl. Drunk."

Series is an addition to the collection and comprises photographs, family papers, and local history materials. The Wenger line of the family is documented in this series.

Series is an addition to the collection and comprises photograph albums and one loose photograph documenting the extended Bowman family. Photographs document the Bowman family house (now located at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton), Wenger home (Mt. Clinton Pike), family reunions, and students at Dale Enterprise School. Individual and group photos of family members are included. Detailed descriptions were provided by the donor (or other family members) and are included with the albums. A detailed description of the history and architecture of the Wenger house accompanies the photograph.

Series 1, Account Ledgers and Registries, 1870-1895, consists of a bound register (1870-1884), account ledger, and check stub registry. The register lists names alphabetically by race, date registered, and age. Initially presumed to have been an employee register, many of the names listed were prominent local citizens and/or businessmen who were not in the employ of the tannery; therefore it is likely that this was an unofficial voter register that somehow came to be housed in the same building as the tannery records, and may in fact have had nothing to do with the tannery itself.