The collection is open to research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Henry L. and Maurice K. Francis Correspondence, Ms1989-005, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Henry L. and Maurice K. Francis Letters were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1989.
The processing and description of the Henry L. and Maurice K. Francis Letters commenced and was completed in January 2022.
Henry Lewis Francis, Sr., son of William H. and Eliza Attaway Shelor, was born in Floyd County, Virginia, on September 24, 1876. In 1897, while working for the
Maurice Kemper Francis, older brother of Henry L. Francis, was born in Floyd County, Virginia on January 8, 1874. By late 1896, Francis was living and working in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1899, he was working for P. Kennedy's Foundry in Baltimore, but the 1900 census found him again in Chattanooga, boarding in the home of Victoria Vioux while working as an iron molder. By 1905, Francis had returned to Virginia and was working for the Roanoke Machine Works as a molder while living with his mother and brothers in the city. On July 29, 1905, he was murdered in Floyd County and was buried in Fair View Cemetery, Roanoke.
This collection contains letters written by brothers Henry K. Francis--a corporal in Company F, 2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War--and his brother Maurice K. Francis, an iron molder, written to their mother, Eliza A. Francis, in Floyd County, Virginia. Most of Henry Francis's letters are written from Camp Cuba Libre (Jacksonville, Florida) and relate to personal matters, chiefly the trouble he is having with estranged wife Harriet (usually referred to in the letters as "H"). He touches only briefly on military affairs. His final letter discusses his imminent return home.
Maurice Francis's letters, commencing from Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1896, also relate to personal matters: his living quarters, family relations, job prospects, and his personal finances and health. In his letter of May 1, 1898, he expresses concern over his brother Henry having volunteered for military service.
The collection also contains a photographic portrait of an unidentified man--presumably Henry L. Francis--in uniform, with a "VA" insignia on collar.
The guide to the Henry L. and Maurice K. Francis Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).
This collection had long held the title "Henry Francis Correspondence," but a closer look at the contents during processing suggested that "Henry L. and Maurice K. Francis Letters" would be a more accurate title.