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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Charles Woodson Manuscript Collection, Ms2002-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Charles Woodson Manuscript Collection was purchased from Carmen Valentino Rare Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April 2002. A handwritten note in the orderly book dated July 16, 1943 indicates that it was found in a trunk inside "Prospect," an old Woodson family home in Prince Edward County, Virginia, ca. 1939. The names Nannie W. Venable and Nathaniel B. Venable are inscribed in the front of the book.
Charles Woodson (1781-1838) was born and reared in Prince Edward County. He was s commissioned a captain in the Virginia Militia, Prince Edward County in 1803 and a colonel in 1818. His battalion was called into service in August 1814 and traveled to Tappahannock, then camped at a place he refers to as Camp Carters, near Richmond, probably from 30 August 1814 to 28 December 1814.
Woodson served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1811-1812 and was a member of the Prince Edward County Republican Committee of Correspondence in 1816 and the Jackson Committee of Correspondence and Vigilance in 1827, and sheriff of Prince Edward County in 1837. He was known for his agricultural experimentation and contributed to the Farmers Register, an agricultural journal. He died at his home in Prince Edward County in 1838.
Charles Woodson married Nancy Jackson about 1803 and they had six children, only one of whom married and had children. Mary Thompson Woodson, the eldest child, married Nathaniel Venable, whose name is inscribed in the Woodson ledger. They, in turn, had two daughters, Nannie B. Venable, whose name is also inscribed in the ledger, and Mollie Venable the only grandchildren of Charles Woodson and Nancy Jackson.
Charles Woodsons' parents were Tarleton Woodson, who was born in 1754 in Henrico County, and Anne Van Der Veer of Long Island, New York. Tarleton Woodson was a major in the Continental Army during the Revolution and a British prisoner of war on Long Island, where he met his wife. After the war they settled in Prince Edward County and had two sons, Charles and Tarleton. In 1794 Tarleton Woodson (senior) was married a second time, to Anne Friend.
Bradshaw, Herbert Clarence. History of Prince Edward County, Virginia (Richmond, Va: The Dietz Press), 1955.
Woodson, Henry Morton. Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections, Vol. 1, supplement 1990 by Grace Woodson Curd. Printed in Roanoke, Virginia, 1991.
The Charles Woodson Manuscript Collection consists of a manuscript orderly book, 50 scrapbook pages of newspaper clippings, eight loose manuscript pages, and an early handmade lace cap.
The orderly book dates from 1814 to 1820. It contains battalion and regiment orders, records of the commissions and resignations of officers, including the commissioning of William Venable, records of expenditures for medical care and arms for the battalion, and an account of provisions purchased for the battalion while it was encamped at a location he refers to as "Camp Carters, near Richmond." It contains information about daily camp life for a militia batallion called to duty during the war of 1812 and the administration of a unit of the Virginia militia.
The eight loose manuscript pages contain regimental orders from 1815 and miscellaneous accounts and receipts from the period 1804 to 1836.
The scrapbook pages consist of 50 pages of newspaper clippings that were probably kept by Nannie W. Venable, Charles Woodson's granddaughter, whose name is inscribed in the front of the book. They include historical accounts of Revolutionary war battles, contemporary of accounts of early Civil War battles, poetry, and articles on religion and manners.
The collection also includes a handmade lace cap that may have belonged to someone in the Woodson or Venable families.
Manuscript Orderly Book, 1814-1820: Brigade, batallion, regiment, and general orders for the 2nd Battalion, 63rd Regiment, Prince Edward County, Virginia Militia. The series also contains Charles Woodson's account of rations for the "8th Regiment, 2nd Battalion in the 8th Regiment 4th Brigade, Virginia Militia" while stationed at Camp Carters near Richmond in the fall of 1814 and a "Memorandum of various incidents etcetera of Charles Woodson major from the 2nd Battalion, 63rd Regiment called into service of the state August 1814," a record of money spent for daily rations for the battalion while in service at Camp Carters. Included are a record of payments made to a physician for services rendered to two soldiers who died in the infirmary and payments for ammunitions delivered. The orders are in the front of the book. They do not always follow chronological order. The other materials were entered in the back of the book, upside down.
Scrapbook, ca. 1852-ca. 1861: Newspaper clippings of poetry, religious writings, essays on manners and morals, illustrations, historical sketches, and accounts of the first battles of the Civil War, probably kept by Nannie Venable, granddaughter of Charles Woodson.
Miscellaneous, 1804-1836, n.d. : Scraps of paper that contain accounts and receipts and militia orders, and a handmade lace cap.
The guide to the Charles Woodson Manuscript Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).