The papers of the Baylor family of "Newmarket," Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia, contain ca. 2000 items (11 Hollinger boxes, 4.5 linear feet), 1653-1915, and consist of correspondence, legal and financial papers, ledgers, genealogical material, students notebooks and bound volumes, scrapbooks, photographs, a diary, literary compositions, military papers pertaining to the Revolutionary War, newsclippings, the records of James Bowen Baylor and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and miscellaneous papers.

These papers pertain to John Baylor (1650-1720) of Gloucester County, and King and Queen County, Virginia, and his wife, Lucy Todd O'Brien of New Kent County, Virginia, and four generations of their descendants. The John Baylor ledgers, 1719-1755, reveal that John Baylor was a wealthy merchant, planter, and shipowner. He also served as a burgess, representing Gloucester County in the 1693 General Assembly and King and Queen County in 1718.

John Baylor's son, John Baylor (1705-1772), greatly increased the family landholdings when he received a royal land grant in 1726 in what was to become Caroline County, Virginia. John Baylor was educated in England, at the Putney Grammer School and Caius College, Cambridge. While in England, he developed a keen interest in thoroughbred horses and horse racing, going so far as to name his new home, " Newmarket, " for the famous English racing center. He became an important colonial horse importer and breeder whose stables greatly contributed to the development of American thoroughbreds. John Baylor also rendered public service to the newly formed county of Caroline, as a colonel in the county militia and a burgess in 1742-1749, and 1756-1765.

All four of the sons of John Baylor (1705-1772) contributed in some way to the American effort during the Revolutionary War. John Baylor (1750-1808), the heir of " Newmarket, " while unable to fight due to a childhood injury, gave financial support to the war effort. He later had difficulties in shedding his reputation as a "Tory" because he had gone back to England in 1778 to marry his cousin, Frances Norton (1760-1815) and had to live in Europe until they could obtain a return passage to America.

George Baylor (1752-1784) was a member of the Caroline County Committee of Safety, 1775-1776, and from 1775-1777, he was aide-de-camp of General George Washington. He was commanding officer of the 3rd Regiment Light Dragoons when he was wounded and captured on September 28, 1778. He was eventually exchanged and his regiment was consolidated with the First Continental Dragoons on November 9, 1782, which he commanded until the end of the war. On September 30, 1783, he received his commission as a Brevet Brigadier General.

Walker Baylor served as a lieutenant and captain of the 3rd Regiment Light Dragoons during the Revolution. He along with his other brother Robert Baylor, who also served in the Revolution, immigrated to Kentucky. Later Robert Baylor apparently settled in the Pearl River area of the Mississippi Territory.

The estate of John Baylor (1750-1808) was hopelessly entangled when he inherited it from his father in 1772 and much of it was lost through his own ineptitude as a businessman and the dishonesty of others. However, the house and two thousand acres were entailed and could not be alienated; these were passed on to his son, John Baylor ( ? ), who married Maria Ann Roy and produced Dr. John Roy Baylor (1821-1897). It was Dr. John Roy Baylor's son, Captain James Bowen Baylor (1848-1924), who was a member of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey team.

The correspondence series contains the correspondence from family members, friends, and business associates of all the above generations of the Baylor family, beginning with Colonel John Baylor (1705-1772). Letters pertaining to the sojourn of John Baylor (1750-1808) in England prior to and during the Revolutionary War include the following: a reference to Colonel John Baylor's son at school in Caius College, Cambridge (August 12,1769); his intentions of returning to the United States (December 28, 1770); the advice of William Bond, a former teacher of John Baylor, for him to seek further educational opportunities upon the continent rather than to return to college studies (July 15, 1773); William Bond's request for John Baylor to ignore "national evils" and to visit England (May 4, 1778); John Baylor's trip to England to wed his cousin, Frances Norton (1778); a reference to the Baylor's leaving England, and comments concerning the fashions and decadence of England (May 4, 1779).

Correspondence concerning events leading up to and including the Revolutionary War includes: Sam Waterman's support of the Stamp Act repeal and the danger of shipping livestock from London to John Baylor (March 6, 1766); a Mr. Grand's letter refusing to advise John Baylor due to threat of prison (March 28, [1772]): copies of Committee of Correspondence letters to John Norton asking him to keep them informed regarding events in England and Acts of Parliament and his reply (April 6, & July 6, 1773); a recommendation for the Baron of [Bonstetten] who served in the Danish and Prussian Wars (September 27,1777); John Baylor as a prisoner aboard a British ship, Thomas [Thortican], possibly due to suspicion that he was reportedly carrying a treaty between France and the United States (February 5, 1778); the birth of Colonel George Baylor's son (May 6, 1779); Walker Baylor asking his brother to send him some money to cover his expenses incurred in fighting in the Revolution (August 13, 1779); a statement of Edmund Pendleton, the Chairman of the Caroline Committee of Correspondence, regarding the loyalty of John Baylor to the colonial cause, relating that John Baylor supported the actions of the Americans at Lexington, and returned to England only to marry (October 13, 1779); the statement of George Baylor regarding the loyalty of his brother evidenced by his opinion of events at Lexington, and his recommendation of Baron de Wolfen in the service of the American Army, and concluding with the explanation that John Baylor did not fight due to a physical infirmity acquired in his youth (October 14,1779); John Wormeley requests John Baylor to use his influence to give him an escort to visit his father in Virginia (August 16, 1782); and a request for George Baylor to help recover money form one of the officers of his regiment for Mr. Alexander (September 3, 1783).

Other subjects of note include: the tobacco growing and export business (May 8, 1741; March 6, 1766; August 12, 1769; February 5, 1778; June 29, 1788; March 10, 1789; June 6, 1789; March 15, 1793; & February 5, 1790); iron and forge business (October 11, 1771; & April 13, 1774); horses and horse breeding ("Sober John"-October25, 1754; "Fearnought"-March 21, 1771; October 30, 1756; March 6, 1766; and July 17, 1800); and a discussion about whether the Spanish will allow free trade up the Mississippi River and Ohio River ([December 4], 1783).

Several letters mention slaves and slavery. Among these are: slaves for sale (April 14, 1770; March 21, 1771; September 14, 1771; & June 19, 1811); mention of slave passes, a slave detained on the road for lack of one, and a visit of slaves with the family in Gloucester County, Virginia (July 12, 1813); the prices of slaves in the Pearl River area of the Mississippi Territory and prices of hire (November 28, 1816); and a letter from a Quaker, George Boone, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, attempting to verify that James Martin, a black man who claimed to have been born to free parents and wrongly sold as part of Colonel John Baylor's estate, was indeed a free black and not legally owned by Thomas Adams of Orange County, Virginia (August 12, 1818).

There is a group of letters between John Baylor, John Frere, and John Baylor's former teacher in England, William Bond, concerning education for his two sons, John Baylor and George Daniel Baylor. This correspondence sheds some light on the attempts of Americans to educate their sons following the Revolution and includes: a discussion of Eton and Rugby and changes that have occurred at Cambridge (August 17, 1793); a suggestion to try Glasgow in Scotland (March 1, 1796); the possibility of using a tutor (February 27, 1797); terms to secure a tutor from England and his opinion of Eton (October 2, 1797); and a suggestion to use an American clergyman for a tutor (June 22, 1799 & June 30, 1800).

Other subjects mentioned include: the French Revolution (July 2, August 17, and [September 18], 1793); a description of fashions ([September 18], 1793); a description of Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia (August 26, 1805); the career of Napoleon Bonaparte (June 30 & July 17, 1800); the settlement of John Baylor's estate (December 26, 1801; & January 3, 1804); the Louisiana Purchase (September 17, 1803); a woman's viewpoint and thoughts (April 9, 1802); the interdiction of His Majesty's ships from American ports and the War of 1812 (August 29, 1808; March 25, 1812; and July 18, 1813); an excellent discussion of social and economic life in Pearl River, Mississippi Territory (November 28, 1816); the financial difficulties of the Baylor family (September 1, 1819; & July 25, 1820); a meteorite falling in Washington, D.C. (March 18, 1821); the celebration in Richmond of the French victory over the Turkish Dey of Algiers (September 13, 1830); the medical studies of John Roy Baylor (January 31, 1842); discussion of George Catlin's book about American Indians and the explorations of John C. Fremont and Charles Wilkes (April 30, 1846); a detailed description of William P. Palmer's trip to Europe (October 30, 1865); and the voyage of Presbyterian missionary E. Lanc[aster] to Rio De Janeiro (August 26, 1869).

Events during the Civil War period are represented by the following: William P. Palmer's comments concerning John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry and the preparations for his hanging (November 22 & December 1, 1859); the struggle for possession of the Fredericksburg Water Power Company (March 17 & November 3, 1863; & September 5, 1865); the building of Confederate stables and cabins for a camp in Louisa near the gold mines of Louisa County's Walnut Grove and Slate Grove, formerly owned by Yankee speculators (December 30, 1863); requests for donations of flour and foodstuffs for soldiers (February 25, 1865); and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln deplored (April 25, 1865). Related topics include the mention of seeing Robert E. Lee at White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia (August 17, 1867) and a letter from Henry Stephens Randall declining to visit the Old Dominion until the scars of the Civil War are healed (n.d.).

Other post-Civil War subjects include: racial tensions (August 11, 1878) and the Richmond riots during which a white policeman was killed in Old Market Hall (March 20, 1870); John Roy Baylor's assurances that his black tenant farmers were not involved in the violence in Caroline County (n.d.); life in St. Louis, Missouri (September & July 3, 1873); a description of a shoot-out in Uvalde County, Texas (May 10, 1881); the black vote during Reconstruction in Virginia (October 28, 1889); mention of Micajah Woods, the University of Virginia, and Monticello (October 21, 1887); and the Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac Railroad Company (March 21, 1873; & May 20, 1881).

Letters containing genealogical information include the following families: the Norton family (June 22, 1828); Robert Baylor's (August 14, 1828); the Frere family (June 28, 1872 & n.d.); the Roy family (March 21, 1887 & January 8, 1885); the Braxton family (April 20, 1810); the Baylor family (February 20, 1895); and the Texas Baylor family (April 28 & May 2, 1894).

For a list of individual correspondents, please consult the Baylor family sliplist.

The next series of papers contain the legal and financial papers of the Baylor family. These include: the amnesty papers of Dr. John Roy Baylor (1865); land plats and surveys (1701-1841) of Virginia lands in King William County, King and Queen County, Spotsylvania County, Caroline County, Pocahontas County, and Orange County, many of which were done by surveyor, James Taylor; and other legal documents such as indentures, bonds, deeds, land grants, and bills of complaint. Items of special note are: copies of land grants signed by Alexander Spotswood (July 20, 1722) and Hugh Drysdale (July 16, 1726); a list of named slaves sold to John Baylor (December 12, 1751); charges against Philip Easter, overseer for John Baylor, particularly for "constantly driving of the Negroes for which I paid a great deal of tobacco," especially old Sarah, a midwife (ca. 1757); agreement of John Hatley Norton to buy John Baylor's tobacco (December 12, 1776); a water lot rental (June 12, 1794); articles of agreement concerning a grist mill in Caroline County (June 18, 1813); the pardon of John Crowley signed by James Madison and James Monroe (September 11, 1815); an indenture of 1820 with named slaves; a schedule of property with a named slave (December 17, 1822); an agreement concerning a mill with P. Harrison as the miller (1831); a certificate of exemption from active service in the Confederate Army as an agriculturalist (November 10, 1864); and a copy of a receipt concerning work done on a gravel pit for the Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac Railroad (June 2, 1870).

This series also contains copies of the wills of John Baylor (1705-1772), dated February 19, 1770, and Frances Baylor (1760-1815), dated June 12, 1815, both mentioning family slaves by name.

The financial papers of the Baylor family contain six small account books, 1859-1870, listing payment to hired hands, one of which contains the Tiverton Farm Stockbook (1866); bank statements; a farm book for the Greenwood Farm; John Baylor's receipt book, 1792-1795, which mentions Negroes purchased (December 5, 1790), George Baylor's estate (February 17, 1792), and Negroes sold (February 23, 1795); and other miscellaneous financial papers.

Topics in the financial papers include the following: an account with Donald Robertson for Robert Baylor and Walker Baylor's schooling (April 1, 1772); Colonel Braxton's smith works (April 1736); the Rappahannock River Forge belonging to James Hunter (March 31, 1784); tobacco accounts (1775-1776; 1782; June & August 1782, October 2, 1789; February 24, 1784; March 19 & December 11, 1875; and n.d.); horses and racing (January 16, 1741; July 11, 1777, May 29, 1767; November 15, 1774; April 1, 1756; and list of horses, n.d.); an account for carpenter and house work [1726]; an account with the Swan Tavern (September 23, 1815); the settling of John Baylor's estate (1750-1808) (January 5, 1812; May 29, 1811; October 27, 1812; September 10, 1815; October 2, 1819; June 1, 1821; August 3, 1821; and n.d.); medical accounts (April 12, 1830); corn and meal from John Baylor's mill (January 1, 1830); and a blacksmith account (January 1, 1875).

There are also accounts with the Confederate government (November 14 & 24, & December 12, 1863; March 24 & May 3, 1864; and February 4, 1865) and many concerning slaves and slavery.

These include: duty paid on Negroes (1742-1744); claim for payment for capturing and placing John Baylor's runaway slave in the Spotsylvania goal (April 16, 1744); the sale of George Baylor's slaves (November 28, 1786); slaves for hire (December 26, 1805; June 15, 1814); hire of " Ned " as a mason (October 2, 1814); clothing for Negroes (1814); grog for servants (September 23, 1815); bills of sale for unnamed slaves (June 11, 1847); Mary and daughter Elizabeth (September 4, 1848); Miles (February 20, 1849); Pompey (June 11, 1847); slave boy, Frank (January 15, 1851); Kitty Brook and Fanny (December 28, 1853); George Cooper (June 18, 1857); and slave hire (April 30, 1859 & ca. 1854).

The miscellaneous series contains a diary (1780) of John Baylor 1750-1808) describing a journey from " Newmarket " to Warm Springs, Augusta County, Virginia, and mentioning Dr. [Thomas ?] Walker and his son, Thomas Walker, of Albemarle County, Virginia, and John Baylor's Orange plantations; genealogical material pertaining to the Roy family, Baylor family, and Norton family, and including biographical sketches of Mungo Roy and John Baylor (1750-1808); a "History of the Early Church in Virginia"; several literary compositions by Maria Roy Baylor; and a memorandum book of John Baylor (1750-1808) which describes the beginning of his voyage on the Potomack (October 1775) and furnishes a description of saltworks at Portsmouth, [England] (1778).

Other material in this series includes military papers, miscellaneous papers, newsclippings, and loose photographs. Thirteen of the items in the military papers pertain to Colonel John Baylor (1705-1772) and the Caroline militia, who served under Colonel George Washington in the construction of a fort at Winchester, Virginia, during the French and Indian War, 1756-1757, and consist of company returns, orders for payment, and receipts for payment.

The rest of the military papers consist of Revolutionary War material, relating to George Baylor, aide-de-camp to General George Washington, 1775-1777, and Commander of the Third Regiment of Light Dragoons, and the papers about clothing, arms, and other supplies, regimental finances, roster of officers, and weekly returns of the regiment. Among these papers are: a copy of a letter from General Burgoyne to Colonel Phillipson concerning military conditions and discussing his ill-fated Saratoga campaign (October 20, 1777); a mention of George Baylor's upcoming marriage (February 4, 1778); B. Dade's request to be exchanged as a prisoner of war (February 1779); monies owed for supplies to James Hunter with an itemized account (October 12 & November 1, 1779); the problems and arrangements involved in outfitting the regiment (February 4, June 6 & 12, 1778; October 13, 1780; October 26, 1781 [2 letters]; November 2, 1781; April 3 & August 14, 1782); the difficulty of working with the "financier Robert Morris " (October 13, 1780); an outbreak of smallpox in the Third Regiment at Petersburg, Virginia (November 25, 1781); and an order for a review of the Continental army for July 4, 1782. A final item is a general order for a discharge from the 4th Regiment of Virginia militia during the War of 1812 (April 10, 1814). For a list of individual correspondents, please consult the original list in the control folder.

The miscellaneous folder contains the following: a printed score sheet for archery (July 4, 1771); a list of books, probably from the library of John Baylor [ca. 1800 ?]; notes concerning Blackstone's law; a pamphlet, "The Lewis and Clark Expedition," by Grace Flandrau (n.d.); an oath to "our Sovereign Lord King George" (n.d.); and a parochial report, Emmanuel Church, Greenwood Parish, Reverend W.M. Nelson, Rector (n.d.).

The newsclippings, 1921-1933, concern University of Virginia events, news of the Ivy area, the Lewis Association of America, the Lewis family, and historical articles.

The loose photographs, mostly unidentified, include: Mrs. Rutherford's children, Rosa Rutherford, Charles Frere and Douglas Frere, possible photographs of " Newmarket, " and University of Virginia professors.

The notebooks and bound volumes series contains the following: a photograph album; school notebooks of Maria Roy Baylor, Frank Blackford, and James B. Baylor; an expense book; two scrapbooks of newsclippings; and the hand copied by John Baylor (1769-1771).

Those volumes belonging to Dr. John Roy Baylor include: a genealogical and historical notebook (1872); a medical notebook and farm expense book which records a controversy with the Clayton family over slaves (1847-1851); a farm account book, 1856-1892, with accounts with the Fredericksburg Water Power Company, a servant's account (June-August, 1865), and reports of wheat crops; an account book with grape expenses, sheep memorandum, apple accounts, and a mill account (1868-1874); and another farm book with an account with the Bowling Green Tanning Yard, and slave hire records with named slaves (1847-1868).

The photograph album, apparently given to John Roy Baylor by his granddaughter on Christmas of 1887, contains photographs of the following: Rosa Seddon Rutherford (1891 & n.d.); Helen Rutherford Johnson; James B. Baylor; Frances Starke Bowen, of " Mirador, " Albemarle County (1886); Fanny Courtenay Baylor (1886); the mother of Fanny Courtenay Baylor; a portrait of Colonel George Armistead; Roy Ellerson Massie; General Lewis Armistead (killed at Gettysburg ); Maria Roy Baylor; Eloise Baylor (1885); Julia Howard Baylor; and John Roy Baylor.

The series containing the papers of James B. Baylor and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey consists of the financial records of the survey teams led by John Baylor, circular letters from the home office in Washington, D.C., the official correspondence and reports of John Baylor, photographs, printed material, United States government property inventories, and bound volumes.

James Bowen Baylor (1849-1924) graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Virginia in 1872 and was appointed an aid in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Department in 1874, continuing to work as a field agent throughout his career. His many assignments included: the determination of the elements of earth's magnetism from Canada to Mexico; the survey of oyster grounds in Louisiana and Virginia, 1889-1894; his appointment as a Commissioner of the United States Supreme Court to settle the Virginia - Tennessee boundary line dispute, establishing it in the middle of Main Street, Bristol, 1900-1902; and also the establishment of boundaries between Virginia and Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, and the United States and Canada.

The Oyster Industry Protection Correspondence contains much correspondence from William Ellinger of Fox Island, Virginia, who describes himself as an oyster planter. Printed material consists of death notices for United States Coast and Geodetic Survey men, Richard D. Cutts and Benjamin Peirce (1880& 1883), and three pamphlets concerning the United States and Canadian boundary, the oyster laws of Virginia, and a Virginia Military Institute valedictory address by Edward Hutson Russell.

Oversize items include a survey of the lands of John Roy Baylor (June 1847), photographs of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and a printed plan of the fairgrounds of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, Richmond, 1854.

The three Baylor family ledgers, 1719-1755, contain many references to the purchase of slaves (see addendum).

The three Baylor family ledgers contain many references concerning tobacco exports, the purchase of merchandise, work done on various ships, and slaves, which at times had their place of origin noted, as in " Madigaschar woman," "man of Callabar, " and " Barbadoes negro." The accounts of the first two ledgers are indexed in the front of the volumes.

References to slavery occurring in volume one include the following pages: 12, 13, 15, 17, 22-24, 26, 28, 35, 37, 39, 47, 49, 64-66, 68, 70-71, 77, 80-81, 83, 92-93, 101-102, 113-114, 127, 130, 134, 166, & 175. References to slavery in volume two include: 10, 16, 30, 34, 56, 63-64, 74, 86, 88, 102, 115, 123, 134, 183, & 207. Volume three pages include: 40, 71, 124, 130, 132, 135, 146, 148, 152-153, & 155.

Occasionally the names of the slave ships and other vessels are recorded in the ledgers with notes on the contents purchased from them. These, along with their volume and page number, are listed below.

Ann & Sarah 1.96, 139, 150, & 155

Berkeley 1.38, 64, 71, 98, 121, 149, & 167; & 2.50

Betty 1.94

Callabar 1.39, 68, & 98; & 2.96, 111, 136

Greyhound 1.23, 37, 38, 65, 92, & 96; & 2.4, 54, & 97

Hunter 1.68

Little John 1.9, 10, 12, 25, & 75; & 2.116 & 136

Little York 2.124

Lucy 1.94 & 149

Mattapony Pink 1.9, 33, 94, 99, 135, 145, 158, 180, & 185

Nassopenex Sloop 1.2, 5, 38, & 75

Parnel Galley 2.22

Prince Eugene 1.139, 150, & 162-164

Twerton 1.15, 39, 103, & 2.90

Other entries include: the Iron Mine Adventurers 1.1 & 1.11; horses 1.28; the Germana mines 2.188; John Baylor's estate 2.73 & 131; quitrents for land in Caroline County, Spotsylvania County, Orange County, and King and Queen County 2.34 & 79; and doctor and midwife accounts 3.120-121, 142, & 149. Volume three also has many references to the manufacture and repair of hardware, utensils, and agricultural equipment. In addition, at the end of the last volume, there is a list of memoranda concerning agreements and contracts of John Baylor, a memorandum of slaves sold off W. Lyde's plantation (November 30, 1742) and a list of all the Negroes belonging to Baylor in 1744.