PUBLIC "-//Wytheville Community College::Kegley Library::Special Collections//TEXT (US::ViWyC::viwyc00013::A Guide to the Armbrister Family Papers, 1812-1893)//EN" "viwyc00013.xml" A Guide to the Armbrister Family Papers, 1811-1893 Armbrister Family, Papers 1996.1 Cathy Carlson Reynolds Special Collections, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College © 2011 By Wytheville Community College. All rights reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, created by Cathy Carlson Reynolds, 9 August 2011 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Armbrister Family Papers, 1811-1893 A Collection in Special Collections, Kegley Library 1996.1 Cathy Carlson Reynolds

Special Collections, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College 2011 Cathy Carlson Reynolds Special Collections, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College Descriptive Summary Special Collections, Kegley Library Armbrister Family Papers 1811-1883 1996.1 7 folders. English Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Armbrister Family Papers, Mss. Collection 1996.1, Kegley Library, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville, VA

Acquisition Information

Donated by an anonymous donor in 1996 in memory of Guy H. Warden.

Biographical/Historical Information

This collection primarily documents the financial transactions of George Armbrister Jr., his wife Elizabeth Whitman Armbrister, and daughter Senah Armbrister. George, the grandson of Philip Armbrister who settled near Reed Creek in Wythe County, Virginia in 1791, married Elizabeth Whitman and had two daughters. Senah Armbrister never married while Elizabeth Armbrister married Andrew Nye.

At his death in 1839, George Armbrister Jr. had amassed considerable wealth. His estate appraisal, made on 15 July 1839, listed six slaves, a wagon, twenty-nine sheep, $400 in cash and notes, and several pieces of furniture including a set of Windsor chairs. His widow died in 1878 at age ninety-four.

Daughters Senah Armbrister and Elizabeth Armbrister Nye partitioned the property inherited from their parents. Senah claimed 170 acres north and Elizabeth 140 acres south of Old Stage Road. Dr. George L. Nye, son of Elizabeth Armbrister and Andrew Nye, lived in the Nye house (also known as the Armbrister tavern) during the 1930s. The house has since burned and been razed.

 Scope and Content

The collection is divided into three series. Series I, Correspondence, includes three letters dated 1839 to 1893, and two undated letters.

Series II, Financial Records (1811-1878, undated), is comprised of receipts, account statements, and tax records of the Armbrister and other families. Most records document transactions of Elizabeth, Senah, and George Armbrister.

Series III, Miscellaneous Records (1831-1854, undated), includes a list of marriages performed by Rev. James A. Brown.

 Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically within the three series.

Contents List Series I. Correspondence. 1839-1893. 1 folder, 5 items.

Series I includes correspondence unrelated to the Armbrister Family but found among the Papers. Included is a partially illegible letter from an unnamed Confederate Army quartermaster to Brig. Gen. John Echols dated 20 March 1863 or 1865. Also included are letters from Linzey C. Crow of Christiansburg, C. L. Price to J. R. Harkrader of Ivanhoe, Virginia, and Geneva Bishop of Ivanhoe, Virginia.

Series II. Financial Records. 1811-1878. 5 folders. Folder 1. Account Statements. 1811-1873. 6 items.

This folder contains a memorandum of debts paid for John Berry Sr., 1811 statement of George Armbrister in account with L. Moyer, 1839-1843 statement of account of Elizabeth Armbrister with John L. Johnson, statement of account of William Hill with Elizabeth Armbrister from 1872-1873, statement of account of Elizabeth Armbrister with W. Gibboney, and a bill of tools.

Folder 2. Receipts. 1812-1834. 10 items.

This folder contains receipts from George Armbrister to John L. Lindenberger, John Johnson, Mathews, Morgan & Mathews, J. M. Poe, C. Poe, and Timothy Chandler, among others.

Folder 3. Receipts. 1839-1856. 12 items.

Folder includes receipts to George Armbrister, Elizabeth Whitman Armbrister, and Senah Armbrister from James S. Gost, John Sexton, Benjamin R. Floyd, C. A. Boye, David Graham, A. J. Huffard, Henry B. Smyth, Harold Smyth, James Riley, L. J. Boyd, William Alexander Stuart, L. L. Sanders, and H. Bowles.

Folder 4. Receipts. 1858-1872. 11 items.

This folder includes receipts to Elizabeth Whitman Armbrister, Senah Armbrister, Dave Huffard, and Col. Mares from Binford, Dickinson & Weisiger, A. B. Burnett, W. S. C. Gleaves, S. D. Moore, William A. Armbrister, James Gibboney, S. S. Crockett, Solomon Umberger, and J. A. Simmerman.

Folder 5. Tax Records. 1856-1878. 5 items

This folder includes tax receipts of Wythe County and Virginia to George Armbrister and Senah Armbrister.

Series III. Miscellaneous Records. 1831-1854. 1 folder, 5 items.

This series includes one folder of records including a request for marriage license for Mary Lavalet and Isaac Cregger, and certificate of marriages performed by Rev. James. A. Brown for Joel Litz and Malvina Vaught, Michael Sprecher and Elizabeth A. Hoilman, John Sprecher and Nancy Wallis, James S. Wyrick and Lydia Lindamood, and William B. Huddle and Barbara E. Cormany in 1853. Also included in this series is an certification for marriage of Oscar D. Warden for Julie Ann Graham, signed by A. J. Graham and Jemina Warden. Lastly, an undated report entitled "Extracts of a Report of the Survivor," from the case David Sloane vs. David Graham is included.