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Collection Number: 04134

Collection Title: Wilson and Hairston Family Papers, 1751-1928

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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Size 51.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 16,800 items)
Abstract White members of the Wilson and Hairston families owned plantations, enslaved people, and were merchants of Henry and Pittsylvania counties, Va., and Davie, Rockingham, and Stokes counties, N.C. Enslaved people supplied labor at many of the family's plantations, possibly including Sauratown Hill and Muddy Creek in Stokes County, N.C.; Royal Oak, Oak Hill, Berry Hill near Danville, and Brierfield, all in Pittsylvania County, Va.; Bostick Lower Place, Upper Place, Muddy Creek, Terrell's Place, Bradley's Place, Town Place, all in Stokes County, N.C., or Pittsylvania County, Va.; Goose Pond in Rockingham County, N.C., and Pittsylvania County, Va.; Cooleemee Hill in Davie County, N.C.; and Smith's Place and Leatherwood Plantation in Henry County, Va. There were also family properties in Mississippi. The papers include business correspondence, financial and legal papers and scattered personal correspondence documenting six generations of the white Wilson and Hairston families. The people enslaved by these families are documented in the lists of names, in bills of sale, and papers relating to manumission in 1832 through the American Colonization Society. Among the activities represented are plantation management, including purchase of supplies; the sale of tobacco through Virginia commission merchants; the service of Peter Hairston (1752-1832) as a deputy sheriff in Henry County, Va., mainly 1751-1788; and activities of the Sandy Creek, Mayo, County Line, and Staunton River Baptist associations, 1833-1868. Civil War materials are few and consist of scattered family letters and some receipts for foodstuffs sold to the Confederate Army. Approximately one-fourth of the collection consists of the personal and professional correspondence of Alfred Varley Sims as a professor at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa), 1895-1904, and as a civil engineer, and includes materials related to his time in Cuba, 1905-1908, and to his connections with various southern and Cuban railroads and other businesses in Cuba and elsewhere.
Creator Wilson family.



Hairston family.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Wilson and Hairston Family Papers #4134, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed 1978, 1980) available.
Acquisitions Information
Gift
Additional Descriptive Resources
A finding aid produced in 1978 includes more genealogical information about the Wilson and Hairston families and a slightly more detailed, chronological inventory of the collection (see folder 1a).
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Staff, 1992

The addition of 1979 is arranged in the same order as, but has not been integrated into, materials in the original deposit.

Encoded by: Peter Hymas, June 2005

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, February 2024

Conscious Editing work by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2021. Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical note, scope and content, and contents list

Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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Possibly as early as 1730, the first Hairston came to America. This was Peter Hairston, a white Scottish immigrant, who may have first lived in Pennsylvania and then in Albemarle County, Va. He had four sons of which one was the progenitor of the Hairstons represented in these papers. This son, Robert Hairston (d. 1783), lived in that part of Pittsylvania County, Va., that became Henry County, Va., in 1777 where he built Marrowbone Plantation. He served as a captain of the Pittsylvania County militia, justice of the peace in Pittsylvania County, and sheriff of Henry County. Robert Hairston and his wife, Ruth Stoval (d. 1808), had three sons, George (1750-1827), Peter (1752-1832), and Samuel (b. 1755), and six daughters.

The first Wilson of the branch represented in these papers, Peter Wilson, immigrated from Scotland to America possibly around 1720. In the 1740s, he made his home along the Dan River in Virginia, located in Halifax County, Va., and later in Pittsylvania County, Va., where he built Wilson's Ferry. Peter Wilson and his wife Alcey had three sons, John (1740-1820), Peter, and William, and four daughters, Nancy, Isabella, Margaret, and Agnes (d. 1812).

This last child, Agnes, married Peter Perkins (1739-1813), the son of Nicholas Perkins and Bethenia Harden. Nicholas settled in the Dan River in 1755 and bequeathed to his son, Peter, the land on which Peter built Berry Hill Plantation near Danville, Va. Also, from 1783 to 1788, Peter and his brother Constantine Perkins owned the Troublesome Creek Ironworks in Rockingham County, N.C. Later, about 1795, Peter Perkins moved to Stokes County, N.C., and around 1805 or 1806, to Tennessee. Peter Perkins and his wife, Agnes Wilson, had one child, Alcey (1766-1814), who married the second son of Robert Hairston (d. 1783) and Ruth Stoval (d. 1808)

The brother of Agnes (Wilson) Perkins and a son of Peter and Alcey Wilson, John Wilson (1740-1820), married Mary Lumpkin in 1767 and lived at Dan's Hill near Wilson's Ferry in Pittsylvania County, Va. He became a wealthy landowner and opened a general merchandise store at his ferry. He and one of his eleven children, Peter (1770-1813), had a partnership in another general merchandise store in Rockingham County, N.C.

Peter Hairston (1752-1832) was a contemporary of John Wilson. He married Alcey Perkins (1766-1814), daughter of Peter Perkins (1739-1813) and Agnes Wilson (d. 1812); they had one child, Ruth Stoval (1783-1869), who married Peter Wilson, the son of John Wilson. Peter Hairston lived his early life in that part of Pittsylvania County, Va., that became Henry County, Va., in 1777. In Henry County, he served as deputy sheriff intermittently between 1781 and 1784 and as a captain of an infantry company under General Nathaniel Greene. During the Revolutionary War, Peter Hairston served in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in such notable battles as Guilford Court House (15 March 1781) and Yorktown (October 1781). While still a resident of Henry County, Va., he began operating a general merchandise store and a blacksmithing shop at Sauratown in Stokes County, N.C. After moving permanently to Stokes County around 1786, he continued to operate his store as well as owning numerous plantations in North Carolina and Virginia including Royal Oak, Sauratown, and Cooleemee. Peter Hairston also represented Stokes County in the North Carolina Assembly for four terms.

Peter Wilson (1770-1813), son of John Wilson and Mary Lumpkin, married a daughter of Peter Hairston and Alcey Perkins, Ruth Stoval Hairston (1783-1869). He owned many plantations including Berry Hill (built by Peter Perkins), Brierfield, and Goose Pond, all in Pittsylvania County, Va. Peter Wilson, in partnership with his father John Wilson, ran a general merchandise store in Rockingham County, N.C. After marrying Ruth Stoval Hairston in 1800, he moved to Berry Hill Plantation but continued to run the Rockingham County store. From 1801 to 1803, Thomas Bouldin and Company probably managed the store for Peter Wilson. He also served as the head of the Second Battalion of the 42nd Regiment of the Pittsylvania County Militia and as a justice of the peace.

After Peter Wilson died in 1813, Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson (1783-1869) married Robert Hairston (1783-1852). He was the son of George Hairston (1750-1827) and Elizabeth (Perkins) Letcher (1759-1818). His father lived in Henry County, Va., where he built Marrowbone Plantation. Robert Hairston owned Leatherwood Plantation in Henry County, and after marrying Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson, he managed her plantations including Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County, Va. Around 1837, he moved to Mississippi to manage the following plantations that he owned: Bend, Black Flat, Choctaw Springs, Moore's Bluff, Nashville Place, and Pepper plantations. His wife was left to manage her properties. At his death, a controversy surrounded his will which left all his property to an enslaved child.

Samuel Hairston (1788-1875) was a brother of Robert Hairston and lived at Oak Hill Plantation in Pittsylvania County, Va. He married Agnes John Peter Wilson (1801-1880), the daughter of Peter Wilson and Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson Hairston, and they had seven children. In 1854, several newspaper articles described Samuel Hairston as the wealthiest man in Virginia and possibly in the country. His wealth was estimated at between three million and five million dollars, including enslavement of around 1700 people on plantations in Henry and Patrick counties, Va., and Stokes County, N.C. There are also references in these articles to the comparative wealth of his relatives.

The eldest son of Samuel Hairston, Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886), grew up in Pittsylvania County, Va., but lived his adult life first in Davie County, N.C., and later in Baltimore, Md. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1837 and attended the University of Virginia law school from 1837 to 1839. After these years, he helped in the management of his father and Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson Hairston's plantations in Virginia and North Carolina. In 1849, he married Columbia Stuart (1830-1857), sister of General J. E. B. Stuart, and settled at Cooleemee Plantation in Davie County, N.C., which his great-grandfather, Peter Hairston (1752-1832), had willed to him. By 1860, he expanded the acreage at Cooleemee to twice its original size and possibly enslaved approximately 300 people. After the death of Columbia Stuart in 1857, he married Fanny Caldwell, the daughter of Judge David F. Caldwell of Rowan County, N.C. During the Civil War, Peter W. Hairston served as a volunteer aide for General J. E. B. Stuart and General Jubal A. Early, and after the war, he moved to Baltimore, Md., to become a merchant. His overseers continues the management of Cooleemee Plantation until his death.

One sister of Peter W. Hairston, Alcey (1830-1914), married Samuel Harden Hairston (1822-1870) and had three children. One of these children, Ruth (1863-1936), married Alfred Varley Sims (1864-1944). He was the son of Alfred W. and Adelaide Sims of Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in civil engineering. After finishing college, Alfred Varley Sims worked for various railroad companies including the Atlantic and Danville Railroad Company; the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad Company; the Utah, Nevada, and California Company; and the Utah and Los Angeles Air Line Railway Company. From 1895 to 1904, he taught engineering at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa), in Iowa City, Iowa. From 1905 to 1908, he was employed by the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York as general manager and chief engineer of the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company and lived in Guantanamo, Cuba. He also worked with the numerous subsidiary companies of the Knickerbocker Trust Company including the Cuba Hardwood Company, the Cuba Exploration Company, the Northeastern Cuba Railroad Company, the Guantanamo City Land and Development Company, the La Maya Valley Land and Improvement Company, the Confluente Sugar Company, and the Havana Post Publishing Company. He left this position in 1908 because of his alleged mismanagement of the company and returned to Berry Hill Farm to assume more direct management of it than possible before. From late 1908 to 1917, Alfred Varley Sims remained in Virginia, except in 1914 when he lived in England. He assisted Henry J. Boekelman of New York in a Cuba business venture while in England. From 1917, Sims worked in New York City as an independent civil engineer.

The biographical and genealogical information is from the following sources: Maud Carter Clement, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia (Lynchburg, Virginia: J. P. Bell Company, 1929) and Elizabeth Seawell Hairston, The Hairstons and Penns and Their Relations (Roanoke, Virginia: Walters Printing and Manufacturing Company, 1939) in addition to the Wilson and Hairston Papers.

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White members of the Wilson and Hairston families owned plantations, enslaved people, and were merchants of Henry and Pittsylvania counties, Va., and Davie, Rockingham, and Stokes counties, N.C. Enslaved people supplied labor at many of the family's plantations, possibly including Sauratown Hill and Muddy Creek in Stokes County, N.C.; Royal Oak, Oak Hill, Berry Hill near Danville, and Brierfield, all in Pittsylvania County, Va.; Bostick Lower Place, Upper Place, Muddy Creek, Terrell's Place, Bradley's Place, Town Place, all in Stokes County, N.C., or Pittsylvania County, Va.; Goose Pond in Rockingham County, N.C., and Pittsylvania County, Va.; Cooleemee Hill in Davie County, N.C.; and Smith's Place and Leatherwood Plantation in Henry County, Va. There were also family properties in Mississippi. The papers include business correspondence, financial and legal papers and scattered personal correspondence documenting six generations of the white Wilson and Hairston families. The people enslaved by these families are documented in the lists of names, in bills of sale, and papers relating to manumission in 1832 through the American Colonization Society. Among the activities represented are plantation management, including purchase of supplies; the sale of tobacco through Virginia commission merchants; the service of Peter Hairston (1752-1832) as a deputy sheriff in Henry County, Va., mainly 1751-1788; and activities of the Sandy Creek, Mayo, County Line, and Staunton River Baptist associations, 1833-1868. Civil War materials are few and consist of scattered family letters and some receipts for foodstuffs sold to the Confederate Army. Approximately one-fourth of the collection consists of the personal and professional correspondence of Alfred Varley Sims as a professor at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa), 1895-1904, and as a civil engineer, and includes materials related to his time in Cuba, 1905-1908, and to his connections with various southern and Cuban railroads and other businesses in Cuba and elsewhere.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Family Papers, 1751-1928 and undated.

About 15,300 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Processing Note: See also addition of 1979.

Enslaved people are chiefly represented in this series by lists of names, bills of sale, deeds, and receipts for medical care and for jailing people who had been caught after self-emancipation from slavery, a status then described as fugitive or runaway. There are also letters in 1832 concerning the manumission of six people enslaved by Hairston who were sent to Liberia through the work of the American Colonization Society.

Most of the papers from the period 1751 to 1788 are those of Peter Hairston (1752-1832) and consist mainly of legal papers relating to his role as a deputy sheriff of Henry County, Va. These papers include letters to Hairston from other county officials; warrants from justices of the peace to him; memoranda and receipts of several Henry County sheriffs, including himself and his father, Robert Hairston (d. 1783), listing monies collected for taxes and carried to Richmond, Va.; and bonds between various people. His own legal papers also include receipts, bonds, warranty deeds, and bills of sale, all for the purchases of enslaved people and land.

Most of the papers from 1789 to 1813 are business correspondence of Peter Hairston (1752-1832) and Peter Wilson (1770-1813), the latter being the son-in-law of the former. There are letters to both of them from numerous Petersburg, Va., merchants about the arrival of new merchandise in their stores, the condition of the Petersburg market, Hairston and Wilson's accounts with these merchants, and the latest political news. There are also many financial papers for this period consisting of accounts for goods bought by Peter Wilson and Peter Hairston, some for large quantities of merchandise for their stores and others for smaller quantities of merchandise bought for plantation or personal use. Together they show patterns of buying and selling between both Wilson and Hairston and various general and commission merchants in Lynchburg, Richmond, and Petersburg, Va. Included among the financial papers are bills of sale for people enslaved by Peter Wilson and Peter Hairston.

The papers from 1814 to 1832 are principally those of Peter Hairston (1752-1832) and his nephews, Robert Hairston (1783-1852) and Samuel Hairston (1788-1875), the sons of George and Elizabeth (Perkins) Letcher Hairston. The papers are almost entirely business correspondence and financial and legal papers of the three men. Among the business correspondence are letters to Peter Hairston from his daughter Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson about the management of her plantation following Peter Wilson's death in 1813 until her marriage to Robert Hairston around 1816. There are also letters to Samuel, Robert, and Peter Hairston from Lynchburg, Petersburg, and Richmond, Va., and Fayetteville, N.C., merchants. All three men produced large quantities of tobacco and sold it through commission merchants in Lynchburg while Peter Hairston sold his flour and cotton in the Fayetteville market. Also included are five letters in 1832 from R. H. Toler, William M. Rives, R. R. Gurley, and John McPhail to Robert Hairston about the American Colonization Society and the manumission of six people enslaved by Hairston who were sent to Liberia. The majority of the legal papers are related to the case of Robert Hairston v. Joel, Elisha, and William Estes, a suit concerning the sale of Robert Hairston's tobacco through the Estes commission business, which appears to have lasted from 1818 to 1829. Additional legal papers consist of bills of sale for enslaved people, deeds for land purchases, property tax payments, and jailers' bills for keeping enslaved people who had self-emancipated (and who at that time would have been called fugitives or runaways). The financial papers for this period are chiefly Samuel, Robert, and Peter Hairston's accounts with Lynchburg, Petersburg, Richmond, and Fayetteville merchants for their crop sales and for general merchandise. There are also receipts for tobacco hauled to these markets, doctors' bills for attending to enslaved people, and bills for construction in 1823 of the Oak Hill home of Samuel Hairston. Miscellaneous material includes minutes of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association, 1825-1829.

The papers from 1833 to 1880 are principally those of Samuel Hairston (1788-1875), Robert Hairston (1783-1852), Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson Hairston (1783-1869), and Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886). Most of the papers from 1833 to 1860 are business correspondence and financial papers. These papers include letters, bills, and receipts from numerous Danville, Lynchburg, Petersburg, and Richmond, Va., merchants about the sale of tobacco, cotton, wheat, and flour crops; merchandise the Hairstons ordered; and occasional political news. Much of the personal correspondence from 1833 to 1860 is that of Peter Wilson Hairston, with earlier correspondence pertaining to student life at the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia and later correspondence concerning plantation management. From 1860 to 1865, there are few items, mostly letters from Peter Wilson Hairston to Samuel Hairston concerning the management of Cooleemee Plantation and scattered letters to Samuel Hairston from Confederate soldiers and officers concerning, respectively, gifts of money for their families and the purchasing of crops for the troops. From 1866 to 1880, there are primarily financial papers consisting of bills and receipts for general merchandise bought by Samuel Hairston and Ruth Stoval (Hairston) Wilson Hairston from Danville, Va., merchants and from Herbert Hairston, Peter Wilson Hairston's business partner in Baltimore, Md., and accounts of tenants at Royal Oak and Brierfield farms. Miscellaneous material includes minutes, 1833-1868, of the Mayo Baptist Association, the County Line Baptist Association, and the Staunton River Baptist Association.

The papers from 1881 to 1928, comprising about one-fourth of the Wilson and Hairston Papers, consist primarily of the professional and personal correspondence of Alfred Varley Sims (1864-1944), husband of Ruth (Hairston) Sims (1863-1936). During Sims's early life, 1881-1894, the papers are mainly the professional correspondence between himself and the employees of the following railroads: the Atlantic and Danville Railway Company; the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad Company; the Utah, Nevada and California Company; and the Utah and Los Angeles Air Line Railway Company. Related to this business correspondence are estimates and accounts for work and materials used in railroad construction.

From 1895 to 1904, Alfred Varley Sims taught engineering at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, only occasionally returning to Virginia during the summers to manage Berry Hill. Approximately three-fourths of the correspondence for this period is letters from his overseers about management of Berry Hill. Personal correspondence from 1895 to 1904 includes letters, telegrams, and eulogies written by and to numerous people about the death of Charles Schaeffer, president of the University. Schaeffer was a close associate of Alfred Varley Sims, who may have headed a memorial committee for Schaeffer.

In 1904, after Sims's resignation from the State University of Iowa, there are letters between William Sowden Sims (1858-1936), brother of Alfred Varley Sims; Charles Page Perin, a New York consulting engineer; and Alfred Varley Sims about his chances for an engineering position with the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York. William Sims served as a naval aide to President Theodore Roosevelt (1908-1909), served on the staff and was president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. (1911-1913, 1916, 1919-1922), and commanded the United States Fleet in European waters (1917-1918).

From 1905 to 1908, Alfred Varley Sims lived in Guantanamo, Cuba, while serving as chief engineer and general manager of the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company. While working for the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company, Sims also assisted the other numerous subsidiary companies of the Knickerbocker Trust Company: the Cuba Hardwood Company, the Cuba Exploration Company, the Northeastern Cuba Railroad Company, the Guantanamo City Land and Development Company, the La Maya Valley Land and Improvement Company, the Confluente Sugar Company, and the Havana Post Publishing Company. There is detailed correspondence between Alfred Varley Sims and officers of these companies. In 1907, several of the subsidiary companies were consolidated under the Fidelity Commercial and Trading Company, and there is much correspondence between Sims and officers of this holding company. Some of the Cuba correspondence is in Spanish, but most of the items have accompanying translations. In the fall of 1908, Sims left the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company because he was angered over mismanagement charges against him. At the end of 1908, there is an important cover letter referring to Sims's defense of himself. Personal correspondence, from 1905 to 1908, includes letters between J. D. Sutliffe and Sims detailing farm management; letters to Sims and his wife from Danville, Va., real estate agents about maintenance of her property; and numerous letters from Sims to American automobile, furniture, and bobbin companies. In 1908, Sims was looking for additional income and wrote these companies to interest them in purchasing Cuban wood.

From 1909 to 1916, Alfred Varley Sims lived in Virginia and personally managed Berry Hill farm. Most of the correspondence is from Sims to numerous manufacturers about new farm products he ordered; from Sims to J. D. Setliffe and later R. H. Ross, another manager of Berry Hill, about farm management; from Sims to prospective tenants; to Sims from wheat and corn mills in Danville, Va.; and from Sims to the Superintendent of the Danville and Western Railroad about the building of a depot near Berry Hill. Although Sims was not employed with the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company after 1908, he continued to be embroiled in its sister companies' problems. F. C. Walcott and R. D. Evans wrote Sims about the legal cases concerning the Cuban companies and his testimony. Writing to a New York tailor on 12 December 1909, Sims told the tailor he was unable to pay his bill and was considering declaring bankruptcy. From 1908 Sims had been receiving warning notices about the thousands of dollars he and his wife owed on stocks. There is also correspondence between Sims and Henry J. Boekelman of the Concrete Construction and Realty Company of New York, later called the Boekelman Construction Company. This correspondence begins in 1910 and continues until 1914. Boekelman possibly served as a broker for some of the Cuban companies Sims worked with from 1905 to 1908. Boekelman solicited Sims's help in the selling of the Cuba Eastern Railroad Company and possibly other sister companies. For much of 1914, Sims lived in London, England, attempting to interest English concerns with the purchase. Sims also maintained correspondence with his brother, William Sims, about topics such as United States naval power, William Sims's command of the U.S.S. Minnesota, and his year as a naval aide to President Roosevelt.

From 1917 to 1928, there are scattered correspondence and receipts. Sims, in 1917, moved to New York City, N.Y., to work as an independent civil engineer, and his correspondence primarily consists of letters between himself and C. L. Finney about Berry Hill farm management; between himself and various Virginia merchants about his tenants' accounts and crops; and letters from his brother, William Sims, particularly about his service as special naval representative and observer to Great Britain and his travels in Ireland, England, and France.

Undated papers are arranged roughly by type in the following order: correspondence, lists of enslaved people, financial papers, legal papers, genealogical papers, writings, and miscellaneous papers. Under correspondence,letters written by individual Wilsons and Hairstons are filed first, then there is undated correspondence according to century, including the papers of Alfred Varley Sims.

Folder 1a

1978 finding aid

Folder 1b

Family papers, 1751-1789

Folder 2-8

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Family papers, 1751-1789

Folder 9-18

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Family papers, 1790-1794

Folder 19-28

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Family papers, 1795-1798

Folder 29-35

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Family papers, 1799-1800

Folder 36-44

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Family papers, 1801-1803

Folder 45-57

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Family papers, 1804-1807

Folder 58-69

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Folder 67

Folder 68

Folder 69

Family papers, 1808-1811

Folder 70-75

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

Folder 74

Folder 75

Family papers, 1812-1813

Folder 76-84

Folder 76

Folder 77

Folder 78

Folder 79

Folder 80

Folder 81

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Family papers, 1814-1817

Folder 85-92

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Family papers, 1818-1820

Folder 93-100

Folder 93

Folder 94

Folder 95

Folder 96

Folder 97

Folder 98

Folder 99

Folder 100

Family papers, 1821-1823

Folder 101-110

Folder 101

Folder 102

Folder 103

Folder 104

Folder 105

Folder 106

Folder 107

Folder 108

Folder 109

Folder 110

Family papers, 1824-1826

Folder 111-121

Folder 111

Folder 112

Folder 113

Folder 114

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

Folder 118

Folder 119

Folder 120

Folder 121

Family papers, 1827-1829

Folder 122-129

Folder 122

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Folder 129

Family papers, 1830-1833

Folder 124: Includes documentation of an enslaved girl, whose medical bill was disputed in a letter to Peter Hairston; and of Paul, whose self-emancipation from slavery was represented in an affidavit, March 1831, by Thomas Jones. Paul, at that time, would have been described as a fugitive or runaway.

Folder 130-136

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Family papers, 1834-1837

Digital version: Letter from Peter W. Hairston to Ruth S. Hairston, 3 February 1835

Documenting the American South

Digital version: Letter from Alpheus Jones to Peter W. Hairston, 23 October 1837

Documenting the American South

Folder 137-145

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Folder 140

Folder 141

Folder 142

Folder 143

Folder 144

Folder 145

Family papers, 1838-1840

Digital version: Letter from Alpheus Jones to Peter W. Hairston, 9 May 1838

Documenting the American South

Folder 146-153

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

Folder 152

Folder 153

Family papers, 1841-1844

Folder 154-162

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

Family papers, 1845-1849

Folder 163-174

Folder 163

Folder 164

Folder 165

Folder 166

Folder 167

Folder 168

Folder 169

Folder 170

Folder 171

Folder 172

Folder 173

Folder 174

Family papers, 1850-1853

Folder 175-186

Folder 175

Folder 176

Folder 177

Folder 178

Folder 179

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Family papers, 1854-1857

Folder 187-197

Folder 187

Folder 188

Folder 189

Folder 190

Folder 191

Folder 192

Folder 193

Folder 194

Folder 195

Folder 196

Folder 197

Family papers, 1858-1864

Folder 198-218

Folder 198

Folder 199

Folder 200

Folder 201

Folder 202

Folder 203

Folder 204

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Folder 206

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Folder 209

Folder 210

Folder 211

Folder 212

Folder 213

Folder 214

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Folder 216

Folder 217

Folder 218

Family papers, 1865-1885

Folder 219-230

Folder 219

Folder 220

Folder 221

Folder 222

Folder 223

Folder 224

Folder 225

Folder 226

Folder 227

Folder 228

Folder 229

Folder 230

Family papers, 1886-1894

Folder 231-240

Folder 231

Folder 232

Folder 233

Folder 234

Folder 235

Folder 236

Folder 237

Folder 238

Folder 239

Folder 240

Family papers, 1895-1900

Folder 241-250

Folder 241

Folder 242

Folder 243

Folder 244

Folder 245

Folder 246

Folder 247

Folder 248

Folder 249

Folder 250

Family papers, 1901-1904

Folder 251-263

Folder 251

Folder 252

Folder 253

Folder 254

Folder 255

Folder 256

Folder 257

Folder 258

Folder 259

Folder 260

Folder 261

Folder 262

Folder 263

Family papers, 1905-1907

Folder 264-272

Folder 264

Folder 265

Folder 266

Folder 267

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Folder 271

Folder 272

Family papers, January 1908-June 1908

Folder 273-282

Folder 273

Folder 274

Folder 275

Folder 276

Folder 277

Folder 278

Folder 279

Folder 280

Folder 281

Folder 282

Family papers, July 1908-March 1909

Folder 283-293

Folder 283

Folder 284

Folder 285

Folder 286

Folder 287

Folder 288

Folder 289

Folder 290

Folder 291

Folder 292

Folder 293

Family papers, April 1909-December 1909

Folder 294-301

Folder 294

Folder 295

Folder 296

Folder 297

Folder 298

Folder 299

Folder 300

Folder 301

Family papers, January 1910-August 1910

Folder 302-311

Folder 302

Folder 303

Folder 304

Folder 305

Folder 306

Folder 307

Folder 308

Folder 309

Folder 310

Folder 311

Family papers, September 1910-April 1911

Folder 312-325

Folder 312

Folder 313

Folder 314

Folder 315

Folder 316

Folder 317

Folder 318

Folder 319

Folder 320

Folder 321

Folder 322

Folder 323

Folder 324

Folder 325

Family papers, May 1911-1912

Folder 326-341

Folder 326

Folder 327

Folder 328

Folder 329

Folder 330

Folder 331

Folder 332

Folder 333

Folder 334

Folder 335

Folder 336

Folder 337

Folder 338

Folder 339

Folder 340

Folder 341

Family papers, 1913-1916

Folder 342-366

Folder 342

Folder 343

Folder 344

Folder 345

Folder 346

Folder 347

Folder 348

Folder 349

Folder 350

Folder 351

Folder 352

Folder 353

Folder 354

Folder 355

Folder 356

Folder 357

Folder 358

Folder 359

Folder 360

Folder 361

Folder 362

Folder 363

Folder 364

Folder 365

Folder 366

Family papers, 1917-1928 and undated

Folder 367-385

Folder 367

Folder 368

Folder 369

Folder 370

Folder 371

Folder 372

Folder 373

Folder 374

Folder 375

Folder 376

Folder 377

Folder 378

Folder 379

Folder 380

Folder 381

Folder 382

Folder 383

Folder 384

Folder 385

Family papers, Undated

Folder 386

Genealogical notes, February 1909

Folder 387-388

Folder 387

Folder 388

Genealogical notes, undated

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4134/1

Family tree, undated

Folder 389

Miscellaneous writings, undated

Folder 390-393

Folder 390

Folder 391

Folder 392

Folder 393

Miscellaneous papers, undated

Primarily consists of crop lists, property lists, memoranda, recipes, and cures.

Folder 394-395

Folder 394

Folder 395

Miscellaneous engineering papers of Alfred Varley Sims, undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1A. Family Papers, 1780-1894, 1896-1897, 1910 (Addition of 1979).

About 1500 items.

The papers in this addition consist of the same kinds of items as in the original group. The papers to 1880 are scattered personal and financial papers of Ruth Hairston, Peter Hairston, Peter Wilson, and Agnes Hairston. Of note are letters from Ruth Hairston discussing the legality of the will of her late husband, Robert Hairston, in which he left his entire estate to a young child who she described as multiracial; and letters discussing the movement of enslaved people between plantations.

After 1880, the bulk of the papers consists of the legal and financial correspondence of Alfred Varley Sims, and concerns mostly his railroad building and promotion activities in and around Danville, Va., not covered in the main group, and Sims's railroad activities in the far west. Railroads addressed in the papers include the Danville and New River Railroad; Virginia and Kentucky Railroad; Norfolk and Western Railroad; Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad Company; Atlantic and Danville Railroad; Atlantic and North Western Railroad; and the Utah, Nevada, and California Railroad. Scattered family correspondence of note concerns Alfred Varley Sims's brother, Wills Sims, and Alfred Varley Sims's sister, Adelaide Sims, and their respective experiences on trips to Europe.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 713-734

Folder 713

Folder 714

Folder 715

Folder 716

Folder 717

Folder 718

Folder 719

Folder 720

Folder 721

Folder 722

Folder 723

Folder 724

Folder 725

Folder 726

Folder 727

Folder 728

Folder 729

Folder 730

Folder 731

Folder 732

Folder 733

Folder 734

Family papers, 1780-1890

Folder 735-754

Folder 735

Folder 736

Folder 737

Folder 738

Folder 739

Folder 740

Folder 741

Folder 742

Folder 743

Folder 744

Folder 745

Folder 746

Folder 747

Folder 748

Folder 749

Folder 750

Folder 751

Folder 752

Folder 753

Folder 754

Family papers, 1891-1893

Folder 755-764

Folder 755

Folder 756

Folder 757

Folder 758

Folder 759

Folder 760

Folder 761

Folder 762

Folder 763

Folder 764

Family papers, 1894, 1896-1897, 1910 and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes, 1773-1919 and undated.

215 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Processing Note: See also addition of 1979.

Enslaved people are represented chiefly in lists of names found in the store books, sometimes with information about clothes and other provisions given to each person; also of note are an enslaved girl who is documented in a receipt that marked her purchase, and the mention of three men who had self-emancipated from slavery (and who at that time would have been called fugitives or runaways).

Volumes 1-26, covering the years 1780-1828, are accounts of general merchandise such as groceries, rum, hardware, dry goods, writing supplies, and china mainly purchased on credit. The name of Peter Hairston appears in most of the volumes. Joseph Winston was a business partner of Peter Hairston, February 1785-December 1785, and Winston's name appears in the volumes for 1785. Hairston operated a general merchandise store and a blacksmithing ship at Sauratown, his plantation in Surry County, later Stokes County, N.C. The store books list enslaved people, livestock, crops, and land, all bought and sold by Peter Hairston, as well as general merchandise accounts. The volumes are of three principal types: the daybook, an informal chronological record of transactions that later may have been transferred to journals and ledgers, listing articles purchased, person making purchases, and amount owed; the ledger, a formal record of transactions arranged by name of purchaser, listing purchases or only amount charged for a day or month; and the shop book, a daybook listing blacksmithing work performed, person requesting the service, and amount owed. Enclosures for the store books include lists of livestock or crop sales, lists of names, and correspondence about the plantation, accounts, and crops.

Volumes 27-53, covering the years 1790-1817, are accounts of general merchandise such as groceries, rum, hardware, dry goods, writing supplies, and china. Peter Wilson's name and Rockingham County appears on most of these volumes. Wilson, in partnership with his father John of Pittsylvania County, Va., ran a general merchandise store in Rockingham County, N.C. Enclosures for these volumes include a tobacco account, a clothing account for Mead and William Wilson, orphans of Peter Wilson, deceased (not the Peter Wilson of Volumes 27-53), list of money owed and paid to persons listed, and correspondence requesting merchandise or authorizing transfer of merchandise.

Volumes 54-112, covering the years 1773-1857, are memo books. The format of these books is informal, most entries are not dated, or, if dated, are not in chronological order, and most of the books belonged to Peter Hairston or Peter Wilson. In his memo book, Peter Hairston made brief notes of Sauratown store accounts that he later transferred to ordered account books. His memo books also list crops, livestock, travel expenses, money borrowed and lent by him, and tax payments. Hairston owned several plantations in Stokes and Pittsylvania counties, such as Royal Oak, Bostick Lower Place, Upper Place, Muddy Creek, Terrell's Place, Bradley's Place, Town Place, and Smith's Place, and the memo books contain information about them. In his memo book, Peter Wilson noted some store accounts from his general merchandise business that he later transferred to ordered account books. He listed general merchandise to purchase in Petersburg, Va., for his stock and for specific people, travel expenses, cash payments for his store goods, cash lent by and paid to Wilson, and legal settlements of store accounts. In addition, Wilson listed various persons' tobacco crops possibly transported to market and marketed by him or received as payment for store accounts. Peter Wilson also owned several plantations such as Berry Hill, Brierfield, and Goose Pond. Certain memo books list crops, livestock, and tools from his plantations. Enclosures for the memo books include correspondence about plantation matters, lists of livestock and tools on various plantations, tobacco accounts, lists of tobacco crops, and a copy of a receipt for purchase of an enslaved girl (Volume 98).

Volumes 113-134, covering the years 1780-1891, are of various types as indicated.

Volumes 135-156, covering the years 1884-1919, are correspondence and memo books of Alfred Varley Sims, professor, civil engineer, and husband of Ruth Hairston Sims. Also included are farm accounts and labor records for Berry Hill, Brierfield, and Royal Oak farms; such volumes were kept by or for Alfred Varley Sims by farm managers or tenants. Harden Hairston's name appears in some of these volumes. He was the agent for the estate of Agnes J. P. Hairston and probably assisted his sister, Mrs. Alfred Varley Sims, in managing her portion of the inheritance. Enclosures include bills for general merchandise, lists of crops, and agreements, and correspondence about farm matters from the engineering career of Alfred Varley Sims.

Volumes 157-163, covering the years 1859-1909, are of various types as indicated. These volumes were an addition to the Wilson and Hairston Papers as of 17 April 1978.

Railroad Engineering Volumes 1-44, covering the years 1889-1903, consist of level books, field books, transit books, and notebooks from Alfred Varley Sims's civil engineering work for railroad companies.

Folder 396

Volume 1, 1780-1788

Ledger/daybook, Surry County, N.C. The first half of the volume is a ledger with detailed entries of general merchandise and the second half of the volume is a daybook.

Folder 397

Volume 2, 1785-1787

Ledger, Surry County, N.C., with alphabetical index. 186 p.

Folder 398

Volume 3, 22 February 1785-1 March 1785

Daybook, Surry County, N.C.,(portion of a daybook whose entries have been transferred to Volume 4).

Folder 399

Volume 4, 22 February 1785-13 July 1785

Daybook, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 400

Volume 5, 24 May 1785-28 July 1785

Daybook possibly of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 401

Volume 6, 20 September 1785-28 October 1785

Daybook possibly of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 402

Volume 7, 13 December 1785-30 June 1786

Daybook of Surry County, N.C., including a copy of a bond on the first page.

Folder 403

Volume 8, 1786-1790

Ledger possibly of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., with an alphabetical index on front inside cover.

Folder 404

Volume 9, 2 April 1786-9 October 1786

Daybook, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 405

Volume 10, 28 June 1786-28 October 1786

Daybook, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 406

Volume 11, 25 December 1786-10 February 1787, 1788

Daybook of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C., and ciphering book/daybook of Nicholas Perkins.

Folder 407

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-4134/12

Volume 12, 1787-1793

Ledger, Stokes County, N.C., including undated enclosures. 111 p.

Folder 408

Volume 13, 12 February 1787-12 June 1787

Daybook, Surry County, N.C. 43 p.

Folder 409

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-4134/14

Volume 14, March 1787-March 1792

Shop book of Peter Hairston and James Rea, Surry County, N.C.

Folder 410

Volume 15, 12 June 1787-25 August 1787

Daybook, Surry County, N.C. 78 p.

Folder 411

Volume 16, 5 November 1788-30 October 1792

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C. 501 p.

Folder 412

Volume 17, 4 December 1789-8 October 1791

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C.

Folder 413

Volume 18, 26 October 1791-3 November 1792

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C.

Folder 414

Volume 19, 5 November 1792-2 March 1793

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C.

Folder 415

Volume 20, 13 March 1793-5 October 1793

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C.

Folder 416

Volume 21, 16 November 1793-2 November 1795

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C., which also includes enclosures dated 6 May 1795 and undated. 327 p.

Folder 417

Volume 22, 24 October 1795-1 December 1795

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C., possibly kept for Ruth Hairston.

Folder 418

Volume 23, 25 November 1795-December 1797

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C. 132 p.

Folder 419

Volume 24, 16 January 1798-8 June 1805

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C., 334 p. of daybook entries, 13 p. of memoranda at end of volume, and one enclosure dated 5 March 1802.

Folder 420

Volume 25, 31 August 1805-22 July 1814

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C., which also includes enclosures dated 1803, 1814-1827, and undated.

Folder 421

Volume 26, 22 July 1814-3 January 1828

Daybook, Stokes County, N.C., which also includes enclosures dated 1803, 1814-1827, and undated.

Folder 422

Volume 27, 21 November 1790-September 1798

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 547 p.

Folder 423

Volume 28, 22 May 1792-12 December 1793

Invoice, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 424

Volume 29, 8 June 1792-11 June 1793

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 340 p.

Folder 425

Volume 30, 8 June 1792-24 April 1795

Journal A, Rockingham County, N.C. 553 p.

Folder 426

Volume 31, 9 June 1792-24 November 1795

Cashbook of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 427

Volume 32, 14 December 1792-11 September 1795

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 428

Volume 33, 11 June 1793-24 May 1794

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 373 p.

Folder 429

Volume 34, 28 October 1793-?

"Peter Wilson's Index to Shop Book," Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 430

Volume 35, 29 May 1794-5 July 1795

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 354 p.

Folder 431

Volume 36, September 1794

List of Debts (owed to the store), Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 432

Volume 37, April 1795-August 1798

Ledger B possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., which contains an alphabetical index. 275 p.

Folder 433

Volume 38, 2 April 1795-25 August 1795

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 434

Volume 39, 25 April 1795-31 August 1798

Journal B, Rockingham County, N.C., which also contains an enclosure dated 29 November 1802. 561 p.

Folder 435

Volume 40, 6 July 1795-November 1796

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 480 p.

Folder 436

Volume 41, 19 August 1795-5 October 1795

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 437

Volume 42, 10 December 1795-10 June 1797

Cashbook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 438

Volume 43, 23 January 1796-21 February 1797

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 439

Volume 44, 16 June 1796-14 August 1800

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 440

Volume 45, 12 June 1797-16 August 1799

Cashbook of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 441

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-4134/46

Volume 46, September 1798-October 1801

Ledger C possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., which contains an alphabetical index. 227 p.

Folder 442

Volume 47, 1 September 1798-31 August 1799

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 390 p.

Folder 443

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-4134/48

Volume 48, 1 September 1798-7 December 1801

Journal C, Rockingham County, N.C. 420 p.

Folder 444

Volume 49, 1 September 1799-30 August 1800

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C. 440 p.

Folder 445

Volume 50, 1 September 1800-18 February 1805

Daybook, Rockingham County, N.C., with one page of entries labelled Pittsylvania County, 12 July 1809, and an undated enclosure.

Folder 446

Volume 51, May 1801-May 1802, February 1803-15 September 1817

Invoice, May 1801-May 1802, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise bought from various Petersburg, Va. merchants.

Ledger, February 1803-October 1815, Rockingham County, N.C., listing customers who paid store accounts by performing specialized services. Entries after December 1813 were made by Peter Hairston, administrator of Peter Wilson's estate.

Daybook of Peter Wilson, deceased, 12 March 1814-15 September 1817, Rockingham and Pittsylvania counties. Contains settled accounts for the estate of Wilson and amounts paid for the various matters for Ruth Stoval Wilson and enclosures dated 1808-1815. Wilson's permanent address was in Pittsylvania County, Va., where his wife resided.

Folder 447

Volume 52, 1802

List of Debts, Rockingham County, N.C., and an undated enclosure.

Folder 448

Volume 53, 1802

List of Debts, Rockingham County, N.C.

Folder 449

Volume 54, 1773, 1778-1779

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing money owed and lent, corn crop, and taxes.

Folder 450

Volume 55, 1776-1777

Memo book of Peter Hairston, kept for military matters by Lieutenant Hairston. There are lists of guns, blankets, dry goods, and groceries purchased by or for enlisted personnel.

Folder 451

Volume 56, 1777

Memo book of Peter Hairston, kept for military matters by Captain Hairston, similar to Volume 55.

Folder 452

Volume 57, 1780

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing cattle purchases.

Folder 453

Volume 58, 1781-1782

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., similar to Volume 57.

Folder 454

Volume 59, 1782-1785, 1791

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing travel expenses, cattle, crops, and legal accounts for writs, executions, and summons.

Folder 455

Volume 60, 1783

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C., listing store accounts.

Folder 456

Volume 61, 1784

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing cattle sold, travel expenses and transactions in Petersburg, Va., money lent, and transactions done for George Hairston by Peter Hairston.

Folder 457

Volume 62, 1784-1785

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C., listing payments on Sauratown accounts, payment of the 1783 tax (Henry County, Va.), weights of inspected tobacco, and tobacco sent to Petersburg, Va.

Folder 458

Volume 63, 1784-1789, 1791, 1793

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing people he enslaved, livestock sold in Petersburg, Va., store goods bought in Petersburg, Va., purchases of tenants' crops, and 1783 tax payments.

Folder 459

Volume 64, 1785

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Surry County, N.C., listing different people's tobacco crops; cash and beef transactions of Winston and Hairston, partners

Folder 460

Volume 65, 1785, 1795-1798, 1801-1806

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing tobacco, general merchandise, debts owed by certain estates, and a plot to kill his cattle.

Folder 461

Volume 66, 1788-1818

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing his tenants' crops, livestock, tools, and court costs for judgments; a ledger for his accounts with Petersburg, Va., merchants; and enclosures dated 1800, 1805, and undated.

Folder 462

Volume 67, 1789

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing cattle.

Folder 463

Volume 68, 1790-1803

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing tenants' crops; also, enclosures, dating 1784-1804, includes tobacco lists and legal papers.

Folder 464

Volume 69, 1790-1805

List of names possibly created by Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., is not identified as to its purpose; possibly it is a list of persons on credit with him or an index to a formal volume.

Folder 465

Volume 70, 1791

Memo book possibly of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing an account owed and certification of Robert Williams as acting clerk of court.

Folder 466

Volume 71, September 1793

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing travel expenses, livestock and tobacco crops of various people, and cash lent.

Folder 467

Volume 72, 1794-1795

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing judgments and executions that John Fields, Alexander Joyce, and John Oliver must collect.

Folder 468

Volume 73, 1795

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing travel expenses, debts owed and paid by Wilson, cash accounts, and tobacco crops.

Folder 469

Volume 74, 1795-1796

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise to be purchased for store stock, payments for bonds and judgments, and accounts owed to the store.

Folder 470

Volume 75, 1796-1797

Memo book of John Wilson, Pittsylvania County, N.C., listing cash lent and general merchandise accounts.

Folder 471

Volume 76, 1797

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise possibly to be purchased for store stock, tobacco crops, and payment to Buchanan and Dunlop of Petersburg for general merchandise.

Folder 472

Volume 77, Fall 1797

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., similar to Volume 76.

Folder 473

Volume 78, Fall 1798

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise, cash accounts, and transport of tobacco to Petersburg, Va. Also, an enclosure dated 5 November 1798.

Folder 474

Volume 79, 1798, 1801-1802, 1804-1805

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise, legal notes, bonds, judgments, and cash and corn lent by Wilson. Also, enclosures date 8 November 1802 and undated.

Folder 475

Volume 80, Spring 1799

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise, cash lent and paid to him, and tobacco crops.

Folder 476

Volume 81, Fall 1799

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing goods needed by various people, general merchandise, and tobacco crops.

Folder 477

Volume 82, 1799-1800

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing money received from executions, tobacco crops, and tasks needed to be performed by various people.

Folder 478

Volume 83, 1800

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing money lent and tobacco crops. This book may have been kept by Josephus Conn.

Folder 479

Volume 84, Spring 1800

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing tobacco crops transported by him, goods to be purchased in Petersburg, Va., and mention of three men who had self-emancipated from slavery (and who at that time would have been called fugitives or runaways).

Folder 480

Volume 85, 1800-1801

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing persons having paid him at certain court terms and distance from Sauratown to other locations.

Folder 481

Volume 86, 1801-1802

Memo book of Thomas Bouldin and Company, Henry County, Va., listing general merchandise; possibly Peter Wilson bought goods from Bouldin, had a partnership with this company, or used it as an accounting firm.

Folder 482

Volume 87, 1801-1803

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing individuals and amounts owed on bonds, notes, and store accounts. Thomas Bouldin and Company kept this book.

Folder 483

Volume 88, 1801, 1810-1819

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing flax and cotton grown by his tenants.

Folder 484

Volume 89, 23 October 1801

Memo book of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing tobacco sent to Petersburg, Va., goods to be purchases (or purchased for various family members), and a home remedy.

Folder 485

Volume 90, Spring 1803

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing cattle and hogs.

Folder 486

Volume 91, 1806-1809

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing livestock and tools from Bostick Place, Quentinoke, and Old Town plantations.

Folder 487

Volume 92, 1806-1807, 1809-1811, 1814-1816

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing money owed and paid by him, tobacco crops of two tenants, and money borrowed by Peter Wilson.

Folder 488

Volume 93, 1807

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing goods purchased for family members and goods purchased by various people; also includes an undated enclosure.

Folder 489

Volume 94, 1810, 1813-1815, 1817

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing livestock, crops, and tools at Berry Hill, Brierfield, and Goose Pond plantations.

Folder 490

Volume 95, 1812-1814, 1817-1818

Memo book possibly of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing cattle and pork purchases, sale of Sauratown lots, and financial transactions among Peter Hairston, Samuel Hairston, George Hairston, and Robert Hairston.

Folder 491

Volume 96, 1812, 1815-1818, 1820

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing livestock, tools, and clothes given out to enslaved people on his plantations; also includes enclosures dated 1812, 1816-1818.

Folder 492

Volume 97, 1816-1821

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing livestock on various plantations; also includes one enclosure dated 7 January 1817.

Folder 493

Volume 98, 1817-1830

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing livestock, tools, crops, and enslaved people at various plantations; also includes a receipt marking the purchase of an enslaved girl. This book probably was kept by Joseph Terry, a tenant.

Folder 494

Volume 99, 1817-1853

Memo book possibly of Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing legal transactions at court, crops made on various plantations, lists of births of enslaved people, and money owed and paid to Robert Hairston by Samuel and George Hairston; also includes enclosures dated 16 November 1819 and undated; one enclosure is a copy of Thomas Ruffin's opinion in a legal matter between Joel Estes et al. and W. S. Hairston.

Folder 495

Volume 100, 1820-1832

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing livestock, hides, and wool reported by various tenants; also includes enclosures dated 1820-1821, 1830, and 1832.

Folder 496

Volume 101, 1821-1825

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing cotton and flax crops of his tenants and dry goods given out to enslaved people; also includes enclosures, dated 1820-1823, 1825, and letters from relatives and tenants.

Folder 497

Volume 102, 1822-1827

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing cattle at various plantations.

Folder 498

Volume 103, 1823

Memo book possibly of Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing travel expenses, purchases in Petersburg, Va., and hogs sold.

Folder 499

Volume 104, 1825

Memo book of Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing weights and numbers of hogs sold and money owed to him.

Folder 500

Volume 105, 1827-1837

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing tobacco and cotton crops from various plantations and large amounts of clothing possibly for enslaved people.

Folder 501

Volume 106, 1828-1832

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing cattle and sheep at his plantation; also includes one enclosure dated 11 November 1830.

Folder 502

Volume 107, 1831-1832, 1834

Memo book of Robert and Ruth Hairston listing iron purchased by Robert Hairston; enslaved people and clothing in Stokes County, N.C., recorded by Ruth Hairston in 1832.

Folder 503

Volume 108, 1831-1837

Memo book of Peter Hairston, Stokes County, N.C., listing wool to be spun, various tenants' cotton crops, and clothing for enslaved people. After his death in 1832 this book was kept by administrators of his estate.

Folder 504

Volume 109, 1840-1842

Memo book of Peter Wilson Hairston listing his travels on business to Sauratown, travel expenses, tobacco made at Sauratown in 1841, and distances from Oak Hill plantation to places in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Folder 505

Volume 110, 1857

Memo book possibly of Ruth Wilson Hairston, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing tobacco (possibly from Brierfield) sold to W. B. Millener and a purchase by Robert Hairston in December 1839.

Folder 506

Volume 111, undated

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing iron bought for making axes and nails; and store accounts for general merchandise.

Folder 507

Volume 112, undated

Memo book possibly of Peter Wilson, Rockingham County, N.C., listing general merchandise, instructions on how to kill grubs, and an appointment for John Fields to show land to two persons.

Folder 508

Volume 113, August 1780-November 1780

Legal account book of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing accounts owed for legal writs and summons served by Hairston (possibly acting as deputy sheriff).

Folder 509

Volume 114, 1781-22 April 1783

1781 tax list of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., one entry dated 1782, and note dated 22 April 1783 to Hairston concerning the 1781 tax list.

Folder 510

Volume 115, 1782

Tax ledger of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing name of person owing 1782 taxes (e.g., tobacco and corn taxes) and amount owed and paid; also includes an undated enclosure containing a list of names, unidentified as to purpose.

Folder 511

Volume 116, 1782

Tax list of sheriff, Henry County, Va., only listing persons owing "the Specific Tax" and amount owed.

Folder 512

Volume 117, 1782

Tax list of Peter or Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., primarily listing only names and amount owed; other entries indicate land tax owed.

Folder 513

Volume 118, 1783

Execution book of Peter Hairston (deputy sheriff) or Robert Hairston (sheriff), Henry County, Va., listing name of person owing 1783 taxes and tax (e.g., land tax, property tax, parish levy) owed and paid; also includes undated enclosures including a memo of money owed by various people.

Folder 514

Volume 119, 21 September 1784-29 January 1785

Tax list of Peter or Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing date, name of person, amount owed and paid. There is no indication of why amounts are owed.

Folder 515

Volume 120, 25 May 1795-October 1801

Account book of John Wilson and Son (Peter Wilson), Rockingham County, N.C., listing a general merchandise account of Thomas Henderson. This account may be the settling of Henderson's account with John Wilson and Son, because John Wilson and Peter Wilson dissolved their partnership as of 15 May 1801.

Folder 516

Volume 121, June 1795-July 1795

Ciphering book of Ruth Stoval Hairston, used to learn dry measures, liquid measures, multiplication, subtraction, and other mathematical problems related to the sale of merchandise.

Folder 517

Volume 122, August 1798-November 1798

Ciphering book of Augustin Hewlett, probably used in the same function as Volume 121; also includes copies of legal documents concerning Hewlett dated 1798 and 1805.

Folder 518

Volume 123, 12 March 1802-15 June 1815

Account book of Peter Hairston, administrator, regarding the estate of Peter Wilson. This volume contains a listing of general merchandise and its price owed to John Wilson.

Folder 519

Volume 124, December 1811-14 November 1817

Daybook of Peter Hairston, administrator, regarding the estate of Peter Wilson. This volume lists accounts owed and paid by Hairston to various people for general merchandise, school tuition, tobacco crops, taxes, and rent.

Folder 520

Volume 125, December 1811-11 June 1821

Daybook of Peter Hairston, administrator, regarding the estate of Peter Wilson. This volume is similar in content to Volume 124.

Folder 521

Volume 126, December 1813

Funeral sermon for Peter Wilson, deceased 21 December 1813; also includes notice of Alcey Hairston, mother-in-law of Peter Wilson, deceased 23 December 1813.

Folder 522

Volume 127, 1817-1839

Law notebook of Peter Wilson Hairston, a law student at the University of Virginia during this time.

Folder 523

Volume 128, 30 December 1841-29 November 1850

Account book of Samuel Hairston, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing the account of Robert Hairston, Henry County, Va., paid by Samuel Hairston listing enslaved people, general merchandise, midwife fees, and taxes.

Folder 524

Volume 129, 1884-1886, 1889, 1891

Charter and Minute Book for the Virginia Real Estate Investment Company of Harden Hairston, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing shareholders with the number and value of shares owned; also includes enclosures, 1889-1891, listing stockholders in this company and minutes of the meetings of stockholders and directors.

Folder 525

Volume 130, 21 October 1890, 23 May 1891

Stock Certificates of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad Company of Harden Hairston, Pittsylvania County, Va. Enclosures include a list of stockholders with the number of shares owned (undated) and a House Bill of the Virginia Legislature incorporating this railroad, 3 March 1884.

Folder 526

Volume 131, undated

Invoice of Thomas Bouldin and Company, Henry County, Va. In 1801, Thomas Bouldin and Company went into business with Peter Wilson and this invoice indicates general merchandise stocked at a store jointly owned in Henry County.

Folder 527

Volume 132, undated

Sermon or speech denouncing lawyers, especially as political representatives.

Folder 528

Volume 133, undated

Tax list of Peter Hairston, Henry County, Va., for corn taxes, county parish levies, tobacco levies, and possibly other amounts owed; listing name, amount owed, and whether paid.

Folder 529

Volume 134, undated

Tax list of Colonel Archilaus Hughes (sheriff), Henry County, Va., listing name and three unlabelled payments.

Folder 530

Volume 135, 1884-1891

Ledger, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing farm accounts for Berry Hill and Royal Oak, including accounts with various tenants (for work performed; borrowed funds; taxes; and corn, wheat, and oats purchased from Alfred Varley Sims's managers) and lists of crops for 1884-1885, 1888; also includes enclosures dated 1884-1893. 96 p.

Folder 531

Volume 136, 1889

Memo book, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing expenses of a New York City trip, addresses, names of books, and mileage between different places.

Folder 532

Volume 137, 1890-1900

Letterpress book, Pittsylvania County, Va., containing Alfred Varley Sims's correspondence as General Manager of the Danville and Southwest Construction Company about engineering consulting services, farm matters, and professorial duties at the State University of Iowa. There is no material concerning Cuban railroads. 478 p.

Folder 533

Volume 138, 1890-1901

Letterpress book, Pittsylvania County, Va., similar to Volume 137. 487 p.; also includes an undated enclosure.

Folder 534

Volume 139, 1892-1898, 1915-1917

Ledger, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing farm accounts for Berry Hill, Brierfield, and Royal Oak, including accounts of various tenants (for work performed; borrowed funds; and fertilizer and food supplies purchased from the managers), accounts of the managers of the farms, and lists of wheat, corn, and tobacco crops; alphabetical index. 358 p.; also includes enclosures dated 1900-1916.

Folder 535

Volume 140, 1901-1903

Letterpress book, Iowa City, Iowa, containing correspondence of Alfred Varley Sims as a professor at the State University of Iowa. Index. 490 p.; also includes enclosures, 1 September 1899, 20 April 1904, and undated.

Folder 536

Volume 141, 1902-1903

Engineering paper of Rufus C. Choate, Iowa City, Iowa, possibly done under the supervision of Professor Alfred V. Sims at the State University of Iowa.

Folder 537

Volume 142, 9 April 1908

"Comments and Corrections of Report of Messrs. Van Etten and McAdoo Dated April 9, 1908 on the Cuba Eastern, Northeastern Cuba, Cuba Eastern Terminal Co. and Eastern Railway of Cuba Made by Alfred Varley Sims to Mr. F. C. Walcott and attorneys R. S. Huse and C. B. Crane," Guantanamo, Cuba.

Folder 538

Volume 143, 13 January 1910-31 October 1910

Account book, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing cash owed and received by R. H. Ross and J. D. Setliffe, managers at different of Berry Hill farm and possibly other farms.

Folder 539

Volume 144, 1 November 1910-2 December 1910

Labor records of Berry Hill farm, Pittsylvania County, Va., kept by R. H. Ross, listing hours worked and tasks performed of the following tenants: Tom Bufford, George Lawrence, Willie Lawrence, Will Lloyd, Will Moore, Lee Roberson, and R. H. Ross.

Folder 540a-540b

Volume 145, 24 November 1910-18 January 1919

Labor records of Berry Hill farm, Pittsylvania County, Va., kept by R. H. Ross, listing hours worked and tasks performed of 30 tenants/laborers.

Folder 541

Volume 146, 3 January 1911-31 December 1912

Account book of Berry Hill farm, Pittsylvania County, Va., kept by R. H. Ross, listing cash owed and received for crops, livestock, lumber, labor, and groceries.

Folder 542

Volume 147, 6 February 1911-24 March 1911

Memo book, Pittsylvania County, listing money owed and received for fodder and lumber; names and addresses; and including several enclosures about lumber dated 27 January 1911-8 July 1911.

Folder 543

Volume 148, 1912

Memo book of R. H. Ross, manager, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing one deposit in Virginia State Bank and crops of various tenants.

Folder 544

Volume 149, 27 May 1913-29 June 1916

Account book, New York, N.Y., listing mostly cash paid out for food, clothes, newspapers, transportation, etc.

Folder 545

Volume 150, 17 September 1916-2 March 1918

Memo book, New York, N.Y., listing mostly cash paid out for daily needs as in Volume 149; also includes a listing of liquid measurements, events in English history, poetry, and a travel account in New Jersey.

Folder 546

Volume 151, 1918

Notebook, New York, N.Y., with 15 lessons about car parts and maintenance; also includes an undated enclosure.

Folder 547

Volume 152, 1 February 1919-30 September 1919

Labor records of Berry Hill farm, Pittsylvania County, Va., kept by R. H. Ross, listing hours worked and tasks performed of several tenants including C. L. Finney, Callie Finney, R. W. Finney, and Carrance Hairston.

Folder 548

Volume 153, 23 July 1918-28 July 1918

Memo book, New York, N.Y., listing expenditures for a car trip from New York City to Berry Hill farm in Virginia; also includes enclosures, 23 July 1918-28 July 1918.

Folder 549

Volume 154, undated

Address book, New York, N.Y.

Folder 550

Volume 155, undated

Memo book, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing questions about the theft of a clover crop.

Folder 551

Volume 156, undated

Memo book, Guantanamo, Cuba, listing notes about the Confluente Railroad contract and reminders related to Sims's activity in Cuba.

Folder 552

Volume 157, 1859-1862

Memo book of Henry Hairston, Henry County, Va., listing names of enslaved people receiving clothing at Burnt Chimneys in Henry County and an unnamed plantation in Stokes County, N.C.; enclosures dated 22 August 1859 and undated including a receipt, list of roots used to cure a stomach disorder, and instructions for threading a loom.

Folder 553

Volume 158, July 1887-August 1887

Memo book of Ruth B. Hairston, describing her travels in England and on the European continent.

Folder 554

Volume 159, October 1890-December 1890, January 1910, January 1911

Notebook of J. R. C. Wrenshall, level rodman, listing daily activities of Corps Number Two, dated October 1890-December 1890, which was surveying land for the Virginia and Kentucky Railroads.

Level Book of Alfred Varley Sims, listing elevation and other measurements taken in a survey, January 1910 and January 1911, probably for the rail company Wrenshall worked for.

Folder 555

Volume 160, 3 March 1893, 6-7 March 1893

Rolling Letter Book of Alfred Varley Sims, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing minutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings of the Atlantic Coast and North-Western Railroad Company, subscribers, and receipts for stock payments. Sims was vice-president and general manager of this company. Index.

Folder 556

Volume 161, 1897, 1899-1901

Diary of J. D. Setliffe, farm manager for Alfred Varley Sims, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing weights and prices of crops, sale of crops, and tenants' accounts with Sims. These accounts list crops paid as rent to Sims, money owed Sims, and money owed tenants. Enclosures dated 1891, 1898, 1900, 1905-1909 and undated, include correspondence, receipts, and a promissory note, all related to farm matters.

Folder 557

Volume 162, 1904

Pocket memo book of J. D. Setliffe, farm manager for Alfred Varley Sims, Pittsylvania County, Va., containing only one entry, headed "fertilizer bill". Also includes an enclosure bearing a note about some money owed Mr. Setliffe.

Folder 558

Volume 163, 1909

Memo book of Alfred Varley Sims, Pittsylvania County, Va., listing addresses, genealogical notes, rent collected in crops from tenants, work done at Sims's saw mill, and experiments. One undated enclosure is an address.

Folder 559

Railroad records, undated

Notebooks detailing cubic yards of rock and dirt excavated in railway construction.

Folder 560-561

Folder 560

Folder 561

Railroad records, 1889-1890

Atlantic and Danville Railway Company weekly reports consisting of contour lines and the latitude/longitude coordinates of railways.

Folder 562

Railroad Engineering Volume 1, June 1890

"Level Book no. 1"

Folder 563

Railroad Engineering Volume 2, June 1890

"Level Book no. 2"

Folder 564

Railroad Engineering Volume 3, July 1890

"Level Book no. 3," containing information about the Bent Ridge Line.

Folder 565

Railroad Engineering Volume 4, July 1890-August 1890

"Level Book no. 4"

Folder 566

Railroad Engineering Volume 5, August 1890

"Level Book no. 5," 58 p.

Folder 567

Railroad Engineering Volume 6, August 1890

"Level Book no. 6," containing information about the Bull and Rock Mountain Line. 58 p.

Folder 568

Railroad Engineering Volume 7, August 1890-September 1890

"Level Book no. 7," containing information about the Bull and Rock Mountain Line.

Folder 569

Railroad Engineering Volume 8, September 1890

"Level Book no. 8," containing information about railways along South Mayo Creek and the Dan River. 58 p.

Folder 570

Railroad Engineering Volume 9, September 1890-October 1890

"Level Book no. 9," 58 p.

Folder 571

Railroad Engineering Volume 10, October 1890

"Level Book no. 10," 58 p.

Folder 572

Railroad Engineering Volume 11, October 1890

"Level Book no. 11," 59 p.

Folder 573

Railroad Engineering Volume 12, October 1890

"Level Book no. 12," containing information about a railway along the Dan River.

Folder 574

Railroad Engineering Volume 13, October 1890-November 1890

"Level Book no. 13," containing information about Line G.

Folder 575

Railroad Engineering Volume 14, November 1890

"Level Book no. 15," containing information about Line G.

Folder 576

Railroad Engineering Volume 15, November 1890-December 1890

"Level Book no. 16," containing information about Line G.

Folder 577

Railroad Engineering Volume 16, 1887

"Level Notes"

Folder 578

Railroad Engineering Volume 17, July 1890

"Field Book no. 1 Topography"

Folder 579

Railroad Engineering Volume 18, June 1890-September 1890

"Field Book"

Folder 580

Railroad Engineering Volume 19, July 1890

"Field Book," 78 p.

Folder 581

Railroad Engineering Volume 20, Fall 1903

"Field Book-Survey of Iowa River between Ryerson's Ridge and Coralville"

Folder 582

Railroad Engineering Volume 21, undated

"Field Book," containing information about a railway along the Iowa River.

Folder 583

Railroad Engineering Volume 22, November 1903

"Field Book"

Folder 584

Railroad Engineering Volume 23, July 1884

"Level Book no. 4," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad. 60 p.

Folder 585

Railroad Engineering Volume 24, July 1884-August 1884

"Level Book no. 5," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad.

Folder 586

Railroad Engineering Volume 25, September 1890

"Level Book no. 2," containing information about the Big Reed Island Line.

Folder 587

Railroad Engineering Volume 26, September 1890-October 1890

"Level Book," containing information about the Big Reed Island Line.

Folder 588

Railroad Engineering Volume 27, October 1890

"Level Book," 60 p.

Folder 589

Railroad Engineering Volume 28, October 1890-November 1890

"Level Book," 60 p.

Folder 590

Railroad Engineering Volume 29, November 1890

"Level Book," containing information about the Big Walker Line. 60 p.

Folder 591

Railroad Engineering Volume 30, November 1890-December 1890

"Level Book," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's Big Walker Line. 60 p.

Folder 592

Railroad Engineering Volume 31, undated

"Level Book no. 9," containing information about the Big Reed Island Line.

Folder 593

Railroad Engineering Volume 32, September 1890

"Transit Book," containing information about Orchard Fork of the South May Creek Line. 60 p.

Folder 594

Railroad Engineering Volume 33, July 1890

"Transit Book," containing information about the Poor House Creek Line. 60 p.

Folder 595

Railroad Engineering Volume 34, August 1890

"Transit Book," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's First Fork Mountain Branch Line. 60 p.

Folder 596

Railroad Engineering Volume 35, November 1890

"Transit Book no. 1, Preliminary Notes of Line G up Fall Creek"

Folder 597

Railroad Engineering Volume 36, November 1890

"Transit Book no. 2, Preliminary Notes of Line G Continued Fro Book 1"

Folder 598

Railroad Engineering Volume 37, September 1890-October 1890

"Transit Book no. 2," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's Big Reed Island Line. 57 p.

Folder 599

Railroad Engineering Volume 38, October 1890

"Transit Book no. 3," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's Big Reed Island Line. 59 p.

Folder 600

Railroad Engineering Volume 39, October 1890-November 1890

"Transit Book no. 4," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's Reed Creek Line. 80 p.

Folder 601

Railroad Engineering Volume 40, November 1890

"Transit Book no. 5," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad. 60 p.

Folder 602

Railroad Engineering Volume 41, November 1890-December 1890

"Transit Book no. 5," containing information about the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad's Snake Creek Line. 35 p.

Folder 603

Railroad Engineering Volume 42, 1899

"Transit Book"

Folder 604

Railroad Engineering Volume 43, November 1903

"Transit Book, Survey Notes Up River From Ryerson Bridge"

Folder 605

Railroad Engineering Volume 44, November 1892

Notebook containing surveying notes from Nevada.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2A. Volumes, 1787-1894 and undated (Addition of 1979).

15 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

There are 15 volumes, the first six of which are mainly account books, 1787-1879, from the Hairston plantations. Enslaved people and later freedmen are documented in these volumes. The last nine volumes, 1883-1894 and undated, are Alfred Varley Sims's letterbooks which record mainly his railroad correspondence.

Folder 765

Volume 164, 1787-1789

Journal of accounts due.

Folder 766

Volume 165, January 1789-11 October 1792

Account book of tobacco trade.

Folder 767

Volume 166, 20 January 1818-1 January 1820

A list of tools belonging to the Royal Oake Plantation. Lists of stock and other property at Royal Oake, Leatherwood, and Berry Hill Plantation.

Folder 768

Volume 167, 1830s

Two recipes and how to "dye scarlet."

Folder 769

Volume 168, December 1820-1853

Brier Field and Oak Hill plantations lists of enslaved children born and their mothers; lists of blankets given out to enslaved people and records of cloth produced and cards given out. Also includes an inventory of dinnerware and kitchen utensils, circa 1822.

Folder 770

Volume 169, February 1864-December 1879

Volume of Agnes J. P. Hairston containing lists of winter and summer clothes and cards given to enslaved people to the summer of 1865. Beginning in the fall of 1866, freedmen received dollars or commodities. Also includes record of payment for a loan from Mr. Tinsley and instructions on "how to knit a man's under shirt."

Folder 771

Volume 170, 9 July 1883-1 March 1886

Journal of Alfred Varley Sims's work as a surveyor for the "R[eading?] RR" at the Trenton Yards and several other places in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

Folder 772

Volume 171, 13 April 1892-7 October 1892

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims containing outgoing business correspondence concerning the organizing of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad and a campaign for public subscriptions and English capital. Most of the letters are addressed to George Hicks, a New York financier and a Mrs. [Agnes?] Hairston. Also included are a few comments on the Big Ax land deal in southeast Virginia in which Sims was involved.

Folder 773

Volume 172, 5 October 1892-3 December 1892

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims from San Bernardino, Calif., concerning an attempted takeover of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad. Also included is a letter offering testimony for Harden Hairston in a suit resulting from the dissolution of the Ruffin and Hairston Company.

Folder 774

Volume 173, 7 July 1890-15 October 1893

Account book of Alfred Varley Sims consisting of his account with Mrs. [Agnes?] Hairston, 26 January 1892-5 July 1892; a short account with Miss S. S. Hairston; and a short chronology, 7 July 1890-12 July 1890, of employees' comings and goings on the Danville Railroad survey. This volume also includes several enclosures: a chart of measurements taken at various elevations, possibly along the proposed route of the Danville and Virginia Railroad and several tax receipts for Sims at Danville, Va., in 1891 and 1892.

Folder 775

Volume 174, 3 December 1892-16 January 1893

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims containing outgoing correspondence from San Bernadino, Calif., containing information on a survey of a proposed railroad between Los Angeles, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah; letters mostly to George Hicks in New York with a few to California railroad men; a few letters concerning Berry Hill in Virginia and one advising a London firm on the possibility of buying the Virginia an Kentucky Railroad for its right to build an extension to Danville, Va., to the coal fields of West Virginia.

Folder 776

Volume 175, January 1890, 17 January 1893-April 1893

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims containing the letters from San Bernadino, Calif., relating to Sims's survey of the Utah, Nevada, and California Railroad, including a map of a route through the mountains. This volume also includes letters to creditors who demanded payments on bills outstanding from his connection with the Atlantic and Danville Railroad.

Folder 777

Volume 176, 8 April 1893-7 July 1893

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims from San Bernadino, Calif., relating to the survey of the Utah, Nevada, and California Railroad. This volume also includes a short account of the bank panic of 1893 in a letter dated 24 June 1893.

Folder 778

Volume 177, 20 June 1893-24 February 1894

Rolled letterbook of Alfred Varley Sims from San Bernadino, Calif., and Rockhill Furnace, Pa., containing letters advising George Hicks on how to proceed in negotiations between Hicks and C. P. Huntington over the Utah, Nevada, and California Railroad. This volume also includes letters concerning the embezzlement of funds by the manager of Berry Hill Farm in Virginia.

Folder 779

Volume 178, undated

Letterpress copybook containing a report, signed by J. R. Boyd, Geologist, on the proposed route of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad. 41 p.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Unprocessed Material.

Folder 606-619

Folder 606

Folder 607

Folder 608

Folder 609

Folder 610

Folder 611

Folder 612

Folder 613

Folder 614

Folder 615

Folder 616

Folder 617

Folder 618

Folder 619

Duplicates, envelopes, miscellaneous papers

Folder 620-634

Folder 620

Folder 621

Folder 622

Folder 623

Folder 624

Folder 625

Folder 626

Folder 627

Folder 628

Folder 629

Folder 630

Folder 631

Folder 632

Folder 633

Folder 634

Forms, fragments, duplicates, news clippings, blueprints, reports, bills, and receipts

Folder 635-661

Folder 635

Folder 636

Folder 637

Folder 638

Folder 639

Folder 640

Folder 641

Folder 642

Folder 643

Folder 644

Folder 645

Folder 646

Folder 647

Folder 648

Folder 649

Folder 650

Folder 651

Folder 652

Folder 653

Folder 654

Folder 655

Folder 656

Folder 657

Folder 658

Folder 659

Folder 660

Folder 661

Bills and receipts

Folder 662-675

Folder 662

Folder 663

Folder 664

Folder 665

Folder 666

Folder 667

Folder 668

Folder 669

Folder 670

Folder 671

Folder 672

Folder 673

Folder 674

Folder 675

Postcards, pamphlets, miscellaneous papers

Folder 676-690

Folder 676

Folder 677

Folder 678

Folder 679

Folder 680

Folder 681

Folder 682

Folder 683

Folder 684

Folder 685

Folder 686

Folder 687

Folder 688

Folder 689

Folder 690

Envelopes, miscellaneous papers

Folder 691-712

Folder 691

Folder 692

Folder 693

Folder 694

Folder 695

Folder 696

Folder 697

Folder 698

Folder 699

Folder 700

Folder 701

Folder 702

Folder 703

Folder 704

Folder 705

Folder 706

Folder 707

Folder 708

Folder 709

Folder 710

Folder 711

Folder 712

Journals, stamps, photographs, postcards

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4134/1

Maps, circa 1880s-1903

Rural Free Delivery Route for Byrdsville, Pittsylvania County, Va., 1903; Rural Free Delivery Route for Wenonda, Pittsylvania County, Va., 1903; Norfolk and Western Railroad in Virginia and West Virginia; drawing of trestle bridge design; and battle grounds of Chickahominy relating to siege of Richmond.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4134/2

Maps, circa 1880s-1890s

Maps of Norfolk and Western Railroad of the North Carolina extension in Wythe, Carroll, Grayson, Patrick, Pulaski, and Surry Counties; Norfolk and Western Railroad in Coal and Coke operations in the Pocohantas Coal Field in McDowell, Mercer, and Tazewell Counties, W. Va.; Cuba; and an unidentified handdrawn topographical map.

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4134/2

Maps, circa 1880s-1890s

Maps of proposed sand-clay road in Danville, Va.; Iowa railroads; and Baltimore, Md.

Oversize Box OB-4134/1-2

OB-4134/1

OB-4134/2

Maps, circa 1880s-1890s

About 50 working maps and land profiles for proposed lines for the Virginia and Kentucky, Big Reed Island, Reed Creek and Fort Chiswell railroads.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785.

11 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Photocopies of original materials withdrawn from the Wilson and Hairston papers in July 2006.

Folder 780

Withdrawn materials (photocopies):

Thomas Jefferson, als, 7 August 1779 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Thomas Jefferson, ds, 3 June 1780 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Thomas Jefferson, ds, 31 June 1780 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Thomas Jefferson, note signed, 31 October 1780 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Thomas Jefferson, ds, 1 February 1781 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, receipt signed, 2 May 1780 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, agreement signed, 3 July 1780 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, agreement signed, 17 September 1782 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, autograph note signed, 26 Setpember 1782 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, list signed, 26 October 1782 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, agreement signed, 21 August 1783 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, note signed, 29 April 1784 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
Patrick Henry, receipt signed, 17 November 1785 #04134, Series Withdrawn Materials (photocopies), 1779-1785., Folder 780
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Microfilm.

11 items.
Reel M-4134/1-55

M-4134/1

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M-4134/54

M-4134/55

Microfilm

  • Reel 1: Series 1, 1751-1786
  • Reel 2: Series 1, 1787-1792
  • Reel 3: Series 1, 1793-1794
  • Reel 4: Series 1, 1794-1797
  • Reel 5: Series 1, 1797-1799
  • Reel 6: Series 1, 1799-1801
  • Reel 7: Series 1, 1801-1803
  • Reel 8: Series 1, 1803-1805
  • Reel 9: Series 1, 1806-1808
  • Reel 10: Series 1, 1809-1812
  • Reel 11: Series 1, 1812
  • Reel 12: Series 1, 1813-1815
  • Reel 12a: Series 1, 1816-1817
  • Reel 13: Series 1, 1817-1820
  • Reel 14: Series 1, 1820-1822
  • Reel 15: Series 1, 1823-1824
  • Reel 16: Series 1, 1824-1826
  • Reel 17: Series 1, 1826-1829
  • Reel 18: Series 1, 1829-1832
  • Reel 18a: Series 1, 1832-1833
  • Reel 19: Series 1, 1833-1836
  • Reel 20: Series 1, 1837-1838
  • Reel 21: Series 1, 1839-1840
  • Reel 22: Series 1, 1841-1843
  • Reel 23: Series 1, 1844-1846
  • Reel 24: Series 1, 1847-1850
  • Reel 25: Series 1, 1851-1854
  • Reel 26: Series 1, 1854-1855
  • There is no Reel 27
  • Reel 28: Series 1, 1855-1857
  • Reel 28a: Series 1, 1858-1861
  • Reel 29: Series 1, 1861-1863
  • Reel 30: Series 1, 1854-1881
  • Reel 31: Series 1, 1882-1888
  • Reel 32: Series 1, 1888-1893
  • Reel 33: Series 1, 1894-1898
  • Reel 34: Series 1, 1899-1903
  • Reel 35: Series 1, 1903-1905
  • Reel 36: Series 1, 1905-1907
  • Reel 37: Series 1, 1907-1908
  • Reel 38: Series 1, 1908-1909
  • Reel 39: Series 1, 1909
  • Reel 40: Series 1, 1910
  • Reel 41: Series 1, 1911
  • Reel 42: Series 1, 1911-1913
  • Reel 43: Series 1, 1913-1919
  • Reel 44: Series 1, 1919-1921 and undated
  • Reel 45: Series 1, Undated
  • Reel 46: Series 1, Undated
  • Reel 56: Series 2, Volumes 1-11
  • Reel 57: Series 2, Volumes 12-18
  • Reel 58: Series 2, Volumes 19-25
  • Reel 59: Series 2, Volumes 26-29
  • Reel 60: Series 2, Volumes 30-36
  • Reel 61: Series 2, Volumes 37-39
  • Reel 62: Series 2, Volumes 40-46
  • Reel 63: Series 2, Volumes 47-50
  • Reel 64: Series 2, Volumes 51-86
  • Reel 65: Series 2, Volumes 87-117
  • Reel 66: Series 2, Volumes 118-136
  • Reel 67: Series 2, Volumes 137-139
  • Reel 68: Series 2, Volumes 140-156
  • Reel 69: Series 2, Volumes 157-163
  • Reel 47: Addition, 1780-1884
  • Reel 48: Addition, 1884-1889, undated 1880s
  • Reel 49: Addition, 1890-1891
  • Reel 50: Addition, 1891-1892
  • Reel 51: Addition, 1892-1893
  • Reel 52: Addition, 1893-1894, oversize
  • Reel 53: Addition: 1894, 1896-1897, 1910, undated 1790s, Volumes 164-171
  • Reel 54: Addition: Volumes 172-174
  • Reel 55: Addition: Volumes 175-177
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Microfilm (M-4134/1-26, 28-69)

Oversize volumes (SV-4134/12, 14, 46, 48)

Oversize papers (XOPF-4134/1-2; OPF-4134/1-2; OB-4134/1-2)

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