Category Archives: Newsletter

Central Virginia Heritage Winter 2020 (v.36, no.4) now Available!

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Don’t Discard That Receipt: The Use of Ephemera in Genealogical Research, by Andi Cumbo-Floyd: “When I first began researching the people who were enslaved at the Bremo Plantations in Fluvanna County, I found myself buried in tiny slips of paper. Those little pieces of ephemera—a receipt from that trip to buy seed from that man in Tidewater, that ledger page from the store in Scottsville, the random notes about the cost of burlap—were everywhere in the 195 boxes of the Cocke Family Papers at the Small Special Collections Library.

My first instinct was to dismiss these pieces in the interest of efficiency and because, honestly, I didn’t care one hoot how much burlap cost. But when I began looking more closely, I started to find names of enslaved people on some of these pages. I learned that Phil and Billy were the postilions who traveled with their master most everywhere. I saw on a list of charges from the doctor that Champion was treated for “rheumatism” on more than one occasion. I see that Letty was put under the charge of the master’s gardener…”

To see the rest of this article, CVGA members should go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

For those who are not members of CVGA, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Winter 2020 issue is available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/Central-Virginia-Heritage-Winter-2020/dp/B08QKY2YD7 for $6.50. Click on the Amazon.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on Amazon.com.

Contents of the Winter 2020 issue:

  • Don’t Discard That Receipt: The Use of Ephemera in Genealogical Research, by Andi Cumbo-Floyd
  • African-American Men in the 1867 Fluvanna County (VA) Personal Property Tax Books, Part 3, R-Z, by Sam Towler
  • List of Virginia Cohabitation Registers and Marriage Lists Available Online, by Jean L. Cooper
  • Connecting Pre-1865 Enslaved Families With Entries in the U.S. Federal Census of 1870: A Case Study, by Jean L. Cooper
  • Social Security Numbers, by Diane Inman
  • Finding the Fallen, by Diane Inman
  • Archer Family of Powhatan County, Virginia, by Jean L. Cooper
  • Message from the Present
  • Obituaries: George Edward Vandenhoff Jr. and Sylvia Louise Jones

If you have any articles you’d like to share with CVGA members, please send an email to the editor, eleanordew at gmail dot com — The Editor.

Central Virginia Heritage Fall 2020 (v.36, no.3) now Available!

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“A Sensational Marriage—Amelia County News”—As Judge Farrar got off the train at this place on the evening of Tuesday, the 26th, he was accosted by a gentleman who told him that he wished to get married.

The Judge replied in his usual good humor, “I am glad to hear it. What can I do?”

“Well,” the young man said, “my intended has no mother or father, and I want to get your permission under the new law.”

The thoughtful clerk, Mr. E. H. Coleman, who had been apprised of the matter, had all the papers arranged and the clerk’s office lighted up. The papers were duly certified and the license issued.

The Judge asked, “What next?”

The young man answered, “My intended bride being present, we are going to get married as soon as possible tonight.”

Thereupon, our venerable clerk lit his lantern and led the way and the bridal couple, escorted by the Judge and others, went to the Methodist parsonage and aroused Rev. Mr. Ferguson, and in the parlor Mr. James Royall and Miss Minnie Malinex were married in due form and ceremony. The Judge gave the bridal party benediction and the family congratulated the happy pair, and they returned to their future home rejoicing.

***

For more marriage announcements from The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), April 1895, and several other articles, CVGA members should go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

For those who are not members of CVGA, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Fall 2020 issue is available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HGPZ3D2 for $6.50. Click on the Amazon.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on Amazon.com.

Contents of the Fall 2020 issue:

  • Marriage Announcements in the Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), April 1895, by Diane Inman, p. 1
  • African-American Men in the 1867 Fluvanna County (VA) Personal Property Tax Books, Part 2, H-Q, by Sam Towler, p. 10,
  • Dealing With COVID-19 in Earlysville, Virginia, by Charles C. Crenshaw p. 20
  • Birdwood, Albemarle County, VA, p.21
  • Records of Probate for a Typical Slave-holding Estate, by David E. Paterson, p. 23

If you have any articles you’d like to share with CVGA members, please send an email to the editor, eleanordew at gmail dot com. — The Editor.

Central Virginia Heritage Summer 2020 (v.36, no.2) now Available!

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This issue contains 4 articles with generally useful information, including the first part of a list of African-American Men paying taxes in the 1867 Fluvanna County personal property tax list.

After the Civil War, all men over 21 years of age had to pay a personal property tax. The minimum personal property tax was $1 per year, unless you had an exemption, such as age. The tax assessors must have run into problems in 1866 trying to locate African-American men who hadn’t paid their taxes that year because most of them didn’t own land. There were also men with identical names, so there was a problem knowing which man of that name had paid his taxes.

Starting in 1867, Albemarle. Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson Counties began to record where these African-American men could be found. Other counties besides these five likely recorded locations also, but so far these are the ones I personally know of. …

For the rest of this article, and several others, CVGA members should go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

For those who are not members of CVGA, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Summer 2020 issue is available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C9CPS95 for $6.50. Click on the Amazon.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on Amazon.com.

Contents of the Summer 2020 issue:

  • The Dwelling at Snowden
  • African-American Men in the 1867 Fluvanna County (VA) Personal Property Tax Books (A-G)
  • Marriage Announcements in the Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), March 1895
  • The Estate of Henry Pendleton of Louisa County, Virginia.

If you have any articles you’d like to share with CVGA members, please send an email to the editor, eleanordew at gmail dot com. — The Editor.

Peter Jefferson’s Snowdon published by CVGA

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Front cover of Peter Jefferson's Snowdon (2020)

Hi all — We are very fortunate that CVGA has been given the opportunity to publish a new book by Joanne L. Yeck — Peter Jefferson’s Snowdon —  as CVGA’s first Occasional paper. Here’s the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Jeffersons-Snowdon-publications-Genealogical/dp/B088B833B7

An Occasional paper is a work of interest to historians and researchers on a Central Virginia topic, but which is too long to fit in our newsletter, Central Virginia Heritage.

These papers are not published on a set schedule, but as they are completed. The only requirement is that the topic of the paper has something to do with Central Virginia history or research. The average length of these publications will be approximately 40-100 pages, but that is flexible. Contact the newsletter editor, Jean Cooper, if you have a suggestion for future Occasional papers.

In this case, the book is a detailed essay on the history of Snowdon, a plantation created by Peter Jefferson in the first half of the 18th century.

“Beginning in the 1720s, a small group of men based in Goochland County, Virginia, began to migrate west, along the James River, settling the frontier which lay at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A few stopped at what is known as the Horseshoe Bend, a particularly beautiful and fertile spot in the river. Today, the modern counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, and Fluvanna converge there at the village of Scottsville.In the early 1740s, President Thomas Jefferson’s father, Peter, already a successful surveyor and land speculator, was quick to realize the commercial value of the spot when the newly formed Albemarle County located its seat at the Horseshoe Bend. This volume tells the story of settlement on the south side of the James River and the development of the plantation Peter Jefferson would call Snowdon, a very valuable farm with a complex history.”

Note: The Occasional papers are not part of the membership benefits of CVGA but must be purchased separately.

 

Library of Virginia Services Available During the Public Health Emergency

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News Release | April 1, 2020

The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and community are top priorities at the Library of Virginia. To help contain the spread of the corona virus (COVID-19), the Library is closed to the public until further notice. Please check our website at lva.virginia.gov regularly for the most up-to-date information on our operating status. We are monitoring the developing situation closely and following directives from the Office of the Governor and guidelines from the Virginia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Library has suspended all in-person public events, workshops, programs, and tours through May. We hope to reschedule as many events as possible—and we’ll be offering some webinars—so please check our News and Events calendar at lva.virginia.gov/news/ and follow us on social media.

Library users who have books or other materials checked out are asked not to return them until the Library reopens. Loan periods will be extended and no fines will accrue while the Library is closed.

Library staff members are working during this public health emergency from Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, and will respond to your questions and research inquiries. For Library Reference assistance, call 804.692.3777 or email refdesk@lva.virginia.gov. For Archives Reference assistance, call 804.692.3888 or email archdesk@lva.virginia.gov. For general inquiries, call 804.692.3535 or go to lva.virginia.gov/about/contact to find a staff directory. As many staff are teleworking at present, please leave a voice message and a staff member will get back to you promptly.

While our building is closed, researchers are encouraged to use our numerous online resources. Links to our most frequently used online collections can be found at
https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&lang=en.

Resources for students and teachers can be found at edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/ and
https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01LVA_INST:01LVA&lang=en.

For an online version of our current exhibition, We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia, see edu.lva.virginia.gov/wedemand/.

Services to state agencies through the State Records Center on Charles City Road are continuing as normal.

The research room at the State Records Center, however, is closed to the general public until further notice.

Virginia public libraries needing assistance can continue to call upon our staff in the Library Development and Networking Division. Library of Virginia resources for library professionals and trustees can be found at lva.virginia.gov/lib-edu/LDND/ and vpl.virginia.gov/.

Thank you for your continued patience as we navigate this unprecedented situation together.

Central Virginia Heritage Spring 2020 (v.36, no.1) Now Available!

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Among other articles in this issue, we find: “The Jouett Family in Central Virginia”:

Albemarle County’s Jouett family is directly descended from Matthieu de Jouhet, the Lord of Leveignac and Master of the Horse to Louis XIII of France (reigned 1610-1643).

Matthieu de Jouhet’s grandson Daniel de Jouet emigrated from France to the Narragansett area (the British colony of Rhode Island) in 1686. Daniel moved around quite a bit, settling first in South Carolina, then New York, and in 1721, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.

Daniel’s youngest son, Jean Jouett, who was also born in France, was the father of John Jouett, Sr. (1730-1802). John Sr. was the owner of the Swan Tavern next to the Albemarle County Courthouse, and the area north of Charlottesville that became the High Street neighborhood. He was a signer of the Albemarle County Declaration of Independence on 21 April 1779. He was buried on the lot of the Swan Tavern, but the exact site was lost. The building itself was destroyed in 1828; the building now on the site was built in the first half of the nineteenth century….

For the rest of this article, and several others, CVGA members should go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)

If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.

For those who are not members of CVGA, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Spring 2020 issue is available from Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085K6JMFD/ for $6.50. Click on the Amazon.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on Amazon.com.

Contents of the Spring 2020 issue:

  • Life In 1940s Earlysville, by Charles Conway Crenshaw…p.1-3
  • No Stone Left Unturned: The Papers of Walter Lloyd Fontaine, by Joanne L. Yeck… p.4-11
  • Marriage Announcements in the Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA) February 1895, transcribed by Diane Inman…p.11-12
  • Jack Jouett: Revolutionary Rider, by Judy Bloodgood Bander (Woodside Publishers, 2014). A review by Jean L. Cooper.. p. 13-14
  • The Jouett Family in Central Virginia, by Jean L. Cooper p.14-15
  • What Are Finding Aids? p. 15
  • No Worries, My Will Gives Away My Genealogy Stuff, by Michael John Neill…p.16
  • The Freshest Advices; Buckingham County, Virginia, Genealogical Records from Newspapers, 1736-1850, by Randy Crouse, A Review by Joanne L. Yeck, p. 17-18
  • Charles Wesley Lusk, Jr. (1914-2005), A distinguished University of Virginia alumnus, by Diane Inman… p. 18-21
  • Settlement of the Estate of Samuel Griffin of Bedford County, VA, died 1812. Transcribed by Jean L. Cooper…p.22-26
  • Letter from the Editor, by Jean L. Cooper … p.27
  • President’s Column, by Susan Lindsay…p.28

If you have any articles you’d like to share with CVGA members, please send an email to the editor, eleanordew at gmail dot com. — The Editor.