Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Browse Items (60 total)

  • MS1989-12-02-P1.jpg
  • MS1989-12-01-P1.jpg
  • D2020-JBC-0825-0011.jpg

    Invoice book of Dr. James Carter (d. 1794), apothecary of Williamsburg, Virginia, including record of drugs, medical supplies, clothing, yard goods, household goods, and food received from the following merchants: James Bland; Butcher & Barrett; Cary & Co.; Dobson, Daltera & Walker of Liverpool; Joseph Etherington; James Gildart of Liverpool; Graham Frank & Co.; Messrs. Popplewith & Co.; Thomas Knox of Bristol; John Norton; Charles Osborne; Welling & Slater; Messrs. Welling & Butcher; and Wellings & Jacobs. Also lists drugs bought from the estates of Dr. George Gilmer and Dr. Kenneth McKenzie of Williamsburg.
  • MS1946-01-02-R.jpg

    Deed of release for property in Williamsburg, Virginia, known as "Custis Square," which Blaikley had purchased from John Tullitt in 1716. Witnessed by Robert C. Turner, Joseph Davenport, Samuel Cobbs, and James Frazer.

    Endorsed by Catherine Blaikley and signed by William Robertson, Clerk of the Court.

  • MS1996-26-R.jpg

    Indenture between Thomas Craig, tailor of Williamsburg, Va. and the Feoffees and Directors of Williamsburg for the lease of lot 12 in Williamsburg. The lot is located on the south side of Market Square. This property was previously leased by John Dixon. Craig acquired the lease after purchasing Dixon's estate. The indenture is signed by Peyton Randolph, John Blair, William Pierce, Severinus Durfey, James Minzies, Benjamin Harrison, William Rose and James Douglas.
  • D2020-SC-0902-0001.jpg

    Diary of Elizabeth McPherson Whitehead, daughter of Dr. Nathan Colgate Whitehead and Lillian Blair McPherson, of Norfolk, Virginia. The item is inscribed as a journal of her life meant to make her watchful of her thoughts and of her actions towards others. She describes daily activities including visits with her neighbors, including noted sculptor Alexander Galt and his family. Whitehead also mentions a trip to Boston, Massachusetts, and the Athenaeum there, where she viewed sculptures by Greenough and Canova.
  • D2020-SC-1104-001.jpg

    William Spencer was born in 1764 in Buckingham County, Virginia, but moved to Prince Edward County while young. He served as a Methodist circuit rider, 1789-1797, in Virginia and North Carolina and taught school in Prince Edward County. He moved to Lunenburg County in 1804. Spencer was married to Mary Newbill.

    Diaries of William Spencer, a Methodist circuit rider on the Williamsburg Circuit, extending from Richmond (Henrico Co.) to Hampton; and the Surry Circuit, including Surry and Sussex counties. Spencer records the locations where he preached, his reception by congregations, and accounts of his personal spiritual life. The diaries were written as a homily for future generations. Prominent early Methodist circuit riders mentioned include Stephen Davis, Ira Ellis, James O'Kelly and John Robinson. Spencer lists many of the homes and churches where he preached, including Clayton's Meetinghouse; Ellis Chapel, Sussex County; Lane's Chapel, Sussex County; and Watkins' Meetinghouse, Henrico County.

    A portion of the diaries was published in Virginia United Methodist Heritage, Vol. III, no. 2 (Fall, 1975).

  • D2020-COPY-0818-0002c.jpg

    Letter of Williamsburg, Virginia silversmith James Craig to an unidentified recipient. Craig writes that he is overstocked with certain goods and wishes to sell them on reasonable terms. Craig was not comfortable sending the items on credit so he suggested the recipient of the letter send someone to the meeting of the General Court in Williamsburg to conduct business with him.

    On April 7, 1768, Craig ran an advertisement in the Virginia Gazette announcing the arrival of a shipment from London aboard the Matty. The advertisement listed many of the items subsequently offered in the letter.

    This letter may be Craig's first letter to Edenton, North Carolina silversmith and jeweler Thomas Agnis. In Virginia Silversmiths ... Catherine Hollan writes that Craig sold silver and jewelry to Agnis in July, 1761. Agnis sent his enslaved man, Joe Baker to Williamsburg with payment.

  • MS1991-16-001.jpg

    Lecture notes of Miss Lilla C. Wheeler of Portville, New York for a presentation presumably delivered to the Olean, New York Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1907. Wheeler describes the current depressed state of Williamsburg, Virginia, efforts to restore Bruton Parish Church, the College of William and Mary and the town's 18th-century past. While in Williamsburg, Wheeler met the Reverend W.A.R. Goodwin who served as guide during her visit.
  • MS2000-66-001.jpg

    19th-century copy of an American officer's account of convalescing from his leg wound. The account mentions Brigadier General Robert Lawson, who commanded the Virginia militia at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, and Major General Nathanael Greene. It is possible St. George Tucker is the author of this account. Tucker served in the militia under General Lawson and was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781. Following the battle, the American army encamped nearby at Speedwell's Iron Works on Troublesome Creek in Rockingham County, North Carolina.
  • MS1934-06-001.jpg

    Surveyor's commission of Richard P. Clements appointing him surveyor of Southampton County, Virginia. Clements was certified to be qualified for the post by the College of William and Mary and his commission bears the signatures of its President, James Madison, and Professors Robert Andrews, St. George Tucker, John Bracken and James Henderson. It is also signed by Virginia Governor James Monroe.

    Printed document completed in manuscript.

  • MS1929-02-001.jpg

    Following the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act which authorized the closing of that town’s port on June 1, 1774. When news of the Boston Port Act reached Virginia, the General Assembly was sitting in Williamsburg. It responded to the news by passing a resolution setting aside June 1st as a “Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer …” The resolution demonstrated the Burgesses support for the people of Boston linking their cause with the rights of all Americans. Governor Dunmore responded to the resolution by dissolving the Burgesses on May 26. The following day, the former Burgesses met in the Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern where they adopted an Association calling for a Boycott of East India Company goods and the meeting of a general congress.

    The Association is signed in print by eighty-nine of the former Burgesses known to have attended that body's most recent session. The document also bears the names of twenty-one men from the Williamsburg area who joined the Association following its adoption by the former Burgesses.

    The broadside was most likely printed by Clementina Rind.

  • MS1996-09-001.jpg

    Appraisal, January 17, 1780, of the estate, of Richard Charlton, barber and tavernkeeper of Williamsburg, Virginia for his property in York County. The appraisal was conducted by Humphrey Harwood, James Craig and William Nicolson and recorded in the York County Court by Thomas Everard. The estate was valued at £14,419..14. Seven enslaved African Americans accounted for £10,464 of the value of the estate. The remainder of the estate consisted of a large amount of household items, a stage wagon, several horses and a valuable collection of books worth over £150s. Included amongst the books are Voltaire's Works, Ferguson's Astronomy, Cicero's Orations, Goldsmith's Roman History, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Robertson's History of Charles V and Smollett's History of England.

  • MS2000-08-001.jpg

    Copy of an amendment to Governor Francis Fauquier's estate inventory, enclosed in his son Francis Fauquier, Esquire's letter sent from England to George Wythe, dated June 21, 1773. The inventory for items at the Governor's Palace includes household furnishings, food supplies, globes and money scales.
  • MS1999-09-001.jpg

    Estate appraisal of the property of William Smith of Westmoreland County, Virginia. The appraisal was conducted on December 7, 1782 and is signed by James Muse, Anthony Peyton and Thomas Muse. The estate was valued at £1498..5..3. The bulk of the estate's value was in the more than twenty five enslaved persons listed at the top of the appraisal. The appraisal also lists livestock in the form of horses, cattle and hogs. Among the household furniture is listed a desk, chairs, tables and bed furniture. Spinning and flax wheels as well as cards and a loom are listed in the appraisal. Kitchen implements listed in the appraisal include knives, pots, pans, a tea kettle, china plates, pewter plates a delft bowl and a salt cellar. A looking glass and brass candlesticks, box heater and snuffers are listed. Three books, the Bible, a dictionary and a "Bray book" are the only reading materials listed. Farming equipment listed in the appraisal includes hoes, axes, plows, saddles, wedge and froe, a beehive and drawing knife.

  • MS1941-08-001.jpg

    The last will and testament of Richard Randolph of Curles Neck Plantation in Henrico County, Virginia.
  • ms1938-7_vol. 1, page 001.jpg

    Anonymous 18th-century manuscript cookbook and book of medical formulas. The medical formulas are drawn from several sources including the works of Richard Mead (1673-1754), a famous English medical practitioner of his day. Mead's cures for the bite of a mad dog are included. Also included is Joanna Stephens' (d. 1774) cure for the stone and gravel. This was first printed in 1739 and earned Stephens an award of £5,000 from the British Parliament. This occured despite the objections of many respected medical practitioners who believed the only cure for stones involved surgery. Parliament was convinced of the value of the medicine by David Hartley who published the testimonials of patients claiming to be cured by the formula. Hartley also conducted experiments proving the ability of the formula to reduce stones. The manuscript also contains a cure for heartburn attributed to Dr. Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738) the famous Dutch botanist, physician and medical instructor.

    Also included are numerous recipes for foods and beverages some attributed to a Miss Bathurst and S. Bathurst, Mrs. Beck, Lady Englefield and others.

  • D2010-COPY-0504-1084.jpg

    Manuscript amulet, or precept, containing a prayer for deliverance from witchcraft for the wearer.
  • D2011-COPY-0712-1095.jpg

    Estate inventory of Hannah Robinson of Westmoreland County, Virginia. The inventory includes an extensive list of clothing including shifts, cloaks, stockings, calico and silk gowns, hats, stays etc. Also included are household goods and ten enslaved persons listed by name. Robinson left her estate to her sister Apphia Dangerfield and her nephew John Pettit. Beckwith Butler and John Pettit served as executors. There are no values associated with the inventory.
  • D2009-COPY-0602-1021.jpg

    Probably a British weaver's notebook signed by Benjamin Daves (1774) and mentions Birmingham, England. Includes weaver's drafts, names of patterns, directions, some descriptions of patterns, details of pricings, and how much thread needed to be used. Also includes an account of fabrics purchased with cost and recipes to cure Kings Evil, shortness of breath, ague, collick, fever, and rheumatism.

    Bound in a wallet style vellum binding with metal catch and clasp.

    Also includes five pieces of cloth.

  • 2001-230.jpg

    The Petition Memorial and Remonstrance is actually three separate addresses intended for the King, the Lords and the Commons in response to the Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in the summer of 1767. This copy bears the signature of George William Fairfax.
  • MS2014-07-001.jpg

    Indenture by which the orphan John Smith of Norfolk, Virginia was bound an apprentice to John Latham, ship captain of Norfolk, to learn the trade of mariner or seaman.
  • MS2014-09-001.jpg

    A copy of the Norfolk, VA district court order to bind the orphan John Harvey as an apprentice to Richard Latimer, a shoe and boot maker, in 1799.
  • MS2014-08-001.jpg

    An indenture contract binding John Harvey, orphaned son of John Harvey, as an apprentice to Richard Latimer, a
    shoe and boot maker. Signed on 3 August 1799 by the above parties, and Robert Brough.
  • D2011-BTL-0223-2059.jpg

    By this document, James Williams, orphan, is indentured to George Suggs of Norfolk to serve an apprenticeship as a tailor. Williams was bound to Suggs by James Boyce, Chamberlain for Norfolk Borough, pursuant to an order of the court.
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