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

Browse Items (60 total)

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • MS1932-08-001.jpg

    Virginia Lt. Governor John Page writes to North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell concerning British naval operations in the region. The British had blocked Ocracoke Inlet and Page urges Caswell to send one of the galleys constructed at the joint expense of the two states to dislodge the British vessels blockading the inlet. Page notes he will have Champion Travis, a member of Virginia's Naval Board, work to get some of Virginia's galley fleet into action. Page also thanks Caswell for making part of the N.C. militia available during the British Army and Navy's move up the Chesapeake as they advanced to Philadelphia and discusses the outcome of the action between Washington and Howe at Brandywine on September 11, 1777.
  • MS2012-12-001.jpg

    Letter of Brigadier General Muhlenberg to Brigadier General Weedon in which Muhlenberg discusses the Battle of Green Spring fought July 6, 1781. The American forces were led by Lafayette and Anthony Wayne. Muhlenberg was critical of Wayne noting that "Green Springs ... might have proved fatal to this Army & the State, owing to the impetuosity of our Brother Brigadier." Muhlenberg describes for Weedon the course and outcome of the battle but advises Weedon that "... it will not do to make it public."
  • 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.
  • D2011-Copy-0303-0001.jpg

    General Joseph Hooker letter to Captain Chauncey McKeever, Assistant Adjutant General of the Third Corps, dated from Williamsburg, Virginia, May 10, 1862. Hooker's letter discusses the Battle of Williamsburg and provides a list of his division's losses.
  • MS1941-08-001.jpg

    The last will and testament of Richard Randolph of Curles Neck Plantation in Henrico County, Virginia.
  • 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.
  • MS1965-6_OV_0001.jpg

    Manuscript book of arithmetic rules, definitions, and problems, covering addition and subtraction of whole numbers, money and weights, multiplication and division, money problems, proportion, profit and loss, interest, and reduction of fractions, with many word problems for each type of problem.

    "Lewis Worrell's Cyphering"--folio 28v.

  • MS2000-55_0001.jpg

    Manuscript music book of 134 works belonging to A. Bell, New York. Contains marches, jigs, some tunes referring to the Duke of York and to soldiers and sailors, and some love songs. One song is attributed to a Mrs. Melmouth, and one was sung by a Mrs. Bannister.

    Includes index-- pages [1-2] at end.

  • 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.
  • MS1992-5_0001.jpg

    Navigational exercise book consists of handwritten exercises to determine longitude and latitude between various ports with most originating in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Exercises consist of examples with originating longitude and latitude, place of departure, destination, and conditions which might influence arrival. Answers consist of a plat diagramming the course, changes in longitude and latitude, distances sailed and other concerns. Also included are directional tables, or charts, and small, but detailed drawings of ships and ports on nearly every page. The types of exercises are divided into problems concerning plain sailing, traverse sailing, and mercator's sailing. The routes the exercises present consist mostly of trips between Cape Cod and the West Indies.
  • MS2014-11-001.jpg

    A copy of the Norfolk, VA district court order to bind the orphans William Cutrell, Joseph Richardson, and Philip Murphy as apprentices to John Abbot, a boot and shoe maker, in 1799.
  • D2010-COPY-0809-1012.jpg

    Philip III, King of Spain, letter to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, dated July 29, 1608. The King writes to request information concerning the English settlements in Virginia. Specifically, he wishes to learn the locations, ports and sailing conditions which prevail there. The Duke, as Captain General of the Ocean Sea was expected to obtain this information from his subordinates in the treasure fleets.

    The letter was accomplished in manuscript by Andres de Prada, and signed by the King. A hole in the paper shows where the King's seal was attached.

  • D2010-COPY-0809-1022.jpg

    Philip III, King of Spain, letter to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, dated June 11, 1609. The King writes that he has received the Duke's letter concerning the attack on Spanish vessels by pirates and requests more information. He also wishes to know more about English plans to populate Virginia. The Duke, as Captain General of the Ocean Sea was expected to obtain this information from his subordinates in the treasure fleets.

    The letter was accomplished in manuscript by Antonio de Arostequi , and signed by the King. A hole in the paper shows where the King's seal was attached.

  • MS2012-10-001.jpg

    By this indenture John Franklin and William Roper, overseers of the poor for Campbell County, Virginia, apprentice Polley Marten, bastard of Molley Marten, to Francis Perdue. Polley Marten, three years of age at the time of her apprenticeship was to serve Francis Perdue until the age of eighteen. Polley was to be taught "spinning weaveing sewing and niting."
  • 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.

  • D2011-COPY-0916-1070.jpg

    William Howe signed military commission dated December 23, 1776 appointing Richard St. George Mansergh St. George lieutenant in the 52nd Regiment of Foot. The British Army under Howe was at that time stationed in New York City.

    Mansergh was horribly wounded at the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777. A surgeon removed a portion of his skull which was then covered with a silver plate. Mansergh retired from the military in 1785. We was killed in Ireland during the uprising in 1798.

    The commission was on display at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia as part of the exhibit: Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier from September 28, 2019 through March 17, 2020.

  • D2020-JBC-1118-0146.jpg
  • MS1989-12-01-P1.jpg
  • MS1989-12-02-P1.jpg
  • MS1981-5-001.jpg

    Anonymous manuscript journal, by a member of the Light Infantry, chronicling the events of the Yorktown campaign from the arrival of George Washington in Williamsburg on September 14th and culminating with the British surrender on October 19th. The author describes the digging of parallels, artillery fire, the burning of the British warship Charon, a lackluster sortie by the British and their surrender. Also mentioned are Admiral de Grasse, Generals Lafayette, Muhlenberg, and Steuben as well as Colonel Alexander Scammell who died of his wounds in Williamsburg.
  • 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.

  • MS2004-02-001.jpg

    The petition of Norborne Berkeley for the barony of Botetourt which had been in abeyance since the 15th-century. Berkeley, who had been elected to the House of Commons in 1741, became a member of the House of Lords when his petition was granted in 1764. The petition includes a genealogical chart demonstrating Berkeley's descent from John the First Lord Botetourt who was summoned to Parliament during the thirty third year of the reign of Edward I. A manuscript addition on the final page reads "Die Lunae 0/9 Aprilis 1764. Resolved that it appears to the Committee that the Barony of Bottetourt is in Abeysence and that the petitioner is one of the Coheirs of the said John Lord Bottetourt." Four years after becoming Lord Botetourt, Berkeley was appointed Governor of Virginia. He served there until his death on October, 15, 1770.
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