Jerdone Family Papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains papers of the Jerdone family, 1753- (1771-1845) -1890. It includes letters, letterbooks, and account books of immigrant Francis Jerdone (1721-1771), Scottish factor who lived in Hanover County, Yorktown and Louisa County, Virginia, and letters of his wife, Sarah (Macon) Jerdone.
Most of the collection consists of letters, accounts, and diaries of the next two generations of members of the Jerdone family including Francis Jerdone (1756-1841), planter of Louisa County; his brother John Jerdone (1764-1786); his brother-in-law, Alexander Macaulay of Yorktown, Virginia; and his sons, John Jerdone (b. 1800); Francis Jerdone (b. 1802); and William Jerdone (b. 1805). The letters reflect the daily maintenance of their plantations, "Jerdone Castle" [Louisa County, Virginia], "Providence Forge" [New Kent County, Virginia], "Mount Sterling" [Charles City County, Virginia] and an unnamed plantation in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
The family were absentee owners of "Providence Forge" and "Mount Sterling" and the two estates were managed first by a cousin, William Douglass, and later by hired stewards. (Eventually, William Jerdone lived at "Mount Sterling" and built a brick mansion there.)
The subjects covered in the collection include agriculture, the commission merchant business, the daily routine of men, education, farm management by stewards, and various aspects of slavery, including slave insurrections. In addition, there are many letters written to Virginia from Scotland and England.
The papers also contain the letterbook of Thomas Jett, Virginia representative of John Morton Jordan and Co., London, England; items from Perkins, Buchanan and Brown, merchants in London, 1769-1776; and documents, 1769-1799, concerning the lawsuit of Jordan v. Skinker.
An index of names in the papers is shelved with the collection.
All the additions to the Jerdone Papers are described under "Other Note" noted near the end of the page
Jerdone Family Papers, 1623-1957, in Swem Library’s microforms area, 12 reels, call number HD1471 .U5 R43 ser.L pt.2.
Francis Jerdone Account Book, King and Queen County, VA 1746-1757 in Swem Library’s microforms area, 1 reel, call number F232 .K4 J47 1999
Francis Jerdone Ledger, King and Queen County, VA 1748-1750 in Swem Library’s microforms area, 1 reel, call number F232 .K4 J47 2000
Artifacts listed in Boxes 17, 18, 19 are removed to the Manuscripts Artifacts Collection. Papers/letters with these artifacts are in Box 16.
Dates
- Creation: 1753-1890
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open to all researchers. 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, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Conditions Governing Use:
Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Biographical Information:
Francis Jerdone (1721-1771) was born in Jedbury, Scotland in 1721, the son of John Jerdone, a magistrate and treasurer of the town. At the age of nineteen, in 1752, he immigrated to Virginia and settled in Hanover County, Yorktown, and Louisa County. He made his living as a merchant (factor), running a mercantile business. In the 1730’s, Glasgow merchants had begun sending factors to live in Virginia, buy tobacco and sell goods. Francis Jerdone (1721-1777) married Sarah (Macon) Jerdone (1732-1818) in 1753. The couple had several children including; Mary Jerdone Pottie (1754-1837); Francis Jerdone (1756-1841); Sarah Jerdone Braikenridge (1757-1793); Elizabeth Jerdone Macaulay (1759-1830); Isabella Jerdone Mitchell (1761-1825); Anne Jerdone Thompson (1763-1794); John Jerdone (1764-1786); Martha Jerdone (b. 1767) who died in infancy; and William Jerdone (1769-1772). Jerdone died in 1771. Additional information is available in the SCRC Wiki: .
Extent
9.70 Linear Feet
Arrangement of Materials:
This collection is organized into 8 series. Series 1 contains letters; Series 2 contains accounts; Series 3 contains inventories; Series 4 contains legal papers; Series 5 contains miscellaneous material; Series 6 contains manuscript volumes; Series 7 contains artifacts; Series 8 contain additions and accessions to the collection. Arrangement: This collection is arranged by into series. Series 1 is arranged in chronologically order by date and separated into subseries by individual year. The remaining series are primarily arranged chronologically by date.
Accessions 1998.7 and 1997.45 were not combined with the original accession and are boxed separately. Acc. 1976.04 is shelved in the Small Collection as Addition 17.
Physical Characteristics or Technical Requirements:
Original Accession and additions physically and intellectually combined in 2009. When available, microfilm, photocopies, digital surrogates, or other reproductions must be used in place of original documents.
Acquisition Information:
Purchased: 1,784 items. Purchased: 389 items, 04/24/1939.Purchased: 407 items, 01/29/1940.Gift: 34 items, 07/10/1963.Gift: 16 items, 12/09/1964.Acc. No. 76-4; Gift: 5 items, 02/01/1976.Gift: 3 items, 10/01/1976.Gift: 1 items, 11/01/1976.Acc. No. 77-30; Gift: 1 items, 10/01/1977.Acc. No. 78-6; Purchased: 19 items, 01/01/1978.Acc. No. 83-64; Gift: 1 items, 12/01/1983.Acc. No. 84-26; Gift: 3 items, 04/01/1984.Acc. No. Sm. Coll. Add. 17; 4 items. Acc. No. 97-45; Purchased: 3 items, 08/07/1997.Acc. No. 98.7; Gift: 2 items, 03/06/1998.
General
Other Information:
Additional information may be found at http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/wm/viw00067.frame
- Title
- Guide to the Jerdone Family Papers
- Author
- Finding Aid Authors: Special Collections Staff.
- Date
- 2007-06-07
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- The collection description/finding aid is written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository