Letters and business papers, chiefly 1848-1866, of James E. Cooke of Powhatan, Virginia and the Barker family of Fluvanna County, Virginia. Includes letters relating to the hiring out of slaves, plantation operations and the Civil War. Civil War letters are between John H. Barker and Henry J. Dobbs of the 18th Virginia Regiment of the Confederate army concerning the Battle of First Bull Run/Manassas.
Papers, 1847-1885, of the Blankenbeker family of Madison County, Va. which includes Smith F. Blankenbeker, James C. Blankenbeker, John M. Blankenbeker and E. F. Blankenbeker. Contains references to the Civil War.
Letters from M. Strickler, manager for Joseph R. Anderson and Co., at Torry Furnace to Dr. Nelson Waller concern the three slaves Strickler borrowed from Waller. The slaves were under guard, but escaped. Strickler's letters explain the circumstances that led to their escape and the capture of one slave, Haws, by General Imboden.
The diary of William Coe, a minister from the Shenandoah Valley, dates his entries from May 29, 1862 to August 13, 1862. He writes about the Seven Days and Cedar Mountain battles and shifts in area from Confederate to Union control. He discusses slavery, specifically his slave who marries a free woman, as well as the death and burial of a slave who was his servant's mother.