Dickson Family Papers, 1769-1924
Ms88-094, 2.0 cu. ft.
Introduction:
The Dicksons were pioneer settlers of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Their papers consist of financial accounts, land transfer and slave sale documents, diaries, correspondence, and contracts for four generations of the family.
Joseph Dickson (1749-1822) settled in what is now Greenbrier County, West Virginia, from Ireland by way of Pennsylvania in the 1770s. He received land grants originally from the King's land office in 1769, and later from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1785, 1789, and 1795 for property on Howard's Creek. His son, Robert Dickson (1795-1869?), inherited the land and built Locust Hill in 1833, now called Mountain Home. Robert Renick Dickson (1827-1888) and Henry Frazier Dickson (1841-1909), Robert Dickson's sons, inherited the land and in turn left it to their heirs. The Dicksons turned Mountain Home near White Sulphur Springs into a resort in the 1800s and early 1900s. The property and home were owned by the family until they were sold in 1968.
Scope and Content:
The papers are arranged by family member, and then chronologically by type of material.
The papers consist largely of land, property, and goods transaction receipts and documents of each of the four generations of the family represented. Certificates, oaths, correspondence, deeds, and a diary are included in Joseph Dickson's papers, along with several slave sale documents from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Many of the land, slave, and goods exchanged were with neighbors and others in the area. Most of Joseph Dickson's documents are individually described in this inventory.
The papers of John Dickson (1737-1809, brother of Joseph Dickson), Robert Dickson, Robert Renick Dickson and Henry Frazier Dickson, and Geraldine Dickson Burrow (1879-1943, daughter of Henry Frazier Dickson), are grouped by type of material (for example, financial accounts, correspondence, and land deeds). Within Robert Dickson's correspondence are a few references to the Civil War, including a letter from a Confederate tax collector demanding payment of his 1863 Confederate taxes. Other interesting documents include the transcript (1916) of the trial of Sallie Dickson (wife of Robert Renick Dickson) who was sued by Henry Frazier Dickson, for payment of rent due to him. The papers also include genealogy charts of the family.
Provenance:
The records were donated in December 1988 by Elizabeth B. Shackelford of Orange, Virginia, and Laura B. Long of Fayetteville, West Virginia (daughters of Geraldine D. Burrow), and Charles C. Conway, Jr., of Richmond, Virginia (grandson of Geraldine D. Burrow).
Container List:
Box 1
Joseph Dickson (1749-1822)
- Folder 1, Legal documents, 1769-1796, n.d.
- Certificate asserting that Joseph Dickson was received in his parish and "has behaved himself in a Verry prudent and exemplary manner," signed by M. Johnson (15 June 1769)
- Certificate stating that Joseph Tooth knows Joseph Dixcon "...to be of good respectable character...and believe him to be of untainted moral character..." (15 June 1769)
- Certificate asserting that Joseph Dickson lived in Greenbrier County, Virginia, for four years and Behaved himself as an honast man aught to Do" (15 March 1778)
- Oath to the General Assembly [of Virginia] taken by Joseph Dickson, signed by Geo. Skillem (9 April 1778)
- Marriage certificate of Joseph Dickson and Mary Yung, married March 5, 1772, signed by McHoy(?) in Lebanontown (17 August 1779)
- Certificate signed by John Dickinson of Augusta County, Virginia, as to Joseph Dickson's good character when Dickson lived on Dickinson's land (15 December 1780)
- Certificate that Joseph Dickson resided in the Spreading(?) congregation from 1779 to 1780, and "behaved himself sober and in an inoffensive manner," signed by Edward Crawford (22 January 1785)
- Statement of falsely accusing John Wevans "with taking goods out of the store of Francis Mara" made by Mary Wave (13 March 1790)
- Certificate that Joseph Dickson (son of Joseph Sr.) has lived in East Hanover, Pennsylvania, and learned the hatter trade, signed by Daniel Bradley (19 July 1796)
- Certificate of military service, signed by Capt. James Smith (n.d.)
- Folder 2, Correspondence, 1775-1807, n.d
- From unknown asking Joseph Dickson to give John Humphrys his bond (24 April 1775)
- Thos. Dunwody to W. Jos. Archer about a survey of Joseph Dickson's (14 March 1786)
- Th. Edgar to Jos. Dixon about the sale of a cow
- mentions W. Kyle, W. Hagreth, and W. Black (25 September 1790)
- William Wallace to James Black (20 February 1792)
- Lazarus Ainsworth to Joseph Dickson about payment of a sickel left in Dickson's care (20 November 1793)
- Th. Edgar of Lewisburg to Joseph Dixon acknowledging receiving a horse (17 May 1795)
- James Welch of Lewisburg to Joseph Dixson about dry goods sold (26 July 1797)
- Joseph Snell to Robert McClentck(?) about an ax he wants to give to Joseph Dickson (21 November 1797)
- Jacob Baumgardsen to Joseph Dickson about receiving eight pounds cash (22 September 1801)
- J. Patton to Joseph Dickson for flour sold (30 November 1804)
- Jas. Richards to Joseph Dixson, asking him to send a hat (?) he left with Dickson with Samuel Ruiker or Jas. Kincaid (27 April 1807)
- Robt. Steele(?) to Joseph Dickson about a possible breach of contract with Miss Cathe McClung (10 November 1807)
- Charles Mislock(?) to Capt. Joseph Dickson about shodding a horse and drawing blood on a sick man (n.d.)
- Robert Humphreys to unknown about a bed he wishes to buy from Mr. [Joseph] Dickson (n.d.)
- John Henry asking Joseph Dickson to let Mr. Jno. Hide have a the cow Henry left at Dickson's house (n.d.)
- Folder 3, Slave documents, 1793-1810
- Sale of a Negro man named Gib from John Dean to Joseph Dickson for 65 pounds (3 August 1793)
- Note of payment due for hiring a Negro boy named Patten from John Carpenter to Joseph Dickson (23 March 1796)
- Agreement between Jno. H. Flood(?) and Joseph Dickson as to the transfer of a "Negroe Woman" named Nan and two children for $5 (21 September 1796)
- Note of payment of 110 pounds for the sale of a Negro boy named Elijah due to Joseph Dickson from John Ewdend of Rockbridge County, Virginia (27 September 1796)
- Note of payment of 130 pounds from the sale of a Negro boy named Joel from Joel Walker of Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Joseph Dixon (8 December 1796)
- Transfer of a "Negro Girl slave" named Jude from Catherine McClung to Joseph Dickson (October 1809)
- Sale of "Jeff, a Mulatto slave," to Joseph Dickson for 51 pounds from Catherine McClung (20 October 1809)
- Sale of "Jane, a Negro woman slave," for $300, by James Kincaide to Joseph Dickson (11 June 1810)
- Folder 4, Bonds and contracts, 1773-1822
- Transfer of debt of Joseph Dickson from John Murray of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, to John Dickenson of Augusta County, Virginia (2 December 1773)
- Contract of James Connelly to pay John Dickenson twenty-two pounds (7 June 1774)
- Contract of John and Joseph Dickson to pay John Dickenson 200 pounds owed (7 June 1774)
- Promise of Joseph Dickson of Botetourt County, Virginia, to pay Leonard Beall of Augusta County, Virginia, fifteen pounds owed (19 February 1776)
- Contract of Robert Armstrong and John Scott to pay John Bollar eighteen pounds "Good and Lawfull money of Virginia" (23 February 1776)
- Promise of Joseph Dixon of Botetourt County, Virginia, to pay Joseph Baley 125 pounds owed (27 February 1778)
- Contract for Jacob Rife to pay Jos. Dickson 100 pounds owed (18 September 1781)
- Contract for unknown to pay Henry Gaye one pound (4 June 1783)
- Contract of James Riddle of Augusta County, Virginia, to pay Joseph Dickson of Greenbrier County, Virginia, four pounds (3 July 1789)
- Receipt for a bond from Jos. Dickson to John Nivins (9 March 1791)
- Contract of Joseph Dickson to pay James Black fifty pounds owed (20 May 1794)
- Promise of unknown to pay James Humphries eight pounds owed (25 September 1794)
- Contract for unknown to pay George Stuart six pounds owed (25 December 1794)
- Contract of indenture of Joseph Dickson's son John to apprentice as a tailor to Hugh Paul for five years (5 June 1795)
- Contract for Joseph Dixon, Jacob Vanosdol, Levin Gibson, and Samuel Kincaid to appraise the estate of James Humphies deceased and make a report to the court (29 September 1795)
- Contract of Joseph Dickson to pay John Ederds(?) twenty-five pounds owed (27 September 1796)
- Contract of John Atkinson of Greenbrier County, Virginia, to pay Joseph Dickson 1000 pounds owed (28 February 1797)
- Acknowledgement of John Dickson's receipt of "an old pocket book containing two Bonds" from John Staufler(?) and Jno. Deem (16 August 1803)
- Contract of indenture of Joseph Dickson's son George to apprentice as a gunsmith to Nathaniel Kelly (6 February 1804)
- Contract to release Joseph Dickson of a debt of 350 pounds to Richard Dickson of Greenbrier County, Virginia, due to the loss of the previous contract (19 September 1804)
- Deed of release from Nancy Dickson, widow of Joseph, to relinquish all rights to the provisions made in her husband's will, turn over his estate to her son Robert, and live off an allowance allocated by her son (14 August 1822)
- Folder 5, Deeds and Land Transfer Records, 1772-1795
- Transfer of a tract of land from John McClinachan to John Davis for twenty-seven pounds (22 July 1772)
- Sale of a tract of land from John Davis to Joseph Dixon for thirty-seven pounds (9 June 1773)
- Copy of a grant from 1774 to James Ewing for a tract of land in Botetourt County, Virginia, from John Earl of Dunmore
- Agreement from Joseph Dickson allowing William Crow to live on a certain tract of land owned by Dickson (10 September 1778)
- Transfer of a tract of land from John Douckwaler of Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Jacob Rife (11 October 1781)
- Exchange of a horse owned by Thos. Dunwody to Joseph Dickson for a tract of land (14 August 1786)
- Transfer of land from Henry Childers to Joseph Dickson (25 March 1788)
- Statement of debt of 140 pounds from Joseph Dickson to William Crawford for the transfer of land of Honards Creek (10 June 1788)
- Promise to deliver thirty acres of land on Honards Creek to Eweis Atwater from Joseph Dickson (?) (2 December 1789)
- Deed for land sold from William Dinwiddie (Dunwoodey?) and his wife Elizabeth to Joseph Dixon (25 January 1791)
- Transfer of ownership of a tract of land from John Nevins to Joseph Dickson (16 April 1792)
- Sale of a tract of land from Joseph Dickson to Jacob Clangman and William Dunwoody (19 November 1793)
- Contract for payment due from the sale of a a tract of land from Joseph Dickson to James Black and William McClung (20 May 1794)
- Deed for land sold by James Black and his wife Rachel to Joseph Dickson (8 July 1794)
- Sale of land from George Stuart to Joseph Dickson (2 December 1794)
- Sale of a 125 acres to William McClung from Joseph Dickson (29 March 1795)
- Folder 6, Deeds and Land Transfer Records, 1803-1817, n.d.:
- Transfer of land owned by Donal Alison of Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Joseph Dickson for 100 pounds (21 June 1803)
- Sale of land from Joseph Dickson to Lewis Shalman (27 December 1803)
- Receipt for sum of $50 to Daniel Allison from Joseph Dickson in payment for land sold (9 February 1804)
- Deed for land sold to Joseph Dickson Jr. from his father (31 July 1804)
- Deed of bargain and sale from William Morris and Allen Taylor to William Rennick for 800 acres in unknown area (9 April 1805)
- Contract binding Frederick Hoober to paying Joseph Dickson 220 pounds owed for a one-fourth acre lot in Lewisburgh, Greenbrier County, Virginia (11 November 1805)
- Deed for a lot of land in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Joseph Dickson from Richard Tyne and his wife Sarah, signed by John Stuart (26 November 1805)
- Receipt for a "patton of land" of seventy acres from Joseph Dickson to Jacob Winslow(?) (20 November 1806)
- Contract to rent land to James Mayer from Joseph Dickson (7 July 1817)
- Memorandum concerning obtaining a copy of Ewings deed from the Greenbrier office, and distributing it to Edward Rumsey, Allen Taylor, William Morris, and James Byrnside (n.d.)
- Folder 7, Horses, livestock and property, 1775-1811, n.d.
- Receipt from the sale of a white mare from Joseph Dickson to John Young for seven pounds (25 January 1775)
- Contract for the sale of a "hourse" from Honery Childers(?) to Joseph Dickson (25 March 1788)
- Receipt of the sale of a mare from Joseph Dickson to William Jeres(?) in exchange for work done by Jeres (13 August 1788)
- Contract for transfer of two mares and a horse William Crawford received from Joseph Dixson (23 September 1788)
- Receipt for transfer of a bay horse from Henry Banks to John Nivins (7 January 1789)
- Receipt for a bay mare sold by Joseph Dickson to Samuel Miller (19 May 1789)
- Receipt for the payment of forty shillings for work done by Richard Masters for Joseph Dickson (17 April 1790)
- Contract for William Wallace of Wythe County, Virginia, to pay 290 pounds to James Black for the sale of two mares, with the promise that if Wallace was not able to pay the stated amount he would give Black two slaves (10 September 1790)
- Request from M. Edgar to the unknown recipient of the note to give Mr. Kyle a cow, and Edgar would settle the sale with Mr. Hagreth (25 September 1790)
- Receipt for three pounds in payment for the services of a stud horse of owned by Joseph Anderson to Joseph Dickson (12 June 1794)
- Receipt for the sale of a bay mare from Rueben Wade of Goochland County, Virginia, to Joseph Dickson (15 June 1796)
- Receipt for the sale of a black horse to David Alle(?) to Joseph Dickson (8 July 1796)
- Sale of a horse from Charles Simmons of Bedford County to Joseph Dickson (21 November 1798)
- Sale of a bay mare from Thomas Reid to Joseph Dickson (26 August 1799)
- Sale of a mare from Joseph Dickson to James Rollens (21 October 1799)
- Receipt for the sale of a cow from James Blagg to Joseph Dickson (4 May 1801)
- Sale of a mare from Wm. McClunson(?) to Joseph Dickson (3 June 1801)
- Contract between James Anderson and Dorel Jere(?) for the transfer of cattle, witnessed by Joseph Dickson (7 September 1802)
- Sale of a heifer from Samuel Dedman of Kentucky to Joseph Dickson (30 January 1804)
- Receipt for a cow from Joseph Dickson sold to John Hyde (22 September 1804)
- Receipt for six head of cattle purchased from Joseph Dickson by Michael Baskal(?) (30 October 1811)
- Contract to exchange a mare owned by James Hammand for a black horse owned by Joseph Dickson (22 July 1813)
- Sale of a draft (horse?) from unknown to Jacob Rife (n.d.)
- Folder 8: Financial accounts, 1771-79; 22 items. Receipts for money received
- Folder 9: Financial accounts, 1780-89; 27 items. Household goods purchased, receipt for 1779 taxes paid by Dickson
- Folder 10: Financial accounts, 1790-99; 34 items
- Folder 11: Financial accounts, 1800-05; 35 items; includes bill for tuition of Dickson's children to "English school"
- Folder 12: Financial accounts, 1806-09; 19 items
- Folder 13: Financial accounts, 1810; 10 items
- Folder 14: Financial accounts, 1815, n.d.; 16 items
- Folder 15: Currency conversion tables (pounds to dollars), 1791(?)
- Folder 16: Account book/diary, 1806-63 (includes entries by Robert Dickson)
- Folder 17: John Dickson (1737-1809): Papers (1775-1810, n.d.); 20 items (including medical cure recipes for the flux, rheumatism, "stomic ake," snake bite, colic, and others, and accounts, receipts, and a warrant from James Alexander to the sheriff of Monroe County, Virginia, concerning John Dickson)
Robert Dickson (1795-1869?)
- Folder 18: Correspondence, 1824-48; 15 items
- Folder 19: Correspondence, 1850-59; 33 items
- Folder 20: Correspondence, 1860-65; 36 items (includes a letter from the tax collector of the 62nd Virginia district demanding payment of Dickson's 1863 Confederate taxes; and the draft of a letter, dated September 18, 1865, from Robert Dickson to President Andrew Johnson, vowing his allegiance to the government of the U.S.A. and asking for a "release from the penalties and forfictures to which I am exposed")
- Folder 21: Correspondence, 1866-67; 24 items (includes letter from people asking to rent a room with the Dicksons at the White Sulphur Springs)
- Folder 22: Correspondence, 1868-70; 13 items (includes a letter from J.H.H. Grandy with information about the impact of Reconstruction on the area)
- Folder 23: Correspondence, n.d.; 18 items, with 25 envelopes
- Folder 24: Legal documents, 1800-49; 27 items (includes a contract signed by Nancy Dickson relinguishing all claim to her husband's will to her son Robert)
- Folder 25: Legal documents, 1850-59; 21 items (includes renewals of a contract with Lucian F. Cox, employed by Robert Dickson)
- Folder 26: Legal documents, 1861-67; 22 items (includes insurance and income tax forms)
- Folder 27: Legal documents, n.d.; 7 items
- Folder 28: Financial accounts, 1816-29; 35 items (contains several receipts from Nancy Dickson for her yearly allowance from her son Robert)
- Folder 29: Financial accounts, 1830-34; 45 items (includes accounts from 1833 relating to the labor and supplies incurred during the building of "Locust Hill," the Dickson family home)
- Folder 30: Financial accounts, 1835-39; 63 items
- Folder 31: Financial accounts, 1840-42; 50 items
- Folder 32: Financial accounts, 1843-44; 29 items
- Folder 33: Financial accounts, 1845-47; 32 items
- Folder 34: Financial accounts, 1848-49; 42 items
- Folder 35: Financial accounts, 1850-53; 46 items
- Folder 36: Financial accounts, 1854-56; 57 items
- Folder 37: Financial accounts, 1857-59; 38 items (includes a receipt for Dickson's 1857 taxes)
- Folder 38: Financial accounts, 1860-64; 56 items
- Folder 39: Financial accounts, 1865-67; 21 items (includes a January 865 bill for $15 in exchange for 500 pounds of hay given by Dickson to the Confederate States of America, and a March 1865 request for four bay mules for use by the CSA)
- Folder 40: Financial accounts, n.d.; 52 items
Robert Renick Dickson (1827-88)
- Folder 41: Financial accounts, 1849-69, n.d.; 44 items
- Folder 42: Account books, 1843-80; 11 items
- Folder 43: Sallie Dickson (Robert Rennick's wife)--trial transcript, Sallie Dickson vs. H.F. Dickson, ca. 1916
Box 2
Henry Frazier Dickson (1841-1909)
- Folder 1: Correspondence, 1864-70; 21 items
- Folder 2: Correspondence, 1871-74; 15 items
- Folder 3: Correspondence, 1880-92; 26 items
- Folder 4: Correspondence, 1905-24, n.d.; 27 items (includes correspondence from/to Laura Dickson, his wife)
- Folder 5: Land deeds and official documents, 1837-1905, n.d.; 15 items (includes indenture contracts [1837, 1839, 1846] for land in Monroe County, Virginia)
- Folder 6: Financial accounts, 1863-69; 18 items
- Folder 7: Financial accounts, 1870-71; 44 items
- Folder 8: Financial accounts, 1872-78; 29 items
- Folder 9: Financial accounts, 1880-95, n.d.; 36 items
- Folder 10: Account book, 1872-92
- Folder 11: Diaries and daybooks, 1856-83; miscellaneous printed material; 7 items
Geraldine Dickson Burrow (1879-1943)
- Folder 12: Correspondence and deeds, 1911-23; 18 items
- Folder 13: Correspondence, 1924, n.d.; 22 items
Miscellaneous materials
- Folder 14: American history book (no title available), history to 1829
- Folder 15: An Accompaniment to Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States... (1836), owned by Rebecca Dickson (daughter of Robert).
- Folder 16: Miscellaneous printed material from the Civil War years and newsclippings; 13 items (includes Confederate bonds)
- Folder 17: The Greenbrier Bugle, 1903-06; 2 items
- Folder 18: Genealogy charts and family records; 8 items (includes two pages pulled from the family Bible)
Return to Manuscript Collections Guide
Comments and questions about the Civil War materials in Special Collections? Contact Special Collections (specref@vt.edu).
