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Earhart Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-2024-074

Scope and Content

This collection contains correspondence, receipts, deeds, and photographs of the Nancy Elvira and William Hank Earhart family, residents of Carroll, Montgomery and Pulaski counties, Virginia. Included are letters from William Hank Earhart while serving in Company B, 30th Virginia Sharpshooters Battalion, as well as letters from other extended family members, some serving in the Confederate Army, some at home, relaying family news and descriptions of camp and local domestic activities and conditions. Also included among the correspondence are letters from Charles H. Miller, Blacksburg attorney and brother-in-law of William H. Earhart, together with letters from extended family members in Bates County, Missouri, and Grayson County, Texas. A set of legal and financial papers includes deeds for property held by members of the Earhart family, together with receipts issued by local tax collectors and merchants to various family members. A small collection of four family photographs, including a studio portrait of Virginia Earhart Boykin, completes the collection.

Dates

  • 1788 - 1928

Language of Materials

Materials in this collection are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Biographical / Historical

Nancy Elvira Williams Earhart was born in Virginia on November 7, 1838. She married William H. Earhart, son of George and Nancy Taylor Earhart, who was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, on June 10, 1828. The Earharts resided at various times in the counties of Carroll, Montgomery, and Pulaski, Virginia. They had eight children: Lawrence (1860-1950), Mary (1862-1884), George Lee (1866-1906), Alexander (1868-1896), Lula (1870-1922), William (1872-1933), James (1874-1938), and Ada (1876-1890). During the Civil War, on May 23, 1863, William Earhart enlisted with the Confederate Army in Pulaski, Virginia, and served in Company B, 30th Battalion, Virginia Sharpshooters. He was taken prisoner on September 19, 1864, and was confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, and then sent to New Orleans, Louisiana, before being released. William H. Earhart died in Pulaski County, Virginia, on April 20, 1881; Nancy E. Earhart died in Montgomery County on February 6, 1918. Both were buried in Earhart Family Cemetery at Ellett (Montgomery County).

Nancy and William's youngest son James Warren Earhart (1874-1938) married Sallie Virginia Hays (1876-1972). The couple had several children, including Virginia Earhart Boykin (1907-1999), who married Edward Carrington Venable Boykin in 1961; and James Warren Earhart, Jr. (1909-2000), who married Lucy Payne Waddell Earhart (1911-1985).

William H. Earhart was the brother of David G. Earhart, who also has a collection in the archives here.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Ancestry

Year: 1870; Census Place: Wassee, Pulaski, Virginia; Roll: M593_1674; Page: 55A Ancestry

Year: 1880; Census Place: Highwassie, Pulaski, Virginia; Roll: 1386; Page: 248b; Enumeration District: 058 Ancestry

Year: 1920; Census Place: Fork Union, Fluvanna, Virginia; Roll: T625_1889; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 95 Ancestry

Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Ancestry

Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014; Roll: 101142132 Ancestry

Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014 Ancestry

Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014 Ancestry

Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Divorce Records, 1918-2014 Ancestry

Extent

0.2 Cubic Feet (1 box)

Abstract

This collection contains correspondence, receipts, deeds, and photographs of the Wiliam Hank and Nancy Elvira Earhart extended family.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in three series by type of material:

Series I, Correspondence: The correspondence consists largely of letters between members of the extended Earhart family, along with other unknown recipients. The largest set of letters within the collection is comprised of the wartime letters of William H. Earhart, serving in Company B, 30th Virginia Sharpshooters Battalion, nearly all of these being addressed to wife Nancy Earhart. Also included are letters from Confederate soldiers James L. Cassell (51st Virginia Infantry), David Earhart (4th Virginia Infantry), and Thomas Johnson. Also included are several wartime letters from extended family members, relaying news of family and friends, as well as war news. Other letters within the series were written by family members who settled in Missouri and Texas and provide family news and discussions of local conditions and affairs. The series also includes a typed transcript of a letter from Samuel and Jane Shannon of Davidson County, North Carolina (now Tennessee), discussing road construction, conflicts with Native Americans, land transactions, and crop conditions.

Series II, Financial/Legal Papers: This series includes several deeds for properties held by the Earhart family, including land in Missouri. The series also includes receipts issued by local tax collectors and merchants to John Grayson, Lawrence Earhart, Nancy Earhart, and William H. Earhart. Arranged by document type, then alphabetically by recipient.

Series III, Photographs: Included in this small collection are four photographs: a studio portrait of Virginia Earhart Boykin, two snapshots likely of James Warren Earhart II (one with an older woman, possibly his mother) in military uniform; and a wedding photo identified on the reverse side as "J. W. E. III" (probably James Warren Earhart III).

Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in June 2024.

Related Materials

This collection is related to the David Earhart Collection, Ms2022-017. The finding aid can be found here.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Earhart Family Papers Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Earhart Family Collection was completed in July 2024.

Title
Earhart Family Papers Collection, 1853 - 1970
Status
Completed
Author
Kaitlynn Harless, Graduate Assistant
Date
2024 (CC0 1.0)
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2025-08-06: Reorganized correspondence by name of sender; expanded bio and scope and contents notes; revised dates, size, and arrangement note. jmj

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech Repository

Contact:
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308