Checklist of documents in the Watts Collection at the Historical Society of Western Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia. To consult these documents, go to http://www.vahistorymuseum.org/ and click on “Visit HMWV's Virtual Collection!” The documents can be found by a keyword search, or by catalog number using “Click and Search”.
The first document in this set of 25 is an account statement from Richard Tyree in 1836. The next six relate to the conclusion of Edward Watts’s purchase of the Noffsinger land in 1836 and 1837. Documents 1998.26.183-196 have no apparent connection to the Watts family; they are receipts from the law firm of Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for promissory notes and similar materials that Hannah delivered between 1840 and 1847, for legal action to be taken. All three men were notable figures. Edmundson (1814-1890) was Commonwealth's Attorney 26 Jan 1845 to 20 Jun 1852; he served as Representative in the U.S. Congress 1849-1861, and fought in the Civil War. He earned the dubious honor of a footnote in the annals of American history by attempting to assault Lewis D. Campbell, a fellow Congressman, on the floor of the chamber in May 1854, and by serving as accomplice to Preston Brooks, Representative from South Carolina, in May 1856, when Brooks savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Cook (c. 1814-after 1852) represented Roanoke County in the Virginia House of Delegates 1846-1850, and succeeded Edmundson as Commonwealth's Attorney 21 Jun 1852. Hannah (1780-1853) owned a large tract of land along the Roanoke River in the area that is now the Wasena and Raleigh Court sections of Roanoke City; he operated a race track located on the land that is now Evergreen Cemetery (see Clare White, Roanoke 1740-1982). Three of the last four items are tickets from the clerk of the Bedford County Court in 1838 or 1839, and the remaining item is a chimney builder’s receipt.
Preston Brooks caning Charles Sumner
1998.26.176
November 14, 1836
Statement of the account of Edward Watts with Richard Tyree, merchant in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1836, with credits from the sale of tobacco, bacon and flour, and debits for a wide variety of supplies, including foodstuffs, supplies and equipment, and drafts paid to numerous Lynchburg businesses
1836
May 17 By 2 Hhd J.M.P. Martins no 1032.154.1806 at $8.00 $ 144.48
" " " 1033.148.1716 " 7.75 132.99
$ 277.47
Commission $6.93 paid Cooprage 2 Hhd $1.00 7.93 $ 269.54
" 26 By 1 Hhd J.M.P. Refused Martins 1164.154.1814 @7.50 136.05
Commission $3.40 pd cooprage 1 Hhd 3/- 3.90 $ 132.15
July 14 By 1 Hhd J.M.P. Refused Martins 1871.164.1684 @7.50 $ 126.30
Commission $3.16 pd Cooprage 1 Hhd 3/- 3.66 $ 122.64
These are sales of tobacco carried out by Richard Tyree in Lynchburg on behalf of Edward Watts. The main line gives the date; the number of hogsheads (a large barrel); information about the grade; a three-part number; the price; the amount of the sale. I have not fully decoded all these items. “J.M.P.” probably represents an appraiser; Martins is probably the auction house, the name coming from William Martin, inspector of tobacco at Lynchburg in 1786, whose family continued the business. The first four digits in the number identify the sale; this number is different for each sale, and increases sequentially. The next three digits must indicate some aspect of the sale; the numbers range from 140 to 164, with many repetitions. The final four digits give the measure of the quantity; this number multiplied by the price that follows gives the final number, the amount paid for the lot. After each day’s sales, the payments are totaled, and Tyree computes his commission and charges for cooperage, deducts them from the payments, and in the last column gives the net amount due to Watts, the producer. There are pictures of Lynchburg tobacco warehouses, including Martin’s, at http://www.lynchburghistory.com/details.php?gid=145&pid=7830.
1998.26.177
about August 1836
Statement of purchase money from the Noffsinger land bought by Edward Watts, showing that he already owned two of the eight shares, and had paid a lien in 1826, leaving $1053 to be divided among the six remaining heirs
1998.26.178
August 17, 1836
Receipt to Edward Watts from William Mills for $100, partial payment for his one eighth share of the land inherited from Joseph Noffsinger, which he owned through his wife, Frances "Fanny" Noffsinger
1998.26.179
December 26, 1837
Receipt to Edward Watts from George A. Mullen for $175.50, payment in full for his one eighth share of the land inherited from Joseph Noffsinger, which he owned through his wife, Elizabeth Noffsinger
1998.26.180
December 25, 1837
Receipt to Edward Watts from William Mills for $175.50, payment in full for his one eighth share of the land inherited from Joseph Noffsinger, which he owned through his wife, Frances "Fanny" Noffsinger
Decr 25th 1837
Recd of Edwd Watts one hundred and seventy-five dollars fifty cents in full for the last payment for a tract of land sold him by the Heirs of Joseph Noffsinger of whom my wife was one.
his
William X Mills {seal}
Mark
Teste
T. Robinson
The Noffsinger family had moved to the Roanoke Valley from Pennsylvania in the 18th century. Joseph Noffsinger was born c. 1769 in Botetourt County, Virginia, and died there in 1815. He and his wife Elizabeth "Betsy" Stover had eight children: John H., b. 1797; Susanna, b. 1795, married Bish; Mary, b. 1799, married 1) Noffsinger, married 2) Douglass; David, b. 1801; William, b. 1806; Joseph B., b. 1808; Frances "Fanny", b. 1810, married Mills; Elizabeth, b. 1814, married Mullen. See http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=AHN&db=lacor&id=I71848. After Joseph’s death, many of his children moved further west, to Kentucky and Illinois.
Each of the heirs had to sell his or her share of the land separately. Some had already sold it to someone else, who consented to sell it to Edward Watts. The daughters had all married, and by law the land was under their husband’s control. This receipt acknowledges payment to the youngest daughter, Frances "Fanny" Noffsinger, born c. 1810, who married William Mills on July 5, 1836, in Botetourt County. Note that he, like his mother-in-law in 1998.26.151, cannot write his name and signs with a cross.
1998.26.181
December 26, 1837
Receipt to Edward Watts from William Noffsinger for $175.50, payment in full for his one eighth share of the land inherited from Joseph Noffsinger, which he owned as the son of the deceased
1998.26.182
December 25, 1837
Deed from Benjamin Coffman to Edward Watts for his one eighth share of the land in Botetourt (now Roanoke) County, Virginia, from the estate of Joseph Noffsinger, which he had purchased from George Bish, husband of Susannah Noffsinger, one of the heirs
1998.26.183
August 27, 1844
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for assignment of a claim by David and Mary Ann Mitchell against Daniel Irwin, based on a judgment of the Roanoke County Superior Court, Virginia, on which to bring suit
Henry Alonzo Edmundson
1998.26.184
August 22, 1844
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson to Patterson Hannah for a bond on Jacob Cook, on which to institute suit
1998.26.185
July 19, 1847
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson to Patterson Hannah for ten dollars, part payment of fees for legal work in bringing suits
1998.26.186
November 20, 1843
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for an account against John Wade, on which they are to bring suit
1998.26.187
about November 5, 1842
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for a note on Thomas Walton, for collection
1998.26.188
about December 19, 1842
Receipt from William M. Cook on behalf of Henry Alonzo Edmundson to Patterson Hannah for payment of his account for legal services, involving lawsuits with Andrew Reynolds and Mary Frantz
1998.26.189
December 17, 1842
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook, attorneys, to Patterson Hannah for a bond on Charles S. Kirkwood, for collection
Received of Patterson Hannah by the hands of Jeremiah Pitzer one bond on Charles S. Kirkwood for the sum of $363.90 due the 12 March 1842 which we are to collect on account as attys at Law this the 17th of December 1842. Edmundson & Cook attys at Law
Jeremiah Kyle Pitzer (1814-1895) with his brother Madison Pitzer owned a considerable amount of land in Roanoke County, Virginia. Jeremiah was deputy sheriff of the first court of Roanoke County. See http://www.salemmuseum.org/guide_archives/HSV4N1.aspx
Charles S. Kirkwood (c. 1805-after 1850) was a farmer, who appeared in the census report for Roanoke County, Virginia, in 1840 and in 1850. He married 24 May 1831 in Botetourt County, Virginia, Lucy Anne Harvey, and they had many children.
1998.26.190
March 3, 1840
Acceptance from William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for charges for keeping a horse stabled, fed and tended for 28 days
1998.26.191
March 19, 1842
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for bonds on Mary Frantz and Andrew Reynolds, for collection
1998.26.192
March 4, 1840
Note from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for the sum of ninety dollars
1998.26.193
about 1840
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for a note for $90 rent on Jacob Coon, for collection
Received of Patterson Hannah a note on Jacob Coon for $90.00 due 25th December 1839, said bond being for rent and dated 25th August 1838, for Collection. Edmundson & Cook
Two men named Jacob Coon were recorded in Roanoke County in the census of 1840, and in 1830; just one is reported in 1820, 1850, and 1870. Only in the last two years does the record provide names of other family members, occupations, and approximate dates of birth, and it is not certain they are the same man, or if one of them was the debtor cited in this document. A family tree online does not cite any sources and therefore does not appear trustworthy.
1998.26.194
January 31, 1842
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson and William M. Cook to Patterson Hannah for a bond for $582.39 on John R. Richardson, for collection
1998.26.195
July 4, 1843
Receipt from Henry Alonzo Edmundson to Patterson Hannah for a bond of $35.50 on Andrew Reynolds and George Grice, for collection
July the 4th 1843
Recieved of Patterson Hannah by the hands of George G. Hartman one bond on Andrew Reynolds & George Grice for the sum of $35.50 done the the [sic] 17th day of Oct 1842 and due nine months after date with interest from date which I am to collect on account as atty at Law
Henry A. Edmundson
George G. Hartman (1813-1889) married 6 Nov 1838 Catherine Shartzer (1821-1890). They had several children. The family appears in the census reports of 1850, 1870 and 1880 in the Cave Spring district of Roanoke County, Virginia. In the first two, he was a farmer, in the last, a cabinet maker.
Andrew Reynolds is unidentified, but a man of this name was sheriff of Roanoke County, Virginia, 1850-1852.
George Grice (c. 1802-1857) married 1 Feb 1827 Mary “Polly” Reynolds (1812-1898), in Roanoke County, Virginia. In the 1850 census, he was a farmer, living in Roanoke County with his wife and eight children.
1998.26.196
about October 1845; also February 27, 1847
Order by the Circuit Superior Court of Franklin County, Virginia, that David Mitchell, who sues for the benefit of Patterson Hannah, pay $3.50 to David Wingen of Roanoke County, Virginia, for costs for three days attendance at court and travel, as a witness against Wade (probably John Wade), with an unsigned receipt
1998.26.197
January 1839
Account statement of Isaiah Hudson with the clerk of Bedford County, Virginia, signed by R. C. Mitchell, showing a debt of $1.17 for actions against Frith
1998.26.198
November 1838
Account statement of Isaac McDaniel, who sues Meador for the benefit of Catharine McDaniel, with the clerk of Bedford County, Virginia, signed by R. C. Mitchell, showing a debt of 85 cents
1998.26.199
September 25, 1838
Receipt from Thomas Gordon to John Marshall Petty for ten dollars, payment in full for building a chimney on his house
Received of John M. Petty ten dollars it being in full for the building of a Chimney to his hous. Thomas Gordon
Sept 25t 1838
On John Marshall Petty, see 1998.26.167. Thomas Gordon has not been identified.
1998.26.200
March 1838
Receipt from R. C. Mitchell, clerk of Bedford County, to Arthur St John for $1.32 for legal papers and procedures in a suit against Leftwich
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