Call Number:

C1230

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 3 boxes
• 1.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Robert Anderson Family Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1790-1858 (inclusive) and 1835-1858 (bulk)

Creator:

Mutual Assurance Society Against Fire on Buildings of the State of Virginia and Anderson, Robert (1781-1859)

Form:

Broadsides -- Virginia -- Williamsburg. -- 19th century, Correspondence -- 19th century, and Family papers. -- 19th century

Abstract:

Consists of correspondence and documents of various members of the Anderson family, particularly Robert Anderson (1781-1859) of Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia.

Robert Anderson (1781-1859) was born in Gloucester County, Virginia, on October 22, 1781, to James Anderson (b. 1740) and Hannah Tyler (b. 1740). His father was a blacksmith in Williamsburg, Virginia, and served as Public Armorer and Captain of the Company of Artificers. Robert was the youngest of eight children born to the couple. In 1814 he married Helen Maxwell Macauley Southall, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Macauley and widow of Peyton Southall. She brought four children from her previous marriage.

Throughout his life, Anderson lived and owned property in various parts of Virginia, notably Williamsburg and Yorktown, and was involved in mercantile ventures throughout the state. He was secretary and later director of the James River Steamboat Company and an insurance agent for the Mutual Assurance Society (1811-1857) and the Aetna Insurance Company (1838-1857). He continually ran for various Virginia political offices and served three one-year terms as mayor of Williamsburg (1812, 1820, and 1828). He was very involved in both the personal and professional lives of his extended family and regularly financed living expenses, trips, and education for his children, nieces, and nephews until his death in Yorktown, Virginia, on January 25, 1859.

The collection primarily consists of correspondence and documents sent to Robert Anderson (1781-1859) by various members of his extended family. His nieces and nephews were frequent correspondents, writing detailed updates on their daily lives, family, and friends. They also consulted "Uncle Bob" for advice on important decisions and regularly solicited money for personal and professional needs and wants.

Nearly a third of the collection is correspondence from one nephew in particular, William Tyler Anderson (1799-1876), who lived in Princeton, New Jersey, and served as cashier for the Delaware & Raritan Canal (D&R); many of his letters are written on D&R letterhead and include information on the company and its management. A number of other nephews were doctors who wrote about their medical training and respective practices. Of note are three letters from nephew Washington F. Anderson, who wrote a detailed account of his journey to the California goldmines followed by an 1857 letter explaining his conversion to Mormonism and describing the religious community under Brigham Young.

Anderson's personal papers include diaries dating from 1836 to 1858 in which he meticulously noted his location and activities, and copies of printed broadsides he distributed to voters while running for political office. Other documents in the collection relate to Anderson's role as investor and executor of various estates.

The majority of the letters were sent from three locations where outposts of the family lived: Yorktown, Virginia; Princeton, New Jersey; and Alabama. As many of the family members wrote about daily life, the letters provide information on nineteenth-century life in these locations, often touching on issues of food and illness. The letters also provide a view of the treatment of household slaves and suggest the Andersons considered them to be part of the family; many members sent regards and asked after the slaves' health and well-being in their letters to Robert.

Robert Anderson arranged the documents by correspondent and his arrangement has remained largely undisturbed. The correspondents are filed alphabetically with the exception of William Tyler Anderson whose letters are housed in a separate box due to volume. As many of the family members share names, researchers may wish to clarify identities by consulting the family genealogy in Box 1, Folder 1.