Wade family papers, 1841–1951. 38 items. Mss2W119c.
This collection includes letters, 1841–1846, written by John Ingles (of Montgomery County) to Dr. John Peter Hale ([1824–1902] of Charleston, Kanawha County [now W.Va.]), concerning, in part, a runaway slave named Bob.

Walker, John, papers, 1831–1847. 25 items. Mss2W1525b.
Correspondence of a merchant of Richmond with family members who were also business associates in Richmond and Lynchburg. Include a 16 April 1833 letter from David Walker to John Walker concerning the tobacco market; another letter, 2 April 1833, by David Walker from Lynchburg concerning the outcome of a capital trial of one of his slaves; and accounts of John Walker for the purchase of clothing for a slave. Also, include a hiring agreement of John and Norman Walker with Mrs. Paulina Richardson for the services of Jupiter.

Walker, John (1744–1809), papers, 1801–1807. 2 items. Mss2W1523b. Photocopies.
Include a letter written from Belvoir, Albemarle County, to Francis Walker concerning the purchase of slaves in King William County in 1764 and the dispersal of slaves belonging to Joseph Hale, Walker's overseer.

Waller, Nelson Samuel (1817–1868), papers, 1857–1860. 2 items. Mss2W1565b.
This small collection includes letters written to Dr. Waller, of Spotsylvania County, by Alfred L. Holladay of Richmond (concerning the hiring out of slaves Peter and Lewis) and P. H. Jackson of Farmville (concerning the sale of a women slave named Sarah and bearing a letter written for Sarah’s husband, Peter Shelton, a slave of Dr. Waller).

Waller, William Macon (1789–1849), papers, 1843–1850. 27 items. Mss2W1567b.
Chiefly correspondence, 1843–1848, of an Amherst County planter with his wife and children concerning the trial of a slave girl, Virginia, including the girl's hiring out, her imprisonment, and her epilepsy, and Waller's trip, 1847–1848, through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana to sell slaves in order to settle pressing debts. Some of his letters include references to religious services for slaves, the slave trade in general, strategies for selling slaves, and auction practices, especially in Natchez, Miss.

Walne, Peter (b. 1925), collector, Materials concerning Ann (Tuke) Alexander and William Alexander. 5 items. Mss6:1AL275:2. Photocopies.
Include a poem of Ann Alexander, dated 27 October 1804, concerning slavery.

Walters, James Booth (1846–1884), papers, 1854–1881. 112 items. Mss1W1714a.
The collection includes correspondence, 1854–1867, of James Booth Walters (of Richmond) and a scrapbook, 1870–1881, consisting of newspaper clippings of Walter's articles as a correspondent for the Richmond Whig and as editor of the Norfolk Journal. The articles primarily concern visits to local communities throughout Virginia and local politics, including the participation of African Americans.

Wandering Boys Club, Berryville, minute book, 1933–1937. 1 vol. Mss4W1825a1.
These minutes, 1933–1937, reveal the structure, agenda, and purpose of the Wandering Boys Club of Berryville, an African American traveling choral group. The book, which belonged to the secretary, Wesley R. Nickens (b. 1906?), tracked expenses, the disbursement of funds, and upcoming events. The minutes also recorded the engagement and amount paid for singing in churches in Virginia and West Virginia. The last few pages of the book contain song lyrics and a list of the club officers.

Ware, Thomas Cattel (1827–1909), letter, 1858. 4 pp. Mss2W2276a1.
Written 16 September 1858 from Clarksville to his grandmother, Ware's letter provides impressions of life in Virginia, including the religious life of slaves and their family relationships, and indicates his dislike of northern abolitionists.

Ware family papers, 1761–1917. 360 items. Mss1W2296a.
This collection includes records of members of the Ware, Clopton, Ritchie, related families of Essex County. Section 1 contains the papers of Archibald Ritchie (d. 1844), which include an account covering the imprisonment and sale at auction of Archy, a slave. Section 2 contains the correspondence, 1829–1861, of Edward Macon Ware (1800–1863), including a letter to Robert Baylor Lyne concerning the hiring out of a slave to learn a trade. Section 5 contains records, 1857–1862, compiled by Edward Ware as treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the Essex County Poor House. Included in these records are accounts for payments made for midwife services to Matilda, a slave. A letter, 1857, to the Richmond Enquirer by Richard Rouzie concerning the re-enslavement or removal from Virginia of the free African American population, is located in section 6. Section 8 contains materials, 1839–1848, compiled by Richard Rouzie concerning the estate of Elizabeth B. Allen of Essex County. This section includes a receipt of Dr. Thomas Christian Gordon for the care of a slave woman, and records of the hiring out of slaves. Deeds for the purchase and sale of slaves from the estate of Ellis Armstrong of Essex County are located in the papers of Dr. Jones C. Clopton (section 9), as is an undated list of slaves (with values) at Bloomsbury, Essex County. Section 12 includes a letter of Henry Waring Latané concerning the slave James.

Warwick, John (1775–1848), will, 1848. 1 p. Mss2W2687a1 (oversize).
Probated in Amherst County and includes a list of slaves to be emancipated and an 1849 affidavit concerning the emancipation of Martha.

Washington, John Augustine (1820–1861), letter, 1861. 6 pp. Mss2W2774a1.
Written 31 August 1861, presumably to Louisa (Clemson) Washington, concerning in part farming operations at Waveland, Fauquier County, the health of house servants, and the possible hiring out of slaves who feigned illness.

Washington, Lawrence (1791–1875), papers, 1836–1850. 4 items. Mss2W2776b.
Collection includes letters written to Washington, of Oak Grove, Westmoreland County, by Doctor William Wirt (1815–1899) concerning agricultural operations and repairs to Bleak Hall, Westmoreland County, the hiring out of a slave named Ross, hiring day itself (January 1), and the occupations of some of the slaves he wished to hire out in 1851 (which includes a list of slaves hired out in 1850 and to whom).

Washington, Walker (1824–1911), papers, 1856–1897. 250 items. Mss1W2796a.
Collection concerns the family, financial, and professional life of Doctor Walker Washington of Caroline County and Oak Grove, Westmoreland County. Includes letters written to Washington by his wife, Mary West (Washington) Washington, in 1863 concerning slaves on plantations in both Caroline and Westmoreland counties while the doctor was away serving as a Confederate States Army staff officer (section 1).

Watkins, Richard Henry (1825–1905), account books, 1847–1896. 2 vols. Mss5:3W3275:1–2.
Kept at Linden, Prince Edward County, and primarily concern Watkins's law practice. Slave lists on front and back pages of the first volume record births, deaths, sales, and some appraisals for approximately forty slaves. An accompanying list records their shoe sizes. A random sampling of the accounts indicates that they contain information pertaining to hiring, sales, and clothing of slaves. The second volume includes accounts for work and services performed by freedmen, such as building a house and kitchen (page 88), building cabins (page 102), and digging a well (page 92), and other accounts (mostly pages 88–98).

Watkins family papers, 1801–1960. 640 items. Mss1W3286a.
Section 5 includes a copy of a "Law relating to Free negroes becoming slaves"; section 11 contains an undated bill of sale for Tom for $1,450.

Watson, David Harris (1830–1894), papers, 1846–1893. 181 items. Mss1W3324a.
The collection includes personal and business accounts and bonds of David Harris Watson (bricklayer and shoemaker of Chatham). An inventory of his personal property, including slaves, is included in the collection, along with a record of participants in the Pittsylvania County patrol of December 1862.

Watson family papers, 1771–1934. 932 items. Mss1W3395a. Microfilm reels C370–371.
Primarily the papers of Doctor George Watson ([1784–1853] of Richmond). Section 1 contains correspondence, 1802–1830, of Dr. George Watson with his brother, David Watson (of Brackett's, Louisa County), concerning, in part, a slave insurrection and slaves in general. Section 2 contains the correspondence, 1816–1851, of Dr. Watson with his wife, Anne Riddle Watson (1791–1882), concerning, in part, slavery. Section 4 consists of the business papers of Dr. Watson, including invoices for the hiring out of slaves. Section 5 contains the correspondence of Anne Watson, including communications with her brother-in-law, David Watson, concerning slaves and their health, family, and finances.

Watson family papers, 1866–1900. 31 items. Mss2W3397c.
Primarily the correspondence of Mary A. Robertson Horner of Powhatan Court House and Hixville, Appomattox County, and her female descendants. Letters written to Horner by Judie Cardozo of Powhatan Court House and Richmond include comments concerning the influx of northerners following the Civil War taking over as county clerk, assessor, and school teachers, and comments on the behavior of former slaves, many of whom remained in the area and maintained close ties to their former owners. Also mentioned is the arrest for forgery, trial, escape, and suicide of Freelin Ned and its effect on his family. A letter from Horner’s daughter Josephine Lenora (Robertson) Watson (b. 1848?) of Woodlawn in Nottoway County mentions her husband’s postwar farming activities, including problems he had with the hiring of African American laborers.

Weaver, William (1780–1863), papers, 1786–1980. 220 items. Mss1W3798a. Microfilm reel C539.
Entrepreneur and ironmaster, originally from Pennsylvania, later removed to Rockbridge County. He owned the Bath Iron Works and Buffalo Forge, originally in Botetourt County, and also farmland. Also represented is his nephew, Daniel Charles Elliott Brady, who assisted Weaver from the late 1850s until Weaver's death and inherited much of the iron business at that time.

Section 1 contains correspondence of William Weaver, in particular with the slave trader James E. Carson, 1859, who asked Weaver to lower the price of a female slave, basing his request on a later physical examination of the slave, and from Charles Hess Locher, 1859, giving permission for a male slave belonging to Locher to marry a female slave belonging to Weaver. Section 12 includes two receipts, 1863, of Brady for the purchase of slaves.

Webb, John Greene (1824–1908), papers, 1858–1867. 12 items. Mss2W3826b.
Primarily letters written to or about John G. Webb, of Utica, N.Y., by Virginia correspondents regarding agriculture and pre-Civil War politics. Among the letters to Webb written between 1858 and 1861 are those by Dr. Arthur Lee Brent of Bremo Recess, Fluvanna County (concerning the John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry and secession), and Philip Barraud Cabell of Liberty Hill, Nelson County (enclosing an African American song).

Wellford, Beverley Randolph (1893–1963), collector, papers, 1773–1907. 137 items. Mss1W4597e. Microfilm reel C48.
Historical documents collected by a Richmond physician and Virginia Historical Society officer, with special concentration on the period of the American Civil War.

A 1773 deed of John Hazeltine of Sutton, Mass., covers the sale of a slave to Timothy Younglove (a28). James C. Howlett issued a receipt in 1864 (by his agent, S. N. Davis & Co. of Richmond) concerning the payment for a slave purchase (a29). Undated notes by former president James Madison briefly treat the doctrine of separation of powers and of the rights and protection of slaves (a59). A handwritten circular letter issued by the Confederate States Surgeon-General's Office (signed by Samuel Preston Moore) to Richard Kidder Meade of Lynchburg on 31 July 1863 concerns official policy regarding the filling out of forms containing the names of persons employed by the Confederate Medical Department, including slaves (e75). Finally, an 1846 letter of P. M. Tabb & Son of Richmond to Robert Wormeley Carter of Warsaw concerns the prospects for sale of a male and two female slaves in the Richmond market, as well as the alternative possibility of hiring these people out (a92).

Wellford, Robert (1753–1823), letter, 1794. 3 pp. Mss2W4595a2.
Written 24 December 1794 from Fredericksburg to John Spotswood of Orange County, in part concerning hiring contracts for Jack and Bob and the need for Isaac's services on Wellford's plantation.

West, Georgia Callis (1867–1953), compiler, papers, 1851–1865. 25 items. Mss2W5205b.
Originals or copies of letters and battle reports concerning various actions in the Civil War. Also, include correspondence and accounts of William Callis of Norfolk, with a Union Army search warrant, 1864, and a list of slaves who left his plantation during the war.

West family papers, 1843–1976. 2,005 items. Mss1W5207b.
Primarily the personal and business papers of John S. West of Buckingham County, largely concerning the operations of a store and several merchant firms in the county. Accounts maintained by John S. West include amounts owed for the purchase of goods for or by slaves (section 10). An 1845 bond covers the hiring of a young male slave by Elizabeth Saunders from Thomas M. Smith (section 23).

Westmoreland County Militia, commission, 1777. 1 p. Mss4W52835a1.
A blank, handwritten form, dated 9 August 1777, for issuance to the "chief of the patrollers" for a district in Westmoreland County. Signed by John Augustine Washington as colonel of the county militia, the form authorizes the slave patrol and defines its duties, especially in regard to the regulation of unlawful assemblies and unauthorized travel.

Whatley, Ray E., "A Review of Personal Experiences in Racial Issues," 1994. 22 pp. Mss2W5585a1.
Concerns the effects Whatley's efforts at improving race relations with African Americans had on his career as a Methodist minister in Alabama in the 1940s through the early sixties.

White, Jesse, deed of trust, 1806. 2 pp. Mss2W58406a1.
Conveys to Julius Clarkson and others slaves, horses, cattle, and furniture in Albemarle County for the benefit of William Clarkson and Dabney Minor.

Wickham family papers, 1754–1977. ca. 11,500 items. Mss1W6326cFA2. Microfilm reels C375–379.
This collection includes materials of attorney John Wickham (1763–1839) of Richmond and his descendants who lived primarily at Hickory Hill, Hanover County. Among the papers of John Wickham are extensive records concerning the purchase of Middle Quarter Plantation, Henrico County, and its enslaved work force in 1800, followed in 1838 by a deed of trust covering the estate and its movable property conveyed for the benefit of Wickham's children (box 1). Among a huge number of records concerning Wickham's estate are several items, dating from 1858, concerning the care of the slave Amy at Eastern Lunatic Asylum (now Eastern State Hospital) in Williamsburg (estate materials–miscellaneous folder, box 2). Commissioner's reports arising from litigation over settlement of the estate concern the sale of slaves from Ellerslie, Henrico County (report #1–1848), and a list of slaves belonging to the estate of Dr. James McClurg (Wickham's father-in-law) at a farm in Hanover County (report #9–1855), all in box 3.

Wickham's son William Fanning Wickham built the home Hickory Hill. His extensive run of diaries, seventeen volumes from 1828 to his death in 1880, include references to agricultural operations and plantation life generally, and many provide lists of slaves grouped by family and indicating ages. Volume 8 covers the Hanover County home front during the Civil War, describes the treatment of slaves, and notes runaways to the Union army (box 5). Wickham also maintained records concerning the purchase of slaves for the Hickory Hill work force for the period 1842–1857 (land records—folder 1, box 7).

One of the most interesting matters William Fanning Wickham handled in his capacity as an attorney concerned the settlement of the estate of Samuel Gist (d. 1815), a London merchant whose will provided for the emancipation of his slaves in Virginia and the sale of estate assets to provide for their welfare. Wickham acted as a officer of the trust created by the state legislature to handle this matter. Materials concern the settlement of freed slaves on land in Ohio, correspondence with Quakers there who engaged to assist the transplanted African Virginians, records concerning supervision of the trust, and materials regarding an effort on the part of the former Gist slaves and their descendants to re-establish claims on the estate, 1870–1880 (box 8).

Miscellaneous records of William Fanning Wickham include an undated essay on slavery in the United States and an undated speech, probably given at Hanover Court House, on Reconstruction in Virginia (box 10). His son, Williams Carter Wickham, Confederate cavalry general and postwar official of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, maintained letterbooks, 1877–1880. Among the subjects covered are activities of the Republican party in Virginia and nationally (box 10). The younger Wickham's correspondence in part covers the same subject (box 11). Wickham's records of the management of the estate at Hickory Hill include farm books and accounts with individual laborers, some of whom were African American (boxes 13–15).

The general's son Henry Taylor Wickham continued farming operations at Hickory Hill and maintained farm books, 1893–1913, accounts, payrolls, time sheets, and farm manager's records (boxes 27–30). His wife, Elise Warwick (Barksdale) Wickham, kept similar records until her death in 1952 (boxes 43–45).

Wickham family papers, 1766–1945. ca. 5,500 items. Mss1W6326a FA2. Microfilm reels C371–375.
This collection contains materials of Richmond attorney John Wickham (1763–1839) and his descendants who lived primarily at Woodside, Henrico County. Among John Wickham's materials are slave lists, 1821–1837, from the middle and lower quarters of East Tuckahoe, Henrico County (which became Woodside in later years). One list, 1825, contains Wickham's own notes on various workers. An undated essay, probably written by Wickham in the 1830s, concerns slavery and abolition, while Wickham's estate materials in part concern the division of the property at East Tuckahoe. All these items appear in box 3.

Maclurg Wickham, one of John Wickham's sons, kept a diary, 1851–1882, at East Tuckahoe. The journal primarily concerns plantation operations and the management of slaves, including a list of slaves with records of the distribution of clothing and supplies (box 5). Correspondence of another son, Littleton Waller Tazewell Wickham, includes letters of Thomas Ashby (box 5) and William W. Harlee (box 6) in the late 1850s concerning the Bunker Hill plantation in Darlington County, S.C., and the sale of slaves living and working there and four letters (box 6), 1848–1849, between Wickham and Judge John Scott of Fauquier County concerning Wickham's plan for the gradual abolition of slavery. Additional materials include an undated speech given at the University of Virginia on slavery (box 10), a list of slaves at Woodside in the late 1850s and agreements with overseers (box 10), lists of slaves at and other materials concerning the Bunker Hill plantation (box 11), and a copy of Wickham's 1847 plan for the gradual abolition of slavery (box 11).

Finally, Alexander Mazyck Porcher's post-Civil War essays on freedmen in South Carolina survive in the collection (box 15), along with an undated letter of John Randolph of Roanoke to Ryland Randolph concerning clothing and other supplies for the slave Johnny, who is bringing Randolph's horses from Stafford Court House to Richmond. The letter, which is contained in Julia Wickham (Porcher) Wickham's autograph collection (box 34), also doubled as a slave pass.

Wight, Hezekiah Lord (1765–1837), papers, 1794–1854. 82 items. Mss1W6396b.
The collection contains records primarily relating to Wight's ownership of real property in Hanover and Henrico counties and the city of Richmond. Includes a deed, 1817, of Samuel Paine to Wight for the purchase of African American slaves (section 9); and a deed, 1821, of Walter Dun (executor of the estate of John Graham) to Edwin Lord Wight (1799–1852) for a slave (section 13).

Wight, Hezekiah Lord (1765–1837), papers, 1799–1840. 10 items. Mss1W6393a.
Wight's account books concern farming operations at Tuckahoe in Goochland County, as well as mercantile operations in nearby Richmond. One of those volumes, continued after Wight's death in 1837, includes a section recording the distribution of provisions to slaves at Tuckahoe in 1840.

Wilkins, Benjamin Harrison (b. 1856), memoir, 1857–1876. 101 pp. Mss5:1W6544:1.
Written in 1937, this memoir covers Wilkins's activities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Virginia (Charles City County and Richmond) and in part concerns Libby Prison in Richmond and his relationship with slaves. Published in War Boy: A True Story of the Civil War and Re-Construction Days (Tullahoma, Tenn., 1938), by Benjamin Harrison Wilkins.

Wilkins, Roy (1901–1981), speech, 1958. 11 leaves. Mss2W6583a1.
Delivered 27 February 1958 to the Richmond Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Wilkins's speech concerns school desegregation in Virginia, massive resistance, the favoritism shown by the Virginia General Assembly to segregationists, and the role of the NAACP in seeking full constitutional rights for African Americans.

Williams, Augustine Boyer (1796–1871), commonplace book, 1817–1870. 458 pp. Mss5:5W6702:1.
Kept by a merchant and schoolteacher in Fairfax County. Includes notes on a congressional plan to give increased rights to free and enslaved blacks in Washington, D.C. (pages 29–31), drafts of addresses to voters in Fairfax County concerning the election of Martin Van Buren, the abolishment of slavery in the District of Columbia, and slavery in the American territories (pages 243–51), and a draft of a letter to a local newspaper editor concerning the power of Congress to admit slave states into the Union (pages 260–61).

Williams, John A. (b. 1843), papers, 1861–1865. 41 items. Mss2W67334b.
Contain letters written by John A. Williams (of Prince George County) while serving in Company D of the 10th Virginia Heavy Artillery Battalion, Confederate States Army, to his sisters Mary R. Williams and Lucy J. Williams. Topics in the letters include economic conditions in Richmond and news of runaway and confiscated slaves from Prince George County.

Williams, Rebecca Yancey (1899–1976), papers, 1940–1960. 804 items. Mss1W6767d.
Predominantly letters, 1940–1942, written to Rebecca Yancey Williams concerning her book, The Vanishing Virginian (1940), a semi-biographical story about her father, Lynchburg lawyer Robert Davis Yancey (1855–1931). The collection includes essays concerning African Americans.

Williams, Samuel Greenhill (1835?–1864), papers, 1858–1865. 10 items. Mss2W67515b. Photocopies.
Chiefly letters of a Nottoway County resident to his sister, Mary Catherine (Williams) Jeter. A miscellaneous item of correspondence is a letter, 14 January 1866, of Jeter to Martha Williams, primarily about family matters but in which she states her fears of living in the country where there are so many African Americans, whose behavior is of great concern to her.

Williams, William H. (1907–2002), papers, 1929–1995. 218 items. Mss1W6765a.
William H. Williams, Jr., was born in Tarboro, N.C., and raised in Richmond. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University. He was ordained at Fifth Street Baptist Church in the 1930s and founded St. Stephens Baptist Church in Richmond in 1949. As the congregation grew, Williams also worked as a woodworking teacher in Richmond city schools and was later employed by Richmond’s animal-control office. He was married to Margaret H. Williams and had with her four children. His collection chiefly consists of correspondence, sermons, church programs, booklets, and published materials. The collection also includes information from Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Virginia and flyers from Christian Charities, Inc., which was founded by Williams’s friend and colleague Horace Gillison (1914–1992).

Williams family papers, 1805–1925. 416 items. Mss1W6767l.
The collection is composed chiefly of the financial papers of Fielding Lewis Williams ([1832–1898] of Clarksville, Tenn.) concerning the tobacco trade and prices. The collection also includes the papers of various members of the Williams family of Albemarle and Halifax counties, Danville and Lynchburg, Va. Section 1 is comprised of the financial papers, 1805–1821, of Fielding Lewis Williams, including general accounts of the estate of William Williams concerning the sale of slaves, medical care, supplies for slaves, and general purchases. Section 2 contains general accounts, 1813–1826, of Robert Coleman Williams (of Lynchburg, Va.), including records of payments for supplies for slaves, including coffins. Section 4 contains the financial papers, 1821–1824, of Charles L. Williams (of Milton, N.C., and Albemarle County, Va.). Included among these papers are receipts for the exchange of funds for the slave Daniel, who was buying his freedom. Section 6 contains the papers, 1844–1851, of Howell Lewis Williams (of New Orleans, La., and New York, N.Y.). Included in these papers is a letter to Howell Williams from Henry Williams (of Lafayette, Ky.) concerning his purchase of freedom from Coleman Williams.

Williams family papers, 1811–1945. 29 items. Mss1W6767b. Microfilm reel C315.
Concern the Williams family of Richmond and the related Skelton family of Powhatan County. Section 6 contains a deed, 1811, of Robert F. Branch, Chesterfield County, to Dr. Eliott Skelton for the slave Agness and her daughter Sally. Section 10 consists of an account, 1842–1844, of Edmund Randolph with H. W. Wall for the purchase of clothing for slaves.

Willis, Francis, letter, 1746. 2 pp. Mss2W6794a1. Photographic copy.
Written 3 February 1746 to Charles Carter of King George County concerning the slave Beck and her children and a proposal to hire Beck's husband in order to keep the family together.

Williston, Elizabeth Coalter (Bryan) (1871–1957), "Old Bryan Family Homes: A Collection of Short Sketches," compiled in 1939–1940. 85 pp. Mss6:1B8407:3.
Concerns members of the Bryan family of Georgia and Virginia and includes information on the slave Juba.

Willson family papers, 1781–1838. 210 items. Mss1W6867a. Microfilm reels C428–429.
Primarily agricultural papers of Daniel Willson and George C. Willson (d. 1838) of Amelia County. Include an affidavit, 1826, concerning Matt, a runaway slave belonging to Elizabeth Willson, taken up by Lucy Webster (section 9).

Wilson, George (b. 1852), papers, 1878–1903. 7 items. Mss2W6934b.
These materials concern the career of George Wilson, a native of Chesterfield County, in the 9th United States Cavalry, a unit of African American troops, from his enlistment in 1873 through his retirement in 1903. The unit served primarily in the western United States, but also briefly in the Philippine Islands and in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Include commissions, discharge papers, and special orders (printed). Wilson retired to and was living in Crawford, Nebraska, as late as 1920.

Wilson family papers, 1790–1944. ca. 3,050 items. Mss1W6997aFA2. Microfilm reels C146–152.
Papers of the Chamberlin, McPherson, and Wilson families of Jefferson County, W.Va. Many of the family members were Quakers, although several were Presbyterians. Among the papers of Lewis Feuilleteau Wilson (1804–1873), a Presbyterian minister, are marriage certificates, 1833–1859, from Jefferson and nearby counties (box 5). The certificates are in two folders, the second of which contains slave marriage papers. In addition, the Berkeley County section in the first folder contains an 1839 certificate for James Washington and Mary Jones, "persons of colour."

Wimbish family papers, 1839–1911. 86 items. Mss1W7153b. Microfilm reel C429.
Section 7 includes three letters, 1906–1911, one being to the Reverend Mr. Harris from Fadie, an African American, in which Fadie compares his new school with another school, Hartshorn. Fadie expresses his concern about financial difficulties hindering his education.

Winfree, Judith Gates (1856–1939), "A Little Southern Girl’s Memories Without Her Mother," 1856–1871. 27 pp. Mss5:1W7265:1.
An autobiography written by Judith Winfree in 1930 concerning her childhood experiences following the death of her mother. Included in her reminiscence of life at Seguine in Chesterfield County is information on specific slaves, cotton and tobacco cultivation, and life during and after the Civil War.

Wingo family papers, 1833–1982. 395 items. Mss1W7277c.
Correspondence and genealogical notes concerning the Knight and Wingo families of Amelia County and Richmond. Section 4 contains a receipt, 1864, of Charles Evans Wingo ([1843–1911] of Amelia Court House) to Mrs. Page Bragg Dunn concerning a slave named Jordan (including a physical description) impressed into service as teamster for the Confederate States Army Corps of Engineers.

Winn, Minor (1747?–1813), account book, 1797–1815. [138] leaves. Mss5:3W7306:1.
Ledger, kept in part by James Sanford Pickett as executor of the estate of Minor Winn, concerns the operations of a mill and distillery in Fauquier County. Includes accounts with customers and with women spinners, weavers, tailors and midwives, some of whom are identified as free African Americans. Also, concerns the use of hired slave labor.

Winston, Bickerton Lyle (1816–1902), ledger, 1846–1859. 244 pp. Mss5:3W7334:1. Microfilm reel C539.
Kept in Hanover County, this ledger includes business transactions with slaves and free African Americans, in particular involving hiring and purchases. Occasional deaths are noted, including that of Garland, who died 30 June 1851 in an explosion while tending a furnace.

Winston, Lelia Saunders (1829–1910), papers, 1870–1879. 4 items. Mss2W7336d.
Collection includes letters written to Lelia (Saunders) Winston of Richmond by Benjamin A. Donald and his wife, Sally (Camm) Donald of Bedford County, in part concerning the hiring of African American agricultural workers after the Civil War.

Winston and Clark family papers, 1823–1907. 155 items. Mss1W7337a. Microfilm reels C495–496.
Primarily Civil War soldiers' correspondence of several Winston family members with their Winston and Clark family relatives in Campbell County. Section 2 contains correspondence of Bowling Henry Clark (c. 1823–1892) with Elizabeth (Clark) Winston, which in part discusses her stand as a Quaker against slavery.

Wise, Henry Alexander (1806–1876), letter, 1856. 4 pp. Mss2W7544a5.
Written 5 June 1856 from Richmond to Bishop William Meade, in part concerning agitation over the issue of slavery.

Wise, Henry Alexander (1806–1876), papers, 1842–1870. 8 items. Mss2W7544b. Photocopies.
Governor of Virginia, U.S. minister to Brazil, and Confederate general. Includes an October 1844 letter of Wise to John C. Calhoun concerning the capture of the American brigs Cyrus (off the coast of Africa) and Sooy (off the coast of Brazil), both for allegedly engaging in the slave trade.

Wise, Henry Alexander (1806–1876), papers, 1858–1874. 4 items. Mss2W7544c.
Includes letters written by Wise to Robert Tyler (concerning Kansas and the Lecompton Constitution), Henry Wilson (concerning Wilson's History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America), and Fernando Wood (concerning John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry [now W.Va.]).

Wise family papers, 1816–1898. 149 items. Mss1W7547d.
This collection consists primarily of correspondence, 1829–1876, Henry Alexander Wise (1806–1876) as a United States congressman in Washington, D.C., governor of Virginia, attorney in Accomack County and Richmond, and United States minister to Brazil at Rio de Janeiro. Section 1 includes correspondence with G. W. A. Raine concerning the hanging of John Brown, leader of the Harper's Ferry attack in 1859); with his son, Henry Alexander Wise ([1834–1869], concerning abolition, public schools, and African American Republicans in Maine); and with John Cropper Wise (1808–1866) concerning crop rotation. Section 5 contains correspondence, 1845–1847, of Wise with Hamilton Hamilton, the U.S. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, concerning the slave trade.

Withers, Guy (1873–1964), papers, 1699–1967. 107 items. Mss1W7764b.
Section one contains a copy of an 1812 deed of James Withers of Fauquier County to James Spilman and others for slaves.

Witherspoon, Susan Lillard, papers, 1880–1957. 219 folders. Mss1W7765a.
This collection contains the papers of genealogist Susan Lillard Witherspoon (1874–1960) of Lexington, Ky. Section 1 consists of correspondence with Ellen Viley "Ella" (Witherspoon) Shipman, including a letter of July 1882 that discusses the family servant, America, leaving her employer's service. Section 2 contains a letter from Ephraim Stout Lillard, in which he mentions his views on the Civil Rights Movement and left-wing activist Paul Robeson.

Woodfin, Maude Howlett (1891–1948), papers, 1915–1948. 21,021 items. MssW8555a.
Professor of history and dean at Westhampton College (part of the University of Richmond). Include student essays, 1926–1945, submitted to Woodfin by Vivian Borton ("The Effects of Slavery on Richmond, 1742–1860"), Annabel Lumpkin Hessel ("Slavery in Chesterfield County, 1749–1776"), and Anne Byrd Tucker ("The Industrialization of Richmond from 1830 to 1860"), all in section 7.

Woodson, Leander (b. 1808), bond, 1852. 1 p. Mss2G9896a4.
Bond, dated 9 January 1852, Louisa County, between Leander Woodson and Samuel Atwell Guy for the sum of $17.00 covering the hiring of a slave.

Woolfolk family papers, 1780–1936. 579 items. Mss1W8844a. Microfilm reels C267–269.
Primarily the papers of family members at Mulberry Place and Shepherd's Hill, Caroline County, in part concerning stagecoach and mail routes between Fredericksburg and Richmond.

An account book kept by John G. Woolfolk includes entries covering the hiring of slaves by various Woolfolk family members, lists of blankets distributed in 1817 and 1818, and work done at harvest by a number of slaves (section 4). John G. Woolfolk's estate materials include an 1818 will that provides for the distribution of numerous slaves, a memorandum and legal opinions of Benjamin Watkins Leigh and John Taylor, in part concerning the mortgaging of slave property, and a decree of the Fredericksburg Superior Court of Chancery (section 14).

Jourdan Woolfolk's correspondence includes an 1867 letter from Richard Edmond of Richmond concerning African Americans in politics and Reconstruction in Virginia, while an 1866 letter from Samuel Jackson, formerly the slave of Arthur Clayton, concerns his life in Longwood, La., and his activities as a Baptist minister and makes inquiries about his surviving relatives (section 15). Woolfolk's account book, 1854–1865, includes entries covering services of African American laborers (section 21). Alice B. Winston of Hanover County sold Woolfolk a slave named Sary in 1833, for which the deed survives, as does a list of slave births (section 26). Affidavits of John William Woolfolk and others contain extensive testimony offered in certification to the Confederate government of the loss of slaves by Jourdan Woolfolk in 1862 (section 27). A similar set of affidavits concerns the loss of slaves at Shepherd's Hill belonging to Mary Elizabeth Woolfolk (section 32).

Wormeley, Eleanor (Tayloe) (1756–1815), letters, 1814. 2 items. Mss2W8942b. Photocopies.
Written from Rosegill, Middlesex County, in part concerning the capture of slaves by British raiders in eastern Virginia and runaways to the British forces.

Wortham family papers, 1811–1863. 14 items. Mss2W8995b.
Primarily correspondence and related records of Richmond merchant Richard Chandler Wortham, but include an 1863 letter of Gabriel Wortham of Richmond to an unidentified addressee concerning Charles Wortham's plan to take slaves from Caroline County to Alabama to settle a new plantation (section 4).

Wyatt, Richard W., Receipt, 1851. 1 p. Mss2G9896a3.
Receipt, dated 1 February 1851, Louisa County, issued to Samuel Atwell Guy for the sum of $500 covering the purchase of a slave.

Wyllie family papers, 1810–1962. 651 items. Mss1W9801a.
Papers largely focus on Wyllie and related family members in Danville and Lynchburg. Section two consists of a daybook of Captain John Noble (1785–1855), a shoemaker and investor of Danville, which includes accounts of the purchase and sale of slaves. Section four contains correspondence of Allen Love Wyllie (1800–1876) including communications with William L. Graham (of Campbell County concerning two enslaved carpenters) and George A. Wyllie (of Gallatin, Tenn., providing details of the slave trade between Virginia and Tennessee: prices for males, females, and children; slave auctions; and a desire to sell particular individuals). General papers of Allen L. Wyllie comprise section five, which include an opinion of attorney Chapman Johnson and notes concerning the estate of Colonel John Holcombe (ca. 1844), including information on one person identified as a "slave doctor." Section six holds records, 1823–1837, compiled by Wyllie as an officer of the 53rd Regiment of Virginia Militia in Campbell County and includes an order concerning the patrolling of streets in Lynchburg. Materials compiled between 1825 and 1855 by Allen Wyllie comprise section eight. They all concern slaves: receipt for the purchase of a slave girl named Fanney; bond and receipt for the hiring out and sale of Jesse by William Y. Minton; and a tax receipt issued to the estate of John Noble.

Wynne family papers, 1809–1967. 102 items. Mss1W9927a. Microfilm reels C496–497.
Papers of several generations of the Wynne family of Spotsylvania County, heaviest in the mid to late nineteenth century. Section one contains correspondence of Sarah Ann (French) Alsop of Fredericksburg with her husband, Joseph Alsop, concerning his antebellum journey down the Mississippi River and procuring food for the family's slaves in Virginia.

Yielding Zion Baptist Church, Burkeville, letters, 1923. 2 items. Mss4Y525a1–2.
Letters from members of the board of deacons of this African American church in Burkeville, Nottoway County, to the Reverend A. B. Bland asking for his resignation as a result of remarks made from the pulpit.

Young, James, papers, 1783–1840. 38 items. Mss1Y854a.
Concern the mercantile career of James Young of Petersburg, Portsmouth, and Norfolk Section 4 contains a deed of sale for Rose, Sukey, and Vincent, slaves purchased by Mrs. Elizabeth Crommeline of New York, N. Y., and Norfolk, Va. Section 6 contains a deed to the slave Frances and her child, Jenny, and a letter of James Nimmo to James Young concerning the slave Sam, property of Phineas Dana (1763?–1808) of Norfolk. Section 7 contains materials, 1809–1814, concerning the schooner Wilhelmina, including a letter (copy) of F. R. Lushington to A. Dolmage concerning five slaves taken from the ship.

Young, William Proby (b. 1834), diary, 1860. 160 pp. Mss5:1Y4876:1.
Kept by a ship's doctor employed by the American Colonization Society to tend Africans captured from illegal slave-trading ships and being returned to Liberia. This log, kept from June to September 1860, records events of Young's passage from New York, N.Y., to Monrovia, Liberia, with points of call at Key West, Fla. (to pick up the captured African slaves), and Robertsport, Grand Bassa, and Cape Mount, Liberia. The charge of treating Africans who did not understand English, with the assistance of an African American nursing attendant who did not understand any African languages, created intense communication difficulties. The captain's methods of routine discipline were observed and commented on by Young. He also recorded mortality rates and noted recurring medical problems, especially apparently healthy Africans who fell ill and died in a short period of time. He recorded the method of rationing water and usual diet for the Africans, as well as his own. Beginning with the ship's arrival in Liberia on 28 August 1860, Young describes Liberian life—housing, food, economy, politics, and ownership of slaves.

Zirkle, John D., account book, 1847–1848. 326 pp. Mss5:3Z686:1.
Contains the accounts of a New Market merchant. The volume was later used as a scrapbook for news clippings, many of which generally describe southern life. Of particular note is a pamphlet about the pianist Tom, a Georgia-born slave who possessed unusual musical abilities and achieved success in spite of his blindness.

Updated June 4, 2009