Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Provenance

A portion of the larger John A. Sawhill estate containing coins, music, and other materials were bequeathed to James Madison University in 1976.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], [box #, folder #], John A. Sawhill Collection, 1756-1848, SC 0111, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Items were received from the James Madison University Foundation in September 2000 under the authority of Dr. Ray Sonner, the executor of John Sawhill's estate and also a James Madison University administrator.

Processing Information

Large documents that had been folded were flattened and transferred into an oversize folder. Large documents that had been folded were flattened and transferred into an oversize flat folder. In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 1765 .

Biographical / Historical

Born in Colorado in 1892, John Alexander Sawhill was educated at Princeton University and later wounded during his military service during World War I. He came to James Madison University (then known as the State Teachers College and later as Madison College) in 1927 and taught Latin, Greek, and German until 1957. An avid traveler and collector, Sawhill journeyed many times to the Middle East. He acquired thousands of items, including books, documents, recordings, coins, and works of art over the years. Though married twice, Sawhill outlived both of his wives and had no children. He passed away in 1976 and bequeathed his extensive collection to the James Madison University Foundation

Scope and Content

The John A. Sawhill Collection, 1756 to 1848, consists of seven documents housed in one oversized flat folder. It includes two issues of the London newspaper the Whitehall Evening Post from the years 1756 and 1775, which reflect the prevailing British perspective on world events at the time. The 1756 issue includes 'curious' local news (robberies, etc.) and various cure-all advertisements. The 1775 issue includes references to the Spanish armament in Gibraltar and various news from America, including a report of a military engagement with 300 "provincials" at Boston [Bunker Hill?] where 32 Americans were killed. References are also made to General Gage, the British commander and the arrival of British troops in Boston, "the event of which, it is thought, will put an end to the present quarrel by concessions or submission." The American seizure of Fort Ticonderoga is also mentioned. Also included in the collection are two Justice of the Peace commissions for three Franklin County, Virginia residents, a Land Office Treasury Warrant and two land grants pertaining to land in Bath County, Augusta County, and Henry County, Virginia.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in one oversize folder.

Related Material

Twenty-two manuscript leaves, dating from the 13th to the 17th centuries, were temporarily loaned by the JMU Foundation to Special Collections from February 2002 to August 2004. At the end of the loan period the manuscript leaves were permanently transferred to the Madison Art Resource Site (now Madison Art Collection).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Advertising, Newspaper -- 18th century
• Allison, William
• Augusta County (Va.) -- History
• Boston (Mass.) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
• British newspapers -- 18th century -- Sources
• Bunker Hill, Battle of, Boston, Mass., 1775
• Dickinson, Robert N.
• Fort Ticonderoga (N.Y.) -- Capture, 1775
• Gage, Thomas, 1721-1787
• Gibraltar -- History -- 18th century
• Harston, Samuel
• Justices of the peace -- Virginia -- Franklin County -- 18th century
• Land grants
• Land grants -- Virginia -- Augusta County -- Sources
• Land grants -- Virginia -- Bath County -- Sources
• Land grants -- Virginia -- County of Henry -- Sources
• Legal documents
• Martin, William Peter
• Massachusetts -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
• Newspapers
• Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.) -- History -- 18th century
• Sonner, Ray V., Dr. (Ray Vincent), 1925-2012
• Steard, George
• Thompson, Thomas
• United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- British forces
• United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Campaigns
• Virginia -- History -- 18th century
• Whitehall evening-post