Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryP.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/
Sharon Defibaugh and Abbie M. Morgan
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was given to the University of Virginia Special Collections Library on February 26, 2010, by Sarah Donnelly.
Biographical / Historical
This collection focuses on the two families that inhabited "Nydrie," a farm located in Esmont, Virginia, and "Algoma," a farm located in Buckingham County, Virginia.
"Nydrie," located in Esmont, Virginia, was built in 1891 to resemble a Scottish castle and was owned by the Forsyth family. Members of this family include Harry Forsyth (1846-1902), a wealthy sugar broker who resided in Louisiana, and his wife, Sarah Rice Johnson Forsyth (1849-1920), their son, Douglas Forsyth (1875-1941), the children of Douglas Forsyth, Bucky Forsyth (1912-1980)and Sarah Forsyth Randolph (1912-1937), and various other family members.
The Forsyths were descended from William Forsyth (1812-1899), a conservative British member of parliament and lawyer who wrote several books about legal subjects. The land where the house was built was originally called the Tom Coles farm and was sold to the family in 1890. Douglas Forsyth eventually sold this mansion to Daniel Van Clief, a successful horse stud breeder, but it fell into disrepair and eventually was torn down in 1970. The Van Cliefs continued to own the land until 2008.
The "Algoma farm," located in Buckingham, Virginia, was the summer home of Thomas Muldrup Logan and his family. Thomas Logan was a famous Confederate Brigadier General who served under Robert E. Lee, as well as a railway and business associate of John D. Rockefeller. About 1880, Thomas M. Logan bought the "Hartsook Farm," and this land became the "Algoma" Farm. The "Algoma Farm" had several buildings on it including the "Algoma" house which was built in the 1880s, "Axtell Academy," an educational school for women which was managed by his daughter Meta Cabell (1875-1904). The "John Crews Farm" was owned by Lena Logan (1879-1961), the wife of Douglas Forsyth, and "Dungannon," built as a summer home for Dr. H.D. Bruns and his wife, Katy Logan Bruns, was next to "Algoma."
There is a book called the "Algoma Log Book," deciphered by Elizabeth Scott, which gives an excellent record of the everyday activities of this house as well as the African Americans which worked for the family.
The link to the "Algoma Log Book" transcribed by Elizabeth Scott is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zwWZLf51_snYjoOShPP7NcSh-dx6tZ49/view?usp=sharing
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of papers relating to Nydrie and Algoma, consisting chiefly of photographs and articles pertaining to the family homes of the Logan and Forsyth families. Included is a scrapbook of articles by Lily Logan Morrill.This collection contains material from around 1880, when the homes were built, to about 1960, when the Forsyth family, which owned "Nydrie" at the time, started a discussion about what to do with the house due to its dilapidated conditions. This collection focuses on two families, the Logans who owned "Algoma," and the Forsyths who owned "Nydrie."
The papers consists of various photographs of the family, drawings, and newspaper clippings about Thomas Muldrup Logan, a Confederate Brigadier General who served under Robert E. Lee, photographs of Lily Morrill (1877-1944) who owned "Enniscorthy," and photographs of the "Enniscorthy plantation" in the 1800s.
Also present are photographs and news clippings about Lily Morrill's daughter Elizabeth Morrill Holladay (1909-1996), a pilot who helped ferry planes during WWII, news clippings and information about Axtell Academy, Buckingham County, Virginia, a school for women which was run by Meta Logan Cabell, the daughter of Thomas M. Logan, and five scrapbooks labeled A through E which hold photographs of the families, writings by Lily Morrill, as well as some photographs of African Americans. There are also various photographs throughout the collection of both the inside and outside of the "Nydrie" and "Algoma" houses, photographs of Lily Logan at graduation, and photographs of the Green Mountain Hunt Club .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- African Americans
- Algoma--Dwelling
- Black-and-white photographs
- Morrill, Lily Logan, 1877-1944
- Nydrie--Dwelling
- Scrapbooks
- Thomas Muldrup Logan, 1808-1876
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Algoma--Dwelling
- Nydrie--Dwelling
- Thomas Muldrup Logan, 1808-1876
Container List
This folder contains images of Axtell Academy, which was a school for women, built in Buckingham County in 1892. General Logan wanted this school built for his daughters, so they would have a good education. His daughter, Meta Forsyth Cabell, eventually raning the school. One of the teachers at this school was Professor Irving Sale who was a University of Virginia graduate. The library of this school was incredibly advanced for its time with over 3,000 books.
Christmas cards to one of the families, containing images of "Guthrie Hall," an historic mansion located in Esmont, Virginia, and a photograph of the Cliveden Astors.
This folder contains newspaper clippings about Thomas Muldrup Logan, including a newspaper clipping about Lena Logan Forsyth accepting honors for her father at the unveiling of the Washington Light Infantry Monument in Charleston, SC in 1891. There is also an article of Elizabeth Drake Morrill Holladay, a female pilot who ferried planes during WWII. This was a part of a female group of pilots called the 'Ninety-Nines.' Her second husband, Richard Fairfield Holladay, helped build the Albemarle Airport.
This folder contains photographs of the inside and outside of the Algoma house, dating from around 1890 until around 1980. There is information about the farm with a diagram of how the farm was divided up and information about who had different areas of the farm. There is also an image of "Dungannon," the house on the Algoma farm owned by Katy Logan Bruns, one of the daughters of Thomas M. Logan.
This folder contains various images of the inside and outside of Nydrie, including an article about Nydrie having fallen into disrepair and There is also a hand drawn image of Nydrie used on a flier attempting to sell materials from Nydrie.
"Enniscorthy" was a large plantation in Albemarle County originally owned by the Coles family who had business connections with Thomas Jefferson. Mr. and Ms. Morrill obtained the house in 1926. Lily Morrill completely restructured the garden, and it became well known in the area for its beauty.
This folder contains various images of the Forsyth and Logan family. There are various images of Sarah Johnson (Forsyth) Randolph getting married in 1937 at Christ Episcopal Church, Glendower, Albemarle County, Virginia. This church is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in St. Anne's Parish, Albemarle Virginia, and is recognized in the National Record of Historic Places. There are also various images of Sarah Rice Johnson Forsyth, Bucky Forsyth, Lily Logan Morrill, Albert Henry Morrill, T.M. Logan's daughters, and various other members of the family.
One thing to note is there is a photograph showing an African American woman holding the twins Sarah Forsyth Randolph and Bucky Forsyth. Her name is Rebecca Ward Jordan.
Page 1 and 2 of this scrapbook contain images of "Clover Hill," and its cemetery, Chesterfield, Virginia, a famous plantation before the Civil War. An enslaved man found coal on the land which led to several mines opening on the plantation. These mines became known as the "Clover Hill Pits." Robert E. Lee also briefly visited this house for dinner. This plantation was the childhood home of Kate Virginia Cox, the wife of Thomas Muldrup Logan.
Pages 4 and 5 of the scrapbook contain photographs of General Thomas Muldrup Logan in uniform and in civilian clothes after the Civil War.
Page 9 contains images of African Americans. The African American woman shown is named Ellen Jasper (died 1904).
Page 17 contains two images of an African American man listed only as "Uncle David (Algoma)." He served previously as an enslaved laborer for one of the Rives family in the Confederate Army.
Page 18 has another image of "Uncle David." It also shows an image of someone plowing, who may also be an African American man.
Page 19 shows Lena Logan dressed up for Mardi Gras. The Logan families' non-summer home was located in Louisiana.
Page 23 has another photograph of Ellen Jasper and page 25 shows an African American man working as a carriage driver.
Pages 1 and 2 of Scrapbook B contains images of Thomas M. Logan, both as a young man and as an older man.
On page 15, the top left photograph may possibly be of an African American farmhand. This scrapbook is filled with excellent images of the Algoma house, both inside and outside.
Page 10 of Scrapbook C shows an image of an unnamed African American man in the uniform of a carriage driver, standing beside two horses and carriage.
There is a typed list of identifications with this scrapbook provided by the donors. Page 3 of Scrapbook D shows people taking a carriage ride. Page 4a and b possibly contain images of African American men.
Page 6a contains images of African American men. 6b and 7a shows women raking hay but possibly a posed photograph since they appear to be wearing nice dresses. One of the women in 6a is Lena Logan, Lily Logan is in 7b. 8b also shows a woman "at work" and may be. This woman is probably Lena Logan.
Pages 1-37 of this Scrapbook contain writing by Lily Logan Morrill. She was a writer and editor of the "Home and Garden Review." Some of the magazines in which she published include "Girlhood Days," "Junior Life," and "Homes and Gardens of Tomorrow."
Page 37 of this Scrapbook contains an article by Lily Logan Morrill about Morven Garden. This garden is still used today for students at the University of Virginia to learn more about sustainability and the crops grown from this garden are used to partially supply University of Virginia dining.
Page 101 has an image of "Union Hall" and an African American woman, whose name appears to be Mary Minor Bush. Page 103 has a photograph of Dr. Sam Logan
Page 104 contains an image of Elizabeth Morrill working on her plane.
Page 106 has an image of Axtell Academy and a photograph of African American girls who were the ribbon bearers at the wedding of Elizabeth Morrill and Theodore Phillips, her first husband.