Conditions Governing Use

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Franklin Society Records (WLU Coll. 0103), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Franklin Society in 1891.

Biographical / Historical

The Franklin Society, formally known as the "Franklin Society and Library Company of Lexington" was a literary and debating society and an affiliated subscription library of Lexington, Virginia.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes membership records, officers' reports, business papers, subscription library records, minutes of the Society's meetings and debates, receipts and letters expressing pleasure at being honored by the Society. One receipt, dated December 2, 1841, was given by Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson while he was a Virginia constable. The receipt was presented to the Franklin Society [Library] by M. W. Johnson.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Correspondence
• Debates and debating
• Jackson, Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall)
• Libraries
• Literature
• Literature -- Societies, etc.
• Receipts (Acknowledgments)
• Records
• Societies