Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material

Preferred Citation

Agreement between Lemuel Norris and Loudoun County, 1874 (SC 0144), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Formerly part of Loudoun County Historical Society Collections, Previously cataloged as part of NUCMC 66.

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2004.001

Processing Information

George E. Best and Laura Christiansen, December 2018

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Lemuel Watson Norris (1848-1930) was born 29 August 1848 in Leesburg, Virginia, to John Norris (1811-1905) and Hannah Birkby Norris (1814-1886). He and his twin brother, Samuel Watson (1848-1933), were the youngest of eight children. Several of his older siblings served in the Confederate Army, including his brother Charles who was killed at the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). Lemuel graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1870 and worked as an architect and carpenter, usually for the family construction business, Norris and Sons. In 1888 Lemuel married Mary Catherine Turner (1856-1904) also of Leesburg. By November 1889 they had relocated to Washington, DC, and had a child named Hannah. Here, Lemuel continued to work as an architect in both private practice and for the government of the District of Columbia. Buildings designed by him that are still in use include the Nathaniel Parker Gage School in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Northwest DC and Walsh Stable, located in the Dupont Circle Neighborhood. Both are included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a handwritten draft agreement regarding a contract awarded to Lemuel Norris by the "Court of Loudoun" for the construction of a bridge on the Leesburg/Georgetown Turnpike. Dates, other than the year, are left blank, and there are no signatures on the document

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

Norris and Sons Account Book (BV 005)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ancestry Library Edition, United States Census, http://www.ancestrylibrary.com. [accessed 18 December 2018].

Democratic Mirror "Another Grand Battle - Great Loss of the Enemy - Yankees Repulsed and Driven from the Field." 1861, Leesburg. Accessed online http://www.pwcvirginia.com/documents/1861-1864NewspaperTranscripts.pdf, [accessed 18 December 2018].

District of Columbia, "DC Inventory of Historic Sites," https://planning.dc.gov/node/924472. [accessed 18 December 2018].

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None