Rice-Robertson family genealogy collection

Scope and Contents

The Genealogy research binders series (1920-2024, undated; 4 boxes) comprises the interconnected histories of numerous American families, with a strong focus on the Rice, Ewan, Robertson, Grimes, Joyce, Cardwell, and Duvall lines. Spanning from the 1600s to the 2020s, the binders trace migrations from early colonial settlements in Virginia and the Carolinas through Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, West Virginia, and into the Midwest. Included are pedigree charts, family group sheets, correspondence, historical narratives, and records of military service—particularly during the American Revolution. Notable figures such as Chief Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Gabriel Duvall are referenced as descendants. Several volumes explore family ties to key sites in frontier history, including Fort Boonesborough, Boone Station, and Bryan Station. The materials also include Daughters of the American Revolution applications, Bible records, journals, Christmas letters, reunion materials, and wills. Most of the research sources are printouts from the internet, such as Ancestry.com records. The binders reflect decades of research and documented family memory.

Scope and Contents

The Papers and journals series (1836-1943; 33 folders) documents the personal, civic, and religious lives of several interconnected families, primarily in Kentucky, Virginia, and Missouri during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The materials include wills, deeds, funeral notices, personal letters, sympathy notes, and church memorials, with the earliest dating to 1836. Prominent names such as Bullock, Rice, Ewan, Grimes, Preston, and Wood appear throughout, with records tied to places like Lewisburg, Maysville, Lexington (Kentucky), Louisa County (Virginia), and Pleasant Hill (Missouri). Highlights include a Revolutionary War pension form, letters describing life soon after the United States Civil War, and a poetic commonplace book by Ranna S. Grimes that includes a lock of hair. Other notable documents include court and land records, estate settlements, a school report card, war ration books from the 1940s, and handwritten reflections following the deaths of loved ones.

Scope and Contents

The Photographs series (1891-1981, undated; 4 boxes, 242 items) documents the intertwined histories of the Rice, Ewan, Robertson, Wood, and related families, spanning from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. Centered primarily in Mason or Fleming County, Kentucky (with additional locations in South Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, and West Virginia), the images capture a wide range of family life, from formal portraits and milestone celebrations to everyday rural scenes. Key figures include Judge William H. Rice, Julia Duvall Rice Ewan, James Verner Ewan, and George Young Wood. Other Families in the photographs include Duvall, Phillips, Grimes, Farmer, Hall, Nuckols, Paytner, and Chappell. The series features homes, farms, schools, and churches, as well as multi-generational gatherings marking weddings, anniversaries, and holidays. Photographs were all removed from the collection's genealogical binders, except those removed from Lide Hull Wood's family Bible. Some photographs look developed earlier than 1891 but provenance is unknown.