In the early morning of Thursday, 18 October 1934, William H. Woodfield, a 71-year-old night watchman for the coal yard of W.A. Smoot and Company in Alexandria, was murdered.  Woodfield’s skull was crushed with a hammer.  No money was stolen but Woodfield’s watch was missing.  On Tuesday, October 23, acting on an anonymous tip, the Alexandria police arrested 25-year-old Theodore Gibson.  He  confessed to the killing two days later.  Gibson stated that he was walking through the coal yard when he was accosted by Woodfield who ordered him to leave the yard.  Woodfield struck him, Gibson claimed, so he grabbed a small sledge hammer and hit Woodfield in the head twice.   Gibson dragged the body 50 feet and fled.

The speed of Gibson’s legal proceedings, according to the Washington Post, was “believed to be a record for administering justice in Alexandria.”  That is an understatement. Two days after his arrest, Gibson was indicted by a special grand jury, arraigned in the Alexandria Corporation Court, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment – all within one hour and five minutes!  Gibson was received at the Virginia Penitentiary the same day.  I did not find any record of Gibson being pardoned or paroled so I assume he died in prison.

Next Week:  Preston Waters and Alfred Williams

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

The Library of Virginia recently acquired business records of Ephraim Baker (1836-1919) of Mount Olive, Virginia (Accession 51052).  Baker, born on 13 December 1836 in Topnot, Shenandoah County, Virginia, was the son of Lewis Baker (1808-1889) and Anna Dellinger (1811-1879). He operated a general store in Mount Olive for most of his life. The store was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Ephraim Baker was married twice, and died on 19 June 1919. He is buried in St. Stephen’s Cemetery in Strasburg.

The majority of the collection consists of correspondence, accounts, and accounts of sales to Baker from commission merchants in Alexandria and Baltimore. The correspondence includes information on market conditions and current prices of goods being sold. There are also circulars, advertisements, and price lists from various merchants. Baker was an agent for the Davis Sewing Machine Company of Watertown, New York, and the collection contains correspondence and invoices from the company’s headquarters. Also included are customer orders from local residents requesting goods from Baker’s store.

Among the records is an 1871 Green & Brother catalog with annotated prices. Nineteenth century furniture catalogs or price lists are fairly unusual to find, and this one has particular importance for the furniture making business in Virginia. As early as 1820, English born cabinetmaker William Green was advertising his furniture in the Alexandria Gazette.  From their beginning, the Green family emphasized providing furniture to country customers. The shipping of flour from the Shenandoah Valley to Alexandria helped provide a connection to these customers. By 1834, the Green furniture business, then headed by William’s son James, purchased a three-story brick building on the corner of  Prince and Fairfax Streets in Alexandria. In the same year, a steam engine was installed for sawing and turning wood. By 1857, the business was run by James’s sons John W. and Stephen A., and the company became Green & Brother. By the 1850’s, merchants from the Shenandoah Valley were a large customer base for the company. In 1868, John W. Green was replaced by his brother James E. Green. The company continued operation until 1887. The price list has detailed descriptions of a variety of furniture forms with options available to customers. For more information on the Green cabinetmaking business, see The Green Family of Cabinetmakers : An Alexandria Institution, 1817-1887 (Alexandria, VA : The Lyceum, 1986 ).

The Ephraim Baker Records, cataloged as Accession 50152, are open to research at the Library of Virginia.  In addition to the business records, there is also personal correspondence from Baker’s family, and numerous photographs, mostly of the Frye family of Woodstock, Virginia. Click here to view the finding aid for the collection.

-Chris Kolbe, Archives Reference Coordinator, and Jim Greve, Senior Collection Development Archivist

The CW 150 Legacy Project was recently in Fairfax for a scanning event at the City of Fairfax Regional Library. The event was a great success with a number of diaries, letters, and photographs scanned. We also had one of our biggest ‘wow’ moments when a donor brought in a box of almost 400 letters from her ancestor for scanning. Most of the letters, written between Cecil A. Burleigh of the 20th Connecticut Infantry and his wife, Caroline, were still in their envelopes. It is exciting and rare to see a collection that is not only large but also comprehensive, with letters written from husband and wife. These materials give both sides of the story of a couple separated by war, as Cecil wrote from localities such as Stafford Court House and Alexandria, Virginia, and after participation in the Battle of Chancellorsville, while Caroline gave updates on life in Connecticut.

Due to the size of the collection it will take us a while to scan and post everything, but to have such a great resource from one family is just amazing!

-Renee Savits, CW 150 Legacy Project — Eastern Region