Many of the staff and researchers at the Library of Virginia remember our colleague and friend Robert Young Clay for his vast knowledge of the records in our collections.  Bob, who died last year, left his papers to the Library, and I recently completed processing them.  I knew Bob for about eight years before his retirement in 2001.  I recall how he assisted me with answers to some of my most puzzling questions, and seeing him helping patrons with their genealogical research.

I also remember his biting humor, lack of patience at times, the slamming of the phone receiver, and banging of a book against the reference desk.

But for those who never saw it, there was another side to Bob, and that comes across in some of the items contained in his papers. While much of the collection is made up of his research on the Clay family and its allied lines, there are also materials which demonstrate the personal side of Bob, a “kinder and gentler” side that not all staff or patrons may have seen.

Back in 1984, a certain reference archivist did not endear himself to officials in Fairfax County.  Business owners in Mercer County, West Virginia, were growing increasingly frustrated with state officials in Charleston.  There was even talk of the county rejoining the Commonwealth of Virginia.  “The way I heard it, we’d take Mercer County back if we could give away Fairfax,” Bob remarked from Richmond.

The chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors responded tersely in a letter to Bob on 2 August 1984, noting the county’s contribution to Virginia’s tax base, and its boom in high-tech industries, noting that ”Fairfax should be perceived as ‘the goose that laid the golden egg.’”

In response, Bob sent a letter of apology: “I was taught that one should never be insulting unintentionally.  That comments made in jest might have been taken seriously and have given offence, I find truly distressing.”

Bob may have offended others, too, when he made comments about the research methodology of library users in a 1998 article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch entitled “Quest into the Past.”

“The most startling discovery people make – and almost all of them make it – is how dumb they are and how little they know about something they thought they knew so much about. There’s this temptation to start with Charlemagne and work down, but it doesn’t work that way.”

But years later, in a speech he delivered to a genealogical conference shortly before his retirement, he remarked, “The archivist also learns from the researcher.  Many of my best teachers and trainers have been patrons who shared so generously of their research knowledge. If you have any doubts as to the generosity of the patrons of the Virginia archives, just notice when you are there who our special helpers during this conference are – they are knowledgeable patron-volunteers.”  The patrons at the Library of Virginia “have enriched my life over the last quarter century in the archives, he remarked, “I owe all of them a great personal debt of gratitude – those who are now gone and the many more who are still avidly searching – and sharing.”

Indeed, Bob did not always possess the great wealth of knowledge on Virginia’s records for which he came to be known.  In another speech, he humbly thanked one individual who made an impression on him on his first day of work at the Library.

“I arrived in the archives in October 1970 knowing little of Virginia and less of genealogy.  On my first day I was shown around the institution by Mr. John Dudley, who was then assistant state archivist.  Mr. Dudley began that day to teach and until his retirement he never ceased to share his vast knowledge of Virginia’s records.  Mr. Dudley has my everlasting appreciation for his efforts in my behalf.  And I do hope those efforts were not entirely in vain.  He remains my mental image of what the word ‘gentleman’ means.”

Like John Dudley, Bob Clay never stopped sharing his knowledge of Virginia history and resources.  Some of us remember the ways, patiently and sometime impatiently, in which he passed on that knowledge.  Now, thanks to the bequest of his personal papers to the Library of Virginia containing his research, writings, speeches, and other materials, future patrons can continue to learn about Virginia’s records.

The Robert Young Clay Papers (Accession 45033) are open for research.  Click here to view the finding aid.

-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

Death records provide familial information to genealogists, statistical information for researchers, and an occasional chuckle for archivists.  My morbid fascination with death registers paid off one day when I found the 1876 death record of one John Smith of Fairfax County.  The person who recorded his death couldn’t resist adding:

 ”Killed by trap gun set to shoot thieves.  It got Mr. S. on the first fire – It is feared there are no chickens where John has gone.”

 Naturally, this made my whole week.  Hope you enjoy it too!

 -Kelly Gilbert Sizemore, Senior Reference Archivist 

Image Transcripts

Not all records in the archives are on yellowed paper or centuries old.

Correspondence found in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Records gives unique insight into the recent history of Virginia’s most populous county, which now has one of the highest household median incomes in the country.

New York City native Audrey Moore came to Fairfax County in 1954 when the county still retained much of its original rural character.  The young, apolitical wife and mother became concerned about what she saw as unchecked development in the county with little thought about future consequences for residents’ quality of life.

Moore decided to take on the county and spoke out on what were politically unpopular issues at the time. She ran for and won a seat on the board of supervisors in 1971.  For many years Moore was an isolated and often ridiculed figure on the board, the lone voice opposing runaway growth, warning about future transportation nightmares, and advocating for more parks and open spaces.  Her election in 1987 as chairperson of the Board of Supervisors marked the beginning of a remarkable planned-growth revolution in Fairfax County.

This enthusiastic letter to Moore by supporter and first-time campaign worker Anne Shotwell contains a poem and, charmingly, an origami crane. Both reside in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Records series, under subseries Correspondence–Audrey Moore, Chairperson,1988-1991. The series contains approximately 135 cubic feet of records and is available to the public.

– Dale Dulaney, Local Records Archival Assistant, Contributed by Mary Dean Carter, Archival Assistant