Correspondence and Papers, 1768-1906 and undated

Scope and content:

In the Correspondence and Papers series, the papers of W. Robert Leckie and William Hendrick overlap. Both series are arranged chronologically by year.

The papers of W. Robert Leckie are concerned with the construction of public buildings, canals, arsenals, aqueducts, fortifications, masonry of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and surveying and building of walls in the District of Columbia. The papers focus primarily on the prices of commodities used in construction work, rather than on qualities of military architecture itself. Also included are the records of a lawsuit between Leckie and James Couty; papers relative to experiments in the production of lime, cement, and bricks; nine letters from Isaac Roberdeau revealing practices of engineers of the period; and a 91-page bound report of the commissioners appointed by the president for planning the defense of the United States. This report, though undated, was probably made after the War of 1812 and includes extensive details relative to the problems of defense, including topography, waterways, roadways, population, distances, and probable expenses of constructing forts. Some of Leckie's papers reflect his efforts to obtain contracts for the construction of such buildings at the Augusta Arsenal.

Correspondents with Leckie include: Daniel Carroll, W.F. DeSaussure, Charles Gratiot, and Alexander Macomb. One letter is of particular interest: an 1829 letter from Leckie to Joseph Elgar, Commissioner of Public Buildings, for “bringing water to the Public Buildings” on Capitol hill in Washington D.C. Correspondence after 1835 is largely comprised of communication between members of the Hendrick family, including letters from the Hendrick’s children at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; Virginia Military Institute, Lexington; and various other academies.

The papers of Hendrick and those of his wife, after his death, constitute a long record of the sales of plantation products and the purchase of supplies from commission merchants in Petersburg, Virginia, and the operation of a series of tobacco and corn farms. Also includes two writing exercise books for children.

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