Beverly Morriss family papers, 1814-1947

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Summary

Creator:
Morriss, Beverly Preston, 1822-1903
Abstract:
Beverly Preston Morriss was a white physician, plantation owner, and businessman from Amherst County, Virginia. Collection includes correspondence, bills and receipts, and personal and professional papers of Morriss and of his family, spanning the 1840s-1940s. The material refers to the Civil War, medical administration in the Confederate Army, enslaved people, professional and family business, and politics.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11833

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of family papers assembled over several generations, with emphasis on documentation of Dr. Beverly Morriss's life and businesses, as well as two of his daughters, Loula Mundy Morriss and Jessie Morriss. The collection contains correspondence; some legal documents; bills, receipts, and financial accounts; and other personal and family papers about personal interests, politics, and health. Contents and topics evolve through the course of the collection, reflecting the activities and interests of the various generations represented.

The earliest material documents pre-war plantation management in Amherst County, Virginia. Some correspondence includes details on Morriss's medical training in Pennsylvania and his professional activities, including his business records and various patient accounts. Civil War-era correspondence contains documentation of Confederate army movements and some equipment and supplies expenses. There are also business and contractual records of the Coons and Morriss Tannery, operated by Beverly Morriss and James Coons in the 1860s.

The collection contains some documentation of the Morriss family's involvement with slavery, such as some transactions and bills of sale for different people, including mothers and children, enslaved by Beverly Morris. Other references to slavery and its operations include correspondence refering to removal of enslaved people during the Civil War away from areas of fighting or Union occupation. Some of Morriss's assorted medical account documents contain entries demonstrating he treated both free and enslaved patients. There are also bills and invoices for various supplies or other items like shoes and clothing which indicate they were intended for enslaved people.

Post-war, Morriss made rental agreements and contracts for farming his property; the collection contains several, which all seem to be for formerly enslaved persons. These agreements, along with his tracking of various individuals' expense accounts and his day books, indicate that many formerly enslaved persons remained at or in the vicinity of Edloe Grove.

There are also correspondence, bills and receipts, and other personal materials from other family members. The most frequent correspondents are Loula Mundy Morriss and Jessie Morriss. There are materials relating to their education and teaching interests, as well as some financial invoices and records, some printed materials, and a set of horoscopes for Loula Mundy Morriss. Loula Mundy and Jessie Morriss's other siblings as well as nieces and nephews are also documented in the papers, typically with cards or other ephemeral materials.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Beverly Preston Morriss (1822-1903) was a white slaveholding pharmacist and physician from Amherst County, Virginia. Morriss was the son of George Morriss (1764-1826) and Betsy Salling (1770-1840). He married Mary ("Mollie") Louisa Watts (1832-1916) in 1855, and the couple had seven children.

Morriss graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1849. He returned to Virginia and practiced medicine there, treating white people as well as free and enslaved Black people. He also owned the plantation "Edloe Glades" and enslaved dozens of people. The family bought and sold enslaved people, including mothers and children. During the Civil War, Morriss became a partner in the Coon & Morriss tanning business, which supplied the Confederate Army. He did not actively serve in the war; he spent those years managing his plantation and his tannery. Following the Civil War, Morriss largely focused on his medical practice.

Beverly and Mollie Morriss's seven children included two daughters, Loula Mundy Morriss (1866-1956) and Jessie Augusta Morriss (1874-1934). Loula (also called Lula and Lou) Morriss attended Southwest Virginia Institute at Glade Springs; Jessie Morriss appears to have completed correspondence courses and worked as a teacher in the Lynchburg area. Loula Mundy Morriss's 1956 obituary notes that she was the "last surviving member" of her immediate family, which coincidentally is around the time this collection was acquired by Duke Libraries.

Citations:

Miss Jessie A. Morriss obituary, News and Advance (Lynchburg, Va.), 1923 Sept. 23. Accessed 2025 May 19.

Miss Loula M. Morriss obituary, News and Advance (Lynchburg, Va.), 1956 Oct. 17. Accessed 2025 May 19.

Acquisition information:
The Beverly Preston Morriss papers were acquired by David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library in 1956, and were initially described in 1957.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Staff, 1957.

Accessions described in this collection guide include 56-189, 56-204 and 56-275.

Reprocessed with description updates by Meghan Lyon, May 2025.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Beverly Preston Morriss Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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