John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch

A Guide to the John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch Papers, 1791-1925
Collection Number Mss1 N1244 a FA2


Administrative Information

Access

Collection open to all researchers.

 

Use Restrictions

None.

 

Preferred Citation

John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch Papers, 1791-1925 (Mss1 N1244 a FA2), Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.

 

Acquisition Information

Gift/purchase of Dr. Thornton Tayloe Perry, Washington, D.C., and Mrs. Barclay K. Read, McLean, Va., in 1984. Formerly a part of the collections of Thornton Tayloe Perry II of Charles Town, W. Va. Accessioned 15 January 1987.

 

Descriptive Summary

 

Collection Number:Mss1 N1244 a FA2
Collection Name:John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch Papers, 1791-1925
Size:825 (ca.) items
Language:English
Abstract:Correspondence, accounts, and legal papers of John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch of Martinsburg, W. Va., in part concerning the Hannis Distilling Co. of Philadelphia, Pa., and the Grand Central Hotel of Martinsburg; farm accounts and inventories; and military records concerning Nadenbousch’s service in the Berkeley Border Guards [later 2nd Virginia Infantry, Company D, C.S.A.]. Also include materials concerning Nadensboush’s civic activities; and papers of his extended family.

 

Scope and Content Information

 

Papers of John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch of Martinsburg, W. Va., including correspondence, 1848-1891, chiefly concerning the Martinsburg, W. Va., subsidiary of the Hannis Distilling Co. of Philadelphia, Pa., of which Nadenbousch was superintendent; account books, 1872-1884 and 1876-1879, concerning general accounts as well as distillery and lumber accounts, and a cash book, 1873-1888, concerning the Grand Central Hotel, Martinsburg; other distillery records including accounts and receipts, legal papers, and warehouse materials; legal records including Berkeley County deeds, 1848- 1888, and estate papers; farming materials including stock and equipment records and materials relating to the Berkeley County Agricultural and Mechanical Association; and military records, 1857-1880, concerning the Berkeley Border Guards, later the 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, Co. D., C.S.A.

Also included are Martinsburg municipal papers, 1855-1866, covering Nadenbousch's service as mayor, councilman, and trustee; and materials relating to membership in the Tuscarora Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Among the correspondents are Henry Kyd Douglas and Charles James Faulkner, Sr.

Also included in the collection are papers of J. Q. A. Nadenbousch's son, lawyer James Frederick Nadenbousch (1852-1884), and grandson, John Nadenbousch Parks (1876-1944). Miscellaneous papers include receipts of Eli Circle and Christian Deisher, Botetourt County, Va.; Couchman family papers from Berkeley County, W. Va.; and genealogical notes on the Berry, Nadenbousch, and Walker families.

 

Biographical/Historical Information

 

John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch was born in Berkeley County, Va. [now W. Va.] on 31 October 1824. Early in life he worked as a carpenter and proprietor of a lumber yard in Martinsburg. He married Hester Jane Miller in 1848 and later was instrumental in forming the Berkeley Border Guards, a pre-Civil War local militia unit. After service in the Confederate States Army, Nadenbousch worked successfully as a miller, distiller and hotel proprietor in Martinsburg. He died in 1892.

 

Arrangement

 

Organization

The John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch papers are organized into nine series by individual or subject: 1. John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch papers; 2. James Frederick Nadenboush papers; 3. Eloise Riddle Nadenbousch papers, 4. Jane Gray Nadenbousch papers; 5. Mary Ella (Nadenbousch) Parks papers, 6. John Nadenbousch Parks papers; 7. Botetourt County, Va., materials; 8. Couchman family materials; and 9. General miscellany.

Arrangement

Within series, materials are arranged by format and by date, whenever possible.

 

Index Terms

 

Agriculture -- West Virginia -- History -- 19th century.
Berkeley County (W. Va.) -- History.
Berkeley County Agricultural and Mechanics Association.
Berry family -- Genealogy.
Circle, Eli.
Confederate States of America. Army. Virginia Infantry Regiment, 2nd. Company D.
Couchman family.
Deisher, Christian, 1817?-1896?
Distilleries -- West Virginia -- Martinsburg.
Douglas, Henry Kyd, 1838-1903.
Faulkner, Charles James, 1806-1884.
Grand Central Hotel (Martinsburg, W. Va.)
Hannis Distilling Co. (Martinsburg, W. Va.)
Hotels -- West Virginia -- Martinsburg.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Tuscarora Lodge (Martinsburg, W. Va.)
Lumber and lumbering -- West Virginia.
Martinsburg (W. Va.) -- History.
Nadenbousch, James Frederick.
Nadenbousch, John Quincy Adams, 1824-1892.
Parks, John Nadenbousch.
Virginia. Militia. Berkeley Border Guards (1857)
Virginia. Militia. Berkeley Border Guards (1861-1865)
Virginia. Militia. Berkeley Border Guards (1876-1877)
West Virginia -- Economic conditions -- 19th century.
West Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
West Virginia -- Industries.

 

Guide

 

Series 1. John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch (1824-1892) papers, 1846-1891.

The collection begins with the correspondence of J.Q.A. Nadenbousch, primarily concerning his business activities, especially his work for the Hannis Distilling Co. (discussed below). This includes letters from merchants, agents, and tenants; among his most prominent correspondents are Henry Kyd Douglas and Charles James Faulkner (1806-1884).

Two account books, 1872-1884 and 1876-1879, cover Nadenbousch’s general accounts as well as expenses of the Hannis Distilling Co. And his lumber business; the former volume includes accounts with Charles James Faulkner (1848-1926). A cash book, 1873-1888, concerns the Hannis Co., along with the Grand Central Hotel (discussed below) and the King Street Hall in Martinsburg. Then follow loose accounts, 1853-1891, and bonds, 1846-1883, in Box 2.

Following the Civil War, Nadenbousch worked as superintendent of the Hannis Distilling Co., maintaining an office in Martinsburg while overseeing distilling and warehouse operations in nearby Hannisville Mills, Berkeley County. The West Virginia establishment was a subsidiary of Hannis Distilling Co. In Philadelphia. The warehouse and distilling operations also went by the name of H. S. Hannis & Co.

The company records maintained by Nadenbousch consist of correspondence (largely with the home office in Philadelphia); accounts and receipts; bonds and collateral assignments of whiskey; warehouse materials (including plans, diagrams, notes calculations, a memoranda book of temperatures and some accounts); deeds (including a trust deed to Hannisville Mills of Henry S. Hannis and wife to John Blair Hoge for the benefit of Nadenbousch); notice (broadside and draft) concerning the foreman of the cooperage department at Hannisville Mills; contract; inventory of the H. S. Hannis & Co. Store; a summons issued by the Berkeley County Circuit Court; and notes of J.Q.A. Nadenbousch.

In 1876 Nadenbousch purchased a lot in Martinsburg on which the United States Hotel had stood. He constructed the Grand Central Hotel, which opened in December 1877, operated it for about one year, and then rented it out to other proprietors. J. N. Woodward (formerly proprietor of the American Hotel in Staunton, Va.) operated the hotel for Nadenbousch for several years after 1878.

Records of the hotel and its operations are comprised of a deed to the hotel lot, the lease to drug store in the hotel building, construction and operating accounts and receipts, a ledger for 1878 (indexed and including accounts with Charles James Faulkner [1806-1884] and Charles James Faulkner [1848-1926], a “bar ledger,” draft of a newspaper notice and notes.

Box 4 contains land records of J.Q.A. Nadenbousch, including a deed for the land and dwelling of Frederick Nadenbousch in Hedgesville, Berkeley County. Additional deeds, leases, rental bonds, insurance policies, surveys and plats cover land in Martinsburg and Berkeley County, including “Berkeley Park” (also known as “Keefer Park”), the Nadenbousch and Philip Clayton Pendleton residences, and te King Street Hall in Martinsburg.

Nadenbousch served as executor or administrator of a number of estates in Berkeley County. Among these were the estates of his wife’s mother, Mary Ann (Gray) Miller, and her grandfather John Gray. Records of there estates, 1852-1871, include bonds, a deed of trust, receipts, power of attorney, an appraisal of the estate of Smith Miller, a survey and accounts of John A. Miller. Materials, 1865-1878, concerning the estate of Berkeley County clerk Seaman Garard consist of a deed of trust to land in Jefferson County, W. Va., a lease for lots and improvements in Martinsburg, bond, accounts, and records of the lawsuit of Nadenboush v. John W. Stewart et al. Lastly, Nadenbousch acted as executor of the estate of Dr. George A. Hamill of Martinsburg. These records, 1855-1888, are comprised of personal and business acounts of Dr. Hamill and his wife, Jane M. (Chamberlin) Hamill; bonds; a power of attorney from Israel Robinson; a petition to the governor of Virginia, 1861, concerning the appointment of Hamill as surgeon of the 1st Virginia Infantry Kregiment; an agreemtn concerning the sale of a house and lot in Martinsburg; administrator’s correspondence; estate accounts; notes and miscellany.

Records of Nadenbousch’s farming activities in Berkeley County consist of notes and notebooks (on cattle, cows, hogs, etc.); bills of lading for cattle shipments; receipts for wheat, hogs, etc.; farm leases; and an inventory of the sale of agricultural equipment. Related materials concerning the Berkeley County Agricultural and Mechanical Association (of which Nadenbousch was an officer) include a list of subscribers to stock; programs (broadsides); receipt and accounts (including some with Charles James Faulkner [1848-1926]); summonses certificates issued to Nadenbousch; and materials concerning a claim against the Martinsburg firm of Patterson & Small.

Nadenbousch’s military records, 1857-1880, relate to his service in or association with several local units. These consist of a letter of resignation of James H. Chambers from the “Berkeley Riflemen”; materials concerning the 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, D Company (Berkeley Border Guards), Confederate States Army (provision returns at Harper’s Ferry, Va. [now W. Va.], forms for company reports, passes issued by Nadenbousch as provost marshal in Martinsburg, and a speech); certificate of honorary membership in the Berkeley light Infantry; and materials concerning the Martinsburg Light Artillery (certificate, muster roll, receipt and resolution).

John Nadenbousch served the town of Martinsburg over the years as mayor, councilman and trustee. Materials, 1855-1866, covering that service include summonses; minutes of a public meeting concerning the Martinsburg Fire Company; an invitation to a dinner honoring completion of the new Berkeley County courthouse (1856); and a petition to the council from the trustees of the Martinsburg Methodist Episcopal Church. Nadenbousch also belonged to a number of secret societies and fraternal orders. Letters, certificates and notices of meetings especially relate to this activities in the Tuscarora Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Martinsburg.

A number of items survive concerning lawsuits involving Nadenbousch in the Circuit Court of Augusta County, Va.; circuit and county courts of Berkeley County, W. Va.; and the U. S. District Court for the 2nd District of West Virginia. Additional receipts and accounts from the period of 1858-1860 concern the milling business of Nadenbousch & Roush at Union Mills in Berkeley County. Lastly, there are numerous items of miscellany in the collection. Among these are a deed to the patent rights in Berkeley County of weather stripping; an agreement concerning the apprenticeship of William Macgill as a house-joiner and carpenter; a license to sell lumber in Martinsburg; a deed to the store inventory and personal property of Thomas B. Simpson in Martinsburg; a subscription list to a political campaign fund; a life insurance policy; a list of subscribers to the parsonage fund of the Martinsburg Presbyterian Church; Cumberland Valley Railroad passes; a certificate of honorary membership in the Martinsburg Fire Department; newspaper clippings; and unclassified miscellany.

Box 1
 Correspondence, 1848-1891
 Account books (2 v.), 1872-1884, 1876-1879
 Cash book, 1873-1888
  
Box 2
 Loose accounts, 1853-1892
 Bonds, 1846-1883 (including protests)
  
Box 3
 Hannis Distilling Co. Records, 1868-1891
 Grand Central Hotel, Martinsburg, W. Va., records, 1872-1883
  
Box 4
 Land records, 1848-1888
 Administration of estates (John Gray, Mary Ann (Gray) Miller, Seaman Garard, Dr. George A. Hamill)
 Farming in Berkeley County, W. Va., 1853-1891
 Berkeley County Agricultural and Mechanical Association, 1871-1880
 Military records, 1857-1880
  
Box 5
 Martinsburg town official, 1855-1866
 Fraternal organizations and secret societies, 1846-1891
 Lawsuits, 1855-1891
 Nadenbousch & Rousch, Union Mills, Va. [now W. Va.], 1858-1860
 Miscellany, 1850-1890

Series 2. James Frederick Nadenbousch (1852-1884) papers, 1873-1888.

A few materials of Nadenbousch’s son, Martinsburg attorney James Frederick Nadenbousch (1851-1884), survive in this collection. These include a student notebook kept in John B. Minor’s senior law class at the University of Virginia, 1873; accounts, 1876-1882; and miscellany, 1878-1888.

Box 5 (cont.)
 Student notebook, 1873
 Accounts, 1876-1882
 Miscellany, 1878-1888

Series 3. Eloise Riddle Nadenbousch (b. 1857?) papers, 1881-1889.

Also in the collection are loose accounts, 1881-1889, of daughter Eloise Riddle Nadenbousch (b. 1857?)

Box 5 (cont.)
 Accounts, 1881-1889

Series 4. Jane Gray Nadenbousch (1861-1882) papers, 1876-1883.

Jane Gray Nadenbousch materials include a certificate 1876, from the Berkeley Female Seminary, Martinsburg, and estate accounts.

Box 5 (cont.)
 Certificate, 1876
 Estate accounts, 1882-1883

Series 5. Mary Ella (Nadenbousch) Parks (b. 1854?) papers, 1873-1909.

Mary Ella (Nadenbousch) Parks materials include a scrapbook, ca. 1873-1892 (including an obituary of J.Q.A. Nadenbousch), newspaper clippings and receipt. Materials of her husband, Alexander Parks (b. 1847), consist of correspondence, 1876-1888, cancelled checks, 1908-1909, as treasurer of the Sutton Stave & Lumber Co. in Martinsburg, and miscellany.

Box 5 (cont.)
 Scrapbook, ca. 1873-1892
 Newspaper clippings
 Receipt, 1875
 Alexander Parks materials, 1876-1909

Series 6. John Nadenbousch Parks (1876-1944) papers, 1917-1925

John Nadenbousch Parks (1876-1944) attended the Virginia Military Institute and then served in the U. S. Army. Materials, 1917-1919, concerning that service relate largely to the 155th Depot Brigade at Camp Lee, Va. Later records involve application for adjusted military pay, 1924, application for life insurance, and correspondence and receipts concerning veterans’ life insurance, 1924-1925. Additional materials concern his employment in 1925 by the Grain Marketing Co. Of Chicago at the direction of Gray Silver, newspaper clippings and miscellany.

Box 6
 Military service materials, 1917-1919
 Application for adjusted payment, 1924
 Veterans’ life insurance, 1924-1925
 Grain Marketing Co., 1925
 Newspaper clippings
 Miscellany

Series 7. Boutetourt County, Va. [now W. Va.] materials, 1840-1877

These materials and those in the next section have no clear connection with John Quincy Adams Nadenbousch. This section consists of accounts (mostly tax receipts), 1840-1877, of Eli Circle and Christian Deisher in Botetourt County, Va. [now W. Va.].

Box 6 (cont.)
 Eli Circle and Christian Deisher accounts and tax receipts, 1840-1877

Series 8. Couchman family materials, Berkeley County, W. Va., [date range?].

This series includes materials relating to George Couchman (d. 1835), a Berkeley County farmer. His papers include accounts of the estate of Benedict Couchman, 1797-1798, personal accounts, 1791-1834, and accounts of his own estate, 1829-1836. Also included are accounts, 1861-1876, of Benjamin S. Couchman; accounts, 1830-1848, and an account book, 1848-1850, of Henry J. Couchman; and accounts, 1870-1883, and a contract, 1898, of Harman L. Couchman; and miscellany.

Box 6 (cont.)
 George Couchman (d. 1835)
 Benjamin S. Couchman
 Henry J. Couchman
 Harman L. Couchman
 Family miscellany

Series 9. General Miscellany.

The Nadenbousch collection closes with genealogical notes on the Berry, Nadenbousch and Walker families and some unclassified miscellany.

Box 6 (cont.)
 Genealogical notes
 Miscellaneous

Last updated: June 27, 2008