Multiple collections on Shenandoah County history are now open for research
Posted October 10, 2023 in Special Collections News
James Madison University Special Collections is pleased to announce that three collections documenting Shenandoah County history are now fully processed and available for research.
The Tisinger Family Collection of Shenandoah County Land Surveys comprises hundreds of plats, deeds, indentures, surveys, and re-surveys. The collection descended through the family of William Tisinger (1816-1887), Shenandoah County teacher and land surveyor, before it was acquired by Special Collections. The county is well documented in the land surveys with specific locations including Orkney Springs, New Market, Edinburg, Passage Creek, Conicville, and many more.
The Rupp Family Papers, comprising four boxes of correspondence, photographs, account books, and drawings, document the Rupp family of New Market. Most notably, the collection documents the work of William F. Rupp (1834-1908), a German-born frescoer, plain and ornamental painter, and paperhanger. Rupp’s work includes frescoes in Rader’s Lutheran Church in Timberville and the Shenandoah County Courthouse courtroom in Woodstock. One sketchbook devoted to Rupp’s drawings includes a birds-eye view of Luray, Virginia that was published in the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society’s Folk and Decorative Art of the Shenandoah Valley (1993).
The George M. Neese Papers include the personal papers, correspondence, and writings of George M. Neese (1839-1921) of New Market. During the Civil War, Neese served as a gunner in Chew’s Battery, Stuart’s Horse Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia. He kept diaries about his experience during the war and published them under the title Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery (1911). The collection includes a draft manuscript of Three Years as well as correspondence related to its publication.
Information about visiting Special Collections and making appointments for in-person research is available on our Plan A Visit page.
Contact us at library-special@jmu.edu or (540) 568-3612 with any questions about this collection or about visiting Special Collections.