This just got added to my April agenda for Richmond.  I gather from you
comment that it has searchable records?
Thanks
Doug

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Alyson L. Taylor-White <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Doug - The Valentine Richmond History Center is the museum of the life
> and culture of the city of Richmond, and the second oldest museum in the
> city.
> The genesis of the museum began at the end of the 19th century with a gift
> by Mann Valentine II of the Wickham House (where Dr. McClurg lived the last
> years of his life - his daughter Elizabeth married attorney John Wickham,
> defender of Aaron Burr), Valentine's extensive collections, and $50,000.  It
> is at 1015 East Clay Street and is a fabulous place to learn everything you
> always wanted to know about Richmond (and, in a lot of respects Virginia
> too), but didn't know where to look.
> Give a shout out next time you are in town and check out the museum; it is
> a great resource, with fabulous archives and collections.
> A tour of the Wickham House alone is worth the trip - a neoclassical
> delight, it contains exquisite interior wall paintings that make it quite
> unique in America.
> It was designed by housewright Alexander Parris, who went on the next year
> (1813) to design the Virginia Executive Mansion, the oldest continually
> lived in governor's house in the nation.
> Alyson
>
>
> On Dec 16, 2009, at 6:11 PM, James Burnett wrote:
>
>  Good Evening Ed
>> Thanks so much for your response. Yes they did maintain contact with
>> family
>> in Richmond.  Dr McClurg was the young McCaw's uncle and helped fund his
>> medical school expense at University of Edinburgh. Since most of the
>> information I have found so far is in someway connected with the
>> recognition
>> of the medical services provided by the family and their descendants I
>> don't
>> have any indication on the mother's side.
>> I am ashamed to ask this but...What is the Valentine Richmond History
>> Center?  We are in Richmond about 4 times a year--family in Madison
>> Heights
>> and Pamplin and do research at LVA, Va Histo Soc, Baptist Archives at Univ
>> of Richmond, W&M, and Rockerfeller Lib at Colonial Williamsburg
>> Foundation.
>> Our most recent visit there was on the 8-10 Dec.
>>
>> In case you haven't tied this together this McCaw is an ancestor of John
>> Brown McCaw(Chimborazo) and more recent Walter Drew McCaw(WW I in
>> France--Army sort of Surgeon General).
>> Looking forward to hearing from you
>> Douglas Burnett
>> Satellite Beach
>> FL
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 12:26 PM, Edward Ragan <[log in to unmask]
>> >wrote:
>>
>>  *
>>> Dear Douglas,
>>>
>>> At first I did not pay much attention to your request, though as the
>>> various
>>> responses came in, I began to think more about the evolution of
>>> "citizenship" from the Revolution into the 1790s. Also, your McCaws have
>>> a
>>> Richmond connection, and I work in Richmond history, so I became
>>> intrigued
>>> with just how Richmonders might have treated Loyalists during and after
>>> the
>>> Revolution.
>>>
>>> Obviously, before the Revolution, native-born Virginians were subjects of
>>> the British crown. The notion of citizenship, with its rights and
>>> obligations, emerged during the Enlightenment and changed considerably
>>> from
>>> the 1770s to the 1790s. In Virginia, the first definition of citizenship
>>> came in May 1779, "An act declaring who shall be deemed citizens of this
>>> commonwealth." For this see Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 10:129-30 <
>>> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol10-06.htm#page_129>, which describes
>>> citizens
>>> as those white people who were born in Virginia or had lived there for
>>> two
>>> years before passage of this law. Those living in Virginia for less than
>>> two
>>> years could become naturalized citizens with a simple oath in county
>>> court.
>>> Likewise, it was just as simple to renounce one's citizenship (presumably
>>> with no hard feelings ;-). This same session of the General Assembly also
>>> passed "An act concerning escheats and forfeitures from British
>>> subjects."
>>> For
>>> this see Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 10:66-71 <
>>> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol10-03.htm>. This act says that anyone who
>>> left
>>> Virginia was not a citizen but instead remained a British subject (pp.
>>> 70-71). This act was based on the October 1776 "Act declaring what shall
>>> be
>>> treason." (Hening's, "Statutes of Virginia," 9:168 <
>>> http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol09-08.htm#page_168>).
>>>
>>> Now, your situation is complicated because the above citizenship
>>> legislation
>>> granted childrens' citizenship through the father and only secondarily
>>> through the mother if the father was deceased. The fact that he was a
>>> traitor may not have helped their case. That the mother was born in
>>> Virginia
>>> and married to a Loyalist may have mitigated her treason (since legally
>>> she
>>> was his dependent). All of Virginia's efforts may have been superseded by
>>> the federal Congress, which passed the Naturalization Act of 1790,
>>> requiring
>>> a two-year residence before citizenship could be conferred. See <
>>> http://tinyurl.com/ygyplsm>.
>>> *
>>> *
>>> *
>>> None of this gives you a simple answer, but this is a good document trail
>>> that may help you answer your question. The trick would be to track down
>>> any
>>> property to discover its disposition during or after the Revolution. The
>>> 1779 "Act concerning escheats and forfeitures from British subjects"
>>> instructed county tax commissioners to confiscate and sell Loyalist
>>> property
>>> (within certain parameters). Again, a caveat, "the estates real and
>>> personal
>>> of such British subjects who have wives, widows, or children, residing
>>> within this state, shall be appropriated as follows: Such estates . . .
>>> where a wife and child, or child and no wife, the whole of the estate
>>> belonging to such British subject shall be without the perview of this
>>> act,
>>> " (p. 71). And this clause may not be relevant for your case, since the
>>> widow and children did not reside in Virginia at the time.
>>>
>>> Did they maintain contact with family in Virginia?
>>>
>>> Good luck with your research,
>>> Ed
>>>
>>> ================
>>> * Edward DuBois Ragan
>>> Staff Historian
>>> Valentine Richmond History Center
>>> 1015 East Clay Street
>>> Richmond, Virginia 23219-1527
>>> 804.649.0711 ext. 344
>>> 804.643.3510 fax
>>> 804.787.0144 cell
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> www.richmondhistorycenter.com*
>>>
>>> *
>>> *
>>>
>>>  From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
>>>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Burnett
>>>>> Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 4:39 PM
>>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>> Subject: [VA-HIST] Loyalty Oath
>>>>>
>>>>> Good Evening All
>>>>> I have a question wrt passports/immigration.  I have a Virginia born
>>>>> ancestor who married a British born Doctor in Va prior to 1775.  When
>>>>>
>>>> the
>>>
>>>> Revolution began the Dr was a Loyalist and he, his wife, son, and
>>>>>
>>>> daughter
>>>>
>>>>> returned to England. The Dr then returned to New York in a British
>>>>>
>>>> uniform
>>>>
>>>>> and died there. Subsequent to the war his wife, daughter and son, after
>>>>>
>>>> he
>>>>
>>>>> graduated from Edinburgh Medical School returned to Va in 1792. On
>>>>>
>>>> their
>>>
>>>> return would they have been treated as immigrants even though all were
>>>>>
>>>> born
>>>>
>>>>> in Va? Would they have had to take an oath of loyalty?
>>>>> Just to put a name on this law they were the McCaws and there were 5
>>>>> generations of physicians in the Richmond Va area from this line.
>>>>> Thanks in advance
>>>>> Douglas Burnett
>>>>> Satellite Beach
>>>>> FL
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>
> Alyson L. Taylor-White
> 804-920-2783
>
>
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