Lee Ann Timreck – The UncommonWealth

“From Whence They Came:” The Richard Forrester Family of Jackson Ward

In 1823, a mixed-race child named Richard Gustavus Forrester was born in Richmond to nineteen-year-old Gustavus Adolphus Myers, a member of one of the wealthiest…

Lee Ann TimreckSeptember 26, 2025

Manuscripts & Special Collections

War Comes to Chatham Manor: The Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862

They say that war makes for strange bedfellows, and the Battle of Fredericksburg was no exception. In 1862, three notable Americans – Clara Barton, “Angel…

Lee Ann TimreckDecember 11, 2024

“The Richmond Calamity”: The Capitol Collapse of 1870

On the morning of 27 April 1870, attorney Patrick Henry Aylett headed toward the Virginia Capitol to hear the Supreme Court of Appeals’ ruling on…

Lee Ann TimreckApril 10, 2024

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

In Search of Family: The Story of Luversa Jones

Genealogical research always starts with a name. And questions. The Library of Virginia’s comprehensive genealogical resources – online data bases, microfiche, archival documents, and more…

Lee Ann TimreckAugust 2, 2023