Digitize Philip Slaughter's Diary and Daybook

Preserving Our Community’s History: The Slaughter Family Diaries Project

Project Goal:  Scan and transcribe historic diaries and daybooks held in UVA's Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library to preserve them in digital form and allow them to be studied virtually by historians, genealogists, and the public.

Project Costs:  The total cost for this scanning batch is $2,300:

• Mss 6556 (1817–1835) – $700

• Mss 6556a (1796–1799) – $250

• Mss 655-b (1835–1848) – $250

• Mss 6556c (Daybook) – $550

• Mss 6555 – (Daybook) - $950  Completed!

We have already completed the first daybook and raised over $1,000 toward this project. We are seeking to raise an additional $2,500 to finish scanning and begin transcription work.

The Slaughter family of Culpeper, Virginia, preserved some of the most important records of the Revolutionary War and early American life in our region. Their diaries and daybooks capture the daily experiences of a broad community that formal tax and census records often overlooked, including business dealings, social connections, and the lives of enslaved individuals.

Philip Slaughter Sr., a Revolutionary War veteran, kept a diary that contains one of the only surviving firsthand descriptions of the Culpeper Minute Men’s formation. His entries recorded key details: the uniform the men wore, their iconic rattlesnake flag with the motto “Liberty or Death,” their muster location at Catalpa, and their journey to Williamsburg to join Virginia’s revolutionary forces. Without this diary, much of what we know about the early history of the Culpeper Minute Men — and why they are so vividly remembered today — might have been lost.

Philip Slaughter’s writings also capture major moments in early national history. In 1825, during General Lafayette’s celebrated return to America, Slaughter’s diary documented how he and fellow Revolutionary War veteran Gabriel Long helped escort Lafayette and former President James Monroe during their visit to Greenwood and Culpeper. These entries are among the primary sources that allow us today to accurately commemorate the Lafayette Bicentennial and understand Culpeper’s role in it.

The importance of these family records extended beyond Philip Slaughter’s own lifetime. His son, Rev. Philip Slaughter, later used the family’s preserved materials to write and publish respected histories of Virginia and the Southern colonies. As a historian, Rev. Slaughter’s books and articles helped document and preserve the early narrative of our region, shaping the way generations have understood Virginia’s Revolutionary War contributions.

Preserving the original diaries and daybooks through high-quality scanning and transcription ensures that these records will remain accessible to researchers, students, descendants, and the community at large. This project protects a rich and complex record of Culpeper’s history — its citizens, its economic life, and its role in the founding of the United States.

Every contribution makes a direct impact.

With your help, we can complete this project and make these extraordinary documents available for future generations.