Nydrie and Algoma related papers

This collection focuses on the two families that inhabited “Nydrie,” a farm located in Esmont, Virginia, and “Algoma,” a farm located in Buckingham County, Virginia.

“Nydrie,” located in Esmont, Virginia, was built in 1891 to resemble a Scottish castle and was owned by the Forsyth family. Members of this family include Harry Forsyth (1846-1902), a wealthy sugar broker who resided in Louisiana, and his wife, Sarah Rice Johnson Forsyth (1849-1920), their son, Douglas Forsyth (1875-1941), the children of Douglas Forsyth, Bucky Forsyth (1912-1980)and Sarah Forsyth Randolph (1912-1937), and various other family members.

The Forsyths were descended from William Forsyth (1812-1899), a conservative British member of parliament and lawyer who wrote several books about legal subjects. The land where the house was built was originally called the Tom Coles farm and was sold to the family in 1890. Douglas Forsyth eventually sold this mansion to Daniel Van Clief, a successful horse stud breeder, but it fell into disrepair and eventually was torn down in 1970. The Van Cliefs continued to own the land until 2008.

The “Algoma farm,” located in Buckingham, Virginia, was the summer home of Thomas Muldrup Logan and his family. Thomas Logan was a famous Confederate Brigadier General who served under Robert E. Lee, as well as a railway and business associate of John D. Rockefeller. About 1880, Thomas M. Logan bought the “Hartsook Farm,” and this land became the "Algoma" Farm. The “Algoma Farm” had several buildings on it including the “Algoma” house which was built in the 1880s, “Axtell Academy,” an educational school for women which was managed by his daughter Meta Cabell (1875-1904). The "John Crews Farm" was owned by Lena Logan (1879-1961), the wife of Douglas Forsyth, and “Dungannon,” built as a summer home for Dr. H.D. Bruns and his wife, Katy Logan Bruns, was next to “Algoma.”

There is a book called the “Algoma Log Book,” deciphered by Elizabeth Scott, which gives an excellent record of the everyday activities of this house as well as the African Americans which worked for the family.

The link to the "Algoma Log Book" transcribed by Elizabeth Scott is:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zwWZLf51_snYjoOShPP7NcSh-dx6tZ49/view?usp=sharing