Tinsley, Edwards, and Rich family papers

The collection MSS 16920 contains the Tinsley, Edwards, Rich family history (1795; 1820-1978) written by William George Rich III (1905-1988) about his great-great grandfather who called himself William Tinsley (born into enslavery in 1795,and freed in 1820), his great grandparents Nelson and Lauren Broady Tinsley, (an indigenous woman) and his grandparents Charles Robert Tinsley (1851-1919) and Betty Edwards Tinsley (1855-1924) (daughter of an indigenous woman Malinda Edwards)and their eight grandchildren (William George Rich III and his 7 cousins) who lived on their own land in Amherst, Virginia. The collection is remarkable in the amount of detail that is provided about a prosperous African American family living during Jim Crow laws. Charles Robert Tinsley was the owner of a livery stable and built a house for his children, grandchildren and his parents, Nelson and Lauren Tinsley.

Betty Edwards Tinsley (wife of Charles Robert Tinsley) inherited land from her parents, Washington Edwards and Malinda Edwards (an indigenous woman.) Her father was a minister and may have been white or mixed race. Charles Robert Tinsley sold part of that land and built a farm and successful livery business in Amherst, near Lynchburg, where several generations of the family lived a comfortable life on 64 Depot Road.

There are typed family histories in homemade scrapbooks documenting multiple generations of the Tinsley-Rich-Edwards family, self- described as a prosperous and "happy" African American family and with deep roots in Virginia and highly respected by other African American and white families.

The collection contains a photocopy of an 1819 Notice of Sale of six enslaved men of which one man (William Tinsley) was freed and saved his own for sale notice. Jacob and Isaac Tinsley, son and heirs of the white William Tinsley, created the for-sale notice "Six Lively Young Negroes". The white heirs made enough money from the sale to free the seventh person, who decided to call himself William Tinsley. The name of William Tinsley's wife is unknown. They had a son named Nelson Tinsley, born in 1823 who married Lauren Broady in 1850.

The Tinsley, Edwards, Rich family collection is a rich resource which details their family life and describes family members and their close relationships. It contains family photographs with compelling clarity from the 1890s to the 1950s, that bring this family to life.

There are documents including news clippings, ephemera, genealogical charts, certificates, military separation papers, a manuscript plan map of the Tinsley “Homestead” and its plot in Amherst, a genealogical essay on family history, including personal recollections, noting that Rich II was born deaf and was sent for schooling at the Kendall School (Gadaulet College) in Washington DC.

There are two homemade scrapbooks and two albums with nearly 400 mounted photographs of various sizes and formats, as well as nearly 200 loose photographs in and out of albums.There are carte-de-visites, cabinet card photographs, negatives, and photo postcards.

One includes Bessie Tinsley Rich’s album, which contains 117 mounted and approximately 50 loose photographs, all dating from about 1870-1950, and with ink text annotations written directly on pages.

One includes Celestine Rich’s album containing 173 mounted photographs, approximately 35 loose, mostly from the 1930s.