Special Collections

Milton S. Eisenhower Library

The Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland 21218

410-516-8348

Moncure-Lyne Family Scrapbooks

(1897-1943)

Ms. 171

Size:             3 scrapbooks, 1 photocopy

Processed:        June 1990

By:               Joan Grattan         

 Provenance:       The collection was given as a gift to

                  The Johns Hopkins University by

                  Miss Cassandra (Cassie) Moncure Lyne

                  in 1944.

Access:           Access to this collection is unrestricted.

 Permission:       Permission to publish material

                  from this collection must be

                  requested in writing from the

                  Manuscripts Librarian at the

                  address above.

 Citation:         Moncure-Lyne Family Scrapbooks Ms. 171

                  Special Collections,

                  Milton S. Eisenhowe Library,

                  The Johns Hopkins University.

 Moncure-Lyne Family Scrapbooks

 (1897-1943)

 Ms. 171

 Provenance

The collection was given as a gift to The Johns Hopkins

University in 1944 by Miss Cassandra (Cassie) Moncure Lyne.

 Biographical Note

Members of the Moncure and Lyne families were early settlers in

America, and their descendants were witnesses to significant,

historical events.  The Moncures were Hugnenots from Anvergne,

France.  John Moncure emigrated and settled in Stafford, Virginia

in 1754.  Thomas Lyne came to Virginia from England in 1632 and

received a land grant in Surry County, Virginia, 1646.  Both

families became prominent in Virginia's social and political

affairs, and succeeding generations were related to the Lee,

Washington, Baylor, Gascoigne, and Conway families of Virginia.

Marriage united the Moncure and Lyne families in 1868 when

Cassandra O. Moncure (1845-1934), the daughter of state senator

William A. Moncure (1803-1862), married Dr. William Lyne (1843-

1886), son of physician, William Lyne.  The marriage took place

shortly after the end of the Civil War, an event which had

affected both the Moncures and the Lynes.  William Lyne served

with the Richmond Horwitzers, 1861-1865.  The Moncure home,

"Ellerslie," near Fredricksburg had been a battle location and

later, a shelter for refugees from the war.

Cassandra and William Lyne were the parents of two children, a

daughter named for her mother, Cassandra Moncure Lyne (1875- )

and a son, William Lyne (1873-1905), who like his father, became

a physician.  Each of the women was often known as "Cassie." 

In 1866, Mrs. Moncure Lyne became one of the founders in Virginia

of Decoration Day.  She was also consulted when Congress passed

an act to restore Arlington National Cemetery.  Later in her

life, she wrote an article entitled "The Culture of the Old

South." published in The Confederate Veteran, V. 36, 1928.

Miss Moncure Lyne was a catalog librarian for Herbert Hoover, and

served on the library staff of the U.S. War Department by request

of U. S. Chief Justice Taft.

Mrs. Moncure Lyne and Miss Moncure Lyne documented their family

history as it related to events surrounding the Civil War and its

aftermath.  Mrs. Moncure Lyne died in 1934.

 Scope and Content Note

The collection (1897-1943) consists of three scrapbooks, the

subjects of which are the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and Edgar

Allan Poe.  A photocopy of the Edgar Allan Poe scrapbook is also

included.  The scrapbooks were compiled by Miss Cassandra Moncure

Lyne (1875- ) in collaboration with her mother, Mrs. Cassandra

Moncure Lyne (1845-1934).  The scrapbooks are composed of

clippings and pamphlets with holographic notes that relate family

members to many of the persons or events in the published

sources.  The scrapbooks provide an excellent source for the

genealogy of the Moncure and Lyne families.

The first scrapbook in the collection is titled "Civil War 1861-

65."  It includes articles from 20th century newspapers and

magazines dealing with Civil War events.  Contained here is a

copy of Mrs. Cassie Moncure Lyne's article in the Confederate

Veteran (V. 36, 1928) entitled "The Culture of the Old South."

Each clipping has a holographic note which relates the subject of

the article to a family member.  An article about General George

Meade has a note listing the song sung by Eustace Conway Moncure

who served as a scout for General Robert E. Lee.  Mrs. Moncure

Lyne added anecdotes about other contemporary figures: Thomas

Jefferson Moncure (1831- ), Robert Baylor Lyne, Robert E. Lee,

Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Sam Houston, and William

McKinley.

The second scrapbook (1618-1921) is entitled "Abraham Lincoln -

From Original 1st Editions. Era - Civil War 1861-65."  The

compilation was done by Miss Cassie Moncure Lyne "from her

mother's clippings."  Included are articles and pamphlets about

Abraham Lincoln and other assorted pieces with references to

Civil War episodes.  Often, the articles are incomplete.  Along

with the printed material are holographic notes establishing a

connection with the Moncure-Lyne families.  One note relates that

Edmund Lyne lived in Christian County, Kentucky when Lincoln's

mother, Nancy Hanks, worked there as a hired girl.  Another note

relates that Robert Baylor (of the Lyne family) used the

scaffolding from John Brown's execution to complete a "gate-

door."  Other anecdotes concern Edwin Booth, Sidney Lanier,

Charles Dickens, Richard Henry Lee, and the Battle of Gettysburg.

A brief history of the estate at Arlington, Virginia is included

here, beginning with Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington (1618-1685).

The third and last scrapbook is entitled "Edgar Allan Poe's

Influence over Jules Verne's Pen - Aviation & Submarines."

There is no dated material.  Included are incomplete reprints of

articles, clippings and holographic notes, with some association

to Edgar Allan Poe.  An article removed from an unidentified

source relates to the title of the scrapbook, but most of the

items do not substantiate Poe's influence on Jules Verne.  Miss

Moncure Lyne does establish connections between the families and

Poe.  John Moncure Daniels was an editor of The Southern Literary

Messenger  which published Poe's stories.  The firm of Moncure,

Robinson, & Pleasant sold the personal property of the John

Allans when they departed for England taking the young Poe with

them.  A candlestand, once owned by Poe, was later in the

possession of  Miss Moncure Lyne.  (It is now in the Poe Room at

the Enoch Pratt Library).  Other clippings touch briefly on

aspects of Poe's life at West Point, the University of Virginia,

in Baltimore and Richmond.  Mentioned also are Hugh T. Young,

Charles Dickens, the Cabell family, and a final anecdote

explaining Poe's use of "never more, never more" in The Raven. 

Related material  of Edgar Allan Poe can be found in the Poe

Collection, Ms. 200, Special Collections.  A card catalog was

compiled for all items in Ms. 200.  At that time, the Poe

Scrapbook was given the designation, II.12.

 A scrapbook which contains similar historial and genealogical

information relating to the Moncure-Lyne family is part of the

collections of the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle

Barracks PA.

                              Index

                             Ms. 171

 Allan, John                        3

Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, 1618-1685  2

Arlington National Cemetery (Va.)       1

Baylor, Robert                     2

Booth, Edwin                       2

Cabell family                      3

Confederate Veteran                1,2

Daniels, John Moncure              2

Decoration Day                     1

Dickens, Charles                   2,3

Gettysburg, Battle of, 1863

Grant, Ulysses S.                  2

Hanks, Nancy                       2

Hoover, Herbert                    1

Houston, Sam                       2

Lanier, Sidney                     2

Lee, Richard Henry Lee             2

Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870.   2

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.       2

Lyne, Cassandra Moncure (1845-1934)     1-3

Lyne, Cassandra Moncure (1875- )        1-3

Lyne, Robert Baylor                2

Lyne, William (1843-1886)          1

Lyne, William (1873-1905)          1

McKinley, William                  2

Meade, George                      2

Moncure, Eustace Conway            2

Moncure, John                      1

Moncure, Thomas Jefferson          2

Moncure, William A. (1803-1862)    1

Moncure, Robinson & Pleasant       3

Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849.       2,3

The Raven                          3

Stafford, Virginia                 1

Surry County, Virginia             1

United States, History--Civil War, 1861-1865.     1-3

University of Virginia             3

West Point                         3

Verne, Jules                       2

Young, Hugh T.                     3