Contract for Construction of the Sims-Mitchell House

Memorandum of Contract between J. M. Whittle and R. C. Saunders about construction of house at Chatham.

R. C. Saunders to build house according to plats No 1, 2, & 3, drawn by E. H. Fox. Tongue and grooved weatherboarding, frame, sheathing, cornice, windows with weights and inside blinds, including bay window, and all outside doors, include side and transom lights, to be completed by said Saunders who is to furnish on the ground all lumber and hardware — said lumber to be thoroughly seasoned and the work to be executed in first rate style — said Saunders to furnish a first rate man to superintend the building of said house, including the brickwork and roof, and to be responsible for any defect or bad workmanship in any part of said house. Said J. M. Whittle to pay for the roofing, guttering, spouting and all brickwork whatever the same may cost, and also felting, and to pay to said Saunders in addition the sum of seventeen hundred dollars in such instalments as may be necessary to carry on said work. Said house to be completed according to said plans only so far as described above — the porches and inside work not to be completed except so far as is necessary to carry out above specifications.

Estimate of Costs

Notes

This memorandum is from the Richard Reid Collection (MSS 550), Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library, copyright © 2001 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. Research assistance was provided by Henry C. Hurt, Jr., Chatham, Virginia;
Contractor R.C. Saunders was already involved in the construction of Chatham's first railway station. Major Robert Chancellor Saunders (1827-1902) was a former Confederate officer who lived near Evington, Campbell County, Virginia, and served as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, a trustee of the New London Academy, and superintendent of Campbell County Schools. His home Caryswood, built in 1854, shares numerous features with the Sims home he was constructing in Chatham 21 years later. (See Robert Bass Phillips, Jr., Caryswood: A Memoir of a House Near Evington, Campbell County, Virginia, 2000; and the Campbell County Historical Society, Images of America: Campbell County, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2012, p. 61.) Research assistance was provided by Chuck Bradner, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Virginia.
Further information regarding E. H. Fox is sought. E. H. Fox was possibly a surveyor, or more likely a draftsman or architect. Please forward any information by e-mail, using the subject line of “1875 Whittle Contract, Fox.”