Finding aid to the Martha Jane French Commonplace Books

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
MARTHA JANE FRENCH (ca.1841-aft.1880) COMMONPLACE BOOKS
The collection includes three handmade volumes, two containing essays and one
containing writing exercises.

MARTHA JANE FRENCH KERSEY (ca.1841-aft.1880)
Martha Jane FRENCH, daughter of John S. FRENCH and Dorothy G. ALLCOCK,
was born ca. 1841 in Amherst County, Virginia. She married 28 September 1867
William A. KERSEY, son of William H. and Nancy KERSEY, of Amherst County. She
last appears in Amherst County in 1880. Nothing further is known at present.
[1860 Census, Amherst County, VA, National Archives and Records Service, M-653, Roll 1332, p. 314,
Dwelling 649, Family 647 (Family also appears on p. 365 as Dwelling 1021, Family 1019); 1880 Census,
Amherst County, VA, National Archives and Records Service, T-9, Roll 1353, p. 193. Dwelling 174,
Family 181; Bureau of Vital Statistics, Department of Health, Virginia, Marriage Records, Amherst
County, 1853-1935, Reel No. 3. The Kersey name is often interchanged with Casey in Amherst County.
There is a marriage listed for one William Casey and Nancy Ensey 14 August 1821. It is not known if
these were the parents of William A. Kersey. See: Bailey F. Davis, Marriage Bonds and Returns 18011854 of Amherst County, Virginia (Amherst: Compiler, 1965), p. C-13.]

MS1097