Finding Aid to the William B. Tinsley Copybook

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
WILLIAM B. TINSLEY (1853-1895) COPYBOOK
The collection includes a copybook and six photographs. The subjects of the
photographs are not identified. Two of these are tintypes.
The copybook originally held lecture notes from University of Virginia Law
School in the summer of 1880. It appears that the book was later used as a scrapbook, as
business cards, calling cards, personal letters, announcements, newspaper clippings, and
school certificates have been pasted over some of the lecture notes. There are also some
poems written in the book. No authors are given, so they might be by Mr. Tinsley or they
might be something he copied. On page 123, Mr. Tinsley gives a brief timeline of his life
from birth to 1883. On page 282 and 283 he lists the 52 members of the Summer Law
Class 1880 at the University of Virginia. Some of the pages are missing. While some
have been torn out, others have been cut out.
WILLIAM B. TINSLEY (1853-1895)
William B. TINSLEY, son of Rev. Jacob T. and Eliza TINSLEY, was born 1
October 1853 in Appomattox County, Virginia. He attended the Virginia Agricultural and
Mechanical College in Blacksburg, Virginia. He taught school in Appomattox County
from 1874 until 1878. He studied law and farmed at his father's farm in Appomattox
until 1880. In 1880, he was a member of the Summer Law Class at the University of
Virginia Law School. He obtained his license to practice in 1880, and he practiced law
for a short time in Danville, Virginia. He moved to Lynchburg, Virginia in 1881, to
practice law. Shortly thereafter he was appointed U.S. Commissioner, a position he held
until his death on 15 September 1895. He was also partnered with L. A. LARKIN, Jr., in
the firm of TINSLEY and LARKIN, Lawyers.
Mr. TINSLEY married his cousin, Lelia TINSLEY, ca 1888 and they had three
children. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and attended West End
Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the Masons. Mr. TINSLEY is buried in
Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia.
["William B. Tinsley (1853–1895) Copybook," Mss., MS1273, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA;
Shole's Directory of the City of Lynchburg 1894 (Lynchburg: J.P. Bell, 1894), p. 294; 1870 Census,
Appomattox County, VA, National Archives and Records Service (NARS), M–653, Roll 1633, p. 95; 1880
Census, Appomattox County, VA, NARS, T–9, Roll 1354, p. 402; Obituary, Lynchburg News, 17
September 1895, p. 6 col. 2.]

MS1273