Scope and arrangement
The Gentry Collection is primarily research correspondence and notes of Franklin Marion Gentry who was compiling genealogical information on all lines of his and his wife, Violet Dewey Young's, families in order to secure memberships in the Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Daughters of the American Revolution for his wife and daughter. Some of the research was conducted by Lillie Baker Young (Mrs. Samuel Arthur), mother of Violet. The bulk of this material is from the early 1950s. The collection also includes photocopied documents such as wills, military payment records, indenture records and land claims from the 18th and 19th century and even as early as 1675. These are all photocopies or transcriptions made in the 1950s for research purposes. Other papers include photocopied articles from reference books on the genealogy of specific families, lineage charts, and photocopies of coats of arms for various families. There are also a few clippings, photos, and maps, and a small amount of printed material. Other family names with more than one folder of material besides Gentry, Young, Dewey and Harrison are Adams, Allan, Brooks, Foster, Harris, Norton, Smith, Terrell and Thruston. There are also many family names with just a small amount of material.