Alexander MacKay-Smith Collection

562 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 03/1986. Last revised 06/2020.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.84 linear feet

DATE: 1772-1860

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Alexander MacKay-Smith Collection concerns horse breeding and horse sports in the northern Virginia area from the late 1700s to the late 1800s. There are lists of horse names and pedigrees, along with ownership information and details of stud services. The collection also includes information about a court suit, Taylor vs. Parker, which concerned the management of a race horse.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Alexander MacKay-Smith (1904-1998) was an avid horseman and participated in a number of horse sports including steeple chase racing and field hunt competitions. As well as owning and showing horses, he also served as Master of Foxhounds for the Blue Ridge Hunt for almost twenty years. Mackay-Smith was a founder of the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia in 1954. He served as curator and director until his death.

MacKay-Smith wrote and edited a number of books about horses and horse sports. The Stewart Bell Jr. Archives holds copies of the following works: American Fox Hunting: An Anthology: Seventy-nine Classic Stories, Sketches, Essays, and Poems, 1970 [Call Number: 799.23 M19]; Blue Ridge Hunt: The First Hundred Years, 1988 [Call Number: 799.25974 Mac]; The Race Horses of America, 1832-1872: Portraits and Other Paintings by Edward Troye, 1981 [Call Number: 759.13 M19]; The Thoroughbred in the Lower Shenandoah Valley, 1785-1842, 1948 [636.12 M192].

CITE AS: Alexander MacKay-Smith Collection, 562 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

Miscellaneous notes, 1778-1835, typescript

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1808-1812, typescript

Valley chronology, 1772-1860, miscellaneous, typescript

Valley chronology, Part 1, typescript

Valley chronology, Part 2, typescript

Valley chronology, Part 3, typescript

Valley owners, Bell, typescript

Valley owners, Part 2, typescript

Valley owners, Part 3, typescript

BOX 2

Valley owners, Part 4, typescript

Valley owners, Part 5, typescript

Valley owners, Ware, typescript

Valley races, Part 1, typescript

Valley races, Part 2, typescript

Valley stallion names, Part 1, typescript

Valley stallion names, Part 2, typescript