Please note that all folder and item titles in this collection guide have been taken from card catalogs and other inventories created in the early 20th Century.
Search Results
Legal Papers Series, 1759-1874 and undated 10 folders
Series includes legal papers, mostly related to Burt's law practice, especially the management of estates of Confederate soldiers, and the Calhoun estate.
Italian public health documents declaring ships and goods to be disease-free, 1630-1818 14 items — 2 boxes
Fourteen single-sheet printed documents, issued from 1630 to 1818 by officials in northern Italian ports or inland trade centers, declaring that ships, cargo, and crews have been inspected and are free of contagion, chiefly meaning plague. Most are in Italian, but several also include some Latin.
Nine of these bills of health originated in Venice, with others from Brindisi, Guastalla, Milano, Piacenza, Ravenna, Reggio, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Segna, San Martino, and Trieste. They range in size from 6 x 8 1/4 to 12 x 16 1/2 inches. Almost all bear one or more small woodcuts such as patron saints and coats of arms; blindstamps and seals are also often present.
Typical handwritten content on the front and sometimes back of the sheet gives the name of the ship's owner and his ship, the ship's itinerary, number of containers ("Colli"), and type of cargo. A few of the documents also include lists of crew members, with names, ages, and stature. A few terms of interest that appear include "lazzeretto," indicating a place of quarantine, and "epizootico," a medical term for a non-human epidemic or agent. Forms part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.
Japanese medical manuscript notebooks, 1810-1849 and undated 3.5 Linear Feet — 63 Items
The sixty-three Japanese manuscript volumes in this collection were created from 1810 to 1849, chiefly by medical students, and document Japanese medical training and practice during the time also known as the Edo period, and the conjoining of Chinese-inspired materia medica with current Western medical practices introduced primarily by the Dutch. The notebooks range in length from 10 to 154 pages, and typically take the form of transcriptions of lectures and demonstrations; in many cases the writer recorded the place and time of the demonstration and the name of the medical school. There are also volumes which represent the collected knowledge of well-known Japanese physicians of the time, especially Hanaoka Seishū but also Takenaka Bunsuke (Nanpō). There are references in the notes to at least a dozen other contemporary or earlier physicians.
The copyists and note-takers signed their names at the end of the volumes; the name Yamanaka Shūsai Hideyuki appears most frequently; also appearing frequently are the names of editors and proofreaders, and corrections and later annotations in red ink are found in a number of the manuscripts. In addition to the contemporary dates, there are many references to the earlier manuscript versions being copied: these dates range from 1677 to 1796.
The topics covered by the volumes range widely, and include: herbal medicine and other prescriptions; treatments for diseases of the eye and other parts of the head; surgery, particularly on cancers, swellings, and fistulas; breast cancer; smallpox; scurvy; osteopathy; the treatment of wounds; hematology; gynecology and obstetrics; and pediatric medicine. There are several volumes containing illustrative drawings, some hand-colored and others are black-and-white; they include detailed images of surgical procedures and close-ups of suturing; examples of bandages and wrappings; osteopathic manipulations; and medicinal plants.
One volume in particular stands out above the rest, consisting of over ninety carefully drawn, full-page, hand-coloured illustrations, nine of which are double-page, displaying patients with dislocated limbs, skin cancer, or requiring sophisticated bandages, as well as illustrations of internal organs and one page with surgical instruments. One of the illustrations is a realistic portrait of Hanaoka Seishū, with a beard and spectacles (probably imported from Holland), showing him excising a cyst from a patient. At the end of the volume, two different explanatory texts in Kanbun (classical Chinese read in the Japanese manner) provide comments in the volume about the diseases and their treatment.
Each codex in the collection is composed of leaves of rice paper, with hand-sewn bindings and soft covers, and calligraphy in black and red ink. Some of the texts are written in Shino Japanese (Chinese reading style) using all Kanji characters, while other texts are in Shino Japanese written in 19th-century characters - the language of the educated class in Japan. At least one volume (Vol. 21) contains Dutch words for medicinal compounds. The script reads back to front; the script is laid out in vertical columns that are read from right to left across the page. In some cases, pages or sections and covers are missing, and some volumes bear traces of insect damage, but for the most part, the volumes are remarkably well-preserved.
All titles are taken when possible from the covers or from section headings; approximate translations in English provided by library staff and are in brackets. In the case of missing titles, a title was supplied from content by library staff. Titles and significant names are also given in Japanese characters, and some older calendar dates are also given in modern Western dates. Illegible or untranslatable text is indicated by blank lines.
Volumes are arranged in this collection guide in two series: sets of notebooks, and single volumes. The items in the sets are linked by common themes or bodies of knowledge, and range from two to eleven volumes. They include collections of works by one physician, as well as sets of manuals and lecture notes on topics such as obstetrics and gynecology, metallurgy, opthalmology, pox and skin diseases, and others. Single volumes are housed after the sets.
All titles are taken when possible from the covers or from section headings; approximate translations in English provided by library staff and are in brackets. Titles and significant names are also given in Japanese characters.
Each volume has been assigned a unique institutional identifier.
Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.
Insurance policies, deeds of trust, and land plats pertaining to Bellevue property and W.R. Abbot's property elsewhere in Virginia and in Kansas City; legal papers of Ellen Abbot's pre-Civil War residence in Georgetown; records of W.R. Abbot's partnership with J.P. Holcombe and his assumption of Bellevue subsequent to Holcombe's death; affidavits of family members recording receipt of inheritance; and original deeds of trust recording land grants made in Virginia to John B. Minor from Sir Thomas Carr of Topping Castle.
Charles L. Abernethy Sr. papers, 1713-1972, bulk 1907-1959 85 Linear Feet — 160 boxes; 2 oversize folders — Approximately 60,855 items
The collection principally comprises a large series of correspondence and legal records accumulated by North Carolina lawyer and politician Charles L. Abernethy, Sr. during his tenure as U.S. Congressman. There are papers relating to the senior Abernethy's law practice and business dealings in Beaufort and New Bern, N.C. (including legal papers concerning land development in Carteret County, Cape Lookout, and Horse Island maintained by both father and son).
Other materials include deeds and other early papers, political speeches, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks of Abernethy's political career, a diary, and the Abernethy coat-of-arms. There are also papers assembled by Abernethy's son, Charles L. Abernethy, Jr., a lawyer in his father's firm, and a volume of his poetry.
A lare group of photographs and albums includes a photograph album containing snapshots the elder Abernethy took during a congressional trip to Alaska for three months of 1923 (including photographs of President and Mrs. Harding), as well as a typescript of his diary from the trip; and an album containing postcards of Beaufort, N.C, in 1907, featuring a celebration of either the 200th anniversary of the town's founding or the opening of passenger and rail service to the town (or both).
Correspondence and related materials, 1806-1904, undated 0.5 Linear Feet
Series contains letters to and from Amy Morris Bradley, related ephemera, notes and receipts, third-party correspondence about Bradley, and one folder of newspaper clippings. The majority of material relates to Bradley's time in Costa Rica, her work as a field nurse and for the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, and her time as an educator in Wilmington, N.C.
In addition to family letters, there are several letters with soldiers and their relatives thanking her for her service. Included is a petition from 1865 signed by 320 soldiers recommended to the Secretary of War that Bradley be commissioned to major in the U.S. Army for her service. Clippings relate primarily to the Tileston Normal School, although some are also about Mary Hemenway, a benefactress of Tileston. Later correspondence comes from parents of students in Wilmington and from former students, many of whom maintained a close friendship with Bradley over many years. Ephemera includes programs of events at Tileston.
Caleb Budlong physician's account books, 1817-1843, 1915 and undated 8 volumes and 1 folder
Correspondence, 1791-1907 and undated 8 folders
Business correspondence concerning the sale of cotton, including commercial problems during the War of 1812, and particularly in Charleston, South Carolina. Includes an 1872 letter from Iredell Jones concerning his trial as a member of the Klu Klux Klan. Also includes some personal correspondence, primarily with the individuals John Dawson, Ladson, H. Cunningham, and B. W. Martin, and an anonymous individual identitified only as I.H.L.
Scrapbook containing correspondence, newspaper clippings, biographical profiles, poems, photographs, copies of tombstone engravings, and postcards.
Financial, 1763 -1879 and undated 1 Linear Foot
Financial records of the Dismal Swamp Land Company, including bills of sale, monthly ledgers, insurance certificates, and dividends awarded to stockholders. A substantial portion of the series consists of receipts of payment to the company and its payments to various stockholders, vendors, and legal courts.
The papers begin in 1736, when John Hall (ca. 1717-1790) and his brothers Henry and William become actively engaged in tobacco planting. The letters open with a land indenture of 1745 and continue as business correspondence with London, Annapolis, Baltimore, and local merchants and factories. Comment is made on salt as a necessity for plantation life in 1778 and 1782. An overseer's contract in 1764 gives details of plantation management and enslavement.
A letter is signed by John Hall of "Vineyard" on June 11, 1778. As a member of the Maryland Assembly, he discusses the check and balance theory as it was working out in the "young government" of Maryland, he mentions violent contests, the quit rents and state revenue, militia service, and the role of the governor. In 1787 "Publicanus" addresses the people of Anne Arundel Co. on the topic of paper money.
The will of John Hall (made in 1787) gives his estate as "Bachelor's Choice," on West River, and names his children and their families. Enslaved people are listed as part of the estate. Many of the later letters are from the families of Hall sibilings to William Henry Hall, son of John Hall. A series of law suits occurs in the 1790s as William Henry Hall settles his father's estate.
A letter dated Oct. 3, 1796, to William Henry Hall describes the life of an American seaman impressed into the British navy. Samuel Hopkins, a young Maryland plantation overseer, and John Wilson of Cheraw, S. C., comment in letters to Hall from 1810-1813 on cotton planting in S. C. Hopkins describes on July 1, 1810, a plot by enslaved people to rise against enslavers in the Marlboro District of S. C. In 1813 he writes of hiring a substitute for himself if drafted in the War of 1812. Among W. H. Hall's correspondents were William, John, David, and John G. Weems of Anne Arundel Co., relatives of Mason Locke ("Parson") Weems.
The bills and receipts contain many an "acct. sale" of tobacco, listing custom duties, charges, etc., in tobacco shipping. Estate inventories for Major Henry Hall, 1758, Thos. Lane, 1790-98, John Hall, 1795, and Mrs. Ruth Hall, 1803, include enslaved people and list possessions. Many mercantile and household accounts are included.
There are 7 volumes dated 1765-1902. Six are account books, two that belonged to John Hall and 4 to William Henry Hall. There is one volume that belonged to Harriet Hall.
One letter from November 13, 1840, recently added to the original collection, was written from John Paup, Spring Hill Plantation, Hempstead county, Arkansas, to Edward Brodnax Hicks, his partner in the plantation and resident of Brunswick County, Virginia. His thee-page letter refers to the economics of enslaved labor and buying enslaved persons; illness and the deaths of enslaved persons on the plantation; the cotton crop, insurance, and prices; and the survey of the border between Arkansas and the Republic of Texas.
History of Medicine picture file, 1523-2002 and undated 16 Linear Feet — approximately 2400 items
Assembled by the staff of the Duke University Medical Library, the History of Medicine Picture File offers thousands of images of individuals, places, and subjects dating from the 1500s to 2002, with the great majority portraying physicians, scientists, nurses, and other individuals related to the history or practice of medicine. Places featured include hospitals and other institutions of medicine, and scenes related to events in medical history. Subject categories include advertising, anatomy, books, caricature, childbirth, embryology, medical instruments, pediatrics, physicians, and surgery, among many others.
Most of the images measure in size under 10x12 inches, but there are approximately 500 larger pieces. The predominant formats are engravings, lithographs, cartoons, clippings from magazines and newspapers, and modern photographic prints, but there are also albumen photographs and other image formats found throughout the files. Items were acquired by the Duke Medical Library from various sources over many decades and functioned as a vertical file for library students and researchers.
The oversize items range in size from 11x15 to 23x30 inches, and offer a varied assemblage of portraits, caricatures, posters, broadsides, and reproductions of artwork, in black-and-white and in color. Items include portraits and scenes with notable physicians; illustrations of various medical practices, procedures, and instruments; anatomical views, some possibly as early as the 17th century; medical advertisements and promotional literature; depictions of events in medical history in Europe and North America; caricatures; 20th century illustrations for book covers; and many other topics.
Images and prints are often accompanied by reproduction negatives and slides created by Medical Center Library staff. Many of the images in this collection were also scanned by Medical Library staff and are available through the Medical Center Library & Archives Duke Medicine Digital Repository database. For more information, please contact the History of Medicine Curator at the Rubenstein Library.
Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.
Four items: a bond document; a sheet with receipts; a memorandum; and
Sir Anthony Musgrave papers, 1739-1966 8.0 Linear Feet — 16 boxes
Collection includes the professional and personal papers of Sir Anthony Musgrave (1828-1888), British colonial official; of his wife, Jeanie Lucinda (Field) Musgrave (1833-1920); and of her father, David Dudley Field (1805-1894), lawyer and law reformer.
The Papers of David Dudley Field concern his early life; his education at Stockbridge Academy and at Williams College, including bills and receipts, and correspondence about student life and professors; religion, especially the rise of the Unitarian Church; his early career in New York; law reform; the compilation of civil, penal, and criminal codes for New York, and as a model for other states; international law, including maritime law and admiralty courts; the reform of municipal government; the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, 1870s; the Institut de Droit International; the laying of the Atlantic Cable, 1866; and the Hague Peace Conference, 1899. Personal correspondence includes letters, 1830s, with the Hopkins family, Mark, Harry, and his future wife, Jane Lucinda; and letters, 1870-1894, with the Muegrave family. Also in the collection are clippings pertaining to the Field and Hopkins families; some legal papers; diaries, 1875-1894, of David Dudley Field; Recollections of My Early Life, Written in the Spring of 1832, by Field; his commonplace book, 1824-1827; his Autobiography, 1805-1836; a journal, 1831-1835, containing comments on his studies and reading; a journal, 1836, principally concerning the fatal illness of his wife; journals, 1836-1837 and 1851, describing his travels in Europe, volume of Jane Lucinda (Hopkins) Field containing recollections of her youth, written in 1832, and a journal, 1833-1835, Poetical Extracts of Jane Lucinda (Hopkins) Field; Personal Recollections of David Dudley Field written in 1892; and correspondence, 1898, relating to a biography of Field written by his brother, Henry Martyn Field.
Sir Anthony Musgrave's papers, correspondence, dispatches, and writings pertain principally to the administration of various colonial governments, particularly Jamaica. Jamaican materials, 1877-1883, concern the case of Pulido v. Musgrave, colonial rule, the immigration of laborers to Jamaica, the membership of the Legislative Council, the reorganization of the judicial system, colonial defense, customs, commercial relations with the United States and Canada, and Cuban revolutionaries in Jamaica. Other papers pertain to the administration of St. Vincent, 1861-1864; Newfoundland, 1864-1869, especially concerning the Newfoundland fisheries. British Columbia, 1869-1872; Natal, 1872, including information on native policy, education and marriage, the constitution, and relations between Natal, the Transvaal, and the Zulus; South Australia, 1873; and Queensland, 1883-1888. There are letters concerning Sir Anthony's writings on political economy, 1870s, as well as pamphlets of his works; correspondence, 1887, concerning the formation of the Westminster Review Company and the publication of the Westminster Review; a Private Letter Book, 1868-1878, containing confidential letters to other officials and personal correspondence; a scrapbook, 1874-1881, with reviews of his writings, and information on the social, economic, and political affairs of Jamaica and South Australia; and a Memorial Scrapbook, 1868-1908, comprised of pictures, clippings, telegrams and letters concerning the death of Sir Anthony.
Lady Musgrave's papers include personal correspondence; letters, 1890-1901, with Samuel Walker Griffith concerning Australia, including information on the federation of Australia, the Australian constitution, labor unrest, the separation movement, and his work as chief justice of Queensland and of Australia; letters, 1910-1911, dealing with Anglican mission work among miners and loggers in British Columbia; "Notes for My Sons," containing biographical information about herself and her relatives; and a scrapbook, 1810-1913, of letters from prominent persons. Other materials include correspondence, 1918-1920, of Mark Hopkins III concerning the work of the Red Cross in France. letters, 1886-1891, from Dudley Field Musgrave (1873-1895), son of Sir Anthony, describing life as a naval cadet and his service in the Mediterranean; correspondence and printed material pertaining to railroads, especially the Berkshire Street Railway Company of Stockbridge; pictures of the Field and Musgrave family members; and genealogical material on the Field, Musgrave, Hopkins, Byam, Sergeant, Dyett, and Abbott families.
Miscellaneous French Documents, 1781-1918 0.1 Linear Feet — 15 Items
The Letters and Manuscripts series is made up of letters from Eleanor Butler, Sarah Ponsonby and family, as well as poems written by the ladies, a biography by their neighbor Ch. L. West, and an album of a visitor to Llangollen.
The letters sub-series contains letters from Eleanor Butler, Sarah Ponsonby, and Sarah Ponsonby's family. The early letters are from the Fownes, Sir William and Lady Betty, who took in Sarah Ponsonby after her father died. After Sarah eloped with Eleanor Butler to Llangollen, she wrote to her cousin, Sarah Tighe. The majority of the letters are from Sarah Ponsonby to Mrs. Tighe, recounting daily life in Llangollen Vale.
The manuscripts sub-series includes poems and proverbs written by Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler, an account of the Ladies of Llangollen written by their neighbor Ch. L. West, and an album compiled by a visitor to Llangollen Vale.
The Ladies of Llangollen Papers series contains materials related to the ladies and their home in Llangollen.
Edmund Jennings Lee II papers, 1746-1963 9 Linear Feet
The Edmund Jennings Lee II Papers have been divided into four series: Correspondence, Personal Files, Legal Papers, and Financial Records. The majority of materials concern Lee’s legal practice and business interests in Shepherdstown, WV. Materials include letters between Lee and his brothers, Charles Henry Lee, Richard Henry Lee, and Cassius Francis Lee; letters concerning family matters; legal briefs, documents, land surveys, bill, receipts, and financial ledgers from Lee’s legal practice; and miscellaneous family papers and writings, including diaries from Henrietta Bedinger Lee, Edmund Jennings Lee III, and Edwin Gray Lee.
Collection includes family correspondence consisting of letters from Kell to his mother, Marjory Spalding (Baillie) Kell; his wife , Julia Blanche (Munroe) Kell; and his sisters. Beginning in 1841, Kell's letters cover the period of his service in the U.S. Navy. Topics include accounts of cruises; social activities aboard ship and on land; Commodore Matthew C. Perry; the funeral of Commodore Alexander James Dallas; the countryside in the vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa; descriptions of Montevideo and Uraguay; and references to President Carlos Antonio Lopez of Paraguay. After 1860, Kell's letters concern his duties with the Confederate Navy, including running the blockade on the C.S.S. SUMTER and the subsequent abandonment of the ship.
The collection also includes family papers of Nathan Campbell Munroe of Macon, Ga., his wife Tabitha Easter (Napier) Munroe, their daughter Julia Blanche (Munroe) Kell, and other members of the Munroe, McIntosh, and Napier families. Topics include Georgia and national politics, Henry Clay and the Bank of the United States; railroad construction in Ga.; Christ Church Episcopal Parish in Macon; Montpelier Institute, Salem Female Academy, and other educational institutions; temperance; the duel between Thomas Butler King, U.S. Rep. from Georgia, and Charles Spalding; town-gown relations at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; riverboat transportation in Alabama; and the fight between the MONITOR and VIRGINIA as described by a Confederate naval officer.
Includes bills and receipts primarily of Nathan Campbell Munroe of Macon, Ga., and a few other members of the Munroe, McIntosh, and Napier families. There are also bills, receipts, and grade reports from Montpelier Institute, Salem Female Academy, and other educational institutions.
There are varied legal papers represented, including deeds, powers of attorney, warrants, land indentures, insurance policies, wills, and leases. Topics include assault; debts; land transfers, including the transfer of slaves with land; trusteeships for children; claims for damages; and administrator accounts for estates.
There is a will for Ann Winwood, a pedigree for the McIntosh family, and a Napier family genealogy. Includes an oversize genealogy of the Kell and Nisbet families.
Correspondence, 1817-1895 and undated 1.5 Linear Feet — 3 boxes
Correspondence consists chiefly of business letters by John Knight and his partners and friends. However, there are also many letters by Knight family members and their relatives and friends. The correspondence begins in 1817 with letters from Mary (McCleery) Knight in Indiana to her sister Frances (McCleery) Beall, William M. Beall's wife. There is also correspondence between Fanny Knight, John and Frances Knight's daughter, and Thomas McDannold during their courtship. Correspondence also includes letters from friends and relatives while the Knights were traveling abroad. Many letters also mention John Knight's attempts at various cures for ill health, including water cures, hot springs, and baths.
Between 1830 and 1864, Knight's business correspondence with Enoch Pratt, a Baltimore banker in charge of Knight's finances, William Beall, and others, predominates. Topics include: the U.S. political and economic climate: the conflict between Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson; the cotton market; banking and bank failures; investment in cotton land in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas; the purchase and sale of slaves, with some bought by William Beall and sent to Knight in Mississippi; the treatment and medical care of slaves; the operation of Knight's plantations; piracy on the Mississippi River, 1841; cholera and yellow fever epidemics in New York and New Orleans in 1832, 1833, 1837, and 1841; the economic panic of 1857; education at the Frederick Female Academy, Frederick, Maryland; financial conditions in the United States during the Civil War; the relations between the United States and England during the war; and the course of the Civil War, especially the Union invasion of Maryland. One early letter from Roger Brooke Taney to William Murdock Beall explains his refusal of the vice-presidency and discussing his interest in the U.S. presidency.
Other smaller groups of correspondence were written by Frances "Fanny" Knight McDannold, the daughter of John and Frances Knight, her children Knight and Alexandra, and husband Thomas McDannold, and that family's acquaintances.
The correspondence ends with a much smaller series of letters, which include items to Frances S.Z. Knight from her grandchildren, and other correspondence reflecting her financial and legal activities as she managed her husband's large estate and the guardianship of her grandchildren even as she approached old age.
Some additional correspondence can be found in the Legal and Financial Papers series.
Legal Papers, 1784-1894 and undated 9 folders
Legal papers include lists of enslaved people of Hyde Park and Beverly Place plantations, and related documentation of purchases and expenses; travel documents and passports; the wills of John, Frances, and Fanny Knight and William M. Beall; land deeds, indentures and partnership papers, 1784-1859, including many related to the Beall family and business partners; and a certificate document from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Knight family papers, 1784-1960 and undated, bulk 1840s-1890s 5.5 Linear Feet — 13 boxes
Collection contains correspondence, diaries and notebooks, financial papers, legal papers, genealogical documents, printed materials, and other items pertaining to the Knight family of Natchez, Mississippi and Frederick, Maryland. Materials in the collection date from 1784 to 1960, with the bulk of the papers dating from the 1840s to the 1890s. The majority concern the personal, legal, and financial activities of John Knight (1806-1864), merchant, plantation owner, lawyer, and investor; Frances Z. S. (Beall) Knight (1813-1900), his wife; and their daughter Frances (Fanny) Beall Knight; as well as relatives, friends, and business partners, especially banker Enoch Pratt and William Beall.
Significant topics include: life in Natchez, Mississippi and Frederick, Maryland; plantations, slaves, and slavery in Mississippi and other Southern states; 19th century economic conditions, especially concerning the cotton market; banking and bank failures; U.S. politics in the 1850s and 1860s; the Civil War, especially in Maryland; reports of cholera and yellow fever outbreaks; 19th century family life; and the Knights' travels to Europe, Egypt, Turkey, and Russia from 1850 to 1864.
Genealogies chiefly relate to the descendants of Elisha Beall of Maryland. There are also two late 19th century albumen photographs of homes in West Virginia (James and Lizzie Brown's "Kingswood") and Maryland ("Beallview," the house of Elisha Beall). A few other images of the Knights are found in the Rubenstein Library's Picture File Collection.
The papers of John Knight concern his business relations with the Beall family of Maryland; his plantations in Mississippi, Hyde Park and Beverly Place, and their management; the purchases, expenses, and medical care of the enslaved people who lived and worked on those plantations; investments in cotton land in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas; economic conditions in the United States, especially concerning the cotton market; the effects of the Civil War, especially in Maryland; and the family's trips to Europe. His notebooks keep careful track of expenses and income, as well as travel. The many land deeds, indentures, slave lists, bills of purchase, and other financial and legal documents in the collection, some dating to the 1700s, chiefly relate to his activities as an attorney and landholder. Many also relate to the legal and financial activities of the Beall family, particularly to William M. Beall. John Knight was also interested in medicine, so the collection holds memoranda books and other papers with prescriptions, receipts, and instructions for medicines treating ailments of the time.
Papers of his wife, Frances (Beall) Knight, include 21 diaries and some correspondence, as well as financial and legal papers. Her diaries describe in detail life in Natchez, Mississippi, religious life, family members, visits, the weather, and health. Of particular interest are her travel diaries, which document the family's travels to Europe, with side trips to Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and other places. Her later papers deal with her financial activities as a relatively young widow, and her role as guardian of her two grandchildren, Knight and Alexandra McDannold, who lived with her after the early deaths of their parents, Fanny Knight McDannold and Thomas McDannold.
The ten diaries of Frances (Fanny) Beall Knight, the daughter of John and Frances Knight, document in some detail their trips to Europe, and details of her father's death abroad in 1864; the collection also contains some of her school and family notebooks and correspondence. Later papers refer to her husband, Thomas Alexander McDannold, who may have been the author of at least one of the anonymous notebooks in the collection, and their two children, Alexandra and John.
20th century dates in the collection refer to a typed draft of a paper on 19th century packet ships, and an article from a Maryland history magazine.
Series contains tax receipts, warrants, election results, documents related to the purchase and sale of enslaved people, pages from account books, and general business and financial-related correspondence.
Receipts, bills of sale, and other materials related to the purchase and sale of enslaved people.
Pages from account book covering purchases from December 1815 to August 1830
General financial material, 1813-1830 11 folders
General financial records including correspondence, receipts, invoices, and orders.
Johnson family papers,, 1798-1943 3 Linear Feet
The Johnson family's papers chiefly contain letters (1927-1930) from Nellie Hall Johnson (wife of Joseph Henry Johnson Jr.), of Talladega, Alabama, to her son, Seaborn Johnson, while he was a student at Alabama Polytechnic Institute and elsewhere. Other papers represent three generations of the Johnson family in Alabama and Georgia, and include correspondence, some legal and financial papers, student papers and writings from the University of Alabama, and miscellaneous printed material.
The legal papers contain several early land deeds and plats for Georgia and Alabama. Some of the deeds and bonds were Abner Darden's. Darden was the father-in-law of Joseph Henry Johnson. Other legal records are those of Mary E. Latimer as guardian of the minor heirs of Richard V. Asbury, will of Joseph H. Johnson, undated constitution and by-laws for the formation of the Cave Spring (Ga.) Mechanic's Aid Association or Joint-Stock Company to sell family groceries, and interrogations taken by Abner Darden for a lawsuit in Polk Co., Ga., relative to the financial condition of Woodland Female College. Among the financial records are those of Abner Darden, Richard V. Asbury, Mary E. Latimer, inventories of the sale of personal property of the late William Darden of Taliaferro Co., Georgia, on Nov. 10, 1842, and of the sale on Dec. 22, 1842, of his slaves, which includes prices.
Among the miscellaneous papers are a copy of the original muster roll of the Alabama Rifles (Alabama 1st Infantry Regiment, Company "D") Apr. 3, 1861, of which Joseph H. Johnson was captain, and a commission of Johnson as a representative of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Kentucky to the Grand Commandery of Alabama, May 28, 1870. Printed items include a list of Georgia officials, circa 1857, that shows that the state senators and representatives were either of the Democratic or American Party; a memorial article on Abner Darden by his lifelong friend Alexander H. Stephens, July 30, 1877; and the June 8, 1893, issue of The Messenger of Talladega printed on silk and devoted solely to the life, career, and death of Dr. Joseph H. Johnson.
Although most of the Writings and Speeches Series consists of sermons, class assignments, or debates, there is some printed material included if the items contained handwritten notes. The Brotherhood folder contains sermons and other items relating to race relations, mostly within the context of the Methodist church and its relationship with African Americans. The Sermons and Notes folder include several eulogies and many prayers by Mr. Stott and other ministers, which cover a wide range of topics from the scriptures. Some of these sermons have been transliterated into Japanese.
Admittance cards, 1811-1880 0.2 Linear Feet — 98 cards; 1 box
.Admittance, matriculation, and "Order of Lecture" cards are from a number of medical students from 1811-1880 in the University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson Medical College, Long Island College Hospital (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Harvard University Medical School, Philadelphia School of Anatomy, New Hampshire Medical Institution, Berkshire Medical Institution, and St. Bartholomew's Hospital (London, England). They contain the autographs of the most eminent professors of the day: i.e., Samuel Gross, Franklin Bache, Benjamin Rush, Austin Flint, Samuel Jackson, S. Weir Mitchell, J. K. Mitchell, Charles D. and James A Meigs, John Barclay Biddle, et al. The St. Bartholomew's Hospital card is signed by Ludford Harvey, John P. Vicent, and John Abernethy, the latter (1764-1831) being an eminent English surgeon and founder of the Medical School of St Bartholomew's. The "Order of Lecture" cards from Jefferson Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania list curricula, faculty and their residences, schedules of lectures and texts.
Admittance cards, 1850-1853, are for courses at the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. They include two matriculation cards for William D. Watson of Chatham County, N. C., dated Nov., 1850, and Oct., 1852, and an examination card Oct., 1852-1853, which is signed by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell as professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Physiology. Dr. Watson returned to Chatham County after his graduation. His house was destroyed during the Civil War. The portion of his medical library saved and stored in a neighboring attic eventually was placed in the historical Collection of the library of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Most of the earliest items pertain to Mrs. Walton's family, the Bakers, who had settled in Hingham, Massachusetts at least by the eighteenth-century. Letters to Mrs. Walton comprise a major segment of this series, including those to her from her father, James Baker, 1880-1882. Included are courtship letters from George Walton, a physician who attended Eleanore Walton while she was convalescing near Deland, Florida. Most were written from 1891-1892, after she returned to her home in Chicago. Letters from George Walton after the marriage suggest financial hardship and indicate that the couple was frequently separated from the beginning of their marriage and during the early childhood of their son Loring. After 1895, there is a gap in the correspondence.
Also included is George Walton's 1896 diary of a trip via wagon from Indiana to Florida. Later material and correspondence in the series pertains to Eleanore Walton's work as a clubwoman and motion picture censor in Kansas City, Missouri from the 1920s to 1948, when she retired and moved to Durham, N.C. to live with her son Loring Baker Walton, who was on the faculty at Duke University.
The papers of Loring Baker Walton, make up a separate and larger series in this collection. An extensive series of correspondence between Eleanor and her son is located there.
Thomas's assorted correspondence along with extensive notes, loose account pages, and other miscellaneous items are sorted chronologically by year into General Papers. There are also volumes with travel diaries for various business ventures and letterbooks with copies of his incoming and outgoing correspondence. This series documents his various businesses and investments, his Confederate service during the Civil War, his work as an Indian agent, and his family life and friendships. Additional material on his work with the Eastern Band of Cherokee can be found in the Cherokee Papers Series; additional contracts, reports, and petitions relating to railroads and turnpikes can be found in the Infrastructure Series.