The papers of the Abbot family consist mainly of correspondence, but also include financial and legal papers, diaries, a letter-book, clippings, printed material, speeches and photographs (including cartes-de-visite, and some cyanotypes and tintypes). The materials date from 1733 to 1999, the bulk ranging from 1860-1910. A significant portion of the correspondence comprises of personal letters exchanged during the Civil War between William Richardson Abbot, headmaster of Bellevue High School, and his wife, Lucy Minor Abbot. Abbot's letters mention battles and political events of the Civil War, including his experience as an officer in the First Regiment of the Engineers Troops (Army of Virginia). Other correspondence includes exchanges between W.R. Abbot and his immediate family, both during and after the Civil War, as well as numerous letters to Abbot from parents of boys attending Bellevue High School. The collection also includes materials from the lives of the children and grandchildren of William and Lucy Abbot. Letters from the Abbot children consist of personal exchanges, accounts of travel in turn-of-the-century Europe, as well as experiences in the German university system. Also included is a brief memoir by Ann Minor, Lucy's sister, documenting childhood experiences in Virginia during the Civil War. There are also papers belonging to the Minors of Charlottesville (Va.), such as correspondence of Charles and John Minor.

While the bulk of the collection is made up of correspondence, the papers also include Abbot's addresses to schools and the Virginia Educational Society; printed bulletins detailing courses of study and formal statements of the teaching philosophy at Bellevue; and an official letter-book, receipts, financial and legal documents relating to the purchase, expansion and daily administration of the school. Other materials relating to the children of the William and Lucy Abbot include educational addresses by their son, Charles Minor Abbot, who administered Bellevue until it closed (1901-1909), as well as biographical material on Virginia Henderson's authoritative influence on professional nursing.

The Abbot Family papers provide the researcher with numerous vantage points onto public, professional and private life in nineteenth-century Virginia, most particularly through personalized accounts of men and women of the time. While the papers follow the families' colonial past from the early eighteenth century into the mid-twentieth century, the collection is noteworthy for its emphasis on military and private life in the Confederacy and in the Reconstruction South. The collection illuminates the experience of the Civil War through numerous windows onto the private lives of individuals; the professionalization of secondary education during the Reconstruction; the social and epistolary conventions of nineteenth century courtship; and the construction of an inter-generational identity, based on extended familial affections and ties to the institutions of Bellevue and the University of Virginia.

Married first to David Davis, lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and U.S. Senator from Illinois, and then to Wharton Jackson Green, agriculturist and U.S. Representative from North Carolina; resident of Fayetteville, N.C. Personal and family correspondence. Includes journal of and letters, 1851-1853, from brother James M. Burr to his wife describing his life in California during the Gold Rush; Civil War letters to Adeline from her cousin (and later second husband), Wharton Jackson Green, while a prisoner-of-war at Johnson's Island, Ohio; letters, 1882-1885, from first husband David Davis describing daily proceedings in the Senate, social functions in Washington, D.C., and notable persons; letters from friends of Davis concerning personal and political matters; letters, 1906-1928, from Jessica Randolph Smith and others pertaining to the United Daughters of the Confederacy; and letters, 1911-1931, from cousin James Henry Rice, Jr., ornithologist, naturalist, editor, and literary figure, discussing politics, conservation, South Carolina culture, world affairs, especially relative to Germany and Russia, his rice plantations, and the League of Nations.

Papers of Adeline E. (Burr) Davis Green (1843-1931) include letters, 1851-1853, from James M. Burr, brother of Adeline (Burr) Davis Green, to his wife describing his life in California searching for gold; James Burr's journal entitled "Journal of a Cruise to California and the Diggins" ; Civil War letters from her second husband and cousin, Wharton Jackson Green (1831-1910), later agriculturist and U.S. congressman, while a prisoner-of-war at Johnson's Island, Ohio; letters, 1882-1885, from her first husband, David Davis (1815-1886), jurist and U. S. senator, describing daily proceedings in the senate, social functions in Washington, D.C., and notable persons; letters from friends of Davis concerning personal and political matters; letters, 1906-1928, from Jessica Randolph Smith and others pertaining to the Daughters of the Confederacy; and letters, 1911-1931, from James Henry Rice, Jr. (1868-1935), ornithologist, naturalist, editor, and literary figure, discussing politics, conservation, South Carolina culture, world affairs, especially relative to Germany and Russia, his rice plantations, and the League of Nations.

Admiral Sir Robert Barrie (1774-1841) served in the British Navy and participated in the Vancouver expedition, 1791-1795; the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; the War of 1812; and served as naval commissioner in Canada, 1819-1834. Collection includes papers relating to Admiral Barrie's experiences in the Vancouver expedition, 1791-1795; the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; the War of 1812; and his service as naval commissioner in Canada, 1819-1834. Included is a small group of material relating to the 31st Regiment of Foot in Florida and Britain during the 1760s and 1770s when the Admiral's father, Dr. Robert Barrie, was surgeon's mate. Correspondents include Thomas Manby and James Macnamara.

The collection consists primarily of family papers in which some naval correspondence is intermingled. The letters of Sir Robert and Lady Julia Barrie are numerous. There are letters by Admiral Gardner, Dorothy (Gardner) Clayton, and various naval officers and members of the family. There are groups of legal papers, biographical sketches, genealogy, financial accounts, and photographs.

Family relationships and associations are extensive and are represented by comment, legal documents, and genealogies. The families include: Clayton, Cornwall, Cracraft, Cririe, Dixon, Fothergill, Gardner, Humphrys, Ingilby, Lyon, Shuttleworth, and Uppleby. A small group of photographs includes Sir Robert Barrie, William Barrie, John and Olivia (Page) Fothergill, John and Kitty (Leadbetter) Uppleby, Leadbetter and Eliza (Barrie) Uppleby, Charles Clotworthy Wood, Swarthdale House, and others.

The papers were still owned by the family as late as the 1950s. On Feb. 28, 1951, Charles John Ormond Barrie wrote about them to James S. Matthews of the Vancouver City Archives. Ten years earlier (Aug. 19, 1941) he listed several series of letters, some of which are no longer in the collection--correspondence from Lord Aylmer, Sir George Cockburn, Sir John Franklin, and George Vancouver. The covers for a few of these letters remain in the collection. The covers for letters by Admiral Gardner and copies of letters by Barrie indicate other absent manuscripts. Some papers may have been destroyed during Barrie's lifetime.

.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.

.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.

2 autographed notes from unidentified French physician.

Note (ANS) inviting Gilman to an evening with the "Gesellschaft naturforscher Freunde."

Merchant, from Petersburg, Va. Business records and some personal correspondence of four generations of the Cuningham family, including Robert Cuningham; Alexander Cuningham, and his brother, Richard M. Cuningham; the latter's son, John Wilson Cuningham; and grandson, John Somerville Cuningham, all merchants and planters. The early papers center around Alexander and Richard's success as commission merchants for cotton and tobacco in Petersburg, Va., and the firm's planting interests in Person County, N.C. The collection also contains a few family letters, including some from Alexander Jr. while a student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and from another son at Leasburg Academy, Caswell County, N.C. The papers of John Somerville Cuningham concern his work as a field agent for the Bureau of Crop Estimates, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, local politics, and family matters.

Business records and some personal correspondence of four generations of the Cuningham family, including Robert Cuningham; Alexander Cuningham, and his brother, Richard M. Cuningham; the latter's son, John Wilson Cuningham; and grandson, John Somerville Cuningham, all merchants and planters. The early papers center around Alexander and Richard's success as commission merchants for cotton and tobacco in Petersburg, Va., and the firm's planting interests in Person County, N.C. The collection also contains a few family letters, including some from Alexander Jr. while a student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and from another son at Leasburg Academy, Caswell County, N.C. The papers of John Somerville Cuningham concern his work as a field agent for the Bureau of Crop Estimates, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, local politics, and family matters.

Correspondence of Alexander's father, Dr. Henry Boteler, for 1776-1837; and family letters of Alexander with information on his career at Princeton College and his courtship of his future wife, Helen Macomb Stockton. Political correspondence, relating to the election of 1860, the Constitutional Union party, and Alexander's travels around the country in 1882-1884 while a member of the U.S. tariff commission. Volumes include Boteler's diary for 1845, relative to his farming activities; various scrapbooks and some genealogical materials on the Pendleton, Digges, and Pope families. Among the correspondents are Lewis Cass, Samuel Cooper, John B. Floyd, S. B. French, Wade Hampton, T. J. Jackson, Andrew Johnson, R. E. Lee, John Letcher, W. P. Miles, John Page, Thomas N. Page, Rembrandt Peale, W. N. Pendleton, W. C. Rives, Alexander Robinson, W. H. Seward, J.E.B. Stuart, Jacob Thompson, J. F. Thompson, and Dabney C. Wirt.

This collection consists of family letters of Alexander R. Boteler (1815-1892), Virginia political leader, congressman, and Civil War soldier, with sidelights on his career at Princeton College, Princeton, New Jersey, his courtship of Helen Macomb Stockton, whom he later married, his altercations with Charles J. Faulkner, and "Yankee" depredations at his home, "Fountain Rock," during the Civil War; political correspondence, 1855-1870, relating to the election of 1860 and the Constitutional Union Party; letters concerning Boteler's travels about the country in 1882-1884 while a member of the U.S. Tariff Commission; correspondence concerning claims of James Rumsey as inventor of the first steamboat; and legal and personal papers of Helen (Stockton) Boteler's father, Ebenezer S. Stockton, and grandfather, Robert Stockton. Volumes include Boteler's diary, 1845, relative to his farming activities; a scrapbook on the election of 1848; a scrapbook containing clippings, letters, and pictures devoted principally to the activities and interests of Boteler; and a scrapbook containing clippings, letters, and pictures concerning the Pendleton, Digges, and Pope families, especially the life of Dudley Digges Pendleton who married Helen Stockton Boteler.

The collection also contains the correspondence of Alexander R. Boteler's father, Dr. Henry Boteler, for 1776-1837. Among other correspondents are A. R. Boteler, Lewis Cass, Samuel Cooper, John B. Floyd, S. B. French, Wade Hampton, T. J. Jackson, Andrew Johnson, R. E. Lee, John Letcher, W. P. Miles, John Page, Thomas N. Page, Rembrandt Peale, W. N. Pendleton, W. C. Rives, Alexander Robinson, W. H. Seward, J. E. B. Stuart, Jacob Thompson, J. R. Thompson, Dabney C. Wirt.

Cotton firm from Wilmington, N.C., that for a short period was probably the largest cotton exporting house in the United States. Collection includes account books, ledgers, journals, cashbooks, purchase and sales journals, inventories, other subsidiary books, and some office files and correspondence. Goods were purchased from the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, and other states and processed in the firm's compress facilities and sold to Great Britain, France, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe.

The collection consists of an extensive, but incomplete, set of account books, remnants of the office file and James Sprunt's correspondence (personal as well as business letters and papers), and pictures. Among the account books there are long series of ledgers, journals, cashbooks, purchase books, and stock inventories that document the company's operations between the 1870s and 1950s. The ledgers date between 1889 and 1952, and there are private ledgers for 1907 through 1931. The volume of minutes covers 1919-1930, but there are a few others among the offices files along with financial statements, 1885-1915, important legal documents of the partnership and corporation, and assorted other papers.

Correspondence and other papers of James Sprunt and the company date between 1884 and 1952, but they are numerous only for 1904, 1906, 1909-1910, and 1919-1921. The letters date mostly to 1904-1910, and 1919-1921, and are largely files of James Sprunt, reflecting his activities in business and interests in secular and theological education, the Presbyterian church in the U.S., and North Carolina history. Notable correspondents and subjects are Alexander Sprunt (1815-1884), Alexander Sprunt (1852-1937), Alexander Sprunt (b. 1898), James Sprunt (1847-1924), Kenneth Mackenzie Murchison, Francis Herman Packer, John Miller Wells, John Campbell White, Edward Jenner Wood, The Laymen's Missionary Movement, and the Presbyterian mission at Kiangyin, China. Account books, minutes, and correspondence are available also for a number of domestic and foreign subsidaries and branch offices, but these are often quite fragmentary. More than thirty pictures, mostly photographs, illustrate the firm's staff, workers, physical plant, and employees as well as other scenes.

Also included are some papers representing various domestic and foreign subsidiaries and branch offices, especially Champion Compress and Warehouse Company, the Wilmington Compress and Warehouse Company, Alexander Sprunt & Son (of Delaware, a holding company), and the company's offices in New York City and Le Havre, France.

Information about the company's history can be found in: James Sprunt's letters of Nov. 6, 1908; Apr. 9, 1909; Jun. 7 and Oct. 22, 1919; an article in Wilmington's Morning Star from Feb. 11, 1921; and Dictionary of American Biography.