Search

Back to top

Search Constraints

Start Over You searched for: Date range 1835 Remove constraint Date range: 1835
Number of results to display per page
View results as:

Search Results

Benjamin Newton Duke papers, 1834-1941, 1969 and undated, bulk 1890-1929

102 Linear Feet
Benjamin Newton Duke (1855-1929) was a tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, and philanthropist of Durham, NC and New York, NY and a trustee and major benefactor of Trinity College (later Duke University). He was the son of Washington Duke, older brother of James B. Duke, husband of Sarah Pearson Angier Duke, and father of Angier Buchanan Duke and Mary Duke Biddle. The materials in this collection document the business, financial, philanthropic, and personal interests of Benjamin N. Duke and his family, especially Duke's involvement in the tobacco, textile, banking, and hydroelectric industries in North Carolina and New York and the Duke family's financial support of a variety of institutions, including educational institutions for African Americans and women, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and individual churches, orphanages, hospitals, and community organizations. The Richard B. Arrington series and Alexander H. Sands, Jr., series document the personal and financial interests of Benjamin N. Duke's private secretaries in New York, NY.

The papers of Benjamin Newton Duke have been collected from various sources over time and span the years 1834 to 1969, although the bulk of the material dates from 1890 to 1929. The materials in the collection document the business, financial, philanthropic, and personal interests of Benjamin N. Duke and his family in Durham, NC and New York, NY, especially Duke's involvement in the tobacco, textile, banking, and hydroelectric industries and the Duke family's financial support of a variety of institutions, including educational institutions for African Americans and women, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and individual churches, orphanages, hospitals, and community organizations. Types of material in the collection include correspondence, financial statements and ledgers, bills and receipts, architectural blueprints and drawings, land plats, deeds, photographs, photograph albums, scrapbooks, and a diary.

Family members represented include Sarah P. Duke, Angier Buchanan Duke, Mary Duke Biddle, Washington Duke, James B. Duke, Brodie L. Duke, Lida Duke Angier, and Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Other individuals represented include Julian S. Carr, William A. Erwin, John C. Kilgo, William P. Few, Daniel Lindsay Russell, James E. Shepard, and George W. Watts.

The Richard B. Arrington series and Alexander H. Sands, Jr. series document the personal and financial interests of Benjamin N. Duke's private secretaries in New York, NY.

2 results in this collection
Folder

A majority of the documents in the Legal series pertain to property transactions of Benjamin Newton Duke and other individuals in Orange County, NC and Durham, NC. Property deeds dating from 1838 show changes in ownership of land that Duke eventually purchased. Other papers include architectural contracts, plans and specifications, trust indentures, a legal brief, copies of the wills of Benjamin N. Duke and Washington Duke, and materials related to the execution of the estates of Angier B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke.

John Grammar Brodnax papers, 1830-1929

2 Linear Feet — 4 boxes, 1,389 items.
Collection contains personal, professional and family correspondence of three generations of the Brodnax family, centering around John G. Brodnax. Pre-Civil War letters refer to the sale of slaves; wartime correspondence reflects the fear of the advancing Union forces. Postwar papers include Brodnax's appointment as assistant surgeon general of a North Carolina hospital at Petersburg, Va., overseeing the discharge of disabled Confederate soldiers, and his oath of allegiance to the United States. Also includes letters to his wife during her summer visits with relatives. Many papers concern Mrs. Brodnax's activities in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy; others relate to attendance of family members at various North Carolina and Virginia schools and colleges. There are also letters from Germany and Europe in the 1870s and 1880s and Mexico in 1910.

This collection contains family correspondence of three generations of the Brodnax family centering chiefly around John G. Brodnax (1829-1907), a Confederate surgeon and practicing physician.

Letters from 1857 to 1867, generally from Lynchburg, Virginia, refer to the sale of slaves and, during the war years, are concerned with the question of fleeing or remaining to face the advancing Federals. Included also are Brodnax's appointment as assistant surgeon general of the North Carolina Hospital at Petersburg, Virginia, and his oath of allegiance to the United States. Other items pertaining to Dr. Brodnax are letters to his wife, beginning in 1881, while she visited her relatives in summer, a speech against railroad taxation in 1879, a group of petitions in 1877 requesting that Brodnax be made superintendent of the North Carolina State Insane Asylum, and an undated article on optical surgery. Included also is genealogical material as well as other materials connected with the activities of Brodnax's wife in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

A number of letters were written from schools and colleges attended by members of the family, including Salem Female Academy, Salem, North Carolina, and St. Mary's College, Raleigh, North Carolina, during 1912; N. I. Smith's School in Leaksville during 1879 and 1880; Bingham School in Orange County during 1883; Bingham School in Asheville, and Old Point Comfort College, Virginia, after 1909.

Also included in the collectoon are letters from Mrs. Barr, an aunt of Mrs. Brodnax, and her children from 1877 to 1884 while traveling in Europe and studying music in Germany. There are letters from Mary (Brodnax) Glenn and her family while in Mexico, where her husband worked for a railroad company, a mining firm, and as secretary to the American consul general; letters of this period are filled with references to conditions in Mexico, especially concerning political upheavals around 1910. Included also are papers relative to the settlement of the estate of John Brodnax, Jr., after 1909, and a group of sermons delivered by James Kerr Burch, a Presbyterian minister and father-in-law of Dr. John G. Brodnax.

2 results in this collection

Dismal Swamp Land Company records, bulk circa 1660s-1860s, 1810-1879

4 Linear Feet
Collection comprised of 9 boxes of company records and 5 ledgers of organizational material of the Dismal Swamp Land Company, a shingle production company in existence between 1763-1879. Letter books, receipts spanning the entirety of the company's existence, and legal documents make up the bulk of the collection.

The Dismal Swamp Land Company records consist of company records spanning the 17th-19th centuries, with the bulk falling in the mid-to-late 19th century. The majority of records consist of financial documentation, including receipts for the purchase of equipment by the Company and numerous receipts for customers detailing quantities and prices of shingles purchased. Monthly ledgers and an account book are also present. The records include legal documents surrounding surveys of the Dismal Swamp, indentures, wills, and several powers of attorney for shareholder meetings. Incoming correspondence intended for the Company's presidents, mainly from employees and shareholders, makes up the majority of the Correspondence series.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 10

Massie family papers, 1766-1920s

3.0 Linear Feet — 3 boxes and 1 oversize folder.
The William Massie family owned several plantations in Virginia in the 18th and 19th centuries, and owned several hundred enslaved people during this time. This collection contains the papers and records of several members and generations of the Massie family, based at the Pharsalia plantation in Nelson County, Virginia. Family members represented include Thomas Massie; his children, including Thomas Massie Jr. and William Massie; William Massie's widow, Maria Massie, who inherited Pharsalia; as well as several grandchildren, including Martha, Hope, Florence, and Bland Massie. The bulk of the material in the collection dates from William Massie's ownership and management of Pharsalia, including the purchases and labor of dozens of enslaved men, women, and children in the mid-1800s. The collection also includes detailed agricultural and financial accounts, weather logs, land surveys and plots, a plantation ledger, and family and business correspondence.

This collection contains correspondence, plantation records, deeds, inventory, surveyor's plats, architectural drawings, weather memoranda, crop memoranda, and other papers, received or created by the Massie family. The bulk of the material dates from William Massie's ownership of Pharsalia plantation, and his plantation volumes document the production and agricultural trade of crops and products such as wheat, hemp, flour, bacon, oats, corn, tobacco, rye, apples, whiskey, and wool. These volumes are thorough, with near-daily entries about the weather, different stages of planting and reaping, and the production or yields of different crops, including his orchards, pigs, and horses. Many papers in the collection consist of business letters and financial logs about prices, crop yields, and local commerce. There are also occasional family and personal correspondence, with ongoing conversations about estate planning and divisions (particularly between William and Thomas Massie) as well as health news and reports on different childrens' education. Scattered throughout the collection are records documenting the Massie's reliance on slave labor, including many bills of sale for enslaved men, women, and children, as well as transactional correspondence about the hiring and use of enslaved laborers for field work, harvesting, couriering, quarry work, canal work, wagon driving, weaving, and other skilled trades. Also included in the collection is a commonplace book belonging to Thomas Massie, Sr., with notes about his crops as well as different copies of contracts and agreements he made for management of his plantation. There is an inventory and appraisal of the household and estate held by William Massie at his death in 1862. There are some drawings and maps of different lands, including plans for farming, as well as some architectural drawings of additions to Pharsalia from the mid-1800s. The collection contains some Civil War era materials, including documents relating to Maria Massie's management of the plantation following William's death, and the impressment of different horses, goods, and enslaved people into laboring on Confederate fortifications during the war. There is a deposition by Thomas Massie detailing his Continental Army service (1833); letters surrounding the Massie's hiring of a female teacher for their children in the 1840s; business correspondence between Massie and agents or contacts in Richmond, Staunton, and Lynchburg over different prices and quality of products; postwar correspondence about servant wages; and a detailed description of the Chicago fire (1871).

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 5
File
Box 1

Assorted manuscript documents from the Massie family, arranged chronologically. Items include correspondence from acquaintances and business contacts regarding crops and prices for tobacco, corn, wheat, rye, hemp, and other agriculture; planning and maps for planting fields, raising pigs, or other farming activities; letters between Thomas and William Massie negotiating estates, land, and boundaries following the death of their father and mother; letters from Thomas James Massie to his father William Massie while away at school, including one about a missing umbrella; a deposition signed by Thomas Massie in 1833 about his 1775 Continental Army service; a fragment of a 1838 land assessment for Nelson County, including mention of Pharsalia. Several pieces of local correspondence indicate they were carried by enslaved people, including Robin, Ned, and Roger, with a slave pass note of their name near the letter's addressee. The folder includes a note from 1831 January 11 from E. Pendleton asking Massie to send an update on Bob, an enslaved person who had been sent to work on Massie's plantation. Includes an affidavit of sale for "a young Negro Woman named Judy, and her Female Child Esther," sold by Thomas Massie to William Massie for three hundred dollars on 1831 April 18. Includes a manuscript copy of an affidavit, dated 1832 May 4, for William Massie from Landon R. Cabell for the sale of "a man slave named Jack, of which slave is now in the possession of said Massie as a hireling" for four hundred fifty dollars. Includes an affidavit for the sale of "three Negroes, vis. Patty, Lizzy, and Dorcus, for the sum of seven hundred dollars" from Reubin G. Coffey to William Massie, 1834 August 29. Includes a note from John Junkins that "Mr. John Hill will deliver my negro woman Betty to William Massie, I having this day sold her to the said Massie" (1835 December 12). In one letter, 1834 October 1, from Thomas Massie advises William on a remedy for an unnamed enslaved boy's eye. Includes an 1837 copy of a note by William Massie agreeing to pay Thomas J. Baird seventy five dollars for the "hire of his Negro man named Henry for one year." Includes a November 1836 receipt by Charles A. Jacobs "the following slaves, which were bequeathed to me" by the estate of David Jacobs: "Jim Clarkson a mulatto man, Phil a boy, Edmunton boy, and Lewis a young man." Includes a letter dated 1836 Dec. 10 from Henry Massie in Louisville, Kentucky, to his uncle William, updating him on the as-yet unsuccessful search for Gil, an escaped enslaved person. Includes a letter dated 1837 March 30 from Thomas Baird to Massie discussing a property dispute between Baird and Mr. Acker over "my boy Henry," whereby Baird agrees to "accept your offer of six hundred and fifty dollars for Henry." Includes a 1837 October 10 bill of sale for "two negro men Milford and Jack" for 1100 dollars, sold by Henry Rose to William Massie and subsequently hired to M. Cabell for labor on the James River Canal. Includes a bill of sale for "a negro girl named Mary Ann," sold by Henry Rose to William Massie on 1837 October 21. Includes a 1827 bill of sale for "a negro girl named Matilda," attached to a 1837 October 27 note by William Massie as evidence of his ownership of Matilda in a dispute between him and John Stevens. Includes a 1837 October 23 bill of sale for "a negro woman Betsy" for six hundred dollars, sold by Henry Rose to William Massie. Includes several bills of sale for enslaved men and women; some are accompanied by correspondence indicating different disputes between the Massies and others about the legal or ownership status of some enslaved people. Includes a 1838 August 27 receipt from Peter Coffey for payment of four hundred twenty dollars by William Massie "in full consideration of a Negro Boy named Joshua." Includes a note from William Massie to Frances Barnett regarding "the hire of Negro man Martin" for the year 1839.

Terrasson Brothers records, 1773-1869, bulk 1780-1860

2.5 Linear Feet — 1245 items
Collection contains the records of the firm of Terrasson Brothers, established in Philadelphia by Antoine and Barthelemy Terrasson as a branch of their father's firm, John Terrasson and Company, headquartered in Paris and Lyons, France. Early business letters reflect the trade of the firm in grain, the furnishings of supplies to the French and American armies, and the purchase of tobacco at various places throughout the South. The letters contain information on the American Revolution, especially on naval operations, and on post-Revolutionary business conditions. Papers after 1800 concern the family of Mark Prager, members of which apparently married into the Terrasson family. Prager was owner of a trading firm in Holland. These papers contain information on Prager's trading activities until 1820, and on the family of Harriet Prager of Philadelphia. The later letters contain references to family affairs, slavery, politics and sectionalism. Approximately 100 Civil War letters describe conditions in the North.
2 results in this collection

Robert A. Hill Collection, 1890-2014

Online
755 Linear Feet
The Robert A. Hill Collection covers the period of 1800 to 2014 and documents Hill's research, writing, and publications about Marcus Garvey's life and work and the founding of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), as well as Hill's many other projects. Items in the collection include research material assembled by Hill, writings by and about Garvey, manuscripts, correspondence, printed material, clippings, microfilm, photographs, video and sound recordings, and objects. Series 1-4 contain the production papers of the Marcus Garvey Papers Project: American Volumes (AM), African Volumes (AF), Caribbean Volumes (CA), and Project Administration (PA). Hill's other projects and writings are included in Series 5-6 as Other Works by Robert A. Hill (OW) and Hill Personal (HP). The remaining Series 7-10 consists of Microfilm (MF), Primary Sources (PS), Research (RE), and the unprocessed Jamaica (J). The collection was acquired by the John Hope Franklin Research Center in 2015.

The major emphasis of the Hill Collection is The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, a series of publications that Hill edited for over thirty years that compile more than 30,000 documents highlighting the influence and accomplishments of Garvey and the UNIA. The process of compiling the twelve volumes is reflected in Hill's collection of research materials from manuscripts, photocopies of microfilm and original sources, newspaper clippings, annotated printed materials, photographs, scholar's correspondence, FBI records, and annotated drafts from U.S. and international archives, universities, and libraries. The bulk of the research materials are reproductions. Original materials can be found in the Primary Sources (PS) series.

The Other Works series contains Hill's personal papers, university-related materials and correspondence, general research, presentations, and other writings. These documents include Hill's historical editions such as Marcus Garvey's The Black Man: A Monthly Magazine of Negro Thought and Opinion; Cyril V. Briggs' The Crusader; George S. Schuyler's Black Empire and Ethiopian Stories; and The FBI's RACON: Racial Conditions in the United States during World War II.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 22
File
Box AF35

Contents Include: Pan-Africanism, Germany, Edwardian Nationalism, Antiqua, St. Kitts, Colonization Movement, African Nationalism, Gold Coast, William Randolph Hearst, and Garveyism; newspaper articles on the war of the races, race war, and racial war; transcriptions; and keyword searches. Materials may overlap with Research (RE).

Richard Harvey Wright papers, 1835-1980 and undated

151.5 Linear Feet
Richard Harvey Wright (1894-1980) was a businessman of Durham, N.C., and founder of Wright Machinery Company. Wright Machinery merged with Sperry Rand Corporation on 29 March 1957. Collection dates from 1870-1980 and comprises correspondence, 1870-1941; legal papers; printed matter; business papers; financial papers; and clippings relating to Wright's business interests, particularly the Wright Machinery Company of Durham, N.C., manufacturer of packaging for tobacco products and various other kinds of commodities. There is much information on the economic history of Durham and the development of the tobacco industry. Volumes in the collection include financial records and letterpress books for business correspondence. Later additions comprise business correspondence; financial ledgers and statements; machinery licensing, leasing, and loan agreements; and legal documents of the Wright Machinery Company. Also includes one framed oil portrait of Wright, signed "Freeman. 1922."

Collection (232,267 items; dated 1870-1980) comprises extensive files of correspondence dating from 1873-1941; legal papers; printed matter; many business and financial papers; and clippings relating to Wright's business interests, particularly the Wright Machinery Company of Durham, N.C., manufacturer of packaging for tobacco products and various other kinds of commodities. There is much information on the economic history of Durham and the development of the tobacco industry. Volumes in the collection include financial records and many letterpress books for business correspondence.

Additions (4-27-79) (2002-086) comprise business correspondence; machinery licensing, leasing, and loan agreements; and legal documents (2101 items, dated 1941-1967) of the Wright Machinery Company. Also includes one framed oil portrait of Wright, signed "Freeman. 1922."

Addition (2005-108) (65 items, 1.1 lin. ft.; dated 1877-1905) comprises one letter book; one financial ledger; a judgment appeal; general contractor reports and statements; rental statements; and checks.

Two accessions (97-087 and 97-105) containing chiefly print materials from Wright Machinery Company, including company newsletters, were separated from the Wright Papers and placed in the Wright Machinery Company Records collection.

Addition (2021-0025. 1.1 lin. ft.; dated 1835-1878) contains account and day books from Tally Ho and Durham, North Carolina. There is also a volume of "The Methodist Protestant" newspaper and "Gram's unrivaled family atlas of the world".

2 results in this collection

Fowler family papers, 1779-1870

4.2 Linear Feet — 9 Boxes; 1 volume
Included in this collection are records, 1779-1809, of a mercantile business run by Stephen Fowler, Fairfield, Connecticut, and after 1805 of Trenton, Jones Co., North Carolina, which engaged in trade between New York and North Carolina. Stephen's son Joseph about 1820 engaged in the export of lumber, naval stores, tobacco, grain, and blackeyed peas from North Carolina to Bermuda; and later in coastal trade from New Bern to New York. There is also correspondence relating to his duties as U.S. deputy marshal, Pamlico District, N.C., 1831-1860. Family correspondence predominates between 1840 and 1860. For the Civil War years there are many letters from Joseph S. Fowler, Jr., written largely from the Confederate Commissary Office, Kinston, N.C. The collection also includes two Yale university diplomas; a ledger of Joseph S. Fowler, (1817-1834), 1836, 1866, 1 vol.; financial and legal papers, 1800-1860; the logbook of Absalom Fulford kept on the Neuse River lightship, 1845-1849, recording weather and the passage of ships; and business letters to DeWitt C. Fowler and Brother, Bay River (N.C.) general store and liquor merchants.

The Fowler family papers collection Includes records, 1779-1809, of a mercantile business run by Stephen Fowler, Fairfield, Connecticut, and after 1805 of Trenton, Jones County, North Carolina, which engaged in trade between New York and North Carolina. Stephen's son Joseph, about 1820, engaged in export of lumber, naval stores, tobacco, grain, and blackeyed peas from North Carolina to Bermuda; and later in coastal trade from New Bern to New York. There is also correspondence relating to his duties as U.S. deputy marshal, Pamlico District, North Carolina, 1831-1860. Family correspondence predominates between 1840 and 1860. For the Civil War years there are many letters from Joseph S. Fowler, Jr., written largely from the Confederate Commissary Office, Kinston, North Carolina.

The collection also includes diplomas; a ledger of Joseph S. Fowler, (1817-1834), 1836, 1866, 1 vol.; financial and legal papers, 1800-1860; broadsides concerning state policies; the logbook of Absalom Fulford kept on the Neuse River lightship, 1845-1849, recording weather and the passage of ships; certificates for jurors, U.S. District Court, New Bern, 1839-1858; business letters addressed to DeWitt C. Fowler and Brother at Bay River, 1860-1868, a general store and liquor dealer; and a few items relating to North Carolina schools. Among correspondents in the collection are Silvester Brown, Benjamin Q. Tucker, Absalom Fulford, and Wesley Jones.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 4

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.

.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.

1 result in this collection

Alexander Sprunt and Son records, 1779-1960

Online
6082 items
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.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 4
Folder
Online

James Sprunt had very extensive correspondence files, of which only a small portion has survived. A year's letters were subdivided alphabetically and included both the incoming originals and the outgoing copies. The years represented by a sizeable body of papers are 1904, 1906, 1909-1910, and 1919-1921, but they are probably quite incomplete. All of the papers have been arranged chronologically. The series also contains "other papers," which cannot be identified with their original files. Most of the material came from James Sprunt's files.

The series represents a variety of Sprunt's personal and professional interests. Business operations, the cotton market, and domestic and foreign economic conditions are constant concerns. There was frequent communication between Sprunt and his relatives and business associates in Liverpool. His work as vice consul for Great Britain and Germany appears occasionally. Prominent among his activities and charities is the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the southern body of the Presbyterians. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and assisted other congregations in Wilmington and Chapel Hill, where he financed the remodeling of the church as designed by architect Hobart Upjohn. He made substantial contributions to the mission in Kiangyin, China. The interdenominational Laymen's Missionary Movement and its general secretary, John Campbell White, are also prominent in the papers, along with the southern Presbyterian part of of that organization. Sprunt was a principle mover in the arrangements for a statue of George Davis, Confederate attorney general and native son of Wilmington, and there is much correspondence about it, including that with Francis Herman Packer, the sculptor. Sprunt was a trustee of the University of North Carolina and a benefactor of Davidson College, and there are communications between him and the schools' students and officials. Other educational institutions represented include Columbia Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, the antecedents of North Carolina Central University, and other colleges and academies in the South, including several historically black colleges. River and harbor improvements at Wilmington are noted. Scattered political correspondence includes references to state elections, the N.C. Supreme Ct., and the U.S. District Court for Eastern N.C., and the Wilmington riots of 1898. There are several letters about the N.C. Literary and Historical Association and the N.C. Folklore Society, and about other episodes of state history, such as blockade running during the Civil War, President Taft's visit to Wilmington in 1909, Governor Benjamin Smith, and the monument for the Revolutionary battle at Moore's Creek. Correspondence with and about Woodrow Wilson mainly concerned a Carnegie pension for Henry Elliot Shepherd, an educator, but there are a few minor items of a political nature. Sprunt communicated with Senators Lee Slater Overman and Furnifold Simmons about various matters.

Several close relatives of James Sprunt had distinguished careers and are also represented by letters and references: his brother Alexander Sprunt (1852-1937), a Presbyterian clergyman at Charleston, S.C.; Kenneth Mackenzie Murchison, an architect in New York who was a brother-in-law; Edward Jenner Wood, a nephew and physician who was a pioneer in the campaign against pellagra; and Joseph Austin Holmes, another brother-in-law who was a geologist, chief of the technological branch of the U.S. Geological Survey in charge of the investigation of mine accidents, 1904-1907, and the first director of the Bureau of Mines established in 1910.

Caleb Budlong physician's account books, 1817-1843, 1915 and undated

4 Linear Feet — 86 items
Collection comprises 8 medical account journals maintained by Budlong between 1817 and 1839. In addition to treatments provided, most often tooth extractions and bleeding, the doctor noted examinations and prescriptions for pills, oils, powders, elixirs, bitters, ointments, and asthmatics, along with cathartic sugars and throat lozenges. Fees are recorded for each entry and payments and regular audits noted. The entries were irregular in regard to date. Included in the collection is an undated typescript list of more than 100 individuals treated in volume 1, indicating that Budlong served as the primary physician for the area during its early settlement. There are indexes for volumes 2 and 8; and these, along with 76 items laid-in to the volumes, including receipts, blotting sheets, lists, calculations, and other notes have been removed to a separate folder. One item laid in is receipt unrelated to the volumes for a payment dated 1915.

Collection comprises 8 medical account journals maintained by Budlong between 1817 and 1839. In addition to treatments provided, most often tooth extractions and bleeding, the doctor noted examinations and prescriptions for pills, oils, powders, elixirs, bitters, ointments, and asthmatics, along with cathartic sugars and throat lozenges. Fees are recorded for each entry and payments and regular audits noted. The entries were irregular in regard to date. Included in the collection is an undated typescript list of more than 100 individuals treated in volume 1, indicating that Budlong served as the primary physician for the area during its early settlement. There are indexes for volumes 2 and 8; and these, along with 76 items laid-in to the volumes, including receipts, blotting sheets, lists, calculations, and other notes have been removed to a separate folder. One item laid in is receipt unrelated to the volumes for a payment dated 1915. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections.

2 results in this collection

John Bonsack papers, 1786-1929

2 Linear Feet — 4 Boxes, 2,034 items.
Collection contains personal and business correspondence, and accounts and genealogical records of the Bonsack and Plaine families, connected by marriage. Included are letters from family members in schools in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Included also are letters concerning woolen factories in Good Intent, Va., 1862, and at Bonsack, Va., during the 1880s. There are also references to David H. Plaine's work as a churchman, teacher, and politician in and around Roanoke, Va.; accounts of Jacob Bonsack, a merchant in Good Intent, Va., and accounts of Harry E. Plaine, a hardware dealer in Broken Bow, Neb., during the 1880s. About fifty letters, 1786-1851, are written in German to the two John Bonsacks, father (1760-1795) and son (1781-1859).

This collection contains personal and business correspondence, and accounts and genealogical records of the Bonsack and Plaine families, connected by marriage. Included are school and college letters from Emory and Henry College, Virginia, 1851, Calvert College, New Windsor, Maryland, 1851-1852, State Normal School, Millersville, Pennsylvania, 1881, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia, 1882, and Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, 1883.

Included also are letters concerning woolen factories in Good Intent, Virginia, 1862, and at Bonsack, Virginia, during the 1880s, references to David H. Plaine's work as a churchman, teacher, and a politician in and around Roanoke, Virginia, accounts of Jacob Bonsack (1819-1889), as a merchant in Good Intent, Virginia; and accounts of Harry E. Plaine as a hardware dealer in Broken Bow, Nebraska, during the 1880s.

About fifty letters, 1786-1851, are written in German to two John Bonsacks, father (1760-1795) and son (1781-1859). Included in these are several religious tracts, memorandum books, study notes, and short diaries. The diaries contain accounts of a trip in 1856 from Randolph County, Virginia, to Madison, Wisconsin, travels in the vicinity of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a record kept by D. H. Plaine in 1857.

2 results in this collection

G. Hope Summerell Chamberlain papers, 1821-1946

10 Linear Feet
G. Hope Summerell Chamberlain was an author, artist, and civic worker, of Raleigh (Wake Co.) and Chapel Hill (Orange Co.), N.C. Letters from 1821 to 1946 concern family matters for the most part but also reflect Chamberlain's career as an author of local history and her work at Duke University as the house counselor of Pegram House. Scattered earlier letters include one from Herbert J. Hagermand of the American Embassy at Saint Petersburg, 1889; letters on the Russo-Japanese War, 1905; and letters from John Spencer Bassett, 1903. The remainder of the collection includes genealogical material on the Chamberlain family; clippings of articles about Chamberlain and her books; drafts of some of her writings; a copy of a journal of a trip to Europe in 1792-1793; diary of Chamberlain's trip to Europe in 1929; and personal diaries, 1923-1926 and 1943.

Letters from 1821-1946 concern family matters for the most part but also reflect Chamberlain's career as an author of local history and her work at Duke University as the house counselor of Pegram House. Scattered earlier letters include one from Herbert J. Hagermand of the American Embassy at Saint Petersburg, 1889; letters on the Russo-Japanese War, 1905; and letters from John Spencer Bassett, 1903. The remainder of the collection includes genealogical material on the Chamberlain family; clippings of articles about Chamberlain and her books; drafts of some of her writings; a copy of a journal of a trip to Europe in 1792-1793; diary of Chamberlain's trip to Europe in 1929; and personal diaries, 1923-1926 and 1943.

2 results in this collection

Cornelius Bowman Campbell papers, 1812-1904

0.2 Linear Feet — 144 items
Cornelius Bowman Campbell graduated from the Oneida Institute in New York, and was an abolitionist and an advocate for temperance and women's suffrage. Collection includes outgoing and incoming letters for Cornelius Bowman Campbell, a few manuscripts by him, and Campbell family papers.

Collection includes outgoing and incoming letters for Cornelius Bowman Campbell, a few manuscripts by him, and Campbell family papers. The outgoing letters were written by Campbell to his father, and topics include Grahamism and water cures, health of family members, his debts and money-making pursuits, and his attendance at Oneida Institute. There is only occasional mention of his abolitionist and temperance beliefs and work. The majority of the incoming letters were written by Campbell's friends made through the Oneida Institute, and among the topics are slavery and abolition; temperance; politics, including activities of Whigs and Democrats; possibilities regarding settling in Vineland, New Jersey; and a few letters regarding women's suffrage activities. Includes letters from William G. Allen, Henry B. Blackwell, Laura C. Holloway, Wendell Phillips, and Parker Pillsbury. There is one letter (1904) that dates past Campbell's death; it is not addressed directly to Campbell. The Campbell manuscripts are items he wrote during his tenure at the Oneida Institute. The Campbell family papers include letters primarily written to Cornelius Bowman Campbell's parents, Rebecca (Whitcomb) and Hezekiah Campbell, a few of which date before Cornelius' birth, as well as three manuscripts. In addition to several letters discussing genealogical information for the Campbell and Whitcomb families, there is an indenture (1812) for Hezekiah to learn the shoe making trade.

3 results in this collection
File
Box 1

The majority of the incoming letters were written by Campbell's friends made through the Oneida Institute. Topics include stargazing; faith issues; crops and harvests; slavery and abolition; temperance; politics, including activities of Whigs and Democrats; possibilities regarding settling in Vineland, New Jersey; and a few letters regarding women's suffrage activities. Includes letters from William G. Allen, Henry B. Blackwell, J. B. Grinnell, Laura C. Holloway, Francis Lawson, Thomas McClintock, Wendell Phillips, Ira Porter, and Parker Pillsbury. There is one letter (1904) that dates past Campbell's death; it is not addressed directly to Campbell.

File
Box 1

Includes letters primarily written to Cornelius Bowman Campbell's parents, Rebecca (Whitcomb) and Hezekiah, although a few other individuals are addressees. Topics include visits and visitors; news of friends and family members; announcements of births, deaths, and weddings; and descriptions of balls held. There are also several letters discussing genealogical information for the Campbell and Whitcomb families. Includes an indenture for Hezekiah to learn the shoemaking trade, a small account book with unidentified owner (1843-1844), and part of a dressmaker's pattern. Two letters contain fabric samples for a dress and a bonnet.

Purviance family papers, 1757-1932

3 Linear Feet — 5 boxes, 2,363 items (includes 16 vols.)
This collection contains professional, business, personal and family correspondence and other papers of the related Purviance and Courtenay families of Baltimore, Md., and elsewhere. The collection pertains to Revolutionary War activities in Maryland, shipping and trade, Western lands, settlement of estates, Civil War veterans' activities, the Cuban independence movement, and other matters. Includes papers of John Henry Purviance, U.S. diplomat in Paris, concerning the Monroe Mission (1794), U.S. relations with Napoleon and the Revolutionary French Government; papers relating to the financial affairs of Elizabeth Isabella Purviance Courtenay; papers of Edward H. Courtenay, Sr., relating to his career at West Point, his later teaching duties there and at other colleges, and his investment activities; and letters of Edward H. Courtenay, Jr., written in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War, describing the city and political opinion there. Correspondents include Alexander Dallas Bache, George William Erving, John Graham, Gessner Harrison, Anthony Hart, William Homes McGuffey, William Maclay, George Mason, James Monroe, Abner Nash, Fulwar Skipwith, George Muirson Totten, Thomas Tudor Tucker, and John Vanderlyn.

The Purviance family papers contain professional and family correspondence and papers of two generations of the Purviance family and several generations of the Courtenay family, related through the marriage of Henry Courtenay and Elizabeth Isabella Purviance in 1811.

The early papers relate chiefly to Samuel Purviance (d. 1787), Baltimore merchant, and chairman of the Committee of Observation for Baltimore County, and consist of records that include the interrogation of Purviance by the Council of Safety for the failure of a plan by the Committee of Observation to capture Maryland governor Robert Eden; correspondence discussing British depredations on American shipping, the extension of the Mason-Dixon line, cession of western lands, complaints against the Vandalia and Indiana Land companies, sale of lands owned by Purviance on the Chillisquaque River near Sunbury (Pennsylvania), lands owned by George Washington on the Kanawha River, and proposed development of the James River Canal; scattered letters from his wife concerning family matters; and letters from his son, John Henry Purviance, regarding his supervision of his father's western lands.

The professional papers of John Henry Purviance, secretary and interpreter to the James Monroe mission, 1794-1796, and secretary of the legation in London, 1804-1810, include memoranda regarding official diplomatic transactions; accounts, 1795, of interviews between Monroe and Jean Debrie, member of the Committee of Public Safety concerning arbitration of the war between France and Great Britain, French suspicion of the Jay Treaty, and the offices of the French in negotiations pending between the United States and Algiers; an account of a conversation between Monroe and one Fulton discussing the efforts of one La Chaise to persuade France to take possession of Louisiana and Florida as a check on American expansion and as a means of luring Kentucky away from the confederation, and Monroe's attempts to strengthen the ties of western territories to the union by asking France to influence Spain to keep the Mississippi River open to American trade; memoranda, 1796, concerning the difficulties of obtaining cash for a draft sent Monroe by the U.S. Treasury; Monroe's outline of a speech to the French National Convention; rough draft of a note from Monroe to the French minister of foreign affairs, Charles Delacroix, pertaining to the Fauchet letter; from Fulwar Skipwith, American consul-general at Paris, regarding Pierre Louis Roederer and the ratification of the treaty of 1800 which concluded the XYZ affair; rough drafts, 1806, of articles by Monroe describing the relations between the United States, Great Britain, and France; copy of a letter from Joseph Lakanal to an unnamed royal personage urging him to assert himself as ruler of Spain; rumors among the French peasantry of the impending return of Napoleon and gossip current in diplomatic circles; document, 1815, of Bon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, Duc de Conegliano, making recommendations concerning France's foreign policy; letter, 1817, from the minister of Brazil to the U.S. minister containing copies of the correspondence between himself and the Russian minister dealing with a question of diplomatic protocol; and correspondence concerning Purviance's administrative duties.

Items of a more personal nature include papers relating to the financial affairs of his sister, Elizabeth Isabella Purviance, and the claims of her guardian, David Stewart, against the British government for capture of his vessels; commonplace book, 1781, containing extracts from a tour through Great Britain, excerpts from poems, and a few accounts; account book, 1801-1809, of travel expenses in the United States and Europe; commonplace book of excerpts from poems; commonplace book, 1811-1834, containing a travel diary of England and France, expenses, and a discussion of French government; a diary, 1819, of his travels including his impressions of the BayonneBiarritz area noted in the course of a diplomatic mission to Spain; and a memorandum book, 1818, with daily entries regarding weather, correspondence with President Monroe, and personal and financial matters.

Papers of Edward H. Courtenay (d. 1853) include correspondence with his uncle, John Henry Purviance, discussing the former's work and activities at West Point; papers dealing with the settlement of the estate of his grandfather, Hercules Courtenay (d. 1816); correspondence of Edward H. Courtenay, Jr., while attending school in Geneva, New York; personal correspondence concerning family and financial affairs; and personal correspondence with his brother, David Courtenay, regarding dealings in stocks, especially those of the Erie Railroad Company and the Aetna Life Insurance Company.

Other papers of the Courtenay family include occasional records of the 1st Maryland Volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel N. T. Dushane; letters from Edward H. Courtenay, Jr., describing his work with the U.S. Coastal Survey, divided sentiment in Maryland during the Civil War, and Washington, D.C.; commissions, appointment and other military papers of Chauncey B. Reese and Henry Brewerton, husbands of Mary I. Courtenay and Sarah Courtenay, respectively, daughters of Edward H. Courtenay, Sr.; correspondence between David Courtenay and his son, William, regarding West Virginia lands which were a part of the Purviance estate, and the discovery of oil on those lands; papers relating to the administration of the estates of various members of the Courtenay family; business papers of William C. Courtenay; financial papers, principally in stock speculation, of several members of the family; financial records of the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the 5th Maryland Regiment Veteran Corps; letter, 1869, from Edward H. Courtenay, Jr., discussing efforts of Cuba to free herself from Spain and the attitude of the United States towards such efforts, and commenting upon the treatment of Chinese immigrants in the United States; and papers concerning the disappearance and probable death of David S. Courtenay, son of Edward H. Courtenay, Sr., and Virginia (Howard) Courtenay.

Separated volumes include a mercantile ledger, 1781-1816, of Hercules Courtenay containing accounts of food products, tar, rum, ginseng, ships and shipping ventures, and insurance; ledgers, 1764-1779, and account book for debts receivable, 1764-1776, of Dr. John Boyd, Baltimore physician, containing records of an apothecary; books of recipes and remedies. list of American vessels destroyed by the British; daybook, 1801-1804, of merchant Henry William Courtenay with accounts for flour, food, and other commodities; account books, 1824-1826 and 1835-1842, of David S. Courtenay recording money spent for postage, cash received for legal services, expenditures in lotteries, and personal expenses; address book, possibly of David S. Courtenay; anonymous account book, 1815; scrapbook, 1836, of H. W. Courtenay; diary, 1861, of a soldier including a description of his stay in a Confederate prison; and a scrapbook, 1892-1909, of clippings relating to Baltimore and to the Purviance and Courtenay families.

2 results in this collection

M. C. Stoner papers, 1827-1967

15 Linear Feet — 12 boxes — Approx. 17,071 items
Collection comprises correspondence, legal papers, business records, bills and receipts, photographs, writings, recipes, clippings, and other items relating to the life and career of businessman M.C. (Marshall Clayton) Stoner, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and three generations of the Brewer and Stoner families from Pennsylvania and Maryland. Includes many speeches by George W. Brewer, a lawyer and senator in the Pennsylvania legislature, 1857-1859, and M.C. Stoner's father-in-law. Much of the correspondence and other items relate to coal mining and specifically to M.C. Stoner's Rocky Ridge Mining Company. There are also letters written to Stoner's daughter, Louise, chiefly from male friends.

Collection comprises correspondence, legal papers, business records, bills and receipts, photographs, writings, recipes, clippings, and other items relating to the life and career of businessman M.C. (Marshall Clayton) Stoner, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Includes many speeches by George W. Brewer, a lawyer and senator in the Pennsylvania legislature, 1857-1859, and M.C. Stoner's father-in-law. Much of the correspondence and other items relate to coal mining and specifically to M.C. Stoner's Rocky Ridge Mining Company.

Other materials, including early legal papers, pertain to three generations of the Brewer and Stoner families from Pennsylvania and Maryland. There are also letters written to Stoner's daughter, Louise, chiefly from male friends. Her writings may also be present in the collection.

2 results in this collection

Charles Lamb clippings collection, 1826-1940 and undated

0.5 Linear Feet
Collection of published clippings and journal/magazine excerpts related to the life and works of English writer Charles Lamb (1775-1834). Includes some of Lamb's writings, as well as literary criticism and biographical clippings.
1 result in this collection

J. Doane Stott papers, 1748-1999, bulk 1915-1989

4.5 Linear Feet — 1500 items
J. Doane Stott was a Methodist minister (N.C. conference) and missionary to Japan. A.B., Trinity College and B.D., Duke University. Chiefly sermons, clippings, and printed material of J. Doane Stott relating to his missionary work in Japan and ministry in North Carolina, as well as his lecture notes reflecting his time spent at Trinity College and Duke University. Papers also include items relating to Mr. Stott's involvement with CROP (Christian Rural Overseas Program), the Greensboro Urban Ministry, as well as the Lion's Club.

Chiefly sermons, clippings, and printed material of J. Doane Stott relating to his missionary work in Japan and ministry in North Carolina, as well as his lecture notes reflecting his time spent at Trinity College and Duke University. Papers also include items relating to Mr. Stott's involvement with CROP (Christian Rural Overseas Program), the Greensboro Urban Ministry, as well as the Lion's Club.

3 results in this collection
Folder

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.

Jarratt-Puryear family papers, 1807-1918, bulk 1843-1879, bulk 1843-1879

Online
3 Linear Feet — 6 boxes, 2,349 items (including 4 vols.)
Collection contains chiefly correspondence relating to the Clingman, Jarratt, Poindexter, and Puryear families, early settlers of Surry County, N.C., together with a genealogical table. Subjects include the slave trade between North Carolina and Alabama, 1830-1835; North Carolina during the Civil War and Reconstruction, conditions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill prior to the war, plantation accounts, the distillation and sale of whiskey, and business affairs. Correspondents include William James Bingham, John Adams Gilmer, and Zebulon Vance.

This collection contains papers of the related Jarratt, Puryear, Clingman, Poindexter and Cash families, and especially of Isaac A. Jarratt, soldier in the War of 1812, landholder, merchant, and distiller.

The collection concerns family matters and local affairs; the education of Mary Jarratt at St. Mary's College, Raleigh, North Carolina; the education of Augustus Jarratt at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and conditions at the university preceding the Civil War; Isaac Jarratt's partnership with Tyre Glen in the slave trade between Alabama and North Carolina, 1830-1835; the Creek War of 1836; United States relations with Mexico, 1842; a survey of Wilson, North Carolina, 1851; frontier conditions in Texas; the Civil War, including troop movements in North Carolina and Virginia, conditions in the Confederate Army, conscription, lists of absentees, official orders for enrolling new age groups, conscription lists, casualty lists, payments to widows, and home conditions; freedmen, including letters from former enslaved persons inquiring about relatives; Jarratt's efforts to get whiskey during the war; North Carolina politics after the war; whiskey taxes; conditions in California; a Texas counterfeit affair in which A. B. Clingman was unjustly suspected; the business affairs of the Jarratt family; the administration of the estates of Samuel L. Davis, William Doss, Sally Doss, and Polly Sapp by Isaac Jarratt and of the estate of Richard Clauselle Puryear (d. 1867) by Jarratt and by his son, Richard Clingman Puryear (b. 1848); and the law practice of Richard Clingman Puryear, including the collection of many claims, 1870-1900.

Volumes include a plantation account book, 1834-1881, containing lists and prices of enslaved persons bought and sold in 1834 and 1835; a plantation account book, 1866-1871, recording supplies and cash advanced to tenants; an administration book, 1845-1848, concerning the estate of Matthew A. Doss; and a ledger, 1869-1870, of Isaac A. Jarratt & Sanderford, a general mercantile firm, containing the records of the sale of whiskey.

William Holland Thomas papers, 1814-1900s and undated

30 Linear Feet
White agent and representative for the Cherokee, merchant, lawyer, and trader, of Haywood Co., N.C. Collection includes correspondence, account books, day books, ledgers, and other papers, relating to Thomas's life in western North Carolina; the removal of the Cherokee and the status of those who remained; the development of intrastructure including turnpikes and railroads in North Carolina; Civil War fighting in east Tennessee; postwar administration of Indian affairs; and his private business operations as a white trader among the Cherokees. Includes records of Thomas's five stores in Haywood and Cherokee counties, and business correspondence and accounts of Thomas's son, also William Holland Thomas, a merchant and farmer of Jackson County, N.C.

Collection contains letters and papers of William H. Thomas (1805-1893) concerning his life and businesses in western North Carolina; his role as a white agent representing the Indians in negotiations and communications with the U.S. government; the removal of the Eastern Band of Cherokee on the Trail of Tears; the legal and financial conditions of Cherokee who remained behind in North Carolina; the building of roads and railroads through Western North Carolina; fighting during the Civil War in East Tennessee, including Thomas's leadership of Thomas's Legion in the Confederate Army; postwar administration of Indian affairs; and private business of Thomas, including some documentation of his declining health and his institutionalization for mental instability. There are also account books, day books, and ledgers showing a record of goods bought and sold in Thomas's five stores in Haywood and Cherokee counties. Included also are business correspondence and miscellaneous accounts, 1875-1890, of his son, William Holland Thomas, Jr., merchant and farmer of Jackson County, North Carolina.

Top 3 results in this collection — view all 21
Folder

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.