Gillingham-Stith family papers, 1836-1932

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Summary

Creator:
Gillingham-Stith family
Abstract:
Mine owners and speculators residing in Cid and Thomasville (Davidson County), North Carolina. Collection consist chiefly of correspondence, along with wills, deeds, and other personal, business, and legal papers of Mrs. Alberta Stith Jones Gillingham and of her brother, Fred H. Stith, mining speculator, of Cid and Thomasville (Davidson County), North Carolina. Most of the papers are Mrs. Gillingham's and center around the operation of gold, silver, copper, sulphur, and zinc mines in the Cid district of Davidson County, North Carolina, and the complications caused in family relationships because of contested inheritances and property rights. Alberta Gillingham was also a music composer, writer, and teacher; one of her compositions, "General Harrison's inaugural quick-step," was transferred to the post-bellum sheet music collection. Includes materials concerning Furnifold Simmon's campaign for U.S. Senate in 1930, letters from Stith's children in Trinity College (now Duke University), and correspondence between Mrs. Gillingham and William H. Bailey, a lawyer of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Extent:
4.5 Linear Feet
Approx. 4,074 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00452

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consist chiefly of correspondence, along with wills, deeds, and other personal, business, and legal papers of Mrs. Alberta Stith Jones Gillingham and of her brother, Fred H. Stith, mining speculator, of Cid and Thomasville (Davidson County), North Carolina. Most of the papers are Mrs. Gillingham's and center around the operation of gold, silver, copper, sulphur, and zinc mines in the Cid district of Davidson County, North Carolina, and the complications caused in family relationships because of contested inheritances and property rights. Alberta Gillingham was also a music composer, writer, and teacher; one of her compositions, "General Harrison's inaugural quick-step," was transferred to the post-bellum sheet music collection. Includes materials concerning Furnifold Simmon's campaign for U.S. Senate in 1930, letters from Stith's children in Trinity College (now Duke University), and correspondence between Mrs. Gillingham and William H. Bailey, a lawyer of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Biographical / historical:

Alberta Bassett (Stith Jones Gillingham was the daughter of Dr. Nicholas Long Bolling Stith, who graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1829 and who lived in Halifax County and then in Raleigh. He had at least two other children, Anna Guion and Fred H. Stith. Dr. Stith and his brother, A.B. Stith, bought 1000 shares of stock in the Ward gold mine in 1854, one of the largest mines in the Cid mining district of Davidson County, N.C. Mrs. Gillingham inherited at least part of the properties which she came to hold in the Cid mining district. It appears from the papers that her mining interests included gold, silver, copper, sulphur, and zinc. One of the mines she came to own was the Ward mine. Her first marriage in 1881 was to J. Howard Jones, also a mine owner, who died in 1884. She also became involved with a lawyer from Charlotte, William H. Bailey. She married her second husband, Captain H.R. Gillingham, in 1905. By then, Alberta and her brother and sister had become estranged, and a long legal battle ensued during the late 19th and early 20th centuries over the ownership of the mines.

Acquisition information:
The Gillingham-Stith family papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from 1935 to 1960.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff

Encoded by Matthew Warren and Paula Jeannet, March 2014

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 48-667 and later accessions.

The papers of Alberta B. (Stith) Jones Gillingham were incorporated in 1968 with the Fred H. Stith and Alberta B. (Stith) Jones collection.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Gold mines and mining -- North Carolina
Industries -- North Carolina
Names:
Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.) -- Students
Duke University -- History
Stith family
Gillingham family
Bailey, William H.
Stith, Fred H.
Gillingham, Alberta B. Stith Jones
Places:
Davidson County (N.C.) -- History

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gillingham-Stith family Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.