Adeline Burr Davis Green papers, 1796-1956

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Summary

Creator:
Green, Addie D., 1843-1931
Abstract:
Adeline "Addie" Burr Davis Green (1843-1931) was a white resident of Como and Bloomington, Illinois, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, who was notably married to former Supreme Court justice and Senator David Davis from 1883-1886, and later to Wharton Jackson Green, plantation owner and U.S. Representative from North Carolina, from 1888-1910. This collection spans the years 1796-1956 and documents the personal life and social interactions of Adeline "Addie" Davis Green and members of her family, including her father James M. Burr, aunt Adeline Burr Ellery Green, David Davis, Wharton Jackson Green, and sister Hettie Heitshu. Types of material include correspondence, notebooks, printed material, ephemera, and photographs and other visual material. Topics include James M. Burr's experiences during the California gold rush, United Daughters of the Confederacy activities, politics and social functions in Washington, D.C. (1882-1883), World War I and the League of Nations, and Burr and Neal family genealogy.
Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet (8 boxes and 2 oversize folders)
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00476

Background

Scope and content:

This collection spans the years 1796-1956 and documents the personal life and social interactions of Adeline "Addie" Davis Green and members of her family, including her father James M. Burr, aunt Adeline Burr Ellery Green, husbands David Davis and Wharton Jackson Green, and sister Hettie Heitshu. Types of material include correspondence, notebooks, printed material, ephemera, and photographs and other visual material.

Among the correspondence are letters, 1851-1853, from James M. Burr to his wife Caroline describing his life in California searching for gold; Civil War letters from Wharton Jackson Green (1831-1910) while a prisoner-of-war at Johnson's Island, Ohio; letters, 1882-1885, from David Davis describing daily proceedings in the senate, social functions in Washington, D.C., and notable persons; letters from friends of David 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 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.

The collection also includes James M. Burr's journal on his experiences in California, titled "Journal of a Cruise to California and the Diggins"; handwritten copies of David Davis' speeches; ribbons, programs, and other ephemera related to various commemorations of Confederate veterans; genealogical material related to the Burr and Neal families; and Aaron Burr Association newsletters.

A small amount of correspondence and printed material that postdates Green's death was collected by her niece E. Carolyn Burr. Burr also annotated some collection materials, including photographs, with information about family members.

Biographical / historical:

Adeline Ellery Burr was born in Como, Whiteside County, Illinois, on February 26, 1943, to parents James M. Burr (1808-1890) and Caroline (Neal) Burr (1819-1901). She was named after her aunt Adeline (Burr) Ellery (later Adeline E. Green) and was commonly known as "Addie." James M. Burr was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was a merchant sailor and captain before marrying Caroline and relocating to Illinois to become a farmer. At the end of 1850, he travelled to California to prospect for gold. Through the influence of his brother-in-law General Thomas Jefferson Green, who married the widowed Adeline Ellery in 1846, Burr secured the position of port warden of Benicia and Vallejo. During this time, Addie Burr and her family remained in Illinois.

In 1859, Addie Burr moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to live with her aunt Adeline and attend a private girls' school. Burr also spent considerable time in North Carolina with her aunt and grew close to the Green family. Thomas J. Green was a wealthy white plantation owner and slaveholder of Warren County, North Carolina, who also had property and business interests in Texas and California. In 1858, Burr's cousin Esther Sargent Ellery (Adeline E. Green's daughter from her first marriage) married Wharton Jackson Green (Thomas J. Green's son from his first marriage).

During the Civil War, Burr, Adeline E. Green, and Esther Green lived in Boston. Thomas J. Green died of illness at home in 1863, and Wharton J. Green enlisted in the Confederate Army. He eventually became Colonel of the 12th North Carolina Infantry, was captured at Gettysburg, and was imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Ohio, for the remainder of the war. Burr corresponded with Green and other Confederate prisoners throughout the war. Burr continued to live and travel with her aunt as a companion after the war and made social connections in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City. In March 1883, she married the former U.S. Supreme Court justice and former U.S. Senator David Davis at the conclusion of his senate term. The couple retired to the Davis mansion in Bloomington, Illinois. After her marriage, Addie used the name Addie B. Davis.

Sometime after David Davis' death on June 26, 1886, Addie B. Davis moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to live with the Green family at their Tokay Vineyard plantation. On October 29, 1888, Davis married Wharton J. Green, whose first wife Esther had died in 1879. For the remainder of her life, Addie used the name Addie D. Green.

In her later years, Green supported initiatives and groups that celebrated the Confederacy and white American heritage, including the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Daughters of the American Revolution. After Wharton died in 1910, Green sold Tokay Vineyard and built a house for herself and her sister Hettie Heitshu in Fayetteville. In 1930, Green's niece E. Carolyn Burr moved in with Green and Heitshu as a caretaker. Addie D. Green died on May 18, 1931.

Sources:

Jane Mellon Stroud, "Adeline Burr Davis Green", Master's thesis, Duke University, 1959. Accessed online via the Internet Archive, 2026 May 11.

Acquisition information:
The Adeline Burr Davis Green Papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library in 1944-1962.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library Staff, date unknown.

Pictures series reprocessed by Matthew Boone, March 2025.

Collection rehoused, miscellany series reprocessed into two series ("Family papers" and "Printed material and ephemera"), and collection description updated by Mary Mellon, May 2026.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized in five series: Correspondence, Volumes, Family papers, Printed material and ephemera, and Pictures.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

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], Adeline Burr Davis Green Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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