The Josephine Leary papers chiefly comprise business papers relating to the properties she owned in Edenton, N.C., and to a barber shop operated by Leary and her husband; these records include deeds, the earliest of which dates to the 1870s; mortgage and estate papers; bank records; and bills and receipts. Other papers include correspondence to Leary, her daughter Clara C. Ryan, Clara's husband Noah Ryan, and Clara's son, Percy Reeves, as well as correspondence pertaining to legal matters and to Leary's estate.
A group of biographical and historical papers contain maps, pamphlets, and other information related to late 19th and early 20th century Edenton and to the Leary legacy. These date mostly from Leary's lifetime, but also include later secondary sources about Edenton and Leary. Included in this group are the original plans for the J.N. Leary building (1894) that still stands on Broad Street in downtown Edenton.
The collection is completed by a few undated writings by Leary, one of which seems to be a eulogy, and by a group of albumen and gelatin silver photographs of Leary and her family, including her daughter, her brother, an uncle, her grandson Percy Reeves, and his family.
Josephine Napoleon Leary was born into slavery in Williamston, North Carolina around 1856. At age nine, she was emancipated. In 1873 she married her husband "Sweety" Archer Leary and they moved to Edenton, North Carolina and operated a barbershop. Mrs. Leary, skillfully navigating the real estate market, acquired six properties in Edenton by 1881 in the "Cheapside" historic district. In 1893, Edenton and the "Cheapside" district, experienced a fire that destroyed all of Leary's investments. After the fire, Leary rebuilt 421-423-425 South Broad Street. This signature building in downtown Edenton still bears the mark "J.N. Leary 1894." Leary was overcome by cancer at the turn of the 20th century and the cost of medical care forced her to sell several of her properties. She died in 1923. Three of her properties were inherited by her daughter, Clara Ryan (born about 1875), but Leary's estaate was mired in debt and unpaid mortgages. Leary's daughter Clara, who is listed as "mulatto" in the 1920 U.S. Census and then Black in the 1930 census, married Noah Ryan.
