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Correspondence, mercantile records, account books, bills and receipts, and voting registration certificates of Hobbs, his son James Olin Hobbs, Jr., businessmen of Alleghany and Augusta counties, Va., and the Hobbs family. Subjects include economic conditions in western Virginia, 1835-1875, and conditions in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, during the early Reconstruction period.

Correspondence, accounts, manifests, and other papers, of James Redding Grist, his father, Allen Grist, and of other members of the family. Materials relate to the operation of a general store, trade with the West Indies, Richard Grist's export business in New Bern, N.C., J. R. Grist's turpentine business near Wilmington, N.C., and his efforts to revive his trade in naval stores after the Civil War. Includes taxation lists, ca. 1815-1816, for Beaufort Co., N.C. Correspondents include Henry Toole Clark. A bound volume, Allen Grist and Thomas Dickinson Ledger, contains entries relating to the operation of a North Carolina general store and an earlier similar operation in the West Indies. The first half of the volume comprises the Thomas Dickinson ledger from St. Eustatius, West Indies, 1780-1781, with entries documenting payments for rum, madeira, clothing for enslaved people, cheese, flour, twine, nails, brown sugar, needles, and other sundries. His relation, if any, to the Grists is not known. The second half of the volume comprises the ledger of Allen Grist of Washington, Beaufort County, NC, 1813-1816, with entries for food, spirits, building material, and other sundries. A few entries in each section record slave transactions: money lent for the purchase of enslaved people, money paid for their labor, or money received for the actual sale of enslaved people.

The subject files, correspondence, and published materials in the James R. Hawkins Papers span from ca.1961-1980, chiefly 1971-1975, and document Hawkins' role in civic life in Durham, North Carolina and provide evidence of the issues and concerns facing the citizens of Durham in the 1970s. The subject files retain Hawkins' original folder titles and alphabetical organization and provide an overview of the programs Hawkins was involved with as mayor as well as a view of the general issues Hawkins encountered while mayor of Durham. The correspondence series is arranged alphabetically and chiefly consists of letters to Hawkins from the citizens of Durham voicing their concerns over such civic issues as development, traffic safety, taxes, and various political issues. The correspondence also contains copies of Hawkins' responses to the letters he received from the citizens of Durham. This collection would be of value for scholars studying the recent history of the south or for those wishing to gain a clearer picture of the functioning of city government in the recent past. This collection is open to researchers and has received a minimal level of processing.