W. G. Curtis Papers, 1813-1913 (bulk 1875-1913).

Collection Number: 00200

Collection Title: W. G. Curtis Papers, 1813-1913 (bulk 1875-1913).

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 800 items)
Abstract	W. G. (Walter Gilman) Curtis was a native of Massachusetts, and a physician of Smithville, N.C., (now Southport) and Wilmington, N.C. The collection includes family correspondence and other records. The bulk, 1875-1913, consists of correspondence of Curtis and his third wife, Margaret Coit Curtis, including letters from her relatives in New Jersey and California; and letters from their children, including Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis (b. 1881), New Orleans architect. Other correspondence is that of the Johnson family of New Jersey, Margaret Coit Curtis's mother's family, 1813-1827; letters to Curtis from his first wife, Sarah Pratt Curtis, from Massachusetts, 1854-1860; letters from his second wife, Sarah Weeks Curtis, in New York, 1865-1866; and papers of Benjamin Billings Coit (1801-1866), New York City and San Francisco, Ca., physician. Volumes include scattered accounts and memoranda of W. G. Curtis and B. B. Coit; Curtis's notes of medical lectures at Harvard Medical School, 1849-1853; diary of Sarah Weeks Curtis, 1858-1860; records of a Smithville baseball club, 1867; records, 1871-1882, of Kendal and Lilliput, rice plantations in Brunswick County, N.C.; records of Curtis as state quarantine officer for the port of Wilmington, 1868-1895; and vestry records of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, Smithville, 1876-1904.
Creator	Curtis, W. G. (Walter Gilman), 1826-1908.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the Walter Gilman Curtis Papers, #200, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Received from N. Courtlandt Curtis, prior to 1940.

Additional Descriptive Resources: A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

W. G. (Walter Gilman) Curtis (died 1909) was a native of Massachusetts, and a physician of Smithville, N.C., (now Southport) and Wilmington, N.C. Curtis was educated at Dartmouth College and was married three times, first to Sarah C. Pratt, then Sarah T. Weeks, and finally in 1878 to Margaret J. Coit.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes family correspondence and other records. The bulk, 1875-1913, consists of correspondence of W. G. Curtis and his third wife, Margaret Coit Curtis, including letters from her relatives in New Jersey and California; and letters from their children, including Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis (b. 1881), New Orleans architect. Other correspondence is that of the Johnson family of New Jersey, Margaret Coit Curtis's mother's family, 1813-1827; letters to Curtis from his first wife, Sarah Pratt Curtis, from Massachusetts, 1854-1860; letters from his second wife, Sarah Weeks Curtis, in New York, 1865-1866; and papers of Benjamin Billings Coit (1801-1866), New York City and San Francisco, Ca., physician. Volumes include scattered accounts and memoranda of W. G. Curtis and B. B. Coit; Curtis's notes of medical lectures at Harvard Medical School, 1849-1853; diary of Sarah Weeks Curtis, 1858-1860; records of a Smithville baseball club, 1867; records, 1871-1882, of Kendal and Lilliput, rice plantations in Brunswick County, N.C.; records of Curtis as state quarantine officer for the port of Wilmington, 1868-1895; and vestry records of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, Smithville, 1876-1904.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Johnson Series, 1813-1827.
2. Pratt-Curtis Series, 1854-1860 and undated.
3. Weeks-Curtis Series, 1865-1866.
4. Coit Series, 1849-1868.
5. Walter Gilman Curtis-Margaret Coit Series, 1875-1913 and undated.
6. Volumes, 1854-1907 and undated.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Johnson Series, 1813-1827.

Family letters to William Johnson of New York, John Johnson of Newton, N.J., and Adelaide Johnson in Hunterdon County, N.J.

Folder 1a	Original finding aid
Folder 1	1813-1827

Expand/collapse Series 2. Pratt-Curtis Series, 1854-1860 and undated.

Includes letters of Sarah C. Pratt to W. G. Curtis before their marriage and afterward during periods of seperation.

Folder 2

1854-1860 and undated

Expand/collapse Series 3. Weeks-Curtis Series, 1865-1866.

Includes letters from Sarah T. Weeks to W. G. Curtis before and after their marriage.

Folder 3

1865-1866

Expand/collapse Series 4. Coit Series, 1849-1868.

Papers of the family of Margaret Johnson Coit before her marriage to Walter G. Curtis. These papers deal with the affairs of Benjamin Billings Coit and his son, Benjamin Howard Coit, in California and include scattered letters from Benjamin B. Coit to his wife in the East and other family letters. The business papers of Benjamin H. Coit relate to mining interests, at least partly in Arizona. They include letters from R. L. M. Camden in Philadelphia, Pa.; Joseph Roberts; James P. Bull; and R. H. Vance.

Folder 4	1849-1866
Folder 5	1867-1868

Expand/collapse Series 5. Walter Gilman Curtis-Margaret Coit Series, 1875-1913 and undated.

Series includes papers of W. G. Curtis and Margaret Coit before and after their marriage. Chiefly letters from W. G. Curtis to Margaret Coit Curtis during periods of seperation, letters from their children, and from various other relatives. There are also some scattered business, political, and civic papers of W. G. Curtis.

Folder 6-7 Folder 6 Folder 7	1875-1877
Folder 8-9 Folder 8 Folder 9	1878-1879
Folder 10	1880
Folder 11	1881-1884
Folder 12	1885
Folder 13	1886-1889
Folder 14	1890-1892, 1894-1899
Folder 15	1900-1909, 1913
Folder 16-17 Folder 16 Folder 17	Undated
Folder 18	Photograph of an unidentified man

Expand/collapse Series 6. Volumes, 1854-1907 and undated.

Volumes include scattered accounts and memoranda of W. G. Curtis and B. B. Coit; Curtis's notes of medical lectures at Harvard Medical School, 1849-1853; diary of Sarah Weeks Curtis, 1858-1860; records of a Smithville baseball club, 1867; records, 1871-1882, of Kendal and Lilliput, rice plantations in Brunswick County, N.C.; records of Curtis as state quarantine officer for the port of Wilmington, 1868-1895; and vestry records of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, Smithville, 1876-1904.

Folder 19	Volume 1: Medical notebook, W. G. Curtis Contains medical notes, quarantine reports, port of Wilmington, N.C., and prescriptions.
Folder 20	Volume 2: Medical notebook, W. G. Curtis Includes prescriptions and accounts, 1849-1853.
	Volume 3: Physicians record book, Benjamin Billings Coit, 1854
Folder 21	Volume 4: Lists, 1859
Folder 22	Volume 5: Journal, Sarah T. Weeks, 1858-1860
Folder 23	Volume 6-7: Miscellaneous notes, W. G. Curtis, 1854, 1857, 1858; Account book, W. G. Curtis, 1858-1870
Folder 24	Volume 8: Memoranda book, 1858-1868
	Volume 9: Notebook, W. G. Curtis, 1862-1868
	Volume 10: Miscellaneous notes and accounts, W. G. Curtis, 1869-1880
Folder 25	Volume 11: Record book, Brunswick Baseball Club, Smithville, N.C., 1867; Lilliput and Kendall plantations, 1871-1882
Folder 26	Volume 12: Record book, quarantine officer, Port of Wilmington, N.C., 1868-1895
Folder 27	Volume 13: Bank book, Margaret J. Coit, 1874
Folder 28	Volume 14: Physician's account book, W. G. Curtis, 1874-1896
Folder 29	Volume 15: Record book, St. Phillip's Church, Smithville, N.C., 1876-1904
Folder 30	Volume 16: Record book, groceries, 1906-1907

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Collection Number: 00200 Collection Title: W. G. Curtis Papers, 1813-1913 (bulk 1875-1913).