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Collection Number: 00516

Collection Title: Miscellaneous Letters, 1786-1982

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

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 under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 300 items)
Abstract The collection consists of single or very small groups of unrelated letters, many from the 19th century, to and from various persons, almost entirely white southerners, some of whom were prominent in the literary and political areas. Topics include family life; travels in North Carolina and other parts of the South; social life and customs; plantation life for enslaving families; slavery and trafficking of enslaved people through sales and hiring out in North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Alabama; local and national politics; the Civil War, both military action and the homefront in Louisiana, North Carolina (including blockading the coast and attacking Fort Fisher), Mississippi, and other parts of the South; the University of North Carolina; World War I; literature; and other topics. Among the correspondents are Abiel Abbott, Henry Ward Beecher, Alfred Holt Colquitt, Sherman Converse, Peter Early, Frank Porter Graham, Sam Houston, Washington Irving, Andrew Jackson, Laura Riding Jackson, North Carolina governor Samuel Johnston, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milledge, Margaret Mitchell, Wilson Cary Nicholas, North Carolina writer William S. Pearson, Isaac F. Shepard, Edward Stanly, Edward Telfair, Albion W. Tourgée, Martin Van Buren, Abraham Bedford Venable, and Daniel Webster.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.
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 Miscellaneous Letters #516, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received or purchased from various sources, circa 1950-2005.
Additional Descriptive Resources
Some individual letters are described more fully in paper finding aids filed with their corresponding units.
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Southern Historical Collection Staff, 1957-2005

Encoded by: Eben Lehman, March 2007

Updated by: Benjamin Bromley, 2009; Kathryn Michaelis, April 2011; Nancy Kaiser, December 2022

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

Conscious Editing updates by Nancy Kaiser, December 2022: abstract, subject headings, scope and content, and container list.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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expand/collapse 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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection consists of single or very small groups of unrelated letters, many from the 19th century, to and from various persons, almost entirely white southerners, some of whom were prominent in the literary and political areas. Topics include family life; travels in North Carolina and other parts of the South; social life and customs; plantation life for enslaving families; slavery and trafficking of enslaved people through sales and hiring out in North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Alabama; local and national politics; the Civil War, both military action and the homefront in Louisiana, North Carolina (including blockading the coast and attacking Fort Fisher), Mississippi, and other parts of the South; the University of North Carolina; World War I; literature; and other topics. Among the correspondents are Abiel Abbott, Henry Ward Beecher, Alfred Holt Colquitt, Sherman Converse, Peter Early, Frank Porter Graham, Sam Houston, Washington Irving, Andrew Jackson, Laura Riding Jackson, North Carolina governor Samuel Johnston, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Milledge, Margaret Mitchell, Wilson Cary Nicholas, North Carolina writer William S. Pearson, Isaac F. Shepard, Edward Stanly, Edward Telfair, Albion W. Tourgee, Martin Van Buren, Abraham Bedford Venable, and Daniel Webster.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Letters, 1786-1982.

About 300 items.

Arrangement: Folders 1-84 are in chronological order; beginning with folder 85, materials are filed in order as received.

Folder 1

Letter from James Jackson, Savannah, Ga., to unknown recipient, 1 June 1786

Letter from B. Dickson, Williamsburg, Va., to William Nelson, Richmond, Va., 3 April 1786

Letter from Daniel Morgan to David Allison, Falmouth, Va., 28 June 1786

Folder 2

Letter from Samuel Johnston, governor of North Carolina, to the public treasurer, 3 August 1788

Folder 3

Letter from Alexander Martin, Danbury, N.C., to Francis Child, 18 April 1790

Letter from Joseph Williams, Surry, to Francis Child, Fayetteville, N.C., 27 November 1790

Folder 4

Letter from Noble Wimberly Jones, Lambeth near Savannah, Ga., to Dr. George Jones, Savannah, 22 April 1797

Folder 5

Letter from John Steele, Hawkins Court House, Tenn., to Edward Carrington, Richmond, Va., 6 May 1798

Folder 6

Letter from Nathaniel Macon, Philadelphia, Pa., to William P. Little, Warrenton, N.C., 17 February 1800

Folder 7

Letter from Edward Telfair, Savannah, Ga., to Governor John Milledge, 1 February 1803

Topics include Telfair's belief that acceptance by the United States Senate of a treaty with the Creek peoples, which would result in a transfer of lands from the Creeks to the State of Georgia, would necessitate a session of the Georgia legislature.

Letter from Lieutenant J. Fergus, Fayetteville, N.C., to William Linnard, Philadelphia, Pa., 18 April 1803

Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Constant Freeman, Fort Johnson, S.C., to William Linnard, Philadelphia, Pa., 9 August 1803

Folder 8

Letter from Timothy Bloodworth, Wilmington, N.C., to Governor James Turner, Raleigh, N.C., 17 June 1805

Letter from J. Hawley, Fayetteville, N.C., to John E. Hawley, Bradalben, N.Y., 11 August 1805

Acquisition Information: Accession 91041

Chiefly about family news and the state of the nation.

Folder 9

Letter from Seaborn Jones, Princeton, N.J., to William Hart Jr., Mill Haven, Ga., 30 September 1806

Jones wrote to his cousin about young women in Augusta, Ga.

Folder 10

Letter from Thomas Goode, Philadelphia, Pa., to Samuel Johnston, Louisburg, N.C., 4 December 1807

Letter from Abraham Bedford Venable, Richmond, Va., to Wilson Cary Nicholas, Washington, D.C., 5 December 1807

Folder 11

Letter from Peter Early, Greene County, Ga., to John Milledge, 14 September 1808

Folder 12

Letter from William B. Sprague, Woodlawn Plantation, Mount Vernon, Va., to Reverend Abiel Abbot, 2 March 1816

Sprague described his trip through New York and Baltimore to Virginia; nearby Mount Vernon and its owner Bushrod Washington; Lawrence Lewis and Eleanor Parke Curtis Lewis and their family for which Sprague was a tutor; Washington and its society, especially John Randolph and Dolly Madison; and an earlier visit by Boston Unitarian minister Eucote and its effect on Dr. James Muir of Alexandria. He also discoursed at length on the state of enslaved people and the effect of slavery on Southern society and standards.

Folder 13

Letter from John Holloway, Williamson County, Tenn., to James Leigh, Durant's Neck, Perquimans County, N.C., 10 September 1817

Folder 14

Letter from Rev. Abiel Abbot, St. James Parish, S.C., to John Abbot, Brunswick, Maine, 15 December 1818

Letter includes description of the geography, crops, livestock, birds, wildlife, and discusses the possibility of acquiring an alligator for John Abbot's museum.

Folder 15

Letter from J. N. Saul, New Orleans, La., to Captain Tichener, Natchez, Miss., 15 May 1819

Letter from John Rodgers, Washington, D.C., to Charlotte Bullis, 20 January 1819

Letter from Rev. Artemas Boies, Wilmington, N.C., to Joseph Boies, Greeenwich, N.Y., 7 April 1819

Folder 16

Letter from Sam Houston to Maj. R. J. Eisler, 1 October 1820

Houston wished Eisler good luck on his journey to the East and assured Eisler of his enduring friendship.

Letter from Arnold Mallinchrod, Elberfeld, Germany, to Dr. Kenan, Sampson County, N.C., 5 October 1820

Mallinchrod inquired after old friends, especially Alex Martin, and gave news of himself, apparently after many years' absence.

Folder 17A

Letter from Robert Abbott, Richmond Va., to Edward A. Russell, Petersburg, Va., July 1821

Folder 17B

Letter from 16 April 1822, Andrew Jackson to Richard Keith Call.

Folder 18

Letter from Marcus Brutus Osborn, Plymouth, N.C., to Frances Smith, Petersburg, Va., 28 February 1823

Folder 19

Letter from Sarah G. Sawyer, Elizabeth City, N.C., to Samuel E. Foote, New York City, 9 April 1825

Letter from Ann M. Phelps, Fayetteville, N.C., to her cousin, Connecticut, 18 April [1825?]

Folder 20

Letter from Martin Shive, Cabarrus County, N.C., to Lewis Shive, York Borough, Pa., 3 June 1826

Letter from Samuel Randall, Montevallo, Shelby County, Ala., to John Turner, Colchester, Conn., 19 July 1826

Randall reported on the cost of enslaved labor in comparison to cotton, and how he might come to be the enslaver of a girl and boy because of a financial debt of their enslaver. He also described using a scythe to mow oats and grass, how the people fed their stock, his dairy, possibilities for speculation, property he hoped to buy, and hunting deer and turkey.

Folder 21

Letter from Augustus B. Longstreet, Augusta, Ga., to John Cumming, Savannah, Ga., 23 December 1829

Folder 22

Letter from Sarah G. Sawyer, Elizabeth City, N.C., to Samuel E. Foote, Cincinnati, Ohio, 18 January 1833

Sawyer expressed a desire to emigrate to a non-enslaving state as a consequence of the rebellion of enslaved people led by Nat Turner in 1831.

Letter from Robert Young Hayne, Charleston, S.C., Benjamin Silliman, New Haven, Conn., 7 June 1833

Folder 23

Letter from J. V. Grigg, Wayne County, Ind., to Charles Banner, Germanton, Stokes County, N.C., 30 September 1834

Folder 24

Letter from Thomas Bennett, Charleston, S.C., to Thomas Ustick Walter, Philadelphia, Pa., 3 February 1836

Letter from M. Bedford, Mount Hope, to unknown recipient, 18 February 1836

Folder 25

Letter from William T. Gould, August, Ga., to his wife, Litchfield, Conn., 11 July 1838

Letter from Mrs. Bossieux, Richmond, Va., to John M. Bossieux, Fayetteville, N.C., 19 July 1838

Letter from Mrs. Bossieux, Richmond, Va., to John M. Bossieux, Augusta, Ga., 8 September 1838

Folder 26

Letter from W. N. Todd, Fayette, Miss., to Elizabeth Todd, Carrolton, Carrol County, Ky., 4 February 1839

Folder 27

Letter from Leonard Perry, Baltimore, Md., to Thomas B. Evans, 1847

Letter from Richard Mentor Johnson, Sante Chamber, to an unspecified committee, 12 February 1840

Letter from James Erwin to Martin & Pepper, April 1957

Letter concerns ordering from merchants in Philadelphia.

Letter from Bluford R. Eddings, Rose Hill, Greene County, Va., to Charles T. Graves, Barboursville, Orange County, Va., 15 July 1840

Letter from A. M. Graham, Talladega, Ala., to John Were, Muddy Fork, Lincoln County, N.C., 18 November 1840

Vote count for Alex McCorkle, Jonas Bost, and Eli Hoyle, circa 1840

Folder 28

Letter from Susan Allibone to Lucy Byrd, 7 February 1841

Letter from Washington Irving, Tarrytown, N.Y., to Messrs. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia, Pa., 9 August 1841

Folder 29

Letter from Elizabeth Hemphill Jones Pope, Oak Grove, near Memphis, Tenn., to Maria Bush, Wilmington, Del., 28 February 1842

Letter from J. G. Warriner, Mobile, Ala., to Edward A. Greene, Providence, R.I., 13 March 1842

Letter from Anna M. Harrison, Canton, Miss., to Mrs. Stannard, Jackson, Miss., 24 July 1842

Letter from William L. Martin, Lebanon, Tenn., to Dr. Syd Smith, Spring Hill, Marengo County, Ala., 20 October 1842

Folder 30

Letter from Martin Van Buren, Kinderhook, N.Y., to Harmanus Bleecker, Albany, N.Y., 22 July 1843

Folder 31

Letter from Frederick Fitzgerald, Somerset Place, N.C., to Samuel Farmer Jarvis, Jr., Washington College, Hartford, Conn., January 1844

Fitzgerald commented on the plantation of Josiah Collins, one of the largest plantation owners and enslavers in the area of Edenton, N.C.

Letter from James S. Ward, Arkadelphia, Clark County, Ark., to Hon. John T. Jones, Helena, Ark., 30 May 1844

Letter from William Dedman, Rutherfordton, N.C., to Silvanus Dedman, Ruckersville, Ga., 8 August 1844

Letter from Junius Wheeler, Raleigh, N.C., to Sarah C. Southall, Columbus, Miss., 14 August 1844

Letter from John Christoph Bluch Ehringhous, Elizabeth City, N.C., to an unknown recipient, 10 October 1844

Letter from Matthais H. Welles, Mobile, Ala., to Charles and George Welles, 31 December 1844

Matthias H. Welles described his recent voyage to Cuba and his life in Mobile.

Folder 32

Letter from Matthias H. Welles, Mobile, Ala., to Charles and George Welles, 8 February 1845

Matthias H. Welles described his recent voyage to Cuba and his life in Mobile.

Letter from Lew W. Berry, Fredericksburg, Va., to Laurence Washington, Westmoreland County, Va., 1 July 1845

Letter from R. G. Lindsay, Asheville, N.C. to his wife, Greensboro, N.C., 22 July 1845

Letter from L. B. Weston[?], South Washington, New Hanover County, N.C., to Eunice E. Pitts, Augusta, Maine, 23 December 1845

Folder 33

Letter from Edward S. Bevin, Powhatan Court House, Va., to T. N. Loving, Holly Springs, Miss., 24 April 1846

Brown advised Loving that Miss Frank would neither refund money for raising George, a child of 12 or 13 years who was enslaved by Loving, nor travel with him to Mississippi. George had been under Frank's care until he was of age to be hired out. In Virginia, children younger than 10 could not be hired out for support and clothing. At the time of this letter, George had already been hired out for two years.

Folder 34

Letter from H. Felts, Wentworth, N.C., to Alexander Walker, Independence, Mo., 9 January 1847

Letter from G. W. Jones to B. W. Jones, Salem, Ala., 21 January 1847

G. W. Jones described the Battle of Moneterey, Mexico, 20-24 September 1846.

Letter from J. L. Lockhart, N.Y., to John Lockhart, Marion, Perry County, Ala., 23 April 1847

Letter from Elizabeth Taylor, Hayfield, Va., to J. P. Aylett, Montville, King William, Va., 4 May 1847

Letter from W. J. Bingham, Hillsboro, N.C., to Dr. Sydney Smith, Dayton, Ala., 1 July 1847

Letter from Senator Henry Johnson, Senate Chamber, to unknown recipient, 14 December 1847

Folder 35

Letter from Jacob F. Holland, Mobile, Ala., to Rev. Evan Roberts, Marengo County, Ala., 3 October 1848

Folder 36

Letter from John T. Jones, Helena, Ark., to Col. Robert H. McEwen, Nashville, Tenn., 18 January 1849

Photocopy of letter from William M. Boyce, Albemarle Sound, N.C., to Joseph Kingsbury, Sheshequin, Bradford County, Pa., 29 January 1849

This item not available as of 30 April 1991

Letter from Joseph S. Hartly, Arong, King and Queen County, Va., to Capt. C. H. Bonham, 15 May 1849

Photocopy of letter from John H. Robeson, Sandy Mush, Buncombe County, N.C., to James Lowry, Sandy Mush, Buncombe County, N.C., 5 December 1849

Robeson wrote to request permission to marry Harriet M. Cumming, the granddaughter of Lowry.

This item not available as of 30 April 1991

Folder 37

Letter from Anna, Milledgeville, Ga., to John Henry, Hayneville, Houston County, Ga., 9 March 1850

Letter from J. Gardiner, Friedensfeld, St. Croix, to Rev. Vogler, 12 April 1850

Letter from Robert C. Winthrop, Washington, D.C., to the secretary of the navy, 16 September 1850

Folder 38

Letter from J. M. Graeber, Salem, Va., to John Fautz, Gold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., 18 January 1851

Letter from Daniel Webster, Washington, D.C., to J. B. Gardiner, 25 January 1851

Folder 39

Letter from Alfred M. Whitsett, Monroeton, Rockingham County, N.C., to George M. Hayes, Thornhill, Grange County, Tenn., 7 October 1852

Includes a detailed description of the settlement of the estates of James Whitsett and Milton Whitsett. James Whitsett enslaved 20 people at the time of his death.

Letter from Washington Irving, Sunnyside, Irvington, N.Y., to George P. Putnam, 27 December 1852

Folder 40

Letter from Alfred M. Whitsett, Monroeton, Rockingham County, N.C., to George M. Hayes, Thornhill, Grange County, Tenn., 16 January 1853

Includes a detailed description of the settlement of the estates of James Whitsett and Milton Whitsett. James Whitsett enslaved 20 people at the time of his death. Most of the enslaved people had been trafficked by hiring out at the time.

Letter from George D. Baskerville, W. H. Edwards, and A. W. Venable, Warrenton, N.C., to unknown recipient, 17 April 1853

Folder 41

Letter from Charles Ward, Washington, to his mother, 17 May 1854

The letter recounts a recent visit to a plantation in Savannah where Ward's uncritical understanding of slavery was shaped by a conversation with an overseer. He also visited Bonadventure Cemetery in Savannah, met with former President Millard Fillmore, and went to Richmond.

Letter from Daniel Duffy, Salem, Va., to James H. Piper, Wytheville, Va., 21 August 1854

Duffy described attempts to reclaim an unnamed enslaved person who had self-emancipated by running away but had been apprehended and put in the jail at Fincastle. Duffy complained that Doc Grant would not release the enslaved person to him.

Letter from Thomas F. Keller, Tuscumbia, Ala., to Thomas Warren, New Orleans, La., 24 October 1854

Keller asked Warren to procure for him an Irish setter dog and have it sent by boat. He also commented on yellow fever in New Orleans and his belief that a cure could be found, politics, and family news.

Folder 42A

Letter from Sarah E. F. Womble, Caswell County, N.C., to John Womble, Richmond, Va., 5 January 1855

Letter from Carroll Spence, Constantinople, Turkey, to Mr. Baker, 26 March 1855

Spence, the United States minister to Turkey during the Crimean War, commented on the decline of English influence and the rise of French influence in Turkey, the Russian and English armies, and the impossibility of taking Sevastopol.

Folder 42B

Letter from R. Tillotson at New River, La., to his sister, 1855

Acquisitions Information: Accession 86146

The letter describes arriving at his Louisiana plantation during an outbreak of yellow fever, making sugar, and family news. He also reported on the religious practices of the people he enslaved, mentioning that Olivia and Louisa taught a Sabbath School for about 50 people aged 4 to 20 who were enslaved by the family and that the "professing" enslaved people held a prayer meeting every sabbath. He also wrote that they were without a preacher to guide them because abolitionists declined to send someone to preach to enslavers.

Folder 43

Letter from James Dorns, Dorns Mines, near Sleepy Creek, Ga., to J. Slocum, New York City, 6 April 1856

Dorns reported on copper and gold mining in Georgia and the new prospectors arriving daily.

Letter from Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn, N.Y., to John J. Foote[?], Hamilton, N.Y., 1 October 1856

Letter from J. Warren Hill, Anderson Court House, S.C., to his mother, Richmond, Va., 12 December 1856

Folder 44

Letter from Reuben Nason, Quitman, Clarke County, Miss., to his mother, [Maine?], 3 October 1857

Folder 45

Letter from A. Zachary, Jackson County, N.C., to his nieces, 1 July 1858

Zachary gave news of family, the corn crop, copper mining, a silver-gold lead mine, and other mines in which his brothers Woodford and Jonathan had an interest.

Letter from Reuben Nason, Quitman, Clarke County, Miss., to his mother, [Maine?], 3 October 1858

Includes reminsicences about his childhood and relationship with his mother, accounts of his day-to-day work, and his thoughts on the yellow fever epidemic in Mobile.

Folder 46

Letter from A. T. B. Merritt, New Orleans, La., to William H. E. Merritt, Lawrenceville, Va., 12 March 1859

A. T. B. Merritt reported to his brother that they had been swindled by an agent with regard to their family land and the enslaved people they claimed as property in Virginia.

Letter from R. P. Lunceford, Smithfield, Johnston County, N.C., to David Lunceford and sister Elizabeth, Fulton, Miss., 19 September 1859

Folder 47

Letter from Junius Wheeler, Murfreesboro, Tenn., to Sarah C. Southall, Columbus, Miss., 20 February 1860

Letter from Nannie V. Hale to her Cousin Rosa, 11 May 1860

Acquisition Information: Added November 1986

Hale described her experiences at boarding school in Jonesville, N.C. The letter mentions examinations, homesickness, outings, and relationships between boys and girls at the school.

Letter from T. C. Hanson, Pittsburg, Upshur County, Tex., to John W. and Harriet Hanson, 7 June 1860

Account of the 8 week journey from Georgia to Texas through Mississippi and Louisiana and the present news of the family settling in.

Letter from James Dorn, Dorns Mines, near Sleepy Creek, Ga., to J. Slocum, New York City, 17 June 1860

Dorns reported on copper and gold mining in Georgia.

Letter from R. P. Lunceford, Smithfield, Johnston County, N.C., to David Lunceford and his sister Elizabeth, Fulton, Miss., 21 October 1860

Letter from J. L. Seay of Boydsville, Tennessee, to the clerk of the county court of Barber County, N.C., 22 November 1860

Acquisitions Information: Added April 1991

Seay wrote concerning the property of Winney Watford Morris.

Letter from R. P. Lunceford, Smithfield, Johnston County, N.C., to David Lunceford and his sister Elizabeth, Fulton, Miss., 25 November 1860

Letter from D. W. Hilsabeck, Washburn, Woodford County, Ill., to his brother, 29 December 1860

Letter from R. P. Lunceford, Smithfield, Johnston County, N.C., to David Lunceford and his sister Elizabeth, Fulton, Miss., 31 December 1860

Folder 48

Letter from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Cambridge, Mass., to Mr. Wilhelm, Milwaukee, Wisc., 27 January 1863

Letter from Edmund Clarence Stedman in New York, to Edwin P. Whipple in Boston, 18 November 1863.

Acquisitions Information: Added April 1991

Stedman's letter thanks Whipple for his many kind comments about his poetry.

Folder 49

Letter from W. H. McRary and Co., Wilmington, N.C., to J. R. Hargrave, Wadesboro, N.C., 19 January 1864

Letter from Rebecca, Hillsboro, N.C., to her daughter, 9 March 1864

Letter from Philip, Thibodaux, La., to his friends, Philadelphia, Pa., 31 October 1864

Folder 50

Letter from Ellen Brown, Tuskegee, Ala., to her friends, 16 May 1865

Letter from Dr. William Caldwell Tate, Morganton, N.C., to Catherine Powe, 27 August 1865

Tate wrote to his daughter about local news and of his impoverished and desperate condition at that time.

Typed transcription of the letter and a brief biographical sketch are included.

Folder 51

Letter from Dr. William Caldwell Tate, Morganton, N.C., to Catherine Powe, 11 January 1866

Tate wrote to his daughter about local news and of his impoverished and desperate condition at that time.

Typed transcription of the letter and a brief biographical sketch are included.

Letter from Solomon Pool, Chapel Hill, N.C., to Sidney Hayden, Sayre, Pa., 27 January 1866

Pool, a former president of the University of North Carolina, urged Hayden to use his influence among Pennsylvania Masons in support of a proposed national Masonic university.

Letter from Kate [Mrs. Hiram H. Yale?], Richmond, Va., to Nellie E. Welles, Wethersfield, Conn., 19 May 1866

Includes description of Kate's impressions after attending services at a Black church with 2000 members.

Letter from Charles B. Yale, Richmond, Va., to Hiram H. Yale, Meriden, Conn., 20 June 1866

Typescript copy of letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass., to Robert W. Barnwell, 6 July 1866

Emerson expressed affectionate regard for his classmates at Harvard, 1817-1821.

This item not available as of 30 April 1991

Letter from Bayard Taylor, Kennett Square, Pa., to unknown recipient, 8 November 1868

Folder 52

Letter from Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber, Chelsea, Mass., to John William Orr, 10 May 1869

Letter from Salmon Portland Chase, Goldsboro, N.C., to Mr. H., 8 June 1869

Letter from M. I. Griffith, Cedar Falls, Iowa, to a niece, near Greenville, S.C., 6 August 1869

Griffith described the journey from Alexandria to Cedar Falls and compared Iowa with North Carolina and Virginia.

Folder 53

Letter from G. W. Quinan, Portersville, Tenn., to W. D. Knox, Davidson College, N.C., 13 October 1870

Letter mentions the cotton crop, land prices, emigration to Arkansas and Texas, a Masonic funeral, protracted meetings and camp meetings and misbehavior, a recent synod meeting at Porter, and a cotton cultivating tool he had recently invented.

Folder 54

Letter from Oliver Otis Howard, Howard University, Washington, D.C., to William Still, 29 February 1872

Letter commends Still on preparing a book on the Underground Railroad, which had been sent to Howard, a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army and Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Folder 55

Letter from unknown writer, Taylor Springs, Va., to unknown recipient, 10 August 1873

Fragment of a letter from a woman touring the Virginia resorts with "Jeanie," who was giving readings. She wrote of their success or lack of it in Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, and Georgia. She also mentioned meeting James Ryder Randall in Augusta.

Letter from Lyman C. Draper, Madison, Wis., to Hon. James Chesnut, Camden, S.C., 6 September 1873

Folder 56

Letter from John D. Pemberton, Wadesboro, N.C., to Miss Sallie, 3 September 1875

Folder 57

Letter from H. A. Lilly, Jacksonville, Fla., to Mrs. Billings, 5 March 1876

Letter is from perspective of a northern white woman who had gone south for her health and includes her commentary on and criticism of vegetation, roads, the labor of Black people, the price of oranges, root tea, the climate, her own health, and other topics.

Folder 58

Letter from 128 C. M. Cooke, Raleigh, N.C., to "My Dear General," 25 January 1879

Folder 59

Letter from H. Church to the Rev. Wm. H. Fremantle, 2 and 24 March 1882

Acquisitions Information: Added April 1991

Church discussed a book by Professor Goldwin Smith, which Fremantle had lent to him.

Letter from Porter Graves, Mebanville, N.C., to Jesse Franklin Graves, 1882

Letters describe daily life while a student at Bingham School.

Folder 60

Letter from J. G. Foster, Greensboro, N.C., to B. F. Hall, 8 November 1883

Letter concerns the possibilities of mining gold and copper profitably in the slate region of North Carolina and mining machinery.

Typed transcription of the letter is included.

Letter from H. W. Eno, Ocala, Fla., to Frank, 23 December 1883

The letter is written from the perspective of a white northern visitor to Ocala, with observations on the difficulty of travel by railroad, the activities of local population of Black people, the springs, orange groves, and other topics.

Folder 61

Letter from Belton O'Neall Townsend, Florence, S.C., to Francis Warrington Dawson, 10 May 1884

Folder 62

Letter from Jesse C. Green, West Chester, Pa., to Frederick H. Winston, 31 October 1885

Letter from Corydon C. Merriman to W. Martin Jones, 9 August 1885[?]

Folder 63

Letter from Alfred Holt Colquitt, Washington, D.C., to George M. Thornton, Flemington, N.J., 14 June 1886

Letter is in response to an invitation to lecture and concerns not taking a partisan stand in regard to Prohibition candidates in the temperance reform.

Folder 64

Letter from Albion W. Tourgee, Mayville, N.Y., to Joshua Nathaniel Steed, 30 April 1888

Letter from William Lawrence Scott, Washington, D.C., to B. H. Warren, West Chester, Pa., 2 May 1888

Folder 65-66

Folder 65

Folder 66

Letter from J. Wilder, Bristol, Tenn., and Virginia to Thomas H. Canfield, 8 November 1890 and 26 May 1895

Letters are written from the perspective of a white northerner who is critical of the South and southerners.

Folder 67

Letter from George A. Hough, Rutherfordton, N.C., to Capt. Caleb Witcher Watkins and others, 21 November 1896

Folder 68

Letter from Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, Mobile, Ala., to Samuel Spencer, 10 February 1897[?]

Folder 69

Letter from Jane E. Ward, London, England, to Margaret Ward, Raleigh, N.C., 30 July 1907

Folder 70

Letter from Gilbert Dalziel to Frank Redway dated 11 July 1912

Acquisitions Information: Added April 1991

Dalziel discussed two letters from W.S. Gilbert, which he was sending Redway, in which Gilbert talked about his "Bal Ballads."

Folder 71

Letter from Mary, Manatee County, Fla., to her friends, 30 December 1914

Folder 72

Letter from C. A. Brown of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of North Carolina to G. F. McAllister of Mt. Pleasant, N.C., 21 January 1918

The letter concerns the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod.

Letter from George Edward Woodberry, Berkeley, Cal., to Miss Crogland[?], 25 June 1918

Letter from Clark Griffith, Washington, D.C., to Frank Daniels, 3 July 1918

Folder 73

Letter from John Sharp Williams, Cedar Grove, near Yazoo City, Miss., to Cecil Johnson, University of Virginia, 14 December 1923

Williams declined to give an interview to Johnson but commented fully on what the Populist Party "stood for."

Typed transcription of letter is included.

Folder 74A-74B

Letter from Frederick Augustus III, to John Gotthold Kuntsmann, 29 May 1929 and 31 May 1930

Letters are in German.

Folder 75

Letter from Col. Harrison Howell Dodge, Mount Vernon, Va., to Margaret Busbee Shipp, 22 February 1933

Image P-516/1

Photograph of Harrison Howell Dodge at Mount Vernon, 1933

Folder 76

Letter from Col. Harrison Howell Dodge, Mount Vernon, Va., to Margaret Busbee Shipp, 16 September 1933

Letter from Thomas Dixon to Isaac M. Meekins, 12 November 1936

Folder 77

Letter from Margaret Mitchell, Atlanta, Ga., to Miss Martin, 17 February 1932

Folder 78

Letter from Laura Riding Jackson to G. Van Keuren, 1939

Folder 79

Letter from unknown writer to W. A. Abernathy, Shelby, N.C., 22 June 1939

Letter from Portia, Durham, N.C., to William E. Payne, Iowa City, Iowa, 24 September 1939

Portia, a Black woman, wrote to her sweetheart, who was studying physical education, about her daily life, her studies, and their mutual friends in Durham. She mentioned Hillside High School and North Carolina College for Negroes (later North Carolina Central University).

Folder 80

Letter from J. H. Simmons, Gainesville, Ga., to Dr. Charles Lee Smith, Raleigh, N.C., 20 October 1940

Folder 81

Letter from Wilbur Daniel Steele, Old Lyme, Conn., to Lester[?] Roberts, 21 March 1945

Letter from Marian Sims, Charlotte, N.C., to Lester[?] Roberts, 3 June 1947

Folder 82

Letter from John Taylor Manning[?], Chapel Hill, N.C., to Benjamin Warren Spaulding, Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C., 17 December 1963

Letter gives notice to Spaulding, a Black Civil Rights activist and student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, that he was forbidden from trespassing on the property of The Pines Restaurant under threat of legal action against him.

Folder 83

Letter from Chase Howard Webb, Silver City, N.M., to Alexander Lee Smoot, Greensboro, N.C., 23 January 1982

Folder 84

Letter from H. G. Leigh to cousin, no date

Folder 85

Letter from Archibald Henderson to Hilde and Alfred T. Brauer, 1 June 1942

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92119

Henderson, of the Mathematics Department at the University of North Carolina, wrote about Alfred Brauer's appointment in the department.

Letter from Archibald Henderson to Hilde and Alfred T. Brauer, 11 June 1942

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92119

Henderson, of the Mathematics Department at the University of North Carolina, wrote about Alfred Brauer's appointment in the department.

Letter from Archibald Henderson to Hilde and Alfred T. Brauer, 28 June 1947

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92119

Henderson, of the Mathematics Department at the University of North Carolina, wrote in response to birthday greetings from the Brauers.

Letter from Betty Smith to Hilde Brauer, undated

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92119

Smith wrote in regard to sale of a stoker.

Folder 86

Letter from William Herbert, Wilmington, N.C., to W. H. Hope, Williamsboro, N.C., 23 November 1888

Acquisitions Information: Added October 1992

Herbert wrote concerning a real estate deal.

Folder 87

Letter from George B. Hanna, the United States Assay Office in Charlotte, N.C., to Stephen B. Weeks, Trinity College, N.C., 20 October 1891

Acquisitions Information: Added October 1992

Hanna inquired about securing a copy of a book on western North Carolina.

Folder 88

Letter from Frank Porter Graham to Mary Brevard Howell, 1928

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92159

Graham wrote on general topics.

Postcards (3) from Frank Porter Graham to Mary Brevard Howell, 1951-1953

Acquisitions Information: Accession 92159

Graham wrote on general topics.

Folder 89

Photocopies of letters (2) of William E. Dunstan, apparently addressed to his son Fleetwood, 30 December 1926

Acquisitions Information: Accession 93017

Typed transcription of the letter is included.

William E. Dunstan was a realtor in Elizabeth City, N.C. The letter is about his father Edmund Fleetwood Dunstan (1814-1864).

Photocopy of letter from William E. Dunstan to his son Fleetwood, 10 January 1927

Acquisitions Information: Accession 93017

Typed transcription of the letter is included.

William E. Dunstan was a realtor in Elizabeth City, N.C. The letter is about his father Edmund Fleetwood Dunstan (1814-1864).

Folder 90

Letters (17) from John H. Smith in training at Camp Greene, Charlotte, N.C., to his mother, Annie Alice Smith, in Roxbury, Mass., and his aunt and uncle, Belinda and James Coughlin, in Ashfield, Mass., 1918

Acquisitions Information: Accession 93032

Smith discussed army camp life, including his regular attendance at Catholic masses; told of his introduction to trench digging and gas masks; and, occasionally, offered his opinions on life around Charlotte.

Folder 91

Photocopy of typed copy of letter from R. K. Call in Washington, D.C., to "Sir," 9 May 1824

Acquisitions Information: Accession 94020

The letter refutes charges against General Jackson.

Folder 92

Letters (5) and letter fragments from Confederate soldiers

Acquisitions Information: Accession 94074

The letters are all apparently related in some way to the Griswold family, at camps and hospitals in Georgia and Virginia, 1862-1864, and one 1889 letter from H. Griswold in Ravenna, Kan., about planting.

Folder 93

Letter and telegram to Samuel H. Wiley, 1886

Acquisitions Information: Accession 95087

Concerning land in Salisbury, N.C.

Folder 94

Letters (3) to Walter J. Norwood of Raleigh, N.C.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 95087

Letters are from politicians thanking him for his support.

Folder 95

Letter from [C. A.?] Carpenter in New Berlin, Pa., to James T. Green, physician of Strabane, N.C., 1840

Acquisitions Information: Accession 95087

The letter renews the friendship and describes life in Pennsylvania.

Folder 96

Letter from Joseph Johnson, Charleston, S.C., to Benson J. Lossing, New York

Acquisitions Information: Accession 97002

Johnson, a physician and author, wrote to Lossing, an historian, to discuss the oldest churches in South Carolina.

Folder 97

Letter to William Bland, Rutherford County, N.C., from his son and daughter-in-law, Gwinnett County, Ga., 17 December 1850

Acquisitions Information: Accession 97192

The letter discusses crop prices and family life.

Folder 98

Letter from U. J. Jones, Rocky Mount, N.C., to T. G. Spear, Philadelphia, Pa., 16 December 1841

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98171

The letter describes Jones's voyage to North Carolina and experiences in "the sunny South, the land of sweet potatoes, sand and turpentine." Jones was apparently in North Carolina with a theatrical company that played in Wilmington and New Bern and planned to play in Raleigh. Although he professed to like the manners and customs of the people, Jones complained of the high prices and referred to North Carolinians as "piney wood Hoosiers."

Folder 99

Letter from from Edward Stanly, New Bern, N.C., to U. H. Wheeler, Washington, N.C., 8 February 1863

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98477

Stanly was a native of New Bern who had practiced law in Washington, N.C., and had been a Whig member of Congress from North Carolina in 1837-1843 and 1849-1853 and of the North Carolina House of Commons in 1844-1849. He moved to California in 1853 and practiced law in San Francisco. Stanly was appointed Union military governor of North Carolina in 1862. This letter was written after Stanly had resigned as governor in January 1863. Stanly wrote to Wheeler that he had resigned because he had told people that the government would restore the property of loyal men and protect their Constitutional rights, but he did not believe that to be true after the Emancipation Proclamation. He also speculated about what kind of successor would be appointed and wrote about his hopes to see some of his friends in Washington after he was no longer governor.

Folder 100

Letter from William S. Pearson, Chapel Hill, N.C., 25 May 1868

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98665

Pearson was a student at the University of North Carolina. He wrote to request money to settle an outstanding tuition bill. He indicated that he had been experiencing financial difficulties and would not be able to receive his diploma at graduation the next week unless he received help. Pearson went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina and serve as a member of the University's Board of Trustees, 1905-1097. He published several books about North Carolina.

Folder 101

Letter from M. P. Robinson to his family, 28 September 1861

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98710

The letter describes his family's health, a recent revival meeting he attended, and his work. Included is a forwarded letter on the same paper, 3 July 1861, from Sallie Miller of Currituck County, N.C., describing her family's health, the raising of volunteers for the Civil War, and her hopes for peace.

Folder 102

Letter from Enoch Rust, Wilmington, N.C., to Messrs. William Walter and Co., 1 July 1811

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98763

The letter discusses his shipping business, including a planned trip to Cuba.

Folder 103

Letter from Joseph Boles, Raleigh, N.C., to Edwin Keiger, Kinston, N.C., 8 March 1863

Acquisitions Information: Accession 98932

The letter describes the inflated prices for food, horses, and other goods during the Civil War. Included is discussion of why Boles was not serving in the army; his plan to visit Keiger; and his faith. The letter also has a postscript describing food and other items sent to Keiger by Eliza.

Folder 104

Letter from Sallie, Charlotte, N.C., to her sister Pamela Bolling West, Frederick, Md., 7 August 1865

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99712

The letter primarily discusses the whereabouts and activities of family and friends. There is also a brief allusion to the Civil War. Sallie mentioned an ill Captain Pope who delivered "Pa's" letter; the refugees in Charlotte; and the relative quiet of the city, which received little news.

Folder 105

Letter from Sherman Converse, Tuckahoe, N.C., to William Flanders, Woburn, Mass., 12 December 1839

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99929

Converse, originally from Massachusetts, moved to North Carolina to teach school. He lived on the plantation of Colonel Cox and wrote about his impressions of plantation life and described the ways in which enslaved people waited upon him and other conditions of slavery. At the time of the letter, Cox enslaved 30 people. Converse mentioned another nearby plantation of Mr. Shines, who enslaved 75 people, and one of his students who was an enslaver by virtue of inheriting 30 people who had been claimed as property by an uncle now deceased.

Folder 106

Letter from Isaac F. Shepard (1816-1889) to Major T. S. Bowers, 18 August 1863

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99930

Shepard wrote from the Headquarters of the United States Colored Troops, Goodrich Landing. The letter is an intelligence report about the movements of the Confederate Army and its plans to enter Mississippi.

Folder 107

Commutation Receipt for Louis Clairmont, 30 December 1863

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99945

Receipt indicating that Clairmont paid 300 dollars to be discharged from the army draft in Wisconsin.

Letter from Charles Gard[iefe?] from Memphis, Tenn. (written by Benedict Gibson), to his sister "Mrs. Clarmont," wife of "Gov. Clarmont," 11 March 1863

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99945

Gard[iefe?] served in the United States Army during the Civil War and wrote about troop movements related to Vicksburg, Miss. He mentioned Wisconsin.

Letter from C. B. Culver of the United States Navy on the United States steamer Britannica of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, to his brother, 21 February 1864 and 20 January 1865

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99945

Culver wrote in detail about the movements of the ship in preparation for the blockade run, his job onboard the ship, and the attacks on Fort Fisher, N.C.

Folder 108

Letter from Sarah Holland to her uncle, K. K. Chapman, New Bern, N.C., 6 September 1934

Acquisitions Information: Accession 100010

The letter consoles Chapman on the recent death of Ease, probably his wife

Letters to Margaret Chapman, Chapel Hill, N.C., 18 November 1945-1948

Acquisitions Information: Accession 100010

Pauline, Washington, D.C., wrote about family, commented extensively on the poetry of a family member or close friend, and made references to Margaret working at the University of North Carolina. Other letters to Chapman concern friends planning to visit or move to Chapel Hill, N.C., Christmas cards from 1948, and a wedding photograph.

Folder 109

Letter from S. G. Husband to Thomas Scott, Bell Air, Md., 10 November 1831

Acquisitions Information: Accession 100098

S. G. Husband wrote Scott, an attorney, on behalf of her friend Tommy Brown, who was the enslaver of Rachel, who had been hired out to Husband's mother. Rachel was about to be sold to Mr. Bradford, who intended to emancipate her. Mary Brown, who was married to Tommy Brown, apparently supported this plan. According to Husband, this sale was ill-advised and was against the wishes of Tommy Brown. The letter is written on paper on which someone had previously written two poems.

Folder 110

Bill of sale for Hanah, an enslaved person (about 45 years) who was sold by Dorothy Hall of Onslow County, N.C., to William Hubbard of Duplin County, N.C., 19 November 1791

Acquisitions Information: Accession 100165

Dorothy Hall was the widow of William Hall.

The bill of sale also includes a note tracing the owner of the bill from Mr. Fray, Jefferson County, Ga., in 1887, to J. Brannen, Statesboro, Ga.

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