]
]
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; this collection was reprocessed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 18 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 12,200 items) |
| Abstract | The Moore and Gatling Law Firm of Raleigh, N.C., a law partnership between B.F. (Bartholomew Figures) Moore (1801-1878) and his son-in-law John Thomas Gatling (1840-1888), was established in 1871. Just prior to Moore's death in November 1878, Gatling went into practice with Henry A. Gilliam, with whom he partnered until roughly 1883, when he then joined with Spier Whitaker in a partnership that appears to have ended in 1886. The collection documents the Moore and Gatling Law Firm, as well as Moore's legal practice before the firm was established in 1871 and Gatling's later partnerships with Henry A. Gilliam and Spier Whitaker. The collection chiefly concerns legal and financial affairs, politics, and family life of the Reconstruction era, but also includes antebellum materials documenting these topics, as well as slavery and the Civil War. Legal materials consist of deeds, agreements, proceedings, statewide correspondence with clients; they chiefly document estate settlement, marriage, bankruptcy and financial losses for slave-owning families during the Reconstruction era, property transactions, labor agreements, and other routine legal matters. Financial materials include bills, receipts, and account books, and chiefly concern the Moore and Gatling law firm; personal finances; farm expenses; and labor, including slave labor and the buying and selling of enslaved people. There are also personal papers of Moore and Gatling that document political views before, during, and after the Civil War; business partnerships; farm operations, especially marketing of cotton crops; and family and social news. Of note are letters from Civil War soldiers and accounts of the battles of Manassas and Fort Fisher and of skirmishes on the Neuse River; Gatling's service as assistant quartermaster with the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment and letters to him from friends in the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment; account books of North Carolina Confederate supply officers; typed transcriptions of letters, 1866, exchanged by Moore and North Carolina Governor W.W. Holden regarding an 1863 discussion they had with Governor Zebulon Baird Vance on their differing views of unionism; original letters and typescripts of correspondence between Moore and Kenneth Rayner that provide detailed descriptions of their roles and responsibilities in the surrender of Raleigh, N.C., to General Sherman in 1865, and an account of the surrender and its immediate aftermath; and documents relating to the Kirk-Holden War. Other topics include the lives of African Americans, as documented where enslaved and free people appear in legal and financial documents such as wills, labor agreements, and court materials, and in personal correspondence that discusses business dealings, crimes, and perceptions of work and religious habits; an 1855 dispute over teacher salaries in Hyde County, N.C.; railroads, especially regarding Gatling's role as receiver for the Midland North Carolina Railway Company and the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company; and to the planning and construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C., in the 1880s. The collection includes three photographs, circa 1875, of Moore family members. |
| Creator | Moore and Gatling Law Firm (Raleigh, N.C.) |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2009; Kiley Orchard and Jessica Mlotkowski, January 2010
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.
This collection was reprocessed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.
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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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Historical Information
Moore and Gatling Law Firm of Raleigh, N.C., was a law partnership between B.F. (Bartholomew Figures) Moore (1801-1878) and his son-in-law John Thomas Gatling (1840-1888), established in 1871. Just prior to Moore's death in November 1878, Gatling went into practice with Henry A. Gilliam, with whom he partnered until roughly 1883, when he then joined with Spier Whitaker in a partnership that appears to have ended in 1886.
B.F. Moore, known as the "father of the bar in North Carolina," was born in Halifax County, N.C., the son of James Moore (1765-1851) and Sally Lowe. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1820 and began practicing law in 1823. Moore moved to Raleigh in 1848 and became attorney general of North Carolina, where he served until 1851. As the Civil War approached, Moore, a staunch anti-secessionist, made his views regarding secession widely known, publishing opinion pieces and letters in newspapers and other publications. At the war's end, Moore met with President Andrew Johnson to discuss Reconstruction. He believed Reconstruction was unconstitutional and instead lobbied for the state's right to repeal its secession ordinance through its existing conventions and once again restore its relationship with the federal government. After the war, Moore practiced law mainly in the federal courts.
In 1828, Moore married Louisa Boddie (d. 1829), daughter of George Boddie and Lucy Williams, but was widowed the following year. Six years later, he married Louisa's sister, Lucy Williams Boddie (1816-1887), and with her had eleven children: Mary Louisa (1836-1843); Bartholomew Figures Jr. (1838-1890); Lucy Catherine (1839-1908); George Boddie (1841-1895); Sarah Louisa (1844-1891); Annie Maria (1845-1915); James (1848-1849); Ellen Douglas (1850-1923); Ben Malton (1853-1913); Van Boddie (1855-1917); and James (1858-1938).
John Thomas Gatling was born in 1840 in Sunbury, Gates County, N.C. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1859. Gatling enlisted in the Confederate army at age 22 and served as assistant quartermaster in the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment. In 1869, he married Sarah Louisa "Sallie" Moore, the daughter of B.F. Moore.
In addition to his legal practice, Gatling was a farmer and maintained partnerships with several men who cultivated his land, including Lafayette W. Bynum, Ned ("Ed") Gatling, Elbert Gatling, George Gatling, Percy Hunter, Robert W. Seawell, James H. "Jimmie" Seawell, and Wade Seawell. He also served as receiver for both the Midland North Carolina Railway Company and the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company and was involved in the construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C. He was elected Representative to the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina in 1868.
John Thomas Gatling died in 1888.
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Scope and Content
The collection documents the Moore and Gatling Law Firm of B.F. (Bartholomew Figures) Moore (1801-1878) and John Thomas Gatling (1840-1888) in Raleigh, N.C., as well as Moore's legal practice before the firm was established in 1871, and Gatling's later partnerships with Henry A. Gilliam, beginning in 1878 and continuing until roughly 1883, and with Spier Whitaker, beginning in 1883 and continuing until roughly 1886.
The collection chiefly concerns legal and financial affairs, politics, and family life of the Reconstruction era, but also includes antebellum materials documenting these topics, as well as slavery and the Civil War. The legal materials consist of deeds, agreements, proceedings, statewide correspondence with clients, and chiefly document estate settlement, marriage, bankruptcy, property transactions, labor agreements, and other routine legal matters. Financial materials include bills, receipts, and account books, and chiefly concern the Moore and Gatling law firm; personal finances; farm expenses; and labor, including slave labor and the buying and selling of enslaved people.
There are also personal papers of Moore and Gatling that document political views before, during, and after the Civil War; personal finances, such as banking, tuition, insurance, general goods, business partnerships, and farm operations, especially marketing of cotton crops; and family and social news. Of note are Civil War and Reconstruction materials include letters describing the transition from civilian to soldier life in the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment camp; accounts of the battles of Manassass and Fort Fisher and of skirmishes along the Neuse River; account books of North Carolina Confederate supply officers; transcriptions of letters, 1866, exchanged by Moore and North Carolina Governor W.W. Holden regarding an 1863 discussion they had with Governor Zebulon Baird Vance on their differing views of unionism; original letters and transcriptions of correspondence between Moore and Kenneth Rayner that provide detailed descriptions of their roles and responsibilities in the surrender of Raleigh, N.C., to General Sherman in 1865, and an account of the surrender and its immediate aftermath; and documents relating to the Kirk-Holden War.
Other topics include the lives of African Americans, as documented where enslaved and free people appear in legal and financial materials such as wills, deeds of sale, marriage settlements, labor agreements, court cases, and account books, and in personal correspondence that discusses business dealings, crimes, and perceptions of work and religious habits; an 1855 dispute over teacher salaries in Hyde County, N.C.; railroads, especially the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, Danville Railroad, Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Midland North Carolina Railway, and Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, the latter two of which Gatling served as receiver; and to the planning and construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C., 1880s.
North Carolina counties represented include Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Gates, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Wake, and Warren, and material is from Courts of Equity, Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Supreme Courts of Law, Superior Courts of Law, and Criminal Courts. Legal documents are comprised of both handwritten copies and originals, and many have been recorded in the Registrar's Offices of their respective counties.
Correspondents in the collection include Zebulon Baird Vance, W.W. Holden, Kemp P. Battle, John Manning, Marcus Wright, W.S. Saunders, Sam Johnston, Peter Hairston, F.M. Simmons, John Steele Henderson, E.W. Pou, Julian Shakespeare Carr, Thomas J. Jarvis, Clement Dowd, F.S. Phillips, David Miller Carter, Paul Carrington Cameron, Thomas Ruffin, Walter Clark, B.S. Hedrick, Edward Conigland, Ovide Dupre, Thomas Bragg, F.M. Simmons, and George W. Mordecai. There is a considerable amount of family correspondence, including letters to John Gatling while he attended college at the University of North Carolina; letters from his wife, Sallie Gatling; and letters to B.F. Moore from sons Ben Moore, while he attended school at Trinity College (now Duke University), and George Moore, while he convalesced at an alcohol treatment facility in New York.
The collection includes three photographs, circa 1875, of Moore family members.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence and other legal papers, 1788-1921.
Arrangement: chronological.
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Subseries 1.1. 1788-1860.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly legal documents, including land deeds; indentures; wills from both small and large plantations; writs, some of arrest; summonses; deeds of trust; bonds; vouchers; orders to pay; promissory notes; deeds of sale; complaints; bills of exchange; orders of sale; adversary proceedings; estate records; court minutes; payment receipts; transcripts of court proceedings; notes about various legal subjects; marriage settlements; proofs of debt; legal briefs; insurance policies; probate records; pleadings; rental agreements; and letters regarding various legal matters. The legal materials chiefly concern estate, marriage, and property transactions and other routine legal matters, but other topics include an 1855 dispute over teacher salaries in Hyde County, N.C. (see also Series 3. Bills and Receipts); canal construction; railroads; and the lives of African Americans, as documented where enslaved and free people appear in wills, deeds of sale, indentures, labor agreements, and marriage settlements, and in materials relating to a Halifax County, N.C., runaway slave case and in personal correspondence that discusses business dealings, a church service, and a Gates County, N.C., rape case.
North Carolina counties represented include Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Gates, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Wake, and Warren. Legal documents are both originals and handwritten copies, and many have been recorded in the Registrar's Offices of their respective counties. Legal documents reference the Courts of Equity, Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Supreme Courts of Law, Superior Courts of Law, and Criminal Courts.
Also included are personal letters to John Gatling while he is in college at the University of North Carolina and shortly after, regarding possible teaching positions, social and family news, morals and Christianity, women and relationships, and Gatling's desire to go to New Orleans or Mississippi. The letters are chiefly from his brother, J. R. Gatling, and his friend, Henry A. Skinner, but other family members and friends are also represented.
| Folder 1a |
Original finding aid |
| Folder 1 |
1788-1829 |
| Folder 2 |
1830-1839Includes Halifax County Supreme Court of Law case, 1836, regarding Alfred W. Moore's complaint that Clinton Beckwith knowingly "harbored and maintained" a runaway slave belonging to Moore. Also includes a record of Robert A. Jones' purchase of one thousand acres of land formerly occupied by the Tuskarosa tribe. |
| Folder 3 |
1840-1848 |
| Folder 4 |
1850-1852 |
Folder 5-6
Folder 5Folder 6 |
1853Includes an agreement between "persons of color" and Joseph Powell that details an arrangement made for land cultivation. |
Folder 7-8
Folder 7Folder 8 |
1854 |
| Folder 9 |
1855Includes a contract related to canal construction; student and teacher records related to the teacher salary dispute between Hyde County, N.C., and the North Carolina School Committee; and a letter from a secret society, possibly the Freemasons, that describes a package of Degree Books sent to the letter recipient and outlines a pledge. |
| Folder 10 |
1856Includes an indenture with a slave list. |
| Folder 11 |
1857 |
| Folder 12 |
1858Includes a letter that comments on the morals of both the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia, and mentions the results of a rape case in Gates County, N.C., in which an African American man was condemned to death by hanging. |
| Folder 13 |
1859Includes an engineer's report for the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal Company, discussing an examination of waterways and a possible canal channel. Two letters to John Gatling are also of note: one in which his brother J.R. Gatling discussed hiring an overseer for his slaves, selling slaves to cover his debt, and transporting slaves over state lines before estates are settled; and the second in which Henry A. Skinner, a minister, described a church service he led in Hertford, N.C., for "an interesting and interested large congregation of negroes." |
| Folder 14 |
1850s (undated)Includes a list of slaves and their children with the mention of one slave sale; a legal opinion regarding the division of slaves and land to descendents; and a dressmaker's ledger, 1846-1855. |
| Folder 15 |
1860Includes a letter to John Gatling from J.R. Gatling in Mississippi that recounts the murder of a farmhand by other farmhands. |
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Subseries 1.2. 1861-1867.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly legal documents, including land deeds; writs, some of arrest; summonses; marriage contracts; wills; promissory notes; proofs of debt; powers of attorney; estate settlements; abstracts of wills; court minutes and findings; deeds related to guardianship; bonds; ex parte proceedings; deeds of trust; complaints; pleas; case notes; bills of sale; depositions; contracts; and correspondence regarding routine legal matters, the sale of a library, bankruptcy, and politics. The legal materials chiefly concern estate, marriage, bankruptcy, and property transactions and other routine legal matters, but other topics include railroads; the lives of African Americans as documented in wills, materials relating to the Gorgas Mining and Manufacturing Company, and in personal correspondence about education; real estate, especially the Battle, Heck, & Company; and spousal abuse.
There are some personal papers that relate to the Civil War, including a few letters to John Gatling from soldiers with the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment camp and accounts of the battles of Manassas and Fort Fisher; a letter from J.K. Marshall, Colonel of the 52nd North Carolina Troops to Brigadier General Cligman detailing his orders and providing a detailed summary of his involvement in the skirmishes along the Neuse River; correspondence between B.F. Moore and Governor W.W. Holden, regarding a conversation the two of them had with Governor Vance in 1863 about their differing views on unionism; and original letters and transcriptions of correspondence between B.F. Moore and Kenneth Rayner, providing detailed descriptions of their roles and responsibilities in the surrender of Raleigh, N.C., to General Sherman in 1865, as well as an account of the surrender and its immediate aftermath.
Other personal papers include several letters written to George W. Mordecai, regarding subjects such as the sale of wine to pay debts, the consolidation of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Company with the Chicago and North Western Railway Company, the Bank of Cape Fear, social news and legal requests from his niece Ellen Shutt, and a plague in Wrightsville, N.C.
| Folder 16 |
1861Includes personal letters to Gatling from friends in the 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment camp regarding the transition from civilian to soldier life and an account of the battle of Manassas, near Manassas Junction, Va. |
| Folder 17 |
1862Includes the will of Hugh Johnston Davis, who gave all his slaves to his brother Peter, except for a man named Daniel, who, for his loyalty, was given a silver watch and was permitted to choose his master or mistress and continue to do so if he or she passed away. Also includes documents to certify the destruction of cotton for the purpose of war; a letter from J.K. Marshall, colonel of the 52nd North Carolina Troops to Brigadier General Cligman detailing his orders and providing a detailed summary of his involvement in the skirmishes along the Neuse River, and a letter with John Gatling's appointment as assistant quartermaster, 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment. |
| Folder 18 |
1863 |
| Folder 19 |
1864-1865Includes part of a letter from a soldier near Petersburg, Va., to his wife; Gorgas Mining and Manufacturing Company documents showing the hire of African American men and the pay they received; an account of the management of a property during and after Sherman's raid in Raleigh; an account of the Battle of Fort Fisher; and correspondence of B.F. Moore regarding Sherman's raid, the state of the war, and land survey information. |
| Folder 20 |
1866Includes a letter from Thomas Atkinson regarding John Gatling's request for a teacher to instruct African Americans; a woman's complaint that her husband violently assaulted her with a weapon and continues to threaten her life, as well as a writ for her husband's arrest; a pamphlet from General Lane's School for Boys in Concord, N.C.; and correspondence between B.F. Moore and Governor W.W. Holden, regarding a conversation the two of them had with Governor Vance in 1863 about their differing views on unionism. |
Folder 21-23
Folder 21Folder 22Folder 23 |
1867Contains original letters and transcriptions of correspondence between B.F. Moore and Kenneth Rayner, providing detailed descriptions of their roles and responsibilities in the surrender of Raleigh, N.C., to General Sherman in 1865, as well as an account of the surrender and its immediate aftermath; and a newspaper clipping on unionism written by B.F. Moore. |
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Subseries 1.3. 1868-1921.
Arrangement: chronological.
Legal documents include deeds; bills of sale; leases; land surveys; liens; mortgages; judgments; property sales; powers of attorney; petitions and adjudications of bankruptcy; summonses for relief; wills; matters of guardianship; writs; private examinations of married women; case summaries; dockets; executions against property; ex parte proceedings; agreements; promissory notes; petitions for partition; bills of cost; contracts; court opinions, briefs, minutes, proceedings, appeals, and transcripts; complaints; affidavits; depositions; insurance company policies; creditors' petitions; subpoenas; commissioners' reports; and warrants. Legal materials chiefly concern court cases relating to land matters, bonds, loans, financial transactions, and contracts, but other topics include materials that document the Kirk-Holden War, a series of conflicts, including the arrest of Josiah Turner Jr., that eventually that led to North Carolina Governor W.W. Holden's impeachment; financial losses for slaveowning families during the Reconstruction era; the planning and construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C. (see also Series 3); prohibition; the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal Company; and railroads, especially the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, Danville Railroad, Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Midland North Carolina Railway, and Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, the latter two of which Gatling served as receiver. The majority of the legal documents are directly related to residents of North Carolina, though Moore, Gatling, and Gilliam also had legal dealings in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, New Hampshire, Virginia, Alabama, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
Also included are personal papers of both Moore and Gatling; most are letters to Gatling from his wife Sallie Gatling, and siblings, particularly his brothers Ned ("Ed") Gatling and George Gatling, his brother-in-law Lafayette W. Bynum from Sunbury, N.C., and Elbert Gatling, and discuss social and family news; the Homestead Act; North Carolina and national politics; farm and plantation management, including the payment of both white and African American farmhands; agriculture; and the marketing and selling of crops, especially cotton. Other letters that provide insight into Gatling's relationship with his farm managers are from his cousins, Robert W. Seawell, James H. "Jimmie" Seawell, and Wade Seawell. Other personal papers of Gatling include letters from various merchants, chiefly the Elliott Brothers and Jos. W. Jenkins & Co., both of Baltimore, Md., and regard hay, guano, fertilizer, and cotton; copies of letters from Gatling to various merchants; inquiries directed to Gatling regarding teaching positions and opportunities for work in law firms, including his own; treasurer's notices from Christ Church; and personal receipts and letters related to farm use, Cowper family monuments, Gatling's hire of a nanny, his nephew's expenses while attending the University of North Carolina, and dental visits. Notable correspondents of Gatling include W.W. Holden, 1877-1882; Zebulon Baird Vance, 1878-1883; Kemp Battle, 1879-1887; John Steele Henderson, 1881-1883; and Clement Dowd, E.W. Pou, Julian Shakespeare Carr, John Manning, and F.M. Simmons, all in 1883 and 1884.
Personal letters to B.F. Moore include letters from sons Ben Moore, while he attended school at Trinity College (now Duke University), and George Moore, while he convalesced at an alcohol treatment facility in New York. There also are letters to George Mordecai regarding railroad stock and letters from his niece Ellen Shutt regarding social and financial matters and letters to Henry Gilliam from his son at the University of North Carolina. Letters to various recipients express interest in and opinions about African American religious and work habits, social customs, and political concerns.
Folder 24-25
Folder 24Folder 25 |
1868Includes Kirk-Holden War materials |
Folder 26-28
Folder 26Folder 27Folder 28 |
1869Includes Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal Company materials. |
| Folder 29 |
1860s: undatedIncludes legal briefs and other documents pertaining to Confederate bonds and post war bankruptcies and debts of estate of land and slaves. One brief documents a slave-owning family's decisions over the course of three generations to sell slaves further south as a consequence for crimes [the slaves] committed and the family's discussions about emancipation. |
Folder 30-32
Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32 |
1870Includes a letter in which the writer discussed the religious and work habits of his African American hired hands; documents regarding the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company and the North Carolina Rail Road Company; and a complaint stating that Josiah Turner Jr. was falsely imprisoned during the Kirk-Holden War. |
Folder 33-44
Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35Folder 36Folder 37Folder 38Folder 39Folder 40Folder 41Folder 42Folder 43Folder 44 |
1871Includes a statement by Governor W.W. Holden on the imprisonment of Josiah Turner Jr. and related materials; a letter (January) from Ben Moore, in which he described his disapproval of a Christmas party attended by both African Americans and whites; letters to Mrs. Mordecai, some in regard to the guardianship of Ellen Shutt and one that states there is a note against her husband for "whipping slaves and pursuing stolen property"; a letter (August) to Gatling that recalls the murder of an African American man in Texas; and letters from and about George Moore at the New York State Inebriate Asylum, an alcoholism treatment facility. |
Folder 45-56
Folder 45Folder 46Folder 47Folder 48Folder 49Folder 50Folder 51Folder 52Folder 53Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
1872Includes materials relating to Josiah Turner Jr. case (March); an assessment of Christ Church; a mortgage deed from Hannah Yarborough, conveying to B.F. Moore all her rights, titles, and interest in the Yarborough House Hotel and lot on Fayetteville Street. |
Folder 57-69
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59Folder 60Folder 61Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69 |
1873Includes a document regarding Reverend J.V. McNamara's desire to maintain guardianship over children whose parents were alleged "drunkards and blasphemers"; a letter fragment discussing Republican politics and the registration of voters in relation to the Greeley and Brown ticket; and a letter (August) to John Gatling regarding interest the author owns on certain slaves, the previous use of slaves as payment, and inquiring when slaves ceased to be property. |
Folder 70-84
Folder 70Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74Folder 75Folder 76Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79Folder 80Folder 81Folder 82Folder 83Folder 84 |
1874Includes a letter (August) from William H. Allen, the Democratic Party candidate for County Register, regarding the rights and election result implications of "cut-off" voters in Franklinton, N.C., and the will (December) of Catherine A. Edmonston, in which she gave Owen and Dolly Richardson, an African American couple, one acre of land and a house, as well as 200 pounds of pork and two barrels of corn jointly, and ten dollars each to be given to them every year. |
Folder 85-96
Folder 85Folder 86Folder 87Folder 88Folder 89Folder 90Folder 91Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94Folder 95Folder 96 |
1875Includes letters discussing Republican Party politics, the significance of the African American vote in up-coming elections, opposition to the Radical party politics, and the North Carolina constitutional convention. Also of note is a letter from Thomas N. Hill addressing the death of Governor William Alexander Graham and racial tensions surrounding Reconstruction politics; a letter from E.W. Ferguson regarding an African American man who sought and received an African American jury and magistrate; and a letter from James Farmessy of Framingham, [Mass.?], declining to purchase bank stock, despite Raleigh's reputation as a "'smarter' place than many other Southern Cities." There are also materials pertaining to B.F. Moore's involvement in the Bank of North Carolina bankruptcy case; a letter from Ben Moore to John Gatling concerning their partnership in a dairy farm; letters from George Gatling concerning his move to Texas; and various social correspondence discussing an influenza outbreak and subsequent deaths. |
Folder 97-108
Folder 97Folder 98Folder 99Folder 100Folder 101Folder 102Folder 103Folder 104Folder 105Folder 106Folder 107Folder 108 |
1876Includes an argument (January) for the defendant in James Manly v. Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company , in which a train accidentally ran over an African American girl sleeping on the tracks, and the deposition (May) of W.B. Burgess regarding how much influence his brothers-in-law had over their late father's will, in which he left his youngest daughter only five dollars because she married against his wishes. |
Folder 109-119
Folder 109Folder 110Folder 111Folder 112Folder 113Folder 114Folder 115Folder 116Folder 117Folder 118Folder 119 |
1877Includes a letter (April) asking John Gatling to fund a prohibition campaign, and lawyers notes and legal briefs related to the railway accident and subsequent death of Edward Conigland. |
Folder 120-130
Folder 120Folder 121Folder 122Folder 123Folder 124Folder 125Folder 126Folder 127Folder 128Folder 129Folder 130 |
1878Includes a letter to John Gatling regarding the previous business dealings of Oliver H. Odom, some of which included trading slaves for corn and fish; the Announcement of the University of North Carolina that lists faculty, course information, start dates, and expenses; and a letter (December) regarding a University of North Carolina scholarship funded by B.F. Moore. |
Folder 131-143
Folder 131Folder 132Folder 133Folder 134Folder 135Folder 136Folder 137Folder 138Folder 139Folder 140Folder 141Folder 142Folder 143 |
1879Includes a business agreement (January) between John Gatling and James "Jimmie" Seawell; a letter from W.W. Holden to Gatling asserting that the proceeding of the Turner-Holden case was a "burlesque of justice," and that the Ku Klux Klan controlled the state; letters (April) to Thomas "Jeff" Roberson (Robinson) regarding financial matters of The Observer (Raleigh, N.C.); a letter (November) to B.F. Moore from Kenneth Rayner regarding the surrender of Raleigh in 1865; and materials related to the planning and construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C. |
Folder 144-146
Folder 144Folder 145Folder 146 |
1870s (undated)Includes briefs related to estates, inheritances, and bankruptcies during Reconstruction; letters from other lawyers to John Gatling; court dockets; legal documents pertaining to cases against Jenkins and Co. involving cotton and land disputes; and letters to John Gatling concerning his agricultural enterprises. Folder 144 includes a legal brief regarding Charles Dewey and the Trustees of the University of North Carolina concerning matters of bankruptcy and public land ownership and a complaint by a renter of Primrose House detailing its pillaging by Sherman's army and its use as a brothel following the war. Folder 145 includes a legal agreement between John Gatling and George Gatling concerning the fair distribution of crops and rules for use of John Gatling's land, and a woman's testimony of the alleged rape of another young, unmarried woman. Folder 146 includes divorce proceedings that detail a husband's accusation that his wife abused their children, rather than the young slave girl who previously had been sold away for this crime; petitions of farmers of Enfield, N.C., in opposition to the construction site for a warehouse owned by the Wilmington Railroad Company; and brief correspondence between Thomas Bragg and R. G. Seuis regarding business with B.F. Moore. |
Folder 147-163
Folder 147Folder 148Folder 149Folder 150Folder 151Folder 152Folder 153Folder 154Folder 155Folder 156Folder 157Folder 158Folder 159Folder 160Folder 161Folder 162Folder 163 |
1880Includes documents relating to the Raleigh News Company; a July letter to Henry Gilliam about the "petition for the pardon of a colored convict"; and documents relating to the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C. |
Folder 164-177
Folder 164Folder 165Folder 166Folder 167Folder 168Folder 169Folder 170Folder 171Folder 172Folder 173Folder 174Folder 175Folder 176Folder 177 |
1881Includes material related to Holt v. Roberts , in which five men described the promiscuous nature of May B. Holt and their physical relationships with her; letters regarding the construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C., including the possible housing and dining arrangements for African American workers, and letters from various employees of the company; and bonds, mortgages, and notes of the Midland North Carolina Railway Company. |
Folder 178-187
Folder 178Folder 179Folder 180Folder 181Folder 182Folder 183Folder 184Folder 185Folder 186Folder 187 |
1882Includes contracts between Gatling and various builders and renovators of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C.; and an agreement forming the Midland Improvement and Construction Company. |
Folder 188-205
Folder 188Folder 189Folder 190Folder 191Folder 192Folder 193Folder 194Folder 195Folder 196Folder 197Folder 198Folder 199Folder 200Folder 201Folder 202Folder 203Folder 204Folder 205 |
1883Includes a letter from a prison guard asking John Gatling to do all he can to secure pardon for an African American prisoner; Midland North Carolina Railway Company materials, including a payroll of officers, operators, and material men (OPF-521/1); and notes discussing the relationship between church and state and the proposal of prohibition. |
| Oversize Paper Folder OPF-521/1 |
1883Midland North Carolina Railway Company payroll of officers, operators, and material men. |
Folder 206-211
Folder 206Folder 207Folder 208Folder 209Folder 210Folder 211 |
1884 |
Folder 212-213
Folder 212Folder 213 |
1885 |
Folder 214-217
Folder 214Folder 215Folder 216Folder 217 |
1886 |
Folder 218-219
Folder 218Folder 219 |
1887 |
| Folder 220 |
1888-1889Includes letters to Sallie Gatling from her children, siblings, and John Gatling's business associates, with condolences offered upon Gatling's illness and death, as well as other family and social news. |
Folder 221-222
Folder 221Folder 222 |
1880s: undatedIncludes law firm correspondence; letters from various businessmen asking for loans of land and money from John Gatling; materials relating to the construction of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C., and construction of a railway from Raleigh, N.C., to Morehead City, N.C.; and indentures, briefs, and other legal documents relating to the Atlantic Railroad Company, North Carolina Railroad Company, and the Eastern North Carolina Railroad Company, and the Midland North Carolina Railroad Company. |
| Folder 223 |
1890-1897Includes a copy of Sallie Gatling's will, letters to Sallie, documents related to B.F. Moore's estate, and some additional letters and legal documents related to Van Boddie Moore and Lucy Catherine Moore Henry Capehart. |
| Folder 224 |
1914, 1921Includes a letter, 1921, concerning furnishings for the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C. |
Folder 225-231
Folder 225Folder 226Folder 227Folder 228Folder 229Folder 230Folder 231 |
Undated: Legal papersIncludes letters to John Gatling concerning professional and agricultural business affairs; legal briefs and notes related to estate inheritance, divorce proceedings, real estate, and railroad cases; genealogies for use in estate disputes; materials related to the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C.; and sketches and notes of land plots. Folder 225 includes a brief entitled "Rules of Circumstantial Evidence Regarding the Rape of a Female Slave under Ten Years of Age" and precedents for slavery, unlawful assembly, passing or attempting to pass a counterfeit note, conspiracy related to prevention of insurrections amongst slaves, and murder and rebellion. Folder 226 includes legal notes addressing the issue of railroad development in North Carolina; a document recounting details of a conversation between an African American woman and a white man concerning upcoming elections and the prohibition platform; and advertisement cards for household appliances. Folder 227 includes record of acreage for Haynard Plantation in Wake County; a list of traders in Wake County; Hill family genealogy; and a request for bail from an imprisoned man in exchange for votes for John Gatling and George Snow from himself and seven other men. Folder 228 includes a farmer's declaration that his father's crops were unlawfully gathered by two agents of the deputy sheriff and advertised for sale. Folder 229 includes a legal note describing the rules under which a married woman is allowed to mortgage her seperate estate to pay her son's debt; and a record of the acreage and quality of swamp land proposed for the Oaks Plantation. |
| Folder 232 |
Undated: Family and social correspondenceIncludes correspondence with B.F. Moore, John Gatling, and others. Letters are primarily from Sallie Gatling to John Gatling concerning family affairs. Letters from Mary and George Gatling relate to social matters and their involvement in John Gatling's agricultural enterprise. Includes a note from B.F. Moore to John Gatling congratulating him on the birth of a son. |
| Folder 233 |
Newspaper clippings, circa 1881Subjects include railroads, North Carolina politics, agriculture, and financial matters. |
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Series 2. Pictures, circa 1875,
1881.
| Image P-521/1 |
Silhouette: Bartholomew Figures Moore Jr., 1881 |
| Image P-521/2 |
Photograph: Lucy Williams Boddie Moore(?), circa 1875 |
| Image P-521/3 |
Photograph: Lucy Catherine Moore Henry Capehart, circa 1875 |
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Series 3. Bills and receipts, 1840-1899.
Arrangement: chronological.
Bills and receipts that precede the establishment of the Moore and Gatling law firm in 1871 document work performed; purchase and sale of grocery goods, liquor, cotton, corn, tobacco, other crops, and agricultural tools; slave labor and the buying and selling of enslaved people; railroad freight and stock; Confederate bonds; horse and mule auctions; funerary expenses; life insurance; tuition; and the 1855 teacher salaries dispute in Hyde County, N.C. (see also Series 1.1). There are also wills, subpoenas, and land inheritance accounts and deeds, with some genealogical information to ascertain individuals' rights to land and a discussion of women's rights to inherit land.
Bills and receipts that follow the inception of Moore and Gatling relate to both the business of the law firm and to John Gatling's personal finances. Materials document document railroad shipments; the sale of cotton; insurance agency bills; banking; farm and handy work; the construction and furnishing of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead, N.C.; coal, oil, and steam costs; "Cowper Monument" costs; tuition and living expenses at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1880; law advertisements; court costs; earnings and payrolls; flour and grist mill expenses; 1880 real estate values in Wake County, N.C.; and B.F. Moore's estate.
Undated bills and receipts relate to railroad cases, court costs, guardianship papers, and hotel construction.
| Folder 234 |
1840-1845Includes genealogical information with regard to land inheritance and a discussion of women's rights to inherit land. |
Folder 235-237
Folder 235Folder 236Folder 237 |
1850-1859Includes bills and petitions relating to teachers' salary dispute in Hyde County, N.C. (see also Series 1.1.); and slave records, including an 1858 account of a slave house being sold, an 1859 document from a man to a slave owner asking that a hired female slave be kept in his county, and an 1859 financial account mentioning the sale of slaves and horses. |
Folder 238-241
Folder 238Folder 239Folder 240Folder 241 |
1860-1869 |
Folder 242-263
Folder 242Folder 243Folder 244Folder 245Folder 246Folder 247Folder 248Folder 249Folder 250Folder 251Folder 252Folder 253Folder 254Folder 255Folder 256Folder 257Folder 258Folder 259Folder 260Folder 261Folder 262Folder 263 |
1870-1879 |
| Folder 264 |
1870s: undated |
Folder 265-284
Folder 265Folder 266Folder 267Folder 268Folder 269Folder 270Folder 271Folder 272Folder 273Folder 274Folder 275Folder 276Folder 277Folder 278Folder 279Folder 280Folder 281Folder 282Folder 283Folder 284 |
1880-1889Includes 1880 tuition bill from the University of North Carolina and an 1880 population and real estate values chart for Wake County. |
| Folder 285 |
1880s: undated |
| Folder 286 |
1890-1899Includes B.F. Moore estate materials |
Folder 287-292
Folder 287Folder 288Folder 289Folder 290Folder 291Folder 292 |
UndatedChiefly relating to railroad cases, court costs, guardianship papers, and hotel construction. |
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Series 4. Volumes, 1827-1881.
Volumes include account books for the Moore and Gatling law firm; a court docket that documents cases against slaves and white people who traded with enslaved people; account books related to B.F. Moore's estate and Moore family burial plots; a general store account book referencing dealings with the Catawba Indians of South Carolina and the hiring of African Americans in 1853; a cargo and shipping account book; records for the Morehead City Hotel; a plantation account book; and an undated digest of depositions taken for civil engineering cases involving the Western Railroad Company.
| Oversize Volume SV-521/1 |
Volume 1: Financial records, 1827-1829; Account book, Moore and Gatling, 1874-1875 |
| Folder 293 |
Folder number not used |
Folder 294-295
Folder 294Folder 295 |
Volume 2: Court docket, 1844-1858Documents cases against slaves for crimes such as "gambling with a white person," "trading on a forged order," and theft; cases against white people who traded with slaves are also documented. |
Folder 296-297
Folder 296Folder 297 |
Volume 3: Account book, 1856-1868John N. Dunlop's account book for general goods store, as well as accounts for labor he performed for other people; includes "Indian Orders," probably for members of the Catawba Indian tribe; a letter addressed to the State of South Carolina concerning the relationship between the Catawba and forefathers of the Revolutionary War; and store records showing the hire of African Americans in 1853. Enclosures include correspondence, bills, and receipts; an unsigned letter concerning the Catawba Indians; and an undated letter referencing African American and possibly slave labor. |
| Folder 298 |
Volume 4: Account book, 1859-1864, 1871-1878Cargo and shipping accounts for various schooners and brigs, 1859-1861, including a list of cargo commissions for Arroyo, Puerto Rico; account of W.W. Pierce with the North Carolina Quartermaster Department, 1861, and with the state of North Carolina, in connection with ordnance, paymaster, and other services, 1863-1864; and H.A. Depkins estate materials, 1871-1878. |
Folder 299-300
Folder 299Folder 300 |
Volume 5: Account book, 1868-1874C.W. Williams's accounts for operations at Hutchins Farm, Wake County, N.C.; includes list of crop values, lands sold, and services performed. |
| Oversize Volume SV-521/6 |
Volume 6: Account book, Moore and Gatling, 1870-1878Includes records of funds issued to heirs of the B.F. Moore estate in 1878. |
| Folder 301 |
Folder number not used |
| Folder 302 |
Volume 7: Account book, 1871-1877Includes legal deeds and commissions; deed for the land of B.F. Moore; forms of deed and details of burial plots for B.F. Moore and his heirs in Raleigh Cemetery; summary of court proceedings in Wake County, N.C.; and index of court decisions of the Supreme Court. |
| Folder 303 |
Volume 8: Tax lists, Wake County, N.C., 1871-1873Average of Wake County, N.C., taxes divided by township and names of individual taxpayers; includes list of unpaid taxes. |
| Folder 304 |
Volume 9: Account book, 1871-1872Grocer's account book for John Gatling. |
| Folder 305 |
Volume 10: Account book, rents, 1872 |
| Folder 306 |
Volume 11: Account book, John T. Gatling, 1878-1879H.A. Depkin estate |
| Oversize Volume SV-521/12 |
Volume 12: Stock certificates and records, Morehead City Hotel Company, 1880-1881 |
| Folder 307 |
Folder number not used |
| Folder 308 |
Volume 13: Legal Book and Daily, John T. Gatling, 1881Contains record of legal cases, as well as lists of daily activities. |
| Folder 309 |
Volume 14: Morehead City Hotel, undatedConstruction costs, probably for the Atlantic Hotel. |
| Folder 310 |
Volume 15: Lawyer's diary, circa 1865Blank but contains United States lawyer's directory by state for 1865. |
| Folder 311 |
Volume 16: Digest of Depositions, H.H. Roberts, undatedRelating to cases involving civil engineering and the Western Railroad Company |
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Items Separated