Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

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

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John and William A. Williams Papers, #787, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Typed transcription of William Augustus Williams's 1833 diary available.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Allen Jones of Columbus, Ga., 1937

Received from Mrs. Henry MacMillan of Wilmington, N.C., 1937.

Additional Descriptive Resources

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

Sensitive Materials Statement

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

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

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

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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.

• Williams, John, -1857.
• Cotton trade--England--History--19th century.
• England--Description and travel.
• Gorrie, Joseph.
• Great Britain. Royal Navy--Sea life--History--19th century.
• Great Britain. Royal Navy--Surgeons--History--19th century.
• Iredell family.
• Jamaica--Social life and customs.
• Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920.
• Scotland--Description and travel.
• Scotland--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Soldiers--United States--History--20th century.
• Travelers--Great Britain--Diaries.
• United States. Army--History--World War, 1914-1918.
• United States. Army--Military life--History--20th century.
• Voyages and travels--History--19th century.
• Williams family.
• Williams, Frank, 1889-1918.
• Williams, Jane Iredell Meares, fl. 1870-1919.
• Williams, Robert, -1823.
• Williams, Robert, 1893-1972.
• Williams, William Arthur, 1850-1917.
• Williamson, William A., -1829.
• Wilmington (N.C.)--Commerce--History--19th century.
• Wilmington (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Williams, William Augustus, 1809-1880.

John Williams (died 1857) emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland in 1810 and became a merchant in Wilmington, N.C. His son, William Augustus Williams (born 1810) became an active partner in the business in 1830. William Augustus Williams had five children, the youngest of whom was William Arthur Williams (fl. 1870-1919). William Arthur Williams married Jane Iredell Meares, daughter of Jane Iredell and Thomas Davis Meares, in 1881. Their children were Jane, William, Sarah, Isabel, Frank (died 1918), Helen, Robert, and Catherine.

Other members of the Williams family include John Williams's mother, Isabel Marshall; his brothers, Robert Williams (died 1823) and William A. Williamson (died 1829); and William Augustus Williams's son, Robert D. Williams.

The collection includes papers of four generations of the Williams family of Wilmington, N.C. Papers to 1830 consist chiefly of letters received by John Williams from his mother in Scotland and from his brothers, Robert Williams in Jamaica and William A. Williamson, a surgeon at sea with the British navy. From 1830 to 1859, the papers are more extensive, consisting of account books, business correspondence, and other business papers related to the importing and selling of general merchandise, the sale of cotton to England, and the dyeing of cotton cloth; records, 1830-1835, of the estate of Joseph Gorrie; accounts for household expenses; family correspondence, including letters of the Iredell family of Wilmington beginning in 1844; and William Augustus Williams's diary of a trip to England and Scotland, 1833. From the 1880s into the 20th century, there is extensive family correspondence of William Arthur Williams and his wife Jane Iredell Meares Williams and their children, including letters from sons, Frank and Robert Williams, with the United States army on the Mexican border, 1916-1917, and in France during World War I.