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Collection Number: 03293-z

Collection Title: Leonard M. Burford Papers, 1837-1868

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.

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Size 14 items
Abstract Leonard M. Burford was a cotton planter of Lowndes County, Ala. The collection includes letters, bills, and receipts, chiefly relating to Burford and his relatives. A few items relate to the buying and selling of cotton through Mobile factors, while others document purchases of dry goods, books, and other items, chiefly through merchants in Mobile. There are several letters about family matters. There is also an 1863 letter from Maj. Sebert J. Smith, Confederate quartermaster at Chattanooga, Tenn., to Capt. Alexander McVay, quartermaster at Mobile, Ala., about the need for accurate written reports in order to make proper allocations for payment of troops.
Creator Burford, Leonard M.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
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 Leonard M. Burford papers #3293-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Bert Neville, Selma, Ala., in April 1957.
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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Processed by: Erik D. France, May 1991

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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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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The collection includes letters, bills, and receipts, chiefly relating to Burford and his relatives. A few items relate to the buying and selling of cotton through Mobile factors, while others document purchases of dry goods, books, and other items, chiefly through merchants in Mobile. There are several letters about family matters. There is also an 1863 letter from Maj. Sebert J. Smith, Confederate quartermaster at Chattanooga, Tenn., to Capt. Alexander McVay, quartermaster at Mobile, Ala., about the need for accurate written reports in order to make proper allocations for payment of troops.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Leonard M. Burford Papers, 1837-1868.

Folder 1

Receipt, 12 December 1837, for supplies for Mr. A. Stinson[?] at Mobile, Ala.

Letter from Boykins & McRae at Mobile, Ala., to Leonard M. Burford at "His Landing," Lowndes County, Ala., 7 January 1847, about cotton trading between Mobile and Lowndes County via the Alabama River, which apparently was carried out by the vessel Lowndes.

Letter fragment, 20 September 1848[?] from E. C. Compton to an unknown recipient. Written in a semi-literate style, the surviving text concerns personal and family matters.

Receipt, 24 January 1850, from John K. Randall & Co., Booksellers, etc., at Mobile, Ala., to L. M. Burford, for books and supplies bought.

Receipt, 13 March 1850, from More & Lynes, Wholesale Dealers in Fancy & Staple Dry Goods, to Leonard M. Burford for supplies bought.

Letter, 3 July 1854, from Thomas J. Jones at Montgomery, Ala., to Messrs. Stewart, Cook & Burford, mostly about legal matters.

Letter, 25 May 1857, from lawyer T .J. Jones to Leonard M. Burford about legal matters. A printed letterhead gives Jones' office location as Allenton, Wilcox County, Ala.; his territory also included Monroe and Dallas counties, Ala.

Letter of account, 19 January 1859, from Boykin & McRae at Mobile, Ala., for Leonard M. Burford, covering the period July 1858 to January 1859, and listing cotton sales.

Bill, 6 February 1860, from C. & H. W. Lowe at Camden, Wilcox County, Ala., for clothing supplies purchased by Bettie Burford in December 1859.

Bill, 6 February 1860, from C. & H. W. Lowe at Camden, Ala., for clothing supplies purchased by Amanda Burford, January to December 1859.

Letter, 12 March 1863, from Maj. Sebert J. Smith, Chief Pay Quartermaster, Department Number 2, Confederate States of America, at Chattanooga, Tenn., to Capt. Alexander McVay, quartermaster, District of the Gulf, at Mobile, Ala., in which Smith ordered an estimate of funds neded for March and April, based upon returns of the assistant adjutant general of the district, and emphasizing the need for accurate and fair payment.

Letter, 20 May 1868, from H. D. Bonne[?] at Fairfield, Freestone County, Tex., to her brother and sister (not named) at a location in Wilcox County, Ala. She mentioned requests for supplies, including her sewing machine, and photographs of people back home; personal and family matters; crops; health; and Mr. James Robinson, who delivered the letter. She also discussed freedmen, commenting "I have no annoyances we have no freedmen around us ... ."

Letter, 18 March [18-- ], from Bettie (probably Bettie Burford) at Talbotton, Talbot County, Ga., to her father (probably Leonard M. Burford). The letter mentions personal and family matters, like visiting with relatives in Georgia, including Uncle William at Columbus, Muscogee County. Of the latter place, there is the comment that "I was a little anctious [sic] to get in the country, as you know, dressing in Columbus is considered very important ... ."

Letter fragment, undated (post-Civil War), from Ezl. B. G.[?] to P. D. Burford. The surviving text includes comments on the difficult social conditions the writer experienced "since the surrender," and an uncle's attempt at "selling some cotton Ginns for Brown of Connecticut."

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