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Collection Number: 03992

Collection Title: Stephen Berry Culver Diary, 1855-1902.

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.

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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 25 items)
Abstract Stephen Berry Culver (1841-1902) of Sandy Hill, N.Y., was a graduate of Union College, carpenter, teacher, bookkeeper, active member of the Methodist Church, mining and chemical engineer, and clerk in the Naval Office, New York, N.Y., 1884-1902. The collection contains the diaries of Culver, along with the related enclosures which include clippings, genealogical notes, writings and letters. The diaries, begun when Culver was a teenager, relate chiefly to his involvement with the Methodist Church; family illnesses and deaths; national news; and local social, cultural, and political affairs, primarily related to the Sandy Hill, Schenectady, Mt. Vernon, and New York City areas of New York. Gaps in the diary are frequently followed by retrospective entries, including one which summarized his life for the period 1864-1876.
Creator Culver, Stephen Berry, 1841-1902.
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.
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 Stephen Berry Culver Diary, #3992, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received as a loan from Stephen Mills of Chapel Hill, N.C., 1974.
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton, and Jodi Berkowitz, January 2011

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.

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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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Stephen B. Culver (1841-1902) of Sandy Hill, N.Y., was a graduate of Union College, carpenter, teacher, bookkeeper, active member of the Methodist Church, mining and chemical engineer, and clerk in the Naval Office, New York, N.Y., 1884-1902.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains the diaries of Stephen B. Culver (1841-1902), along with the related enclosures which included clippings, genealogical notes, writings, and letters. The diaries, begun when Culver was a teenager, relate chiefly to his involvement with the Methodist Church; family illnesses and deaths; national news; and local social, cultural, and political affairs, primarily related to the Sandy Hill, Schenectady, Mt. Vernon, and New York City areas of New York. Gaps in the diary are frequently followed by retrospective entries, including one which summarized his life for the period 1864-1876.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1855-1902.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

Volume 1: 8 September 1855-1 January 1859

Diary written at Sandy Hill, N.Y., and includes descriptions of attending Mr. McLaren's school, local news, jobs, and church matters.

Folder 2

Volume 2: 1 January 1859-1 August 1862

Diary written at Sandy Hill and Schenectady, N.Y., and contains descriptions of Culver's studies at Union College, which included medicine; church services and activities; family and friends; special events; travel, and national events, including the inauguration of President Lincoln.

Folder 3

Volume 3: 1 August 1862-December 1880

The diary for 1862-1864 contains descriptions of local news from Sandy Hill, N.Y., including army news, church matters, and Culver's employment. In 1876 there is a retrospective entry describing the events of his life after 1864 which include employment in Sandy Hill, N.Y., family illnesses and deaths, including that of his father in April 1872. The entries for 1876-1880 are brief and sporadic, and include descriptions of Culver's engineering and bookkeeping courses, employment, and recovery from malaria.

Folder 4

Volumes 4-5: 1 February 1881-31 December 1886; January 1887-December 1896

Volume 4 is written from Sandy Hill, New York City, and Lake George, N.Y., and includes descriptions of church matters, social events, conversations, and death and funerals, including the deaths of Culver's brother, Charles, and his mother. Volume 5 is written from New York City and Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and contains descriptions of Culver's marriage on 20 September 1887, family events, and social activities.

Folder 5

Volumes 6-7: January 1897-23 July 1901; 4 August 1901-19 January 1902

Volume 6 is written from Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and contains descriptions of family and social activities and family illnesses and deaths, including that of Culver's wife, Georgianna, on 16 March 1901. Volume 7 is written from New York, N.Y., and the majority of entries regard his late wife and his children.

Folder 6

Diary enclosures

Includes genealogical notes, clippings, writings, outlines of sermons, and letters from Culver's brother, Lt. George B. Culver, 29 May 1862, and his daughter, Mary, 3 October 1901.

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