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 Eli Sharpe Papers #4347-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Clyde Williams of Camden, S.C., in 1983.

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: Roslyn Holdzkom, April 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, January 2010

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.

• Alamance County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Bellemont (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Orange County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Sharpe, Eli, d. ca. 1871.
• Sharpe, Milton H., fl. 1861-1863.
• Slave bills of sale--North Carolina.
• Slavery--North Carolina.
• Soldiers--Confederate States of America--Correspondence.
• Whiskey--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Eli Sharpe of Bellemont in Orange, later Alamance, County, N.C., planter and maker of whiskey, who, with his wife Sally, had at least two sons, Daniel and Milton H., both of whom served with the Confederate Army, and two daughters, Temperance and Laura. Upon Eli's death, his daughters, who were unmarried, contracted with Green Alexander Nicholson (1857-1949) to run the family farm.

Chiefly routine financial and legal materials, 1793-1894, relating to Eli Sharpe and other Sharpe family members. Included are bills, receipts, tax statements, and other materials documenting the buying and selling of land, goods, and services. A few items relate to Sharpe's involvement in the settlement of several estates, some of which involved the selling of slaves in the 1840s. An 1855 slave bill of sale is also included. There are also six letters, 1861-1863, between Eli and his son Milton while the latter served with the Confederate army in Virginia. These letters chiefly discuss camp life and family news, and include an 1862 letter in which Eli wrote about whiskey production.