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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 Galyean and Munchus Family Papers #4604, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Dennis Bowlin of Dobson, N.C., in January 1992.

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, February 1992

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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.

• Brandy--History--19th century.
• Families--Alabama--Social life and customs.
• Families--Georgia--Social life and customs.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Freedmen--North Carolina.
• Galyean family.
• Galyean, James C., d. ca. 1890.
• Migration, Internal--Southern States--History--19th century.
• Munchus family.
• Munchus, James, d. circa 1850.
• Patent medicines--History--19th century.
• Real property--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Rural-urban migration--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Slavery--North Carolina.
• Surry County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Taliaferro, Hardin E., 1811-1875.

The Galyean and Munchus families appear to have lived in the Haystack section of Surry County, N.C., in what is now called Stewarts Creek, an area bordered by the towns of Franklin, Mount Airy, and Dobson.

Not much information can be gleaned about either family from the materials in this collection. It appears that both were farming families, involved in buying and selling land; planting and harvesting crops, chiefly cotton and corn; and routine activities, like raising children, supervising the work of slaves, paying taxes, and suing and being sued by their neighbors. It also appears that both families were involved in making brandy, which they sold or used in payment of debts.

Most of the Munchus family material involves James Munchus (also spelled Munkus, Munker, Muncus, Munkess) and dates from the 1810s through the 1840s; there is no Munchus family material after 1850. Most of the Galyean family material relates to James C. Galyean (also spelled Gallyean, Galion, Galyen) and begins around 1841. There are also a few items relating to James's wife Elizabeth; in the 1840s, to Samuel Galyean, who appears to have been James's father; and, in the 1880s, to Ephriam Galyean, who may have been James and Elizabeth's son.

The collection contains a few family letters, most of which were from Munchus or Galyean family relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. There are two letters, 1855 and 1860, from J. K. Munchus in Alabama to James Munchus in which James was urged to move west and to remember the importance of educating his children. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick Mary Teague in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town, but saying that her companions, who seem also to be from Surry County, were unalterably opposed to returning home.

The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans. These are the only materials in the collection that link the two families. Also included are a recipe for horse liniment, two advertisements, and four small notebooks, two of which contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.

Family letters, financial and legal materials, and other papers relating to the Munchus and Galyean families. Letters are mostly from relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. Letters show relatives selling brandy in Georgia in 1842. Two letters, 1855 and 1860, urge James Munchus to move west. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War and bad luck working with freedmen after the war. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick acquaintance of James C. Galyean in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town. The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans; these are the only materials linking the two families. Also included are four small notebooks, two of which contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.