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 W. D. Wharton Papers #05059, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from W. David Wharton of Chapel Hill, N.C., in June 2001 (Acc. 98973).

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.

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.

• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
• Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Cavalry Regiment, 5th.
• Confederate. Army--Military life.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Family--Texas--Social life and customs.
• Guilford County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Wharton family.
• Wharton, John E., 1835-1916.
• Wharton, W. D. (William David), 1840-1907.

W. D. Wharton (1840-1907) was raised in Guilford County, N.C., the son of David Wharton (1803-1902) and Elizabeth Donnell Wharton (1795-1880). At the start of the Civil War, W. D. Wharton served as a major of the 67th Regiment North Carolina Militia. Wharton then enlisted in Company K, 5th North Carolina Cavalry Regiment (later called the 63rd Regiment North Carolina Troops). During the war, Wharton rose from the rank of third lieutenant to second lieutenant and became engaged to a distant cousin, Mary Eliza Wharton (1840-1873). He was wounded twice during the war, in the left shoulder on 1 June 1864 at Ashland, Va., and in the legs on 31 March 1865 at Chamberlain Run, Va. After the war, W. D. Wharton appears to have been married to Mary Eliza Wharton and settled in Guilford County, N.C. Wharton had a son, William Gilmer Wharton, in 1878, with his second wife, Jennie S. Gilmer Wharton (1840-1896).

W. D. Wharton's brother, John E. Wharton (1835-1916), was graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1857. He served alongside his brother William in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. John E. Wharton first enlisted in Company B of the 27th Regiment and then raised a company of cavalry that became part of the 63rd Regiment of North Carolina Troops. He was captain of this company until his capture at Dinwiddie Court House, Va., on 31 March 1865. John E. Wharton suffered two shot wounds, one in the wrist in eastern North Carolina in 1863 and another through the neck in Ashland, Va., in June 1864. He married Martha Jane Cole (called Pattie) in July 1867 and moved from Greensboro, N.C., to Texas. John E. Wharton established Bloomfield Academy in the Indian Territories, a school for Indian girls. He then became a member of the faculty at Austin College in Sherman, Tex.

Chiefly correspondence, 1862-1907, relating to W. D. Wharton's Confederate army service in the Civil War. The largest concentration of letters are those written by W. D. Wharton to his parents and fiancée, Mary Eliza Wharton (called Cousin Mollie), from eastern North Carolina, 1862-1863, and from Virginia, 1864-1865. Wharton described military life in camp including the soldier diet, condition of the cavalry horses, desertions, marches, picket duty, religious services, weather, furloughs, and news of fighting. Wharton also wrote about how long the war would last; his concerns about John E. Wharton's drinking; his own mortality; his love for the Confederacy; and his assessment of the officers in command, including Major James H. McNeill, Captain Nathaniel P. Rankin, General Rufus Barringer, and Captain Waldhauer. A few of the letters, December 1864, contain a detailed account of the Union raid at Stoney Creek, Va., (also called Stony Creek Station, Va.) on 1 December 1864. Typed transcriptions and research notes written by the donor of the collection accompany most of the letters; researchers should use their own discretion regarding the accuracy of these materials. Background research materials collected by the donor, his pictures of historical markers at battlefield sites mentioned in the letters, and a picture of the Wharton family home in Guilford County, N.C., are also included.

Scattered correspondence, 1869-1907, chiefly consists of photocopies of typed transcriptions of letters from John E. Wharton to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Wharton, and his brother, W. D. Wharton. The letters describe the daily lives of John E. Wharton and his family in Texas, including their health; the weather; employment as teachers; family affairs; and cotton crops. John E. Wharton also wrote about the family's journey to Texas from North Carolina, neighborhood news, and political corruption.

Items separated include pictures (P-5059).