Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly letters of Adam Boyd, step father of Armand John DeRosset Sr. (1767-1859). Boyd was forced to leave Wilmington because of his debilitating asthma and wrote long, informative letters from Knoxville and Nashville, Tenn., and Natchez, Miss. Also included is correspondence of Armand J. DeRosset Sr. (1767-1859), and his second wife, Catherine Fullerton (1773-1837), including letters from Armand's son, Moses John, while a student at the University of North Carolina.

Arrangement: chronological.

Scattered letters of Armand John DeRosset Sr. (1767-1859), who wrote to his wife and children during occasional business trips, but chiefly letters exchanged between female members of the DeRosset and related families. Major correspondents include Catherine Fullerton DeRosset (1773-1837), her unmarried daughters, Eliza Ann (1802-1888) and Magdalen DeRosset (1806-1850), and their married sisters Catherine DeRosset Kennedy (1800-1889) of Columbia, S.C., and Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis (1813-1903) of Hillsborough, N.C. Much correspondence during this period relates to the family of Armand John DeRosset Jr. (1807-1897), and his wife Eliza Jane Lord (1812-1876).

Devout Episcopalians, the women wrote letters are full of religious opinions and information about church politics and personalities, especially regarding Saint James Church in Wilmington. Other topics of discussion include family and household concerns, sickness, and the education of children. In addition to information about social and daily life in Wilmington, many letters contain information about the small town of Smithville (now Southport) in Brunswick County, N.C., where the DeRossets owned a rice plantation. Catherine DeRosset Kennedy (1800-1889) frequently wrote her mother and sisters from Charleston and Columbia, S.C., about her life as the wife of the Reverend William Kennedy (d. 1840) and as step mother to his children. The Kennedy family had many financial difficulties and, after Kennedy's death, Katherine moved to Wilmington with her ten-year-old step daughter Catherine. Catherine (Cattie) became the second wife of Armand J. DeRosset Jr. sometime after 1876.

During the 1840s, letters relate chiefly to Katherine (Kate) Douglas DeRosset (1830-1914). Correspondence between Kate and her parents, Armand and Eliza Jane Lord DeRosset, documents her education at schools in Boston and New York, and at Saint Mary's in Raleigh, N.C. In 1849, a few letters to Gaston Meares, Kate's fiancee, reveal his business concerns. For example, a letter of 13 February 1849 refers to a "sea expedition" that Meares was apparently planning with Armand J. DeRosset Jr. to go to the California gold fields. Other business references disclose that Armand John DeRosset Jr. traveled to England on business for the Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road.

Of particular note are scattered letters from friends and family about westward migration, including one from Catherine Childs Woodbury, 7 September 1847, about her father building forts on the Oregon Trail, and another from Julia Ann Eccleston, 5 March 1849, about her husband's murder by Indians and her hard life on the frontier in Bastrop, Tex.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly correspondence documenting the married life of Katherine Douglas DeRosset (1830-1914), who married Gaston Meares in 1850. Early in their marriage letters show that she lived at the Smithville plantation while he travelled on business. In 1854, letters document Meares's successful campaign for the state assembly; he was elected representative of Brunswick County, N.C. His letters from Raleigh, never lengthy, make some mention of legislative business, his affairs in Brunswick County, and other matters.

In 1855, Meares moved his family to New York City, where he entered into the mercantile partnership of [Barron C.] Watson and Meares. This marks the beginning of an extensive correspondence between Katherine DeRosset Meares and her mother, Eliza Jane Lord DeRosset. Kate's letters are filled with details of her daily activities: the births and deaths of her children (one daughter died of diphtheria, another of whooping cough); house hunting in Brooklyn and other unaccustomed decisions that she feared would make her "a strong minded woman"; housekeeping problems; shopping in the city; and Yankee servants. In turn, Eliza DeRosset wrote her daughter from Wilmington about family and town news; sewing; illness; attempts to hire a white servant, 23 September 1857; hiring an Irish servant, 1 October 1857; visiting and parties in and around Wilmington; excursions to the beach; and the activities of Saint James Episcopal Church. By the late 1850s, Eliza's letters are filled with expressions of loneliness and depression in her large house, nearly empty after the departure of most of her eleven children. Her letters also display her knowledge and application of medical remedies. She described illnesses and deaths in Wilmington in detail and prescribed treatments herself, 8 February 1859.

Scattered letters document the education of Kate's younger brothers in Geneva, Switzerland. William Lord DeRosset wrote from the University of North Carolina in 1854.

Also during this period, letters show that Armand John DeRosset Jr. continued to travel on railroad business, investigated copper and gold mines in North Carolina, and conducted other business in South Carolina and Boston. There is some documentation about the New York office of Brown and DeRosset, a mercantile firm based in Wilmington. Family letters document the death of Armand J. DeRosset Sr. in 1859. Letters of 1860 reflect growing tension in Wilmington as the nation moved toward war. On 9 December, Eliza Jane Lord DeRosset wrote that the town was on alert and its citizens preparing for its defense.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly Civil War correspondence documenting the Confederate sympathies of the DeRosset family, and their efforts to stay out of the way of the clashing armies. When the war started, Armand and Eliza Lord DeRosset were in New York City visiting Kate. Letters indicate that the Armand DeRosset and Gaston Meares families moved temporarily to Hillsborough. By 1862, the Armand DeRossets had returned to Wilmington, and Eliza's letters document her work with the Wayside Hospital at that place. After a yellow fever epidemic in 1863, they rented a house in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Armand traveled to Wilmington occasionally to conduct business.

Catherine (Cattie) Kennedy became a significant correspondent during this period, writing her stepmother from Columbia, S.C., about such things as housekeeping problems; nursing her sick brothers (who eventually died of tuberculosis); high prices and shortages of food, clothing, and other supplies; and the hiring out of slaves. Also among the correspondents during this period are the elderly DeRosset sisters, Eliza Anne in Hillsborough and Kate in Wilmington.

Correspondence is chiefly among DeRosset family women, who discuss their own experiences as war refugees and housekeepers in an economy of scarcity. Their letters also contain strong evidence of their Confederate sympathies and many references to the military service of male relatives, particularly Gaston Meares, who was killed at the Battle of Malvern Hill, 1 July 1862. In 1863, Kate Meares settled in Chapel Hill and briefly taught school. She received letters from Northern friends who sympathized with the Southern war effort.

Letters show that for a short time in November 1861 Kate Kennedy worked at the military hospital in Petersburg, Va. Also of interest are letters from Alice DeRosset Daves (1836-1897), showing that she traveled with her husband, Graham Daves (1836-1902) in Virginia and North Carolina while he took part in various military engagements.

As the war dragged on, family letters are filled with discussions of hardships encountered by refugees in Wilmington, Richmond, and Columbia. Toward the end of 1864, the focus of correspondence shifts toward Louis Henry DeRosset (1840-1875) and his wife Marie Finley DeRosset (1844-1870). In that year, the couple took up residence with their baby daughter, Gabrielle, in Hamilton, Bermuda. Letters between Armand and Louis show that Louis supplied goods to the DeRosset commission firm in Wilmington by running the blockade from Bermuda.

Of particular note during this period are several letters written to refugee DeRossets by their slaves in Wilmington. Letters describe the health and welfare of the enslaved people left behind, especially the yellow fever epidemic of 1862; the need for clothing for an upcoming wedding; mistreatment of enslaved people who had been hired out; and faith in God.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence of Louis Henry and Marie Finley DeRosset, chiefly documenting their sojourn in England. Immediately after the war, they moved to England with their daughter, Gabrielle, living first in London and later in Liverpool. Louis had many employment problems, and the family seems to have had continual financial difficulties. In spite of this, correspondence shows that the DeRossets enjoyed the society of the British upper class, including several members of the nobility. Among their friends was Lord Edward Bulwer Lytton, whose estate they visited on several occasions (see also series 1.2).

Letters to Louis and Marie from family members in Wilmington contain details about Reconstruction, activities of freed slaves in the area, Episcopal Church affairs, and difficulties relating to their rice plantation. On 18 May 1865, Kate Meares discussed the former DeRosset slave, Louisa, who was attending school in Wilmington. The activities of other former DeRosset slaves are frequent subjects of correspondence. Letters between Armand and Louis document the efforts of father and son to establish trade connections between Liverpool, where Louis apparently worked for a shipping company, and Wilmington. Letters show that Armand's trip to England on behalf of the Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road failed to produce needed investment, and resulted in DeRosset's disassociation with this company. Along with family letters from the states, the Louis DeRossets received letters and invitations from British friends. There are descriptive letters from Marie about the countryside of Cross Maglen, County Armagh, Ireland, where she visited for health reasons in 1865.

The DeRossets were neighbors of the Jefferson Davis family in London, and when Marie died in 1870 of an overdose of laudanum, Varina Davis volunteered to take Gabrielle to live with the family in Wilmington. However, to escape his mounting debts, Louis took the child himself in May of 1870. Louis left Gabrielle with her grandparents and obtained a clerking position in New York. He lost this job in 1871 and returned to Wilmington.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly correspondence of Gabrielle DeRosset Waddell. Her father, Louis, was plagued by business failure until his death in 1875. Correspondence during this period is scattered with the exception of 1894-1895. During that period, Armand John DeRosset Jr. was receiving treatment at the Post Graduate Hospital in New York City. Gabrielle DeRosset visited her grandfather Armand every day and wrote frequent letters to her aunts, Alice Daves and Kate Meares in Wilmington. In 1896, Gabrielle married Alfred Moore Waddell. Twentieth-century letters chiefly document her interest in genealogy, her membership in the Colonial Dames, and her other historical research interests. Letters show that Gabrielle was retained in 1919 to write the history of Saint James Episcopal Church in Wilmington.