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 reprocessed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.
Size | 8.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4,500 items) |
Abstract | Bryan Grimes (1828-1880) was a cotton planter of Pitt County, N.C., and a Confederate Army officer. The collection consists of personal and family correspondence and business papers, including correspondence, 1844-1849, while he attended the University of North Carolina; almost daily letters, 1863-1865, to his wife, Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes (1840-1920), while he commanded Confederate troops in Virginia; business correspondence and accounts with commission merchants concerning cotton sales; early 20th-century correspondence of two of his sons, John Bryan Grimes (1868-1923), state official in Raleigh, N.C., and Alston Grimes, at the family home, concerning business, politics, personal, and plantation affairs; genealogical correspondence and papers, 1894-1913, of Alston; and copies of older family letters and documents. Some correspondence relates to the lives of African Americans before and after the Civil War. There are also receipts and legal documents of Allen Grist, some of which document the sale of slaves. Volumes are plantation accounts, 1868-1919, including accounts with work hands and tenants; blacksmith and merchandise accounts; toll bridge accounts at Washington, N.C., 1872-1874 and 1884; student notebooks; family records and data; miscellaneous account books; notes, correspondence, and essays memorializing the Civil War, especially the Battle of Gettysburg; and reminiscences of Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, including a record of her time spent in camp with her husband and the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Other papers include speeches, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to family history, North Carolina history and government, the North Carolina state seal, and memorialization of the Civil War. Also included are the constitution of the Farmers Interstate Protective Association and a four-page account, author unknown, of the history of the Ku Klux Klan's involvement in lynchings in North Carolina. |
Creator | Grimes, Bryan, 1828-1880. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Collection reprocessed in 2010 with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin
Updated by Kiley Orchard, March 2010; Nancy Kaiser, October 2020
Back to TopThe 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.
Bryan Grimes (1828-1880), the son of Bryan Grimes Sr. and Nancy Grist, was a cotton planter of Pitt County, N.C., and a Confederate Army officer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1848, and the following year, his father gave him the family plantation Grimesland in Pitt County, N.C., along with approximately 100 slaves. Bryan Grimes lived the life of a successful agriculturist until the eve of the Civil War in 1861. He then attended North Carolina's state convention and took a stand as a firm secessionist, signing North Carolina's Ordinance of Secession. He went on to become a major in the 4th Regiment of North Carolina State Troops, turning down appointments of higher rank in order to gain what he deemed was needed experience. He fought for the Confederate cause from May 1861 until the war's end, working his way through the ranks as colonel, brigadier commander, brigadier general, and major general, taking active roles in well-known battles, such as the Battle of First Manassas, the Battle of Seven Pines, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. His fighting ended at Appomattox Courthouse when General Lee ordered him to fall back in preparation for the Confederate surrender.
Grimes returned to Grimesland and worked as a planter until he was killed in August 1880 by an unknown assassin on his way home from a trip. Grimes married his first wife, Elizabeth Hilliard Davis, in 1851. They were the parents of Bryan, who died in infancy; Bettie; Nancy; and Bryan (1860-1920). Elizabeth Hilliard Davis died in 1857, and Grimes married Charlotte Emily Bryan (1840-1920) in 1863. They were the parents of Bryan, who died in infancy; Alston; John Bryan (1868-1923); Charlotte Bryan; Mary Bryan; Susan Penelope; William Demsie; George Frederick; Junius Daniel; and Theodora Bryan.
Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes (1840-1920), daughter of Honorable John H. Bryan and Mary Williams Shepard, attended school both at Saint Mary's and at Mrs. Carpenter's School in Philadelphia. She spent the winters of 1863-1864 and 1864-1865 with her husband in the camps of the Army of Northern Virginia. She also served as president of both the Ladies Memorial Association of Beaufort County and the Pamlico Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy of Washington, N.C., and as honorary president of the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
John Bryan Grimes (1868-1923) studied at the University of North Carolina, 1882-1885, before attending Bryant and Stratton Business College in Baltimore, Md. He served as North Carolina secretary of state on the Democratic platform from 1901 to 1923. During this time, he was well-known as a cultural leader and historian and catalogued thousands of historical documents. He served as member and chair of the North Carolina Historical Commission, president of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and was a member of the American Historical Association. He was also a member of the State Board of Agriculture, 1899-1900, Farmers' Alliance of North Carolina, the North Carolina Agricultural Society, the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union, and the State Grange, and was one of the organizers of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, of which he later became president. Other memberships included the University of North Carolina board of trustees, the executive committee of the North Carolina Council of Defense, president of the Scottish Society of America, Masons, Knights of Pythias, and Junior Order of United American Mechanics. In 1894, he married Mary Octavia Laughinghouse, daughter of Captain Joseph John and Eliza O'Hagan Laughinghouse, and with her had one daughter, Helen Elise. After Mary's death in December 1899, Grimes married her sister Elizabeth Laughinghouse in February 1904, and with her had John Bryan Jr., Charles O'Hagan, and Alston.
Back to TopThe Bryan Grimes Papers consist of personal and family correspondence and business papers, including correspondence, 1844-1849, while he attended the University of North Carolina; almost daily letters, 1863-1865, to his wife, Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes (1840-1920), while he commanded Confederate troops in Virginia; business correspondence and accounts with commission merchants concerning cotton sales; early 20th-century correspondence of two of his sons, John Bryan Grimes (1868-1923), state official in Raleigh, N.C., and Alston Grimes, at the family home, concerning business, politics, personal, and plantation affairs; genealogical correspondence and papers, 1894-1913, of Alston; and copies of older family letters and documents. Some correspondence relates to the lives of African Americans before and after the Civil War. There are also receipts and legal documents of Allen Grist, some of which document the sale of slaves. Volumes are plantation accounts, 1868-1919, including accounts with work hands and tenants; blacksmith and merchandise accounts; toll bridge accounts at Washington, N.C., 1872-1874 and 1884; student notebooks; family records and data; miscellaneous account books; notes, correspondence, and essays memorializing the Civil War, especially the Battle of Gettysburg; and reminiscences of Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, including a record of her time spent in camp with her husband and the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Other papers include speeches, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to family history, North Carolina history and government, the North Carolina state seal, and memorialization of the Civil War. Also included are the constitution of the Farmers Interstate Protective Association and a four-page account, author unknown, of the history of the Ku Klux Klan's involvement in lynchings in North Carolina.
Back to TopArrangement: Chronological.
Includes personal correspondence of Grimes family members, especially Bryan Grimes (1828-1880), Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, and John Bryan Grimes. Of note are letters from Bryan Grimes to Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes during the Civil War; and business and political correspondence of Bryan Grimes, John Bryan Grimes, and Alston Grimes, particularly on the sale of cotton and peanuts, the Grimesland plantation, and affairs of the state of North Carolina. Also present are several letters and papers related to genealogy and family history, chiefly of Alston Grimes, 1894-1913; and receipts and legal documents, some of which document the sale of slaves.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Contains receipts and legal documents, chiefly of Allen Grist of Washington, N.C., and include bonds; matters of guardianship; land deeds; lists of debts; indentures; sales, some of which document the sale of slaves; and a summons for allowing African Americans to meet for the "purpose of drinking and dancing". Also present are receipts of and letters to Richard Grist, 1792-1828, of Washington County, Ga., and Henry County, Al., from his brother Frederick Grist, sister Nancy Grist Grimes, and father, regarding family and social news, crops, influenza, death, and religious conversion. Also includes a 1766 will and typescripts of letters written in 1730 regarding a new design for the province of (and later state of) North Carolina seal.
Folder 1 |
Foreword and biography |
Folder 2 |
1730-1820Includes typescripts of letters written in 1730 from the Lords of Trade to the King, Governor George Burrington, and the Duke of Newcastle, regarding a new design for the province of (and later state of) North Carolina seal, as well as a letter to Governor Gabriel Johnston regarding the structure of the North Carolina government; several indentures and land deeds; and a typescript of the will of Samuel Swann, 1766, in which he bequeaths several named slaves to his sons. Oversize papers are filed in OPF-292/1 |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-292/1 |
Oversize papers, 1730-1843 |
Folder 3 |
1821-1843Includes a summons of Calvin Boyd for allowing African Americans to meet at his house for the "purpose of drinking or dancing;" and two certificates appointing Gordon Nelson to military positions, signed by Governor Holmes and Governor H. G. Burton. Oversized papers are filed in OPF-292/1. |
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly personal letters to Bryan Grimes from friends and family members, although there are also letters to his first wife, Elizabeth Hilliard Davis Grimes, and his second wife, Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, and some legal and financial documents, including slave records. Topics include social life and recreation, courtship, the murder trial of a free African American, family news, and health.
Folder 4-5
Folder 4Folder 5 |
1844-1847Letters to Bryan Grimes during his time as a student at the University of North Carolina, chiefly from Thomas H. Myers and J.E. Jones of Washington, N.C., and T.L. Haughton of Edenton, N.C., and later a student in Philadelphia, Pa. Topics include recreational activities such as parties, dancing, sailing, promenading, concerts, and horse races; funerals and marriages; the murder trial of a free African American; alcohol-related incidents; duels and fights; plans for green and yellow military uniforms for a Volunteer Company; sales, including the sale of Major Blount’s property; the spread of smallpox by Henry Hoyt; the drought of July 1845; women and courting; a footrace between countrymen and Irishmen; and the Messmore-Norcum quarrel. |
Folder 6 |
1848-1849Letters to Bryan Grimes, concerning courting, engagements, weddings, and Chapel Hill students and affairs. Several letters are from Grimes's aunt, Mary B. Grist of Early County, Ga., regarding family matters and genealogy. |
Folder 7 |
Undated, circa 1845-1849Letters, some to and from Bryan Grimes, including correspondence with Mary Joyner regarding marriage. There are love poems and essays. |
Folder 8 |
1850-1858Legal and financial documents, including receipts for slave sales; letters, chiefly to Bryan Grimes, but also to Elizabeth Hilliard Davis Grimes, and Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, on farming, death of loved ones, family, the health of Grimes's children, and social news; and a letter in which a Texas man described work conditions for merchants and hands, including African Americans. |
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly near-daily letters from Bryan Grimes to his fiancee and wife Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, in Raleigh, N.C., while he served with the Confederate army and traveled along the east coast. Topics include camp life, daily activities, homefront morale, military movements, the possibility of Charlotte joining Bryan Grimes in camp, and accounts of battles. There are also letters to Grimes from friends and relatives.
Folder 9 |
1860-1863List of lands owned; a letter to Grimes from F.B. Satterthwaite, in which he discussed the position of armies on the Potomac and preparations in coastal North Carolina; a letter to Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes from her cousin, Mollie, regarding the possibility of joining Bryan Grimes in Virginia and war-time wardrobes; letters describing camp life at Morton's Ford; and a letter from Bryan Grimes to Charlotte in which he described preparations for a review before General Lee and President Davis. |
Folder 10 |
1864: April-AugustLetters from Morton's Ford, Hanover, Mechanicsville, Bethesda, Staunton, New Market, Strasburg, near Bunkers Hill and Harpers Ferry, and other locations: discussion of the death penalty for deserters; accounts of wounds, captures, and deaths; descriptions of fighting; the death of General Daniel; the lewdness and vulgarity of Yankees; Grimes's observation that Yankee dead decay faster than the Confederate dead; General Jubal Early's valley campaign and the journey from Richmond, Va., to Lynchburg, Va.; Governor W.W. Holden; and other topics related to the war. |
Folder 11 |
September 1864- December 1865, and undatedLetters from Stevensons Depot, Bunkers Hill, Strasburg, New Market, Waynesboro, Mount Sidney, Richmond, Petersburg and other locations: comments on despondence of citizens of Raleigh, N.C.; deaths of Generals Ramseur and Rodes; Grimes's fear the South would not win the war; comments on officers, including General Jubal Early; state and national politics; Roper's raid; rumors about General Sherman; and other topics related to the war. |
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly business correspondence of Bryan Grimes, particularly from commission merchants concerning the cotton market, sale of peanuts, and other dry goods; letters from Pulaski Cowper; account balances; plantation payrolls, chiefly from 1876 and 1877; legal agreements; business and household accounts; and receipts. Correspondents of Bryan Grimes include Paul C. Cameron, J.B. Hill, and Pulaski Cowper. There are also personal letters, some to Bryan Grimes from daughter Bettie, but mostly to Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes from friends and relatives, especially from her stepdaughter Bettie Grimes, son John Bryan Grimes, sister Isabelle, and mother Mary Bryan, regarding women's life and customs, clothing, and social and family news.
Folder 12 |
1866-1868Business affairs of James Grist. |
Folder 13-14
Folder 13Folder 14 |
1869 |
Folder 15-16
Folder 15Folder 16 |
1870 |
Folder 17-18
Folder 17Folder 18 |
1871Includes a 12-page handwritten excerpt, chiefly the index to the rest of the volume, possibly a diary, listing foods, dry goods, and other items. The item also includes entries for August 1871 weather and notes on pauperism, principal ensurity, and other legal matters. |
Folder 19-20
Folder 19Folder 20 |
1872 |
Folder 21-22
Folder 21Folder 22 |
1873 |
Folder 23-26
Folder 23Folder 24Folder 25Folder 26 |
1874 |
Folder 27-29
Folder 27Folder 28Folder 29 |
1875 |
Folder 30-35
Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35 |
1876Includes letters to Bryan Grimes from Paul Cameron and J.B. Hill, United States Marshall. |
Folder 36-40
Folder 36Folder 37Folder 38Folder 39Folder 40 |
1877 |
Folder 41-42
Folder 41Folder 42 |
1878 |
Folder 43 |
1879-1880 |
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly correspondence of John Bryan Grimes (1868-1923), secretary of state in Raleigh, N.C., and his older brother Alston Grimes, at the family home, concerning business, politics, and plantation affairs, including matters of land and letters from the North Carolina State Farmers Alliance; responses to advertisements for a farm foreman; and genealogical correspondence and papers, 1894-1913, of Alston. Many of the genealogical letters are to and from Frederick Eugene Grist and Fannie Bryan Chapman and discuss personal and family matters. Also included is personal correspondence of John Bryan Grimes, bulk 1881-1894, from family members and friends; letters to Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes; and letters to and from various people. There is also some undated financial and legal correspondence, chiefly of Bryan Grimes.
Folder 44 |
1881-1883 |
Folder 45 |
1884 |
Folder 46 |
1885-1886 |
Folder 47 |
1887-1889 |
Folder 48 |
1890 |
Folder 49 |
1891 |
Folder 50-51
Folder 50Folder 51 |
1892 |
Folder 52 |
1893-1894 |
Folder 53 |
1895-1896 |
Folder 54-56
Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
1897 |
Folder 57 |
1898 |
Folder 58 |
1899 |
Folder 59 |
1900 |
Folder 60 |
1901 |
Folder 61 |
1902 |
Folder 62 |
1903 |
Folder 63-64
Folder 63Folder 64 |
1904 |
Folder 65-67
Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67 |
1905 |
Folder 68 |
1906 |
Folder 69-70
Folder 69Folder 70 |
1907 |
Folder 71-73
Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73 |
1908 |
Folder 74-76
Folder 74Folder 75Folder 76 |
1909 |
Folder 77-80
Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79Folder 80 |
1910 |
Folder 81-83
Folder 81Folder 82Folder 83 |
1911 |
Folder 84-85
Folder 84Folder 85 |
1912 |
Folder 86-87
Folder 86Folder 87 |
1913 |
Folder 88 |
1914 |
Folder 89 |
1915-1929Includes advertisements and responses John Bryan Grimes placed for a horse farm superintendent at Grimesland. |
Folder 90 |
Correspondence of John Bryan and Alston Grimes, circa 1881-1923 |
Folder 91-95
Folder 91Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94Folder 95 |
Personal correspondence, undatedChiefly correspondence commenting on family and social news of Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, Bryan Grimes, John Bryan Grimes, and Elizabeth Laughinghouse Grimes, although other friends and relatives are also represented. |
Folder 96-97
Folder 96Folder 97 |
Financial and legal papers, undatedChiefly financial and business correspondence of Bryan Grimes, but also includes notes, receipts, and copies of indentures. |
Includes account books that document financial transactions of households, Grimesland plantation, work hands and tenants, and a toll bridge in Washington, N.C.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Includes volumes related to the Civil War, including the diary of Fred R. Bryan as a young man, an autobiography of Charlotte Elizabeth Bryan Grimes that recounts time spent in camp with the Army of Northern Virginia, and several notebooks memorializing the Battle of Gettysburg. There are also genealogical and school notebooks.
Folder 121 |
Bryan-Grimes Family Record, undatedAlso includes information on the Blount, Bryan, Grimes, Grist, Herritage, Oliver, Maule, Porter, Shepard, Shine, and Whitfield families. |
Folder 122 |
Chemistry notebook, 1882: Alston GrimesCreated during his time at the University of North Carolina, under Professor Venable. |
Folder 123 |
"Copies of Letters Relating to the Battle of Gettysburg," 1863-1864, 1877Transcripts of letters written to newspaper editors on the Battle of Gettysburg, including accounts of the actions of various brigades involved in the battle. It appears that the letters were in response to a query posed by newspaper editors. |
Folder 124 |
Diary, 1863-1864: Fred R. BryanDaily entries from 1863: January 3-December 4, during which time his health was too poor to attend school in Chapel Hill. Topics include news and visits of friends and relatives, recitations, sale and punishment of slaves, his dogs, hunting, social events, and news of the war. There are eight entries for 1864. |
Folder 125 |
Letterbook, 1904-1913: John Bryan Grimes (?)Includes typed letters written by John Bryan Grimes to an editor of the News and Observer regarding the Battle of Gettysburg, statements by military officers on accounts of battle, excerpts from books, a detailed account on the number of casualties of the Army of Northern Virginia as published in Final Report of the New York Monument Commission for the Battlefield of Gettysburg and Chattanooga , and heated correspondence of John Bryan Grimes regarding the Battle of Gettysburg and the role of North Carolinians and Virginians in the charge. |
Folder 126 |
"Questions on the Facts," circa 1803Handwritten notebook of questions and answers on world geography. |
Folder 127 |
"Major-General Bryan Grimes," 1887 and undatedPoem and memorial on the life of Bryan Grimes. Poem by Mrs. McCord in 1887 and writings by H.A. London. Also includes typed pages from a book with handwritten annotations. |
Folder 128 |
Notes on Gettysburg, 1913Notebook compiled under direction of Judge Walter A. Montgomery. |
Folder 129 |
Genealogical notebook on Bryan and Grist families, undated: Alston Grimes |
Folder 130 |
Notebook, undatedChiefly notes on Confederate statements and figures, including battle and regiment statistics. |
Folder 131 |
"Recollections of the Civil War in the United States," 1909Handwritten recollection by J.A. Stikeleather of Olin, N.C., of his life as a soldier. 110 pages. Originially written in 1883. |
Folder 132 |
School notebook, 1891Includes poems, essays, and quotations, along with a teacher's feedback and grades. |
Folder 133 |
"Sketches of My Life," undatedHandwritten and typed autobiography of Charlotte Emily Bryan Grimes, including her childhood, her time spent with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, Bryan Grimes's death, and the lives of her children and siblings. |
Folder 134 |
Scrapbook, circa 1899-1901Newspaper clippings chiefly related to tobacco, agriculture, and farming. Pasted in Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture . May have belonged to John Bryan Grimes. |
Folder 135 |
Tombstone inscriptions, circa 1897Handwritten transcriptions of tombstone inscriptions. |
Speeches, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to family history, North Carolina history and government, the North Carolina state seal, and memorialization of the Civil War. Also included are the constitution of the Farmers Interstate Protective Association and a four-page account, author unknown, of the history of the Ku Klux Klan's involvement in lynchings in North Carolina.
Folder 136-140
Folder 136Folder 137Folder 138Folder 139Folder 140 |
Family history materials, undatedIncludes pedigrees, wills, letters, copies of legal documents, and assorted genealogical notes. Oversize materials filed in OPF-292/2. |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-292/2 |
Oversize family history materials, undated |
Folder 141 |
"Gettysburg," 1911Typed essay, with handwritten edits, by John Bryan Grimes. |
Folder 142 |
Newspaper clippings, 1898, 1911-1914, 1921 and undatedIncludes articles on African Americans, Civil War, southern and national politics, and the history of the North Caroliona state flag. Also tributes and obituaries. |
Folder 143-144
Folder 143Folder 144 |
Speeches, undatedOn the history of North Carolina, economics, imperialism, bi-metalism, politics, the cotton and tobacco crop, agriculture, secession, the opening of the East Carolina Training School, and a memorial of Charles James O'Hagan. Speeches were given by Reverend Dr. Hawkes, John Bryan Grimes, and others to the Daughters of the Confederacy, graduating nurses, the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, the General Assembly, the Southern Cotton Congress, and other groups. |
Folder 145 |
State government material, undatedIncludes acts to increase the duties and enlarge the power of the attorney general of North Carolina, to increase the poll tax, to provide township meeting houses, for the relief of Confederate veterans and widows, to regulate public printing, to collect and distribute official reports, and to amend particular sections and chapters of previous laws, among others. Also documents related to the hiring of convicts for railroad work and the future of the cotton crop and its value to the South. |
Folder 146 |
State history materialIncludes addresses to the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, a resolution to publish a roster of the North Carolina militia in the Revolutionary War, tributes, and documents supporting historical preservation. |
Folder 147 |
State seal material, 1883, undatedIncludes documents related to the development and design of the North Carolina state seal, presumably for John Bryan Grimes's use when writing History of the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina , first published in 1893. |
Folder 148 |
Miscellaneous, undatedIncludes a four-page account, author unknown, of the history of the Ku Klux Klan's involvement in lynchings in North Carolina; constitution of the Farmers Interstate Protective Association; land surveys and maps; lists of work hands; documents relating to public schools and school exercises; political notes, some of John Bryan Grimes; memorials; cadastral maps; an advertisement for Grimesland, N.C.; and miscellaneous notes. |
Image P-292/1 |
Grimes, BryanReproduction of daguerrotype, circa 1845. |
Image P-292/2 |
Grimes, Bryan and Grimes, WilliamReproduction of albumen print, circa 1850. |
Image P-292/3 |
Grimes, BryanPrint of Bryan Grimes in uniform of a Confederate States of America general, circa 1860s. |
Image P-292/4 |
Grist, Sam, circa 1870s |