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.
Size | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items) |
Abstract | John Kimberly was professor of chemistry and agriculture at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., 1857-1864 and 1875-1876, and farmer in Buncombe County, N.C., 1866-1874. The collection incldues personal correspondence, lecture notes, laboratory notebooks, and accounts of John Kimberly. The bulk of the collection is the family correspondence of Kimberly's second wife, Bettie Maney of Nashville, Tenn., and other members of the Maney, Southall, and Kimberly families. Included are young girls' letters, 1850s, from Saint Mary's School at Raleigh, N.C.; soldiers' letters from the Mexican War; letters from American travelers and students in Europe, 1851-1852 and 1859-1860; and Civil War letters, mainly from civilians at Chapel Hill, Nashville, and Atlanta, Ga., discussing life on the homefront. Correspondents include James H. Otey, Charles Phillips, and James Woodrow. Antebellum letters are mainly concerned with daily life and family news, but also discuss current events, such as the slave market, runaway slaves, crop conditions prior to the Civil War, and life in Chapel Hill. Some wartime letters relate to the occupation of Chapel Hill. Most of the letters prior to 1930 are transcribed. Letters after 1930 (not transcribed) are primarily the correspondence of Rebecca Kimberly of Columbia, S.C., concerning genealogy. Also in the collection are notebooks containing financial records, class plans, and research materials of John Kimberly. Most of these notebooks combine various types of materials and several have overlapping dates. There are a few pictures, including prints of engraved portraits and scenes. |
Creator | Kimberly, John, 1817-1882. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Adera Scheinker, October 1997
Encoded by: Bari Helms, February 2005
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, November 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.
John Kimberly was a native of New Jersey and a descendent of Huguenots who settled in Long Island in the seventeenth century. He spent his adult life in North Carolina and was a staunch advocate of the Confederate cause. He received a degree in chemistry from Harvard University and taught chemistry in Hertford County, N.C., where he was married to Caroline Capehart of Hertford County. He later married Bettie Maney of Nashville, Tenn., and became a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1857-1864. He was the chair of the agriculture department at the University, 1875-1876.
Back to TopPersonal correspondence, lecture notes, laboratory notebooks, and accounts of farmer and University of North Carolina professor John Kimberly. The personal correspondence was mostly written by and pertains to members of the Maney and Kimberly families in North Carolina and Tennessee. These letters are predominately concerned with daily life and family news, but also discuss current events such as the slave market, runaway slaves, and crop conditions prior to the Civil War, as well as the quality of life in antebellum Chapel Hill, N.C. Most of these letters are not overtly political in nature except for those written in 1861 by Bettie Maney Kimberly's sister, Annie Maney, of Nashville to her friends in the North discussing sectional differences and the potential effects of the Civil War.
Folder 47 contains several letters describing the occupation of Chapel Hill. A 12 March 1865 letter from Kimberly to his wife states, 'All communication . . . has been stopped at least for the present - we can only communicate by Flag of Truce.' Kimberly's 17 April 1865 letter talks of houses being plundered and his fear that a 'reign of terror will begin after the U.S. Troops are withdrawn.' Several lengthy letters to his wife document other aspects of the war, such as the condition of the University and the arrest of Governor Vance.
Most of the letters dated prior to 1930 are transcribed (see folders 57-59). Letters after 1930, which are not transcribed, are primarily the correspondence of Rebecca Kimberly of Columbia, S.C. concerning family genealogy.
Also included are calendars, commencement invitations, and other documents. There are newspaper clippings from North Carolina papers regarding University and Civil War news and from European newspapers and other southern newspapers regarding the Civil War. There are a few pictures, including prints of engraved portraits and scenes, and notebooks containing financial records, class plans, and research materials of John Kimberly. Most of these notebooks combine various types of materials and several overlap in dates.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Folder 1 |
1821-1829 |
Folder 2 |
1831-1839 |
Folder 3 |
1840-1846 |
Folder 4 |
1847-1849 |
Folder 5 |
1850-1852 |
Folder 6 |
1853-1856 |
Folder 7-11
Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11 |
1857 |
Folder 12-19
Folder 12Folder 13Folder 14Folder 15Folder 16Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
1858 |
Folder 20-25
Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22Folder 23Folder 24Folder 25 |
1859 |
Folder 26-31
Folder 26Folder 27Folder 28Folder 29Folder 30Folder 31 |
1860 |
Folder 32-36
Folder 32Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35Folder 36 |
1861 |
Folder 37-39
Folder 37Folder 38Folder 39 |
1862 |
Folder 40-43
Folder 40Folder 41Folder 42Folder 43 |
1863 |
Folder 44-46
Folder 44Folder 45Folder 46 |
1864 |
Folder 47 |
1865 |
Folder 48-49
Folder 48Folder 49 |
1866 |
Folder 50 |
1867 |
Folder 51 |
1868 |
Folder 52 |
1869 |
Folder 53 |
1870 |
Folder 54 |
1871-1872 |
Folder 55 |
1873-1880 |
Folder 56 |
Undated |
Folder 57-59
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59 |
Transcripts |
Folder 60 |
Genealogical letters, 1930-1938 |
Folder 61 |
Miscellaneous documents |
Folder 62 |
European |
Folder 63 |
North Carolina |
Folder 64 |
Daily Confederate |
Folder 65 |
Other southern newspapers |
Arrangement: chronological.
Folder 66 |
Notebook, 1843-1850 |
Folder 67 |
Notebook, 1853 |
Folder 68 |
Notebook, 1857-1861 |
Folder 69 |
Notebook, 1860-1861 |
Folder 70 |
Notebook, 1863-1865 |
Folder 71 |
Notebook, 1866-1875 |
Folder 72 |
Notebook, 1867-1875 |
Folder 73 |
Notebook, 1868-1875 |
Folder 74 |
Notebook, 1875-1879 |
Folder 75 |
Notebook, 1875-1880 |
Folder 76 |
Notebook, undated |
Folder 77 |
Notebook, undated |
Folder 78 |
Notebook, 1865 |
Image P-398/1-10
P-398/1P-398/2P-398/3P-398/4P-398/5P-398/6P-398/7P-398/8P-398/9P-398/10 |
PicturesIncluded are engraved portrait prints, some signed, of James G. Bennett, Charles F. Deems, J. C. Dobbin, David L. Swain(?), John(?) Hall, and scenic prints of the French Broad River, a mill in the mountains, and the Washington Monument. |
Oversize Image OP-P-398/1 |
PortraitsIncluded are photographs of portraits of John Kimberly and Caroline Capehart Kimberly. |