The earliest items concern Dempsey Taylor, postmaster of Northampton County, N.C., relative to irregularities in his accounts. These items may actually have belonged to Moses Mordecai, whose law practice George assumed in 1824. Other scattered items include correspondence concerning the death of an enslaved person in a construction accident while he was employed by the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad and the resulting lawsuit.

The legal problems of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad continued during this period. In 1840, George began corresponding with Thomas P. Devereux of Conacanara Plantation. The correspondence often concerns financial matters and George's legal services, as well as Thomas's plantation and, after the marriage in 1842 of George's niece, Margaret Lane Mordecai, to Thomas's son, John Devereux, the letters also contain family news.

Also in 1840, there is correspondence with T. Wilkinson, General Agent of the American Colonization Society, apparently concerning money left the Society by John Rex, whose estate George handled. See also Series 2. Estate Papers.

In 1842, George began receiving letters from his brother Samuel concerning Mordecai family financial matters. Letters from Samuel that are purely personal in nature are located in Subseries 1.2. After 1860, all letters from Samuel are in Subseries 1.2.

The main topics of George's business correspondence at this time are the purchase of railroad bonds for various individuals, the collection of debts for clients, and, in 1847, plans for the construction of a new building for Christ Church (Episcopal) in Raleigh. Prominent correspondents include George E. Badger, William Boylan, Duncan Cameron, Thomas P. Devereux, John Huske, Theodore S. Garnett, C. P. Mallett, A. Sidney Robertson, and Seymour W. Whiting.

George succeeded Duncan Cameron as president of the Bank of the State of North Carolina in 1849 and Cameron corresponded with George on banking subjects from this time until his death in 1853. Correspondence with Thomas P. Devereux also continues, more and more concerned with Devereux's deteriorating financial condition. There is a great deal of correspondence concerning the Episcopal Church, especially the movement in 1851 to remove Bishop Levi Silliman Ives, which George actively supported. George was also involved in the plan to raise funds for the building of a new residence in Raleigh for the bishop, and in the collection and distribution of Education Committee funds toward supporting young men studying to enter the ministry.

Other subjects of interest during this period include the formation of the North Carolina Railroad Company, the failure and rechartering of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, the construction of the new Episcopal church in Raleigh, the establishment of a mental hospital in Raleigh, the Washington and New Orleans Telegraph Company, the new North Carolina State Bank, and, after 1853, the management of George's plantations. In 1855 there is an interesting report from Dr. Louis Baur of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Orthopedic Institute regarding the condition of George's invalid sister in law, Mildred C. ("Millie") Cameron. In 1860 there is a long letter from Benjamin D. Silliman, a long time friend and fellow lawyer from New York, concerning the tense political climate and assuring George of his continued friendship, "whether we are henceforth under the same flag" or not. The remaining correspondence concerns routine legal business and the buying and selling of supplies for various plantations and households.

Prominent correspondents include George E. Badger, William Boylan, Duncan Cameron, John Devereux, Thomas P. Devereux, Dorothea Dix, Charles Garnett, C. T. Haigh, Bishop Levi Silliman Ives, David May, Jarvis Buxton, Benjamin D. Silliman, David L. Swain, and William A. Wright.

During the Civil War,George speculated heavily in cotton and, either as a representative of the banking industry or on his own, bought and sold Confederate and North Carolina bonds for himself and others. He dealt regularly with John A. Lancaster and Son, with R. H. Maury and Company, with Harrison, Goddin, and Apperson, and with Edward Cohen, all of Richmond, buying and selling stocks and bonds, and with Charles Rogers and Co. of Columbus, Ga., and D. Malley and Son of Cheraw, S.C., buying cotton. There is a great deal of correspondence from other commission and general merchants in Richmond, Norfolk, Wilmington, and Charleston, containing information about economic conditions and the availability of goods. George evidently purchased supplies not only for his own plantations at this time but also for Paul C. Cameron and occasionally for Thomas P. Devereux. There is also some information on currency shortages and banking difficulties. For detailed information on the social, political and economic situation in Richmond see the correspondence of Samuel Mordecai in Subseries 1.2. For conditions in the piedmont plantation region of North Carolina see the correspondence of Paul C. Cameron in Subseries 1.2.

George's official political involvement during the war was slight, although he was appointed by the governor to deal with owners of salt mines concerning supplies for the North Carolina troops, and was consulted by the Confederate government concerning the appointment of a North Carolinian to the position of treasurer. Also, George gave $500 of his own money toward the construction of an ironclad ship to protect the North Carolina coast.

As the war came to an end, there are several letters from Thomas Ruffin and William Hawkins to George concerning the political situation in the state. George and William Hawkins applied for pardons, the applications for which were either lost or intentionally mislaid by North Carolina government officials, and the two men eventually went to Washington for a private interview with President Andrew Johnson. The move was not a popular one on all fronts and there were several insulting letters to the editor of the Raleigh Standard. Copies of George's rebuttal are filed at the end of 1865.

Prominent correspondents at this time include Thomas Branch and Sons of Petersburg, Jarvis Buxton of Asheville, De Rosset, Brown and Co. of Wilmington, Thomas P. Devereux, Marx S. Cohen of Charleston, M. A. Curtis of Hillsborough, C. T. Haigh, C. P. Mallett, Willie Perry (concerning plantation affairs), Thomas Ruffin, D. T. Williams, and William A. Wright (discussing conditions in Wilmington, N.C.).

George's trading in stocks and bonds continued after the war, as did his efforts to realize something out of the cotton he lost during Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas. He corresponded frequently with Maury & Co., and with Edward Cohen, both of Richmond, and with Hawkins, Williamson & Co. of Baltimore. Edward Cohen, who had married George's niece, Caroline Myers, appears to have taken over the Mordecai family affairs in Richmond, serving in much the same capacity as Samuel Mordecai had prior to the war.

Correspondence with Thomas Devereux continued as Devereux moved increasingly toward bankruptcy. The collection of debts, including those owed by the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, was everyone's concern as people tried to dig out from the ravages of the war.

In 1866, George was appointed a supervisor of the North Carolina Lunatic Asylum in Raleigh. In 1867, he purchased land in California and established his nephew and namesake, George W. Mordecai Jr., son of Augustus and Rosina (Young) Mordecai, as a sheep farmer. George Jr. was never a success at the business. In 1869, George was appointed head of the North Carolina branch of the De Soto Insurance Company, but he resigned the position due to ill health in 1870. By the fall of 1870, George Sr. was in such ill health that his wife, Margaret Bennehan Mordecai, and brother in law, Paul C. Cameron, were handling his business affairs. The bulk of the correspondence for this period, including George's letter of resignation to the De Soto Insurance Company, can be found in the Cameron Family papers, Series 1.5.

There is an early letter discussing the Southhampton rebellion but the bulk of the correspondence in this subseries begins in 1839 with copy of a letter from George to English novelist Maria Edgeworth, with whom the family had been corresponding since 1813. George travelled to England in 1838-1839 and visited the Edgeworths while there. In 1840, Alfred Mordecai travelled to Europe as a United States military observer and wrote back to the family his impressions of the different countries he visited.

In 1842, Henry Mordecai came of age and assumed the running of his plantation. His stepmother Nancy had a brick house built at Wills Forrest and moved there with her daughters Ellen and Margaret (until the latter's marriage), her son, Jacob, and her sisters, Harriet and Tempe. Much correspondence concerns the construction of this house. See also Subseries 3.1.1. and Subseries 3.2.4 for financial materials associated with the construction.

At this time, the family was split between North Carolina and Virginia, with Nancy, Ellen, Mary Catherine ("Mary Kate" or "Min") Lazarus, Henry, and Jacob in the Raleigh area and Samuel, Ellen, Emma, Eliza Mordecai Myers, Rebecca Myers Mordecai, and Augustus and Rosina (Young) Mordecai in Richmond. Ellen, Julia, and Marx Lazarus were based in Richmond but travelled a great deal between their Lazarus relatives and to New York. Marx, having studied medicine, always intended to settle down and practice but was never able to stay in one place, and out of trouble, long enough to establish himself. His letters to his uncle invariably request money for various fantastic schemes in which he was involved, which funds George either stalled or often refused to send. Marx was also involved with the socialist movement in New York. Ellen accompanied him on several of his trips and probably through him met John Allen, a minister with socialist tendencies. After a short engagement, Ellen and John Allen were married in 1848 and moved afterwards to a farm near Vevray, Ind. Ellen's letters to George detail their life there and increasing financial difficulties. Julia quickly took Ellen's place as Marx's travelling companion. She moved to New York to undergo a variety of "water" cures and other treatments for her nerves, in the process associating herself with persons of questionable nature. See also Subseries 1.1.2 for a letter, 1846, of Thomas P. Devereux to George, describing his attempt to visit Julia while on a trip to New York. Her landlady would not allow him to see her and the house she was staying in was of a suspicious nature.

Ellen Mordecai of Raleigh and Mary Catherine Lazarus visited their uncle Solomon and his family in Mobile, Ala., in 1849. Mary quickly formed an attachment with one of her uncle's business partners, Drury Thompson, which resulted in their marriage in 1850. The family suspected that Thompson, who was much older and had several children from a previous marriage, had misrepresented himself to Mary and was in fact a fortune hunter. George, who was by this time Mary's agent and legal advisor, made sure that her not inconsiderable fortune was safe from Thompson's control. Thompson's true character came out after Mary's sudden death in childbirth in 1850. Her aunt, Caroline Mordecai Plunkett, who also lived in Mobile, revealed that Mary had been very unhappy and perhaps even abused by her husband. His refusal to allow the family to move her remains to Raleigh was the final blow.

Samuel Fox Mordecai, son of Solomon, had visited the Raleigh family in 1848. Ellen Mordecai's visit in 1849 allowed the cousins to renew their friendship, resulting in an engagement between Samuel and the much older Ellen. The engagement was not generally approved by either side of the family, especially as Sam, who had been studying law, was not considered ready to support a family. Ellen returned home to prepare for the wedding and await Sam's arrival, which was delayed. The suspicious nature of the delay, and the disapproval of the families, resulted in the discontinuance of the engagement. As it turned out, Sam was recovering from an unfortunate social disease picked up during a moment of youthful indiscretion. This fact was revealed in a letter from Solomon, Sam's father, to George, as Ellen's de facto guardian; whether Sam ever told Ellen is unclear. After much agonizing and many letters exchanged between Ellen, George, Nancy, and John and Margaret Mordecai Devereux, Sam and Ellen managed to settle their differences, were married in 1850, and returned to Mobile. By 1852 they were back in North Carolina and preparing to move to a plantation on the Roanoke River, very near the Devereux home. While at the plantation Sam contracted a fever and died quite suddenly in August 1852, leaving Ellen with one child, a daughter, and another on the way. George was appointed executor of Samuel Fox Mordecai's estate.

Other family events reflected in letters to George during this period include the death of George's sister, Julia Judith Mordecai, in 1852; the continuing illness of Nancy Lane Mordecai; various floods along the Roanoke River that affected the plantation of John and Margaret Mordecai Devereux; after 1850, the farm life of Ellen Lazarus Allen and her husband, John; continued antagonism between Marx Lazarus and George, resulting in 1850 in an angry letter from Marx revoking his power of attorney and essentially "firing" George as his agent; and news of the births of children to Margaret Mordecai Devereux, Ellen Lazarus Allen, and Ellen Mordecai Mordecai.

In 1853, there are several letters from members of the Richmond family discussing servant problems. Emma wanted George's help to buy an enslaved person who was in danger of being sent south. The enslaved person was evidently the husband of a person enslaved by Mordecai. There was also a person enslaved by Mordecai who wished to be sold and who kept running away. Samuel, although head of the family, was unable to deal effectively with the situation and wanted George to handle it. In late spring 1853, George apparently announced his engagement to Margaret B. Cameron, whom he married in June. He received letters of congratulation from his sister Ellen, and his brothers Samuel, Solomon, and Alfred. Ellen wrote: "You were always good, but with a good wife, you will be better!" Just after the wedding, Eliza Mordecai Myers and Nancy Lane Mordecai travelled to Hampton, Va., in the hope of improving Nancy's deteriorating health. Later in 1853, letters between George and his nephew in law, John Devereux, discuss the seriousness of Nancy's condition and the advisability of Margaret Mordecai Lazarus's moving temporarily to Raleigh to be with her mother, who died in January 1854. Also in 1853, Alfred Mordecai travelled to Mexico on official business. While he was away George corresponded with his sister in law, Sara Hays Mordecai, concerning her family and finances.

In May 1854, Eliza Mordecai Myers wrote a letter of sympathy to Margaret Cameron Mordecai after the latter suffered a miscarriage. A letter from Julia Lazarus in October of the same year refers to Solomon Mordecai's being in Philadelphia recovering from cataract surgery.

Cameron family correspondence appears shortly after the marriage of George and Margaret. They lived in the Cameron house in Raleigh, where Margaret's invalid sister, Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron, lived with them. Mildred's health was a major topic of conversation, as were the annual trips north in search of a cure for her mysterious illness.

Letters from Julia Lazarus and Ellen Lazarus Allen reveal that Marx Lazarus apparently married in late 1854 or early 1855. His wife's name was Mary, last name unknown. Ellen Lazarus Allen's letters discuss her growing family and her husband's struggles to run a vineyard in New Switzerland County, Ind. Julia Lazarus lived most of the time in New York. In 1856 she and Marx (and Mary?) travelled to Paris, ostensibly for Marx to study medicine. There is a curious series of letters from Julia to her uncle George announcing her marriage while in Florence, Italy, to a man she declined to name, and discussing her financial arrangements while in Europe. George replied that, as she was now a married woman, her husband should be in charge of her financial holdings. Julia wrote back, asking George to disregard her previous letter; she had returned to Paris and was staying with Marx. George wrote again to her, asking her for further information: was she married or not? This question was never fully answered. There is evidence in other family letters that Julia may have married, or believed she was married to, a man named Smith who was one of her so called doctors in New York. From this point on, correspondence between Julia and George concerns business only. Upon her return to America Julia declined to live with the Richmond Mordecais but instead moved from one Lazarus relative to another.

John Allen died in 1858, leaving his farm and finances in disarray. Ellen Lazarus Allen had by this time moved to New York, where she felt the climate was more physically and socially healthful, so she was not with her husband at the time of his death. Her sister, Julia, and brother, Marx, were, however, and Ellen revealed to George that rumors persisted that she had arranged for her siblings to dispatch John. At Ellen's request, George tried to untangle the mess in Indiana, working with John Allen's farmhand, Joseph Dantel, a Frenchman. John Allen's total lack of business knowledge, coupled with his lack of success as a farmer, allowed unscrupulous elements in his neighborhood to encroach on his holdings. Letters between George, Joseph, and Ellen discuss the events leading to John Allen's sad financial condition and concern various lawsuits in which he was involved. Joseph Dantel agreed to stay on the farm and try to run things, to at least see the grapes through harvest and the wine made. Letters from Joseph Dantel can be found in Subseries 2.1. Estate Papers. They are mostly in French. Meanwhile, George provided for Ellen and her four children.

In November of 1860, Caroline Mordecai Plunkett moved to Richmond from Mobile. Letters from George's sisters Emma and Ellen and from his mother, Rebecca, in Richmond reveal the family's increasingly concern for her physical and mental health.

The coming of the war put Alfred Mordecai in a difficult position. He and his family were living in Philadelphia, where he was stationed. He mentions in a letter to George that he had been approached by the governor of North Carolina and offered the command of the state troops, which he asked George to decline for him. He also could not fight against the South, and so, after much soul searching, he resigned his United States Army commission. His letters show he came under attack from both sides and faced the very real problem of providing for his large family. He eventually went to Mexico to help survey and construct a national railroad. The Raleigh and Richmond families lost contact with him during the war, except for an occasional letter smuggled through the lines.

As hostilities broke out, many of the younger members of the family joined the army, including Thomas and John Devereux;, William, Thomas, and Jacob Mordecai of Mobile; William, John, and George W. Mordecai Jr., and Edward Myers, all of Richmond; and Marx Lazarus. Letters from this period often contain accounts of various battles as reported by these participants. The family in Richmond suffered all the deprivations of a city under siege, relieved from time to time by shipments of food and supplies sent by Margaret and George from relatively unaffected Raleigh. Samuel's letters discuss economic and social conditions in the city. Whenever possible he listed prices of goods and commodities and also the action among stock and bond traders.

After some discussion between George and various of the Richmond family, Caroline Mordecai Plunkett moved to Raleigh in 1861. Her insanity had worsened and taking care of her was too much for George's sister, Emma, who was also nursing their mother Rebecca through her final illness, and brother Samuel, as his physical conditioned weakened. Caroline was committed to the mental hospital in Raleigh, where she died in 1862. Emma's letters to George detail Rebecca Myers Mordecai's increasingly deteriorating condition and George made more than one trip north to visit her. Rebecca died in 1863 and the Richmond home was broken up in 1864. Emma's letters reveal that she moved to a farm outside of Richmond, home of her sister in law Rosina, widow of Augustus. Ellen travelled for awhile before settling in Raleigh. Samuel moved to Raleigh and lived with George and Margaret. He died in April, 1865. After his death, a letter between George and Alfred revealed that Samuel had had an illegitimate daughter, to whom he left a legacy.

Various Cameron relatives visited throughout the period, especially Margaret's niece Rebecca, who married her cousin Walker Anderson in 1863. Walker was killed in battle shortly afterwards. Many letters from Rebecca and from members of her immediate family report on her mental state. There are many letters from Paul Cameron to both George and Margaret. With Margaret he discussed family news and especially the health of sister Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron. With George he discussed plantation affairs and the difficulties of obtaining supplies, general economic conditions, and the progress of the war.

During this time, letters from Solomon Mordecai of Mobile were infrequent and usually written by one of his daughters. His daughter, Susan, married a Mr. Westfeldt who was later killed in battle.

Letters from Emma Mordecai in Richmond report the movements of various nephews who were in the Confederate army. Marx Lazarus enlisted in several Confederate companies, usually as a private, but may never have actually served. He spent some time with the Richmond family and may have worked in the city as a newspaper reporter and practiced medicine on the side. In 1864, he married a second time (as reported by his cousins) but his second wife's name is unknown, as is the fate of his first wife, Mary. Ellen Lazarus Allen apparently remarried during the war, to a Mr. Walter Shutt. He was a widower with several children; together they had three more.

After the war, Ellen Lazarus Allen Shutt's affairs dominate. Nothing had been settled concerning John Allen's estate prior to the war, and at the war's end, when she contacted the family, it was to announce her remarriage and desperate need for money. George wrote back with advice and apparently bought for her the lot and house where she had been living and provided money for essential improvements. She wrote him long letters detailing her life during the war when her family had been in such severe financial straights that she had apprenticed her daughter Minnie and son Urner (now called Earnest) to the Shakers, a decision she regretted but was unable to reverse. Minnie had no desire to leave the sect but through trickery Ellen was able to "rescue" Earnest. Letters from Julia Lazarus indicated that she and Marx had moved to Georgia and were living off her income from her father's estate while Marx made plans to establish his medical practice.

After the war, Emma Mordecai taught school at various places, including Wilmington, N.C., and Columbus, Ga., and wrote to George of her trials and triumphs. Alfred Mordecai reestablished contact with the family and visited North Carolina in late 1865. He was welcomed by George and Margaret Bennehan Mordecai, but a letter from Margaret Mordecai Devereux to George asked that Alfred not visit her family. George was evidently much displeased by this refusal and Margaret later relented.

In 1867, George purchased land in California and sent his nephews George W. Mordecai and Thomas P. Devereux out to survey it. Their letters home describe farming conditions, land prices, and settlement in San Joachin County. Thomas returned to North Carolina but George Jr., stayed in California intending to establish a sheep ranch and continued to correspond with his uncle about the land purchased and necessary improvements.

Letters from Mobile announced the death of Solomon Mordecai in 1869. By the fall of 1870, George was in failing health and Margaret and Paul Cameron were handling his correspondence and business affairs. See the Cameron Family papers, Series 1.5.

These letters are few in number and are very scattered. They include billet doux exchanged prior to the marriage of George W. Mordecai and Margaret B. Cameron in June 1853, and brief notes after, with one or two long letters written while George was away on family business. They contain mostly news of family and friends and hopes for the good health of both Margaret and George's sister in law, Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron.

These letters have been divided into three groups: those written prior to the death of Margaret's father, Duncan Cameron, in January 1853; those written during the period of mourning, circa January May 1853; and those written after the marriage of Margaret to George in June 1853.

Margaret's letters written prior to her father's death express her concern over his deteriorating health and also over the mysterious illness of her sister, Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron, who never recovered and was an invalid for the remainder of her life. During this time (probably late 1852) Margaret ran her father's Raleigh household and nursed the two patients. It is not clear whether her courtship with George was carried out openly or whether it had the approval of her father. There is some indication that Margaret's brother, Paul C. Cameron, did not fully approve and may have exchanged words with George. There is also indication that George's letters to Margaret contained selections of poetry. Unfortunately none are present in this collection.

Margaret's letters after her father's death reflect her deep sense of loss and grief. They also make frequent reference to the continued ill health of Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron.

Margaret's letters after her marriage to George in June 1853 largely contain news of the Cameron and Mordecai families and friends and events in Raleigh, when George was away from home, and in Hillsborough, N.C., while Margaret was away visiting her family. There are also letters written from New York during Margaret and Millie's annual visits in search of a cure for Millie's illness.

Arranged alphabetically by author when known, with unidentified items and fragments at the end of the series. There are large runs of letters from Margaret's brother, Paul C. Cameron, and niece, Rebecca Cameron Anderson Graham, filed separately.

Bills, receipts, accounts, promissory notes, stock certificates, tax lists, etc., documenting George W. Mordecai's business and personal lives, as well as those of family members for whom he served as agent. There are a few plantation accounts for Henry and Jacob Mordecai and, after 1853, for George W. Mordecai. Of particular prominence are doctor's bills for various family members, especially Nancy Lane Mordecai and Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron.

These items reflect the increase in prices and decrease in supplies of goods as the war progressed, as well as George's speculation in cotton and bonds. Also included are scattered receipts for Wayside Hospital, a Confederate hospital in Raleigh. See also Subseries 3.2.4.

Some record of George's investment in California are included. For more information see Subseries 3.2.2. Legal Papers, and Subseries 1.3. Margaret Bennehan Mordecai Correspondence.

Bills, receipts, and accounts of Margaret Bennehan Mordecai showing purchases of food, household goods, and services. Included are lists of Margaret's taxables for several years. Also present are bills for the medical care of Mildred Coles ("Millie") Cameron until her death in 1881 and for Margaret throughout the period.

A commercial partnership established in 1835 between George W. Mordecai and Gavin Hogg, and continued after Gavin's death with his son. The partners owned a building in downtown Raleigh which was leased for some time to the North Carolina Book Store. Papers include account books, bills, receipts, tax receipts, and insurance policies.

A commercial partnership established in 1833 between Augustus Mordecai, George W. Mordecai, and James McKimmon to run a mercantile business. Augustus decided to pull out in 1838 and George sold all of his remaining interests to James McKimmon.

A Neuse River, N.C., papermaking concern. Materials are scattered and information incomplete. Primarily notes concerning meetings of investors and lists of stockholders.