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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 processed with support, in part, from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 26.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 19,000 items) |
| Abstract | Thomas Ruffin, chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, planter, and politician, served in the North Carolina House of Commons, 1813-1816; as judge of the Superior Court, 1816-1818; as reporter of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1820-1822; and as judge of the Superior Court in 1825-1828. Ruffin became president of the State Bank of North Carolina in 1828. He was elected judge of the Supreme Court of North Carolina in 1829 and became chief justice in 1833. He served as chief justice until 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859. Ruffin was president of the North Carolina Agricultural Society, 1854-1860. He was a delegate to the Washington Peace Conference and to the North Carolina Secession Convention in 1861. The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal papers, and other papers of Thomas Ruffin, and correspondence and financial records of his father, Sterling Ruffin. Major topics are family concerns, especially relating to women; work on plantations in Rockingham, Caswell, and Alamance counties, N.C.; Ruffin's legal practice; borrowing and lending money; the State Bank; Ruffin's other business ventures, including a slave-trading partnership; and his brother's business in Alabama. There is considerable correspondence with merchants in Petersburg, Va., Hillsborough, N.C., and Fayetteville, N.C., about debt collection and legal business. Letters about national politics appear particularly around the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Also included are letters from two of Ruffin's sons who were officers in the Confederate army (5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment and 13th North Carolina Infantry Regiment), and letters about political and economic conditions in the Confederacy. There are letters as well from family members who were students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1813 through the 1840s. Among the correspondents are Ruffin's father-in-law, William Kirkland; his sons-in-law, J. B. G. Roulhac and Paul Carrington Cameron; and friends and business associates, including Archibald De Bow Murphey, Duncan Cameron, and George Badger. |
| Creator | Ruffin, Thomas, 1787-1870. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Processing Information
Processed by: Carolyn Hamby and Linda Sellars with the assistance of Culley Holderfield, Abigail Peoples, and Alicia Reeves, 1994
Encoded by: Bari Helms, March 2005
Updated because of addition by Margaret Dickson, July 2007
Updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, June 2010
This collection was processed with support, in part, from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access.
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Subject Headings
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.
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Biographical Information
Thomas Ruffin, planter, jurist, and politician, was born 17 November 1787 at Newington in King and Queen County, Va. His parents were Sterling and Alice Roane Ruffin. Sterling Ruffin was a planter in Essex County, Va., who subsequently moved to North Carolina and died in Caswell County.
Thomas Ruffin was educated at Warrenton Academy, 1801-1803, in Warrenton, N.C. He attended Princeton University, 1803-1805, and received his A.B. He read law in Petersburg, Va., under David Robertson, 1806-1807, and in North Carolina under Archibald D. Murphey, 1807-1808. Ruffin was admitted to the bar and moved to Hillsborough, N.C., in 1809.
Ruffin married Anne McNabb Kirkland (1794-1875) on 7 December 1809. Anne Kirkland was the daughter of William Kirkland, a Hillsborough merchant, and Margaret Scott Kirkland. Thomas and Anne Ruffin had fourteen children--Catherine Roane, William Kirkland, Anne, Alice Roane, Sterling, Peter Browne, George McNeill, Elizabeth, Thomas, Susan Mary, Jane Minerva, Martha (Patty) Phebe, John Kirkland, and Sarah (Sally) Nash Ruffin. Anne Ruffin's nephew, Duncan K. MacRae, lived with the Ruffins for several years after his mother died.
For most of his adult life, Ruffin owned two plantations--one in Rockingham County and the Hermitage in Alamance County, N.C. Ruffin was an agricultural innovator and a pioneer in scientific farming. He planted a variety of crops, looked for new ways to improve his soil through fertilizers, and maintained close contact with his cousin Edmund Ruffin, a noted antebellum agricultural reformer. He served as President of the North Carolina Agricultural Society from 1854 until 1860.
While living in Hillsborough, Ruffin served, 1813-1815, in the House of Commons. He was a presidential elector on the Monroe ticket in 1816. He was elected Judge of the Superior Court, 1818; reporter of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1820-1822; candidate for presidential elector on the Crawford ticket, 1824; and again as Judge of the Superior Court in 1825. Ruffin resigned from the bench and became President of the State Bank of North Carolina in 1828. His tenure as bank executive was shortlived. He was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of North Carolina in 1829 and became Chief Justice in 1833.
As a jurist, Ruffin was renowned for adapting established English common law standards to the constantly changing judicial conditions in the new United States. Some of his most famous decisions were Hoke v. Henderson , Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company v. Davis , and State v. Mann. State v. Mann was Ruffin's most notorious case. Ruffin's decision stated that "the power of the master must be absolute to render the submission of the slave perfect."
Ruffin retired from the bench in 1852. In 1858, the state legislature again elected him chief justice, but Ruffin resigned after one year.
A Unionist, Ruffin was a North Carolina delegate to the Washington Peace Conference in February 1861, where he sought to avert war. After the failure of this last effort at compromise, Ruffin was a delegate to the North Carolina Secession Convention, where he supported secession based on the right of revolution rather than the right of secession. Once secession was a fact, Ruffin strongly supported the Confederate cause.
After the war, Ruffin moved from the Hermitage to Hillsborough and remained there until his death on 15 January 1870.
For additional information on the Ruffin family and related families, see the Cameron Family Papers (#133) and the Ruffin, Roulhac, and Hamilton Family Papers (#643) in the Southern Historical Collection and Jean Bradley Anderson, The Kirklands of Ayr Mount.
(Biographical information sources: Sean Christopher Walker, "The Lawyer may be altogether sunk in the Farmer: Thomas Ruffin, Planter of Antebellum North Carolina" (Unpublished Honors Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994): 66-67; William S. Powell, ed. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 5 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994): 266-268).
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Scope and Content
Correspondence, financial and legal papers, and other papers of Thomas Ruffin and correspondence and financial records of his father, Sterling Ruffin. Major topics are family concerns, especially relating to women; work on plantations in Rockingham County, N.C., Caswell County, N.C., and Alamance County, N.C.; Ruffin's legal practice; borrowing and lending money; the State Bank of North Carolina; Ruffin's other business ventures, including a slave-trading partnership; and his brother's business in Alabama. There is considerable correspondence with merchants in Petersburg, Va., Hillsborough, N.C., and Fayetteville, N.C., about debt collection and legal business. Letters about national politics appear particularly around the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Also included are letters from two of Ruffin's sons who were officers in the Confederate army, and letters about political and economic conditions in the Confederacy. There are letters as well from family members who were students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1813 through the 1840s. Among the correspondents are Ruffin's father-in-law, William Kirkland; his sons-in-law, J. B. G. Roulhac and Paul Carrington Cameron; and friends and business associates, including Archibald De Bow Murphey, Duncan Cameron, and George Badger.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1784-1878.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal, family, and business correspondence of Thomas Ruffin, along with some correspondence of his parents, siblings, wife, children, grandchildren, friends, and business associates. Related financial and legal items are filed here if they were attached to correspondence.
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Subseries 1.1. 1784-1801.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly letters relating to ownership of land. A letter, 1796, from Hubert Claiborne to James Ruffin concerns the purchase of slave children.
| Folder 1 |
1784-1801 |
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Subseries 1.2. 1802-1807.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters to Thomas Ruffin from his father, Sterling Ruffin, letters to Thomas Ruffin from other family members and friends, a few letters to Sterling Ruffin, and a small number of other items. Letters of 1802 and 1803 from Sterling Ruffin in Virginia to Thomas in school at Warrenton, N.C., give advice about behavior, information about money and clothes, plans for visits, and other family news. Letters from Sterling Ruffin to Thomas Ruffin at Princeton are similar, emphasizing financial concerns, advice about morals, and discussion of Thomas's performance at Princeton. A letter of 9 June 1804 from Sterling to Thomas discusses slavery and religion. Father to son letters of 1806 discuss plans for Thomas to read law with David Robertson in Petersburg, Va., and Sterling Ruffin's plans to buy land in Rockingham County, N.C. Also included in this subseries are letters from Thomas Ruffin's Virginia kin and neighbors, including William Garnett, Robert Ruffin, J. Reynolds, George Hairston, James Wright, and J. F. May. Toward the end of 1807, letters are directed to Thomas Ruffin at Danville, Va.
| Folder 2 |
1802-1803 |
| Folder 3 |
January-June 1804 |
| Folder 4 |
July-December 1804 |
| Folder 5 |
January-April 1805 |
| Folder 6 |
May-August 1805 |
| Folder 7 |
September-December 1805 |
| Folder 8 |
1806 |
| Folder 9 |
1807 |
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Subseries 1.3. 1808-1825.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters to and from Thomas Ruffin about business, letters to Ruffin from family and friends, a few letters from Thomas Ruffin to his wife, Kirkland family letters, and a few other items.
The majority of Ruffin's business correspondents wrote from Petersburg, Va. Ruffin's most frequent business correspondents were James Freeland and the firm of Freeland and Gillis in Petersburg, Va., with whom he corresponded about collection of debts. Other Petersburg merchants from whom he received letters included Mitchell, Hinton & Brame; William Moore; John Dunlop; Nathaniel Friend; Durkin Henderson & Co.; Lynch & Cather; William Bowdine & Co.; Thomas Morgan; and Hislop and Brander.
Letters from C. F. Bagge, Salem, beginning late in 1814, discuss collection of debts. Regular letters from Bagge about borrowing and lending money, the State Bank of North Carolina, and other business appear until 1837, the year of Bagge's death.
In the early 1820s, Ruffin increasingly corresponded with North Carolina merchants about debt collection and legal business. Notable among these were Gavin Hogg, Duncan Rose, and, in Fayetteville, George McNeill; Winslow & Huske; Charles Chalmers; and C. P. Mallett.
Ruffin also received letters from New York merchants Kelly, Morrison & Clawson; Robertson & Wills; Peter S. Van Wyck; and Robertson & Kelso, about his commissions for collecting debts in North Carolina.
Archibald D. Murphey's financial difficulties were the subject of many letters during this period. Ruffin received letters from J. May in Petersburg, George McNeill in Fayetteville, and Murphey's sons Victor Moreau Murphey and William D. Murphey, as well as from Murphey himself about Murphey's debts. Murphey also wrote to Ruffin about the sale of land he owned in North Carolina and Tennessee.
In 1822-1825, Ruffin received several letters from Benjamin Chambers, his partner in a slave-trading venture, about the purchase and sale of slaves.
Letters about legal business from Archibald D. Murphey discuss particular legal cases and the courts. Ruffin also received letters about legal business from James Graham, John De Lacy, William Norwood, P. H. Winston, and George E. Badger. In July 1825, Ruffin received letters from George Badger, Robert Strange, and J. F. Taylor about arrangements for handling his legal business after he returned to the bench.
Some letters in this subseries discuss the national politics and government. A long letter from A. D. Murphey, dated 8 January 1813, besides giving advice on legal cases, gives news of the war against Bonaparte and speculates on the prospects for a negotiated peace between England and the United States. A few other letters give political and diplomatic news. One from Bartlett Yancey, 4 February 1814, to Sterling Ruffin gives news from Congress about revenue issues and war and peace. Letters from Yancey from late 1814 until 1817 give news of Congress and the government, revenue and finance, a proposed national bank, and other political topics. A few letters in 1824 from W. P. Mangum, Henry Seawell, R. M. Saunders, and J. W. Long discuss the coming presidential election.
Ruffin continued to receive friendly letters from William Garnett in Virginia. He and his parents also received letters from James Wright in Petersburg. These contained news of Petersburg and of Thomas's sister Minerva, who was visiting the Wrights. Another Virginia connection, William Roane, wrote on 17 October 1815 from the U.S.S. Constitution in the Bay of Gibraltar describing the voyage from Virginia to the Bay of Gibraltar and Malaga.
Some letters from or about Thomas Ruffin's father and siblings are included here. In August 1813, there is a letter from brother James Ruffin in college at the University of North Carolina. There are letters in April 1814 from George McNeill to Sterling Ruffin and Thomas Ruffin about James. Letters from Thomas Ruffin's father, Sterling Ruffin, in Rockingham and Caswell counties, to Thomas reflect Sterling's economic difficulties, the falling prices of land and slaves, difficulties raising cash and collecting debts. Also found here are letters between Sterling Ruffin and his daughter Minerva Dillard about religion.
After Sterling Ruffin's death in 1822, there are more letters from Thomas Ruffin's brothers James H. Ruffin and William F. Ruffin about business and about William's education at the University of North Carolina. William F. Ruffin died on 17 September 1824. Thomas Ruffin also received letters in 1825 from Mitchell Gill, Rockingham County, N.C., who was apparently managing Ruffin's plantation. Gill reported on slaves, animals, crops of corn and tobacco, and the progress of work on the farm.
Letters from Elizabeth Kirkland, 13 September 1810, and John Kirkland, 22 September 1810, to William Kirkland congratulate him on his daughter's marriage to Thomas Ruffin and inform him of the death of his sister Jane. These letters mention the state of the economy in England, Scotland, and America. Letters from William Kirkland in London, 10 October 1811, and Glasgow, 12 December 1811, describe his visit with his brothers Nugent and John and with his mother and sisters. Letters from William Kirkland after his return to North Carolina report to Ruffin on the slaves' work on Ruffin's farm and give news of his farm and family.
Only a few letters from Thomas Ruffin to his wife are included here. Among these are three written in December 1813, when Thomas was serving in the state legislature. Later letters ask Anne to pass along instructions about farm work to his slave Cupid. There are even fewer letters from Anne Ruffin to her husband. She did occasionally write news of their children and report on work on their farm.
On 3 June 1824, Archibald De Bow Murphey wrote to Ruffin from Haw River, N.C., informing him of the "evil and barbarous" treatment of Ruffin's slaves by his overseer. Murphey said that the neighbors were commenting and that Ruffin's character as well as his interest were involved.
Beginning in December 1824, William K. Ruffin wrote to his parents and to his sister Catherine from St. Mary's School in Maryland. William's letters describe his studies and life at the school.
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Subseries 1.4. 1826-1829.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal and business correspondence of Thomas Ruffin. Many letters in this subseries have to do with Ruffin's family and farm. Other letters discuss his business affairs, including his slave trading partnership with Benjamin Chambers, borrowing and lending money, and buying and selling land. Only a few letters discuss politics. In 1829, a considerable number of letters concern the business of the State Bank of North Carolina, of which Ruffin was president in 1829.
Among the family letters during this time period are many written by Thomas Ruffin to his wife Anne, mostly about their children, his farm, his travel plans, his visits to friends and family, and his court business. On 26 January 1826, Thomas wrote to Anne from Caswell telling of his brother James Ruffin's marriage and describing his own happiness with his daughters' behavior. There are only a few letters here from Anne Ruffin to her husband. His requests for more letters and her responses indicate that she disliked writing letters and wrote infrequently. There are, however, a few letters from Anne to Thomas giving news of their children and farm.
Other family letters include letters of the Ruffin children. Here there are a considerable number of letters from William K. Ruffin at school in Maryland and, beginning in fall 1827, in Chapel Hill, N.C. William's letters from St. Mary's School in Maryland to his mother repeatedly state that he was unhappy at the Catholic school and wanted to go to the University of North Carolina. William's letters to his father concern his clothes, money, and plans. Thomas Ruffin wrote letters of advice to William concerning money, industry, and diligence. At St. Mary's, William also received letters from his sister Catherine Ruffin and his friends, William Norwood, Duponceau Jones, and Henry Webb. After William went to Chapel Hill in 1827, he wrote frequently to his parents about his expenses, his studies, and his living arrangements in Chapel Hill. Also found here are letters to William from St. Mary's friends and letters to Thomas Ruffin about William's conduct from E. Damphoux at St. Mary's and William Hooper in Chapel Hill. Also in this subseries are a letter from William Bingham reporting on Sterling Ruffin's progress in school and on Anne Ruffin to her parents from school at Rock Rest.
Anne Ruffin's nephew Duncan MacRae had lived with the Ruffins for several years after his mother died. In this subseries are several letters from his father, John MacRae, to Thomas Ruffin about business and about Duncan, who was for some of the time attending the Bingham School.
In this subseries there are several letters to Thomas Ruffin about the estate of his uncle, William Ruffin, and particularly about selling his uncle's property. The first letter about William Ruffin's estate is in Subseries 1.3. This letter, 15 September 1825, from William H. Ruffin to Thomas Ruffin mentions William's brothers Albert and Robert, and his son Frank. Other letters about the estate came from William Polk, William Haywood, and H. Miller, as well as from Thomas Ruffin's cousins, A. R. Ruffin, A. G. Ruffin, and Robert Ruffin. There are also some letters from Thomas Ritchie in Richmond, Va., who was apparently the brother of William Ruffin's widow.
Letters to Thomas Ruffin from his brother James Ruffin, his brother-in-law George McNeill, and his father-in-law William Kirkland, mix family and business concerns. A considerable number of letters from James Ruffin give news of Thomas's plantation as well as news of their mother and of James's own financial problems. George McNeill wrote most often of business, but also sent news of family members in Fayetteville, N.C., and of influenza in that city in 1826. William Kirkland wrote about his debts, the health of his family, and other family news. Both George McNeill and William Kirkland wrote about the debts of William McNeill.
The financial affairs of Archibald De Bow Murphey continue to be the subject of considerable correspondence in this subseries. Thomas Ruffin wrote to Samuel Dickins about land in Tennessee that had formerly been Murphey's. James McLemore and C. Bagge wrote to Ruffin about Murphey's affairs. Murphey himself wrote numerous letters to Ruffin about his health, his family, and his Tennessee lands. Also included here are some letters to Murphey from James Mebane and David Craighead about legal business.
Letters from Mitchell Gill, Rockingham County, N.C., report on slaves, animals, crops of tobacco and corn, and work on a plantation. Late in 1826, Gill wrote that he was moving and wanted the money owed him. He wrote again in 1827 about a dispute over money. Letters from William Meador, Rockingham, begin in 1827 and give news of crops, plowing, and horses.
Letters about Ruffin's own business affairs include letters from Benjamin Chambers in Alabama, where he was selling slaves, and letters about Chambers's death and the settlement of his estate. Also included are letters from John M. Dick in Greensboro about claims against Duncan Rose and other letters about financial and legal business from C. F. Bagge, John Devereux, W. H. Haywood, James T. Morehead, Gavin Hogg, George Badger, Thos. Irvin & Co., William Polk, William Cain, R. M. Saunders, J. F. May, Robert Strange, and others.
Relatively few letters relate to Ruffin's work as a judge. Among these are a letter from J. J. Daniel about the assignment of judges for fall 1828 and approximately twenty letters from people in Rockingham about the appointment of a clerk of Richmond Superior Court.
In 1829, when Ruffin was president of the State Bank, he received letters from the State Bank cashiers at Edenton, New Bern, and Fayetteville about Bank business.
Late in 1829, some letters contain speculation about whether Ruffin would succeed the state supreme court justice who had died. In November and December 1829, there are many letters of congratulation to Ruffin on his appointment to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
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Subseries 1.5. 1830-1860.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal and business correspondence of Thomas Ruffin while he was a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Most of the letters in this subseries are part of Ruffin's correspondence with his family. The fraction of letters about borrowing and lending money, collecting debts, and conducting legal business is far smaller in this subseries than in earlier ones.
Letters from Thomas Ruffin, most often in Raleigh, to Anne Ruffin at Haw River discuss health, their children, and other family members. Infrequent letters from Anne to Thomas report on the weather, guests, slaves, her health, and their family. In 1836-1839, many letters discuss Anne Ruffin's illness. Alice Ruffin wrote to her father in 1836 that her mother was sick in mind and body. Anne herself wrote to her husband about it as did Dr. Edmund Strudwick, Alice Ruffin, Phebe Kirkland, John U. Kirkland, Anne Cameron, James Webb, and James H. Ruffin. Many of these letters also mention the illness of Ruffin's daughter Elizabeth Ruffin, who died late in 1838.
In 1834 and 1835, Thomas Ruffin exchanged letters with William Mercer Green about Green's proposal of marriage to Ruffin's daughter Catherine and her parents' objections. In 1836-1837, family letters discuss Catherine's engagement and marriage to Joseph Blount Gregoire Roulhac. Roulhac wrote from Windsor, N.C., about his wife and children and his business selling flour, buying tea, and selling carding machinery. In 1845, Roulhac wrote that he was planning to move to Raleigh, N.C. In the late 1840s, Thomas Ruffin's letters often give news of the Roulhac family because he stayed with them in Raleigh while the Supreme Court was in session.
Other family letters include letters from William K. Ruffin in Chapel Hill about his studies, his expenses, his reading law, and his plans. In 1832-1836, William wrote from Haw River about family and plantation news. In 1838 and 1839, several letters concern William K. Ruffin's drinking, gambling, and his shooting a man. In 1840-1842, William again wrote family and plantation news from Haw River. In 1843-1845, he wrote from Rockingham about the plantation and overseer.
Also in this subseries are letters of Paul Cameron and Anne Ruffin Cameron. Paul Cameron wrote to Anne Ruffin on 8 June 1831 that her father had agreed to his proposal of marriage. Letters from the Camerons in the 1830s report on Anne Cameron's health and other family news. In the 1840s, Anne and Paul Cameron each wrote to both Anne Ruffin and Thomas Ruffin with news of the Cameron children and other family members.
Alice Ruffin wrote letters to Thomas Ruffin, especially in the 1830s giving family news.
Sterling Ruffin wrote few letters but was the subject of many in the 1830s. In the early 1830s, when Sterling was at home at Haw River, he occasionally wrote to his father. Letters from William S. Bingham and W. Anderson in 1834 and 1835 concern Sterling's education. Also included in 1834 are letters from Sterling while he was a student in Chapel Hill. In 1835, quite a few letters discuss Sterling's sickness and resulting blindness. These include letters from James Webb, W. Anderson, Edmund Strudwick, V. M. Murphey, Pride Jones, and Isaac Hays. There are also several letters from Thomas Ruffin to Anne Ruffin on the way to Philadelphia, where he took Sterling for treatment. Letters from Robert Brodnax, F. M. Murphey, Isaac Hays, Pride Jones, as well as letters from Thomas to Anne discuss Sterling's condition and treatment. In 1837, Michael Holt wrote about bringing Sterling home. In 1845, Thomas Ruffin wrote to Anne Ruffin that he wanted Sterling to persevere with education for the blind.
Letters about Peter Browne Ruffin in Chapel Hill in 1838 and 1839. In the 1840s, Peter Browne Ruffin wrote from Hillsborough and then from Windsor about business.
In 1839 and 1840, letters from Robert Brodnax and from Mr. Smith indicate that Thomas Ruffin, Jr., and his cousins James, George, and Sterling, were at school at Mr. Smith's in Rockingham. In 1841-1844, Thomas Ruffin, Jr., wrote from Chapel Hill about his friends and his studies. Also included are reports from the University about Thomas, Jr., and about James S. Ruffin.
A letter from John MacRae in 1836 tells of Duncan going to Chapel Hill. Letters in February 1838 informed Ruffin that Duncan, then at the College of William and Mary, had been engaged as principal in a duel that was stopped by the civil authority, had been expelled from the college, and had shot himself in the lung.
Thomas Ruffin received numerous letters from William Kirkland and John U. Kirkland giving family news, especially news of the illness of Phebe Kirkland in the early 1830s. William Kirkland also wrote news of his extended family, such as A. D. Murphey's financial difficulties in 1832 and Robert Strange's debt to the State Bank in 1834. In 1836, he wrote about financial affairs and an outbreak of measles. John U. Kirkland wrote in 1836 about his father's illness and about his sister, Anne Ruffin. He wrote later about his father's estate and news of Phebe's death in 1844.
Ruffin's sisters' husbands, George McNeill of Fayetteville and William Cain of Hillsborough, wrote to him about family and business. A few letters from George McNeill are found in each year. There are fewer letters from William Cain. The letters from Cain are primarily about family news.
Letters from more distant relatives appear occasionally. Here are found one or two letters each year, 1832-1836, from Thomas Ruffin's cousin Caroline Ruffin asking for financial help. A few letters each year in the 1830s from Thomas Scott give news of his farm and family, including description of his debts and fears, but not including any request for assistance. E. L. de Graffenreid, husband of Martha Kirkland, wrote to Ruffin in the 1840s about property in Columbus, Ga., and about William Kirkland's estate.
James H. Ruffin wrote from Caswell about his plantation and business affairs as well as family news. In 1833, James H. Ruffin wrote from Tuscaloosa that he planned to move to Alabama. In 1834, he wrote from Greensborough, Ala., about a friend's desire to borrow money. For the remainder of the 1830s, James wrote sometimes from Alabama and sometimes from North Carolina. In 1839, he wrote from Mobile, Ala., that he was trying to sell out in Alabama and return to North Carolina. In 1846, he wrote again from Mobile about business, cotton, and funds for his son James Sterling Ruffin. In 1848, he wrote about ordering wedding paraphernalia for Susan Mary from Philadelphia and about his son's preparations to start medical school in Philadelphia.
Ruffin's overseers and neighbors in Rockingham and Caswell wrote him about his plantations there. Letters, 1830-1838, from William J. Meador, Dan River, N.C., give news about tobacco sales and work on the plantation. In 1840-1842, there are letters from John R. Meador, Dan River, reporting on Ruffin's people, hogs, and tobacco. In 1845-1847, there are similar letters from Reason Jeffreys and in 1848, from Green Hardy. Edward, Robert, and John Brodnax wrote to Ruffin at various times in the 1830s and 1840s about his plantation, his overseers, his slaves, and his crops.
Business letters, although relatively fewer in this subseries, continue to appear. Letters about Archibald De Bow Murphey's financial difficulties and the sale of his land continue until his death in 1832. Ruffin's correspondence with C. F. Bagge about borrowing and lending money continued until Bagge died in 1837. Also in this subseries are letters to and from Duncan Cameron, Edwin M. Holt, Michael Holt, James T. Morehead, William Cain, Duncan Rose, D. W. Stone, Thomas P. Devereux, and G. W. Mordecai about business. Also included is a letter, 1847, from Rufus Turnage in Tennessee about a land grant to John Rice.
Letters about legal questions from John M. Dick, chiefly about cases involving Duncan Rose, and from William A. Graham are also found here as are letters from young men inquiring about studying law with Ruffin. Letters about court business include one from W. W. Holden applying to be Reporter to the Supreme Court; letters, 1846, from E. J. Ervin, Tod R. Caldwell, and James R. Dodge applying to be Clerk of Supreme Court at Morganton; and letters of recommendation for candidates for Clerk.
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Subseries 1.6. 1861-1865.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters, primarily to Thomas Ruffin, about the Civil War from political colleagues, Ruffin's sons in the Confederate Army, and financial consultants. Although a member of the Peace Convention of 1861, Thomas Ruffin supported the Confederate cause from the beginning of the war. On 5 June 1861, Rufus Y. McAden wrote to Ruffin asking him to help supply buttons for uniforms and blankets for the Alamance County troops.
Ruffin's sons Thomas Ruffin, Jr., and John K. Ruffin served in the Confederate Army. John Kirkland Ruffin was an assistant surgeon for the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Thomas Ruffin, Jr., was a lieutenant colonel in the 13th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Thomas Ruffin, Jr. wrote to his father frequently about his service and the progress of the war. On 26 May 1862, Thomas Ruffin, Jr. wrote to his father "We are in Genl. Colston's Brigade and Genl. Longstreet's division. The latter is thought to be a great man and has the full confidence of men and officer ... We moved again yesterday and are now in Richmond, between the York River and the Central R. Roads; but it is uncertain how long we will be here, as we are ordered to hold ourselves in readiness to move at an hour's notice." The senior Ruffin's pre-war pacifism had evaporated by 1862 and in his letter of 21 April 1862 to Thomas Ruffin, Jr., he wrote "[D]efend Richmond to the bitter end and if the demons should burn it, yet never let them occupy it. Harrass them day and night and make them wish themselves back in their infernal regions of abolition."
In addition to letters from his sons, Ruffin also received letters from political friends throughout the state. Many letters discuss the rivalry between Zebulon B. Vance and William W. Holden for the governorship of North Carolina. The government of the Confederacy was also discussed. Burgess S. Gaither, a Burke County, N.C., politician and member of the Confederate Congress wrote critically of Jefferson Davis, "The President does things pretty much in his own way, without consulting any one and takes the responsibility upon himself and has given us a cabinet which is not satisfactory to the country." (1 April 1862)
Other correspondents included R. M. Abbott, Ruffin's overseer on the Dan River plantation, Edmund Ruffin, Jr., Kenneth Rayner, and the stock broker firm of Lancaster & Co. Ruffin's investment in Confederate bonds and currency became a real concern to him as the war continued. On 20 May 1863, Lancaster & Co. wrote, "We have been unable as yet to sell any of your N.C. 6s [percents]. They have been very dull ... Don't think it very advisable to force N.C. bonds on the market just now as currency is becoming very abundant again and all undoubted securities will be in demand." The majority of correspondence in late 1863 through 1864 consists of letters from various brokerage firms, Jonathan Worth, the Public Treasurer, and other investors in the Confederacy and in the North Carolina Sinking Fund.
After the surrender the tone of the letters changes as one by one, Ruffin's friends and family members face deprivation and hardship in the wake of defeat. Ruffin's cousin, Edmund Ruffin, Jr., wrote on 9 June 1865 about his family's flight from Richmond and the destruction of their plantation, "[t]he houses are all much pulled to pieces--the dwelling more damaged that [sic.] any others. To repair it probably would cost more than the original charge for building. The roof has been torn off and of course all the plaistering is ruined--the floors ripped up, the porches torn down--the sashes blinds doors, door and window facings, mantels, banisters destroyed--in fact nothing is left except the four walls ... ." Thomas Ruffin, himself, experienced quite a financial setback from the war and in a letter to a unknown creditor he described his impoverished condition, "I wish I were able to remit the amount. But I can not, as the result of the war has left me but little ..." (24 November 1865) Included among the letters describing destruction and poverty are some from R. M. Abbott, Ruffin's overseer at the Dan River plantation and some from Paul C. Cameron. Cameron drafted a labor contract in April 1865 "to the Negroes on his own, his brothers' and his sisters' farms in Orange County." The contract gave the newly freed slaves a third of the corn and molasses and one fourth of all the rest of the crops. In 1866 Cameron raised the amounts to half "of the wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, molasses, peas and sweet potatoes ..." R. M. Abbott, Ruffin's overseer, hired white laborers and wrote to his employer on 26 November 1865, "I am getting on with my work as well as I ever did in my life, if any an makes money on free labor I intend to do it by the smiles of providence."
| Folder 439 |
January 1861 |
| Folder 440 |
February 1861 |
| Folder 441 |
March 1861 |
| Folder 442 |
April 1861 |
| Folder 443 |
May 1861 |
| Folder 444 |
June 1861 |
| Folder 445 |
July 1861 |
| Folder 446 |
August 1861 |
| Folder 447 |
September-November 1861 |
| Folder 448 |
December 1861 |
| Folder 449 |
January-March 1862 |
| Folder 450 |
April-June 1862 |
| Folder 451 |
July-September 1862 |
| Folder 452 |
October-December 1862 |
| Folder 453 |
January-February 1863 |
| Folder 454 |
March-April 1863 |
| Folder 455 |
May-June 1863 |
| Folder 456 |
July-August 1863 |
| Folder 457 |
September-October 1863 |
| Folder 458 |
November-December 1863 |
| Folder 459 |
January-March 1864 |
| Folder 460 |
April-June 1864 |
| Folder 461 |
July-August 1864 |
| Folder 462 |
September-October 1864 |
| Folder 463 |
November-December 1864 |
| Folder 464 |
January-February 1865 |
| Folder 465 |
March-June 1865 |
| Folder 466 |
July-August 1865 |
| Folder 467 |
September-October 1865 |
| Folder 468 |
November-December 1865 |
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Subseries 1.7. 1866-1878.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Letters to Thomas Ruffin, Anne Ruffin, and to their children about family concerns, political events, and financial matters. This subseries contains three separate groups of letters. The bulk of the letters from 1866 until January 1870 are to Thomas Ruffin. These include many letters from his stockbrokers and bankers about the state of his investments after the war. However, matters did improve somewhat for the Ruffins. They left the Haw River plantation in early 1866 and moved to Hillsborough. By 1867, Lancaster & Co., a banking and brokerage firm in Virginia wrote to Ruffin counseling him to invest in railroad bonds, "[w]e would suggest that you consider the advisability of investing in the Richmond & Danville RR bonds. The Road you are aware is 190 miles long and is doing an excellent business ..." (12 Nov. 1867) Not all of Ruffin's family and friends fared as well as he. A letter from his niece Ellen S. Ruffin, dated 13 Nov. 1867, chronicled her family's post-war difficulties, "Mr. Ruffin [Frank Ruffin] no doubt told you of our doings; how our boys handle the plough and hoe. At first their pride stood up and made their roughened hands and bronzed faces a mortification to them; but their own brave hearts and right feeling have taught them that those whose good opinion is worth having and striving for, will judge them by their actions and not appearances." Thomas Ruffin also continued to receive letters from old political allies. Weldon Nathaniel Edwards, a former state and congressional legislator, wrote on his eighty-second birthday to Ruffin about the loneliness of old age, "dear old-oldest friend ... the sad havoc of time has left none to me but yourself. But this is a tax & a heavy tax too upon long life and who have the worst of the Bargain--those who go first or those who are left behind friendless?" (25 Jan. 1869) Another regular correspondent to Ruffin was his overseer on the Dan River plantation, R. M. Abbott. Abbott informed Ruffin of the stock and crops on the plantation. Abbott may have been a very good overseer from Ruffin's point of view; but as a long letter from the Freedmen's Bureau explained, how profits were made on Dan River did not meet with the approval of the Federal government. "This contract is considered objectionable ... . The price of labor is even below the price paid for slave labor before the war, and in charging 50¢ per day for time lost, what ages are received at $3,50 per month without board is considered unjust." (19 March 1868) Abbott continued to run Dan River after Ruffin's death on 15 Jan. 1870.
Following Ruffin's death, the letters from 1870 to 1874 were primarily written to Anne K. Ruffin. There are many letters of sympathy, as well as a few letters from her husband's financial advisors. One of the most interesting letters in this group is one written to Anne Ruffin from a former slave. Chaney Caldwell wrote to "her old mistress" on 31 Jan. 1873 telling her about the death of November Caldwell. "The people of Chapel Hill were kind and attentive to him and he appeared to enjoy seeing the Methodist preacher ... . He found a hope in Christ two months before his death."
After the death of Anne K. Ruffin on 28 Oct. 1875, the remainder of this subseries has letters from the Ruffin's children. William Ruffin and Sallie Ruffin Gwynn wrote to each other frequently; but Anne Ruffin Cameron, Catherine Ruffin Roulhac, and Thomas Ruffin, Jr. also wrote to each other.
| Folder 469 |
January-March 1866 |
| Folder 470 |
April-June 1866 |
| Folder 471 |
July-August 1866 |
| Folder 472 |
September-October 1866 |
| Folder 473 |
November-December 1866 |
| Folder 474 |
January-March 1867 |
| Folder 475 |
April-June 1867 |
| Folder 476 |
July-August 1867 |
| Folder 477 |
September-December 1867 |
| Folder 478 |
January-March 1868 |
| Folder 479 |
April-June 1868 |
| Folder 480 |
July-September 1868 |
| Folder 481 |
October-December 1868 |
| Folder 482 |
January-June 1869 |
| Folder 483 |
July-October 1869 |
| Folder 484 |
November-December 1869 |
| Folder 485 |
January-February 1870 |
| Folder 486 |
March-December 1870 |
| Folder 487 |
1871-1872 |
| Folder 488 |
1873-1878 |
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Subseries 1.8. Recommendation Letters, 1828-1852.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters to the justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court introducing and recommending lawyers applying for licenses to practice in North Carolina courts.
| Folder 489 |
1831-1837 |
| Folder 490 |
1841 |
| Folder 491 |
May-June, December 1842 |
| Folder 492 |
June-December 1843 |
| Folder 493 |
January-November 1844 |
| Folder 494 |
December 1844 |
| Folder 495 |
May-June 1845 |
| Folder 496 |
October-December 1845 |
| Folder 497 |
January-May 1846 |
| Folder 498 |
June 1846 |
| Folder 499 |
November-December 1846 |
| Folder 500 |
January-June 1847 |
| Folder 501 |
July-August 1847 |
| Folder 502 |
December 1847 |
| Folder 503 |
1848 |
| Folder 504 |
January, June 1849 |
| Folder 505 |
July-August 1849 |
| Folder 506 |
November-December 1849 |
| Folder 507 |
May-August 1850 |
| Folder 508 |
November-December 1850 |
| Folder 509 |
January, May-June 1851 |
| Folder 510 |
July-August 1851 |
| Folder 511 |
November-December 1851 |
| Folder 512 |
1852 |
| Folder 513 |
Undated |
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Subseries 1.9. Undated Correspondence.
Arrangement: chiefly alphabetical.
| Folder 514 |
Undated family letters (Thomas Ruffin, Anna Kirkland Ruffin) |
| Folder 515 |
Undated family letters (Martha "Patty" Ruffin) |
Folder 516-518
Folder 516Folder 517Folder 518 |
Undated family letters (Anne Ruffin Cameron) |
| Folder 519 |
Undated family letters |
| Folder 520 |
Undated family letters |
| Folder 521 |
Undated family letters |
| Folder 522 |
Undated Letters, A-B |
| Folder 523 |
Undated Letters, C-F |
| Folder 524 |
Undated Letters, G-H |
| Folder 525 |
Undated Letters, J-L |
| Folder 526 |
Undated Letters, M |
| Folder 527 |
Undated Letters, N-R |
| Folder 528 |
Undated Letters, S |
| Folder 529 |
Undated Letters, T-W and unidentified |
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Series 2. Financial and Legal Material, 1753-1898.
Arrangement: by type.
Loose and bound financial records, Supreme Court decisions, trial paperwork, and other related material for Thomas Ruffin, his father, Sterling Ruffin, Anne K. Ruffin, and other members of the Ruffin family. The bulk of this series is loose financial documents consisting of receipts, deeds, indentures, account statements, bills, and similar items.
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Subseries 2.1. Loose Financial and Legal Papers, 1753-1898 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Indentures, receipts, account statements, bonds, and other related material of Thomas Ruffin, Sterling Ruffin, and other Ruffin family members. The bulk of the material before 1809 deals with Sterling Ruffin's land purchases and business transactions in both North Carolina and Virginia. After his admittance to the bar, Thomas Ruffin began to help his father with the family businesses; eventually succeeding him on his death. The Ruffins ran a mill, a store, a tan-yard, as well as two plantations. They served as money-lenders, witnesses, executors, and employers for people in Orange, Rockingham, Alamance counties in North Carolina for most of the antebellum period. From 1870 to 1875, the subseries contains receipts for purchases made by Anne K. Ruffin for household items. The remainder of the subseries contains receipts and accounts for the estates of Thomas Ruffin and Anne K. Ruffin.
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Subseries 2.2. Ruffin and Ellis Tan-Yard Records, 1814-1818.
Arrangement: roughly chronological.
Accounts of the Ruffin and Ellis Tan-Yard. The tan-yard was owned by Ira Ellis and Thomas Ruffin in Rockingham County. There is also a bound volume of accounts for this same tan-yard in the bound financial and legal records (Series 2.4.).
Folder 693-694
Folder 693Folder 694 |
1814-1818 |
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Subseries 2.3. Legal Cases, 1819-1844
and undated.
Arrangement: roughly chronological.
Supreme Court case decisions, trial paper work, and other related material primarily from Thomas Ruffin's years as a North Carolina Supreme Court justice. As a member of the state's highest court, Ruffin made deliberations on cases as diverse as alimony fraud to whether or not shuffleboard was a game of chance. This subseries contains many handwritten decisions on Supreme Court cases. In addition there is trial paperwork for three trials: the Mendenhall and Hubbard Patent case, Arrington v. Battle, and State v. Rives. The first case involved a dispute over the rightful inventor of grist mill improvements. The second was a debt case. The last case was concerned with the right of property and the right of way on real estate purchased at a sheriff's sale.
| Folder 695 |
Supreme Court Briefs, December Term 1819 |
Folder 696-699
Folder 696Folder 697Folder 698Folder 699 |
Mendenhall Patent Case, 1827-1830 |
Folder 700-703
Folder 700Folder 701Folder 702Folder 703 |
Arrington v. Battle, 1832 |
| Folder 704 |
State v. Rives, 1844 |
| Folder 705 |
Undated Miscellaneous Legal Papers |
Folder 706-714
Folder 706Folder 707Folder 708Folder 709Folder 710Folder 711Folder 712Folder 713Folder 714 |
Undated Supreme Court Cases |
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Subseries 2.4. Financial and Legal Volumes, 1765-1893 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Account books, bank books, circuit court dockets, receipt books, and other related material for Thomas Ruffin and his father, Sterling Ruffin, and other Ruffin family members. The first four volumes record the business activities of Sterling Ruffin. These include plantation accounts, slave lists, horse breeding information, bonds, and other related items, primarily from Sterling Ruffin's plantation in Rockingham County, N.C.
Volumes 5-45 and volume 47 contain records concerning Thomas Ruffin's business and legal affairs. These include court dockets, legal fee books, mill accounts for Ruffin's mill, various drygoods stores' accounts, and other related material. Throughout his life, Ruffin formed many business partnerships. One with Benjamin Chambers allowed him to invest in the slave trade. Two other business alliances were with Paul Kinnion and J. H. Bland.
Ruffin's children also contributed material to this subseries. Volume 46 has estate accounts for Thomas Ruffin's daughter Martha Ruffin and his wife, Anne Kirkland Ruffin. Peter Browne Ruffin, Thomas's son, acted as an agent for his mother's estate and served as executor for his sister Martha's estate.
| Folder 715 |
Volume 1, 1794-1797Rockingham County, N.C., accounts for tavern, iron, corduroy, shoeing horses, honey, buttons, and shoes. Formerly Volume 1b. 132 p. |
| Folder 716 |
Volume 2, 1785-1804Accounts for cash, supplies, and bonds. Formerly Volume 1a. 38 p. |
| Folder 717 |
Volume 3, 1799-1814Accounts, lists of slaves, stud records for horses. Formerly Volume 2. |
| Folder 718 |
Volume 4, 1765-1820Accounts with people in various counties in Virginia for rents, corn, wheat, annuities, legacies, slaves, labor, clothes, and cash. An index is included. Formerly Volume 1c. 139 p. |
| Folder 719 |
Volume 5, 1805-1814Cash accounts and personal memoranda, including Thomas Ruffin's move to Hillsborough, his feelings about his proposal of marriage to Anne Kirkland, a list of the kings of England, notes on agriculture, and maxims on various subjects. Formerly Volume 6. |
| Folder 720 |
Volume 6, 1807-1814Day book with index. Included are accounts for household expenses, cash, and court accounts. Formerly Volume 7. |
| Folder 721 |
Volume 7, Day Book, 1810-1814Accounts for Caswell County, N.C., courts. Formerly Volume 8. |
| Folder 722 |
Volume 8, Day Book, 1810-1814Accounts for Guilford County, N.C., courts. Formerly Volume 9. |
| Folder 723 |
Volume 9, Day Book, 1810-1814Accounts for Orange County, N.C., courts. Formerly Volume 10. |
| Folder 724 |
Volume 10, Day Book, 1810-1814Accounts for Stokes County, N.C., courts and bill of sale for Jane, 31 December 1820. Formerly Volume 11. |
| Folder 725 |
Volume 11, 1814-1815Account book with index. Formerly Volume 29. 33 p. |
| Folder 726 |
Volume 12, Bank Book, 1815State Bank of North Carolina. Formerly Volume 30. 3 p. |
| Folder 727 |
Volume 13, 1814-1816Daybook of Kinnion and Ruffin. Formerly Volume 28. 23 p. |
| Folder 728 |
Volume 14, 1812-1818Account book for the tan-yard of Ira Ellis and Thomas Ruffin. Formerly Volume 11B. 59 p. |
| Folder 729 |
Folder number not used |
Oversize Volume SV-641/15-16
SV-641/15SV-641/16 |
Volumes 15 and 16, 1811-1822Two journals for Thomas Scott & Co. in Orange County, N.C., for merchandising and sundries. Volume 15 has 196 p. and Volume 16 has 398 p. Formerly Volumes 11A. 31 p. |
| Folder 730 |
Volume 17, 1819-1822Account book of flour sold by James Jones out of Thomas Ruffin's mill. Formerly Volume 32. |
| Folder 731 |
Volume 18, 1822-1823Account book of flour sold by James Jones out of Thomas Ruffin's mill. Formerly Volume 33. |
| Folder 732 |
Volume 19, 1825-1826, 1829Account book for Thomas Ruffin's slave trading partnership with Benjamin Chambers. Contains various accounts owed Thomas Ruffin and list of slaves sold to Alabama. Formerly Volume 34. |
| Folder 733 |
Volume 20, Ledger, 1814-1831Account book containing legal, household, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 27. 172 p. |
| Folder 734 |
Volume 21, May 1814-March 1815Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 12. |
| Folder 735 |
Volume 22, March-December 1815Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 13. |
| Folder 736 |
Volume 23, January-August 1816Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 14. |
| Folder 737 |
Volume 24, 1816-1817Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 15. |
| Folder 738 |
Volume 25, February 1818-December 1819Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 16. |
| Folder 739 |
Volume 26, January-November 1820Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 17. |
| Folder 740 |
Volume 27, November 1820-October 1821Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 18. |
| Folder 741 |
Volume 28, 1821-1822Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 19. |
| Folder 742 |
Volume 29, August 1822-April 1823Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 20. |
| Folder 743 |
Volume 30, April 1823-January 1824Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 21. |
| Folder 744 |
Volume 31, February-November 1824Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 22. |
| Folder 745 |
Volume 32, December 1824-March 1825Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 23. |
| Folder 746 |
Volume 33, 30 March 1825-July 1826Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 24. |
| Folder 747 |
Volume 34, August 1826-October 1828Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Also includes some Haw River Mills items. Formerly Volume 25. |
| Folder 748 |
Volume 35, December 1828-May 1831Small, leather-bound day books containing accounts for receipts and expenditures for court fees, household expenses, stocks and interest, travel expenses, and other accounts. Formerly Volume 26. |
| Folder 749 |
Volume 36, 1830-1832Journal of Henry Stith & Co., Haw River, N.C. Formerly Volume 34A. 258 p. |
| Folder 750 |
Volume 37, 1835-1836Account and memorandum book of A. F. Brackin & Co., Haw River, N.C. Formerly Volume 35. 100 p. |
| Folder 751 |
Volume 38, 1836-1838Account and memorandum book of A. F. Brackin & Co., Haw River, N.C. Formerly Volume 36. 100 p. |
| Folder 752 |
Folder number not used |
| Oversize Volume SV-641/39 |
Volume 39, 1839Inventory and estate sale book of William Kirkland. Formerly Volume 37. 30 p. |
| Folder 753 |
Volume 40, August 1847Circuit Equity Court Dockets for Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin. Formerly Volume 38. |
| Folder 754 |
Volume 41, June 1849Circuit Equity Court Dockets for Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin. Formerly Volume 39. |
| Folder 755 |
Volume 42, December 1849Circuit Equity Court Dockets for Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin. Formerly Volume 40. |
| Folder 756 |
Volume 43, June 1850Circuit Equity Court Dockets for Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin. Formerly Volume 41. |
| Folder 757 |
Volume 44, 1853Statement of shipping costs of papers from Strudwick & Co, Mobile, Ala. to North Carolina. These papers were in the care J. H. Ruffin. Formerly Volume 42. |
| Folder 758 |
Volume 45, 1864-1865Bank book for Thomas Ruffin with Hillsborough Savings Institution. Formerly Volume 43. |
| Folder 759 |
Volume 46, 1889-1898Notebook containing account of P. B. Ruffin as agent of Patty (Martha) P. Ruffin, executor for the estate of Annie M. Ruffin. Also contains P. B. Ruffin's executor accounts for the estate of Martha P. Ruffin. Formerly Volume 44. |
| Folder 760 |
Volume 47, undatedLegal notebook with various cases abstracted and their precedents and related cases cited. Formerly Volume 5. |
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Series 3. Subject Files, 1804-1860s.
Arrangement: by subject.
Printed advertisements, newspaper clippings, reprints of political speeches, railroad schedules, school notebooks, invitations, and other related material. This subseries primarily contains material collected by Thomas Ruffin. They reflect his interest not only in agriculture, but also in politics. As a member of the Peace Convention of 1861, Ruffin kept copies of the proposed resolutions and amendments debated in Congress to circumvent the Civil War. These documents also include an 1862 report on subsistence in the Confederate states. The report chronicled the problems obtaining bread and meat for the Confederate Army. Among the difficulties cited were: underreporting of stock levels, poor transportation, and occupation of key states such as Tennessee by Union forces. The report was very critical of farmers who sold their stock on the black market and of citizens who did not think of the needs of the army before their own: "this bureau has therefore to report as its conviction that for the coming twelve months, there will not be enough meat in the country for the people and armies of the Confederate states; and as the people can, for the reasons above stated obtain what there is more readily and insist upon having it without any regard to the wants of our soldiers, it is presumed they must bear the brunt of hunger as well as of arms."
Although Ruffin was an Episcopalian, this series contains some of the records for his father, Sterling's, church, Cormel Methodist Church. Other items in this series include notebooks (Volumes 48, 49) kept by Thomas Ruffin while at Princeton, an undated school notebook (Volume 50) with James S. Ruffin's name in the front, a collection of writings, and a few items about the University of North Carolina, among them, a plea by the Board of Trustees for more money.
| Folder 761 |
Advertisements |
| Folder 762 |
Civil War |
| Folder 763 |
Clippings |
| Folder 764 |
Cormel Methodist Church Records, 1808-1817 |
| Folder 765 |
Education, Volume 48Thomas C. Ruffin, Nassau Hall, Princeton, N.J. Accounts and memoranda, 1804. Formerly Volume 3. |
| Folder 766 |
Education, Volume 49Thomas Ruffin, Princeton, N.J. Diary and notes, 1805. Formerly Volume 4. |
| Folder 767 |
Education, Volume 50James S. Ruffin, mathematics notebook, no date. Formerly Volume 45. |
| Folder 768 |
Education |
| Folder 769 |
Genealogical Information |
| Folder 770 |
Invitations and Business Cards |
| Folder 771 |
Miscellaneous |
| Folder 772 |
North Carolina Agricultural Society |
| Folder 773 |
Politics |
| Folder 774 |
Prescriptions and Recipes |
| Folder 775 |
Railroad Rates and Schedules |
| Folder 776 |
University of North Carolina |
| Folder 777 |
Writings |
| Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-641/1 |
Miscellaneous advertisements, maps, and other oversize papers |
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Series 4. Pictures.
For more pictures of Thomas Ruffin, Anne Kirkland Ruffin, and a few other family members, see the Ruffin, Roulhac, and Hamilton Family Papers (#643) in the Southern Historical Collection.
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Series 5. Microfilm
| Reel M-641/1 |
Microfilm |
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Items Separated