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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.
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Collection Overview
| Size | .5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 150 items) |
| Abstract | The Whitaker and Snipes families were planters of Halifax County, N.C., and Hinds County, Miss. The collection includes scattered correspondence, financial records, and other materials. Most slave-related items appear to be from Mississippi. Correspondence includes letters from relatives in Leon County, Fla., Webster County, Ky., and Person County, N.C., concerning agricultural, family, and financial matters. Civil War materials include a Confederate soldier's letter describing the Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862; typed transcriptions of Confederate army military correspondence regarding an engagement at Staunton River Bridge, Va., on 25 June 1864; a mother's 1865 letter to her daughter concerning the turmoil in North Carolina near the end of the Civil War; and other letters describing financial and family losses on the homefront. Nearly all of the financial records, chiefly bills and receipts, relate to Anderson Snipes in Mississippi. Included are records about cotton growing; farm and labor records relating to freedmen; medical receipts; promissory notes, including notes for the hiring out of slaves; materials relating to the purchase, medical care, and death of slaves; and tax receipts. Miscellaneous materials include two 1865 oaths of allegiance; an 1865 summons to appear before the Provost Marshal of Freedmen; an 1867 voter registration; photographs of William Dunn Moseley and of Live Oak Plantation, probably located in Florida; and a few other items. |
| Creator | Snipes (Family : Hinds County, Miss.)
Whitaker (Family : Halifax County, N.C.) |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Erik D. France, March 1991
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, January 2002
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, October 2010
Updated by: Laura Hart, March 2021
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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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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
The connection between the Whitaker and Snipes families is unclear from these papers. Members of the Whitaker family resided in Halifax County, N.C., in the early 19th century. Eli P. Walker moved with his immediate family to Leon County, Fla., ca. 1835. Members of the Snipes family lived in Hinds County, Miss.; in Person County, N.C.; and in Webster County, Ky.
Others mentioned in the papers include Balaam C. Burgess and Ensley Burgess of Randolph County, N.C., and William Dunn Moseley (1795-1863), speaker of the North Carolina Senate, 1832-1835, and the first governor of the state of Florida, 1845-1849.
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Scope and Content
Materials relating to the Whitaker and Snipes families, planters of Halifax County, N.C., and Hinds County, Miss., include scattered correspondence, financial records, and other materials. Most materials related to the enslavement of people appears to be from Mississippi. Correspondence includes letters from relatives in Leon County, Fla.; Webster County, Ky.; and Person County, N.C. Topics include agricultural, family, and financial matters.
Civil War correspondence includes a Confederate soldier's letter describing part of the Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862; typed transcriptions of Confederate army military correspondence regarding an engagement at Staunton River Bridge, Va., on 25 June 1864; a mother's 1865 letter to her daughter concerning the turmoil in North Carolina near the end of the Civil War; and a few other letters describing financial and family losses on the homefront.
Nearly all of the financial records, chiefly bills and receipts, relate to Anderson Snipes in Mississippi. Included are records about cotton growing; farm and labor records relating to people formerly enslaved; medical receipts; promissory notes, including notes for the "hiring out" or trafficking of people who were enslaved; materials relating to the purchase, medical care, and death of enslaved people; and tax receipts.
Miscellaneous materials include two 1865 oaths of allegiance; an 1865 summons to appear before the Provost Marshal of Freedmen; an 1867 voter registration; photographs of William Dunn Moseley and of Live Oak Plantation, probably located in Florida; and a few other items.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, Financial Records, and Other Papers, 1780, 1835-1870 and undated.
Materials include scattered correspondence, financial records, and miscellaneous papers of the Whitaker and Snipes families.Most materials related to the enslavement of people appears to be from Mississippi. Correspondence chiefly describes agricultural, family, and financial concerns. For example, a letter, 12 May 1835, from Eli P. Whitaker to L. H. B. Whitaker discusses the death of his sister; overland migration to Florida (apparently from North Carolina); planting cotton, corn, and other crops; building a log house; and someone threatening to whip people whom they enslaved. Another letter, dated 8 August 1840 from G. Huckabee at Pleasant Retreat to "Mr. Sloan," discusses the former's son George at school and mentions Florida politics and elections.
There are a number of letters discussing the financial affairs of Anderson Snipes, including letters from Thomas L. Snipes at Pool's Mill, Webster County, Ky., concerning the estate of Anderson Snipes in Mississippi. Also discussed are agricultural conditions; the progress of a railroad in the area; family matters; and other news. Additional letters relate to a possible sale of land by Anderson Snipes and the disposition of his estate.
There are some Civil War materials, including typed transcriptions of Confederate military correspondence relating to a battle at Staunton River Bridge, Va., on 25 June 1864. Letters were exchanged between Captain Benjamin Lines Farinholt (1839-1919) and General Robert E. Lee, and there are two letters from Captain Farinholt to Colonel Henry Eaton Coleman, Jr. (1837-1890) of the 12th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Also included are a letter, 22 December 1862, from a soldier serving in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia describing the Battle of Fredericksburg and miscellaneous letters describing homefront conditions. These include a letter, 30 January 1865, in which a mother describes to her daughter her anxieties and reactions to Union invaders in North Carolina; the possibility of sending provisions to Lumberton, N.C.; and the possible evacuation of Fort Anderson, near Wilmington, N.C. Other letters describe financial and family losses of the war. In a 17 July 1865 letter, Elijah Snipes informed his brother, Anderson Snipes, of how his three sons had fared in the Confederate Army and invited him to live with his family. A 17 September 1866 letter from Soloman Cates and Mary Cates to Anderson Snipes reported on hard times in postwar Hillsborough, N.C. Typed transcriptions are available for several of these letters.
Nearly all of the financial records, chiefly bills and receipts, relate to Anderson Snipes in Mississippi. Some financial correspondence and receipts relate to cotton growing. There is a small amount of farm and labor records that document the hiring of people who were formerly enslaved and payment of wages. There are a few medical receipts, some of which include prices for medicines. Promissory notes include records of the "hiring" or trafficking of people who were enslaved from Anderson Snipes. Other slave materials relate to the purchase, medical care, and death of enslaved people. Also included is a letter asking if two people who were enslaved could stay at Snipes's home. There are also a few tax receipts.
Miscellaneous materials include a typed transcription of "Persons Disqualified by the Disqualifying Act, passed July 6, 1780", a list of the names and occupations of thirteen men; an 1844 summons to Hinds County, Miss.; an 1856 wedding invitation; an 1858 indenture and deed made between Balaam C. Burgess and Ensley Burgess, both of Randolph County, N.C., for land in that county; two 1865 oaths of allegiance; an 1865 summons to appear before Provost Marshal of Freedmen; an 1867 voter registration; an 1867 notice of business merger; a typed transcription of a short undated biographical sketch of William Dunn Moseley (1795-1863); and an undated writing fragment that mentions abolitionists and Christian clergymen.
| Folder 1 |
Correspondence, 1835-1870 |
| Folder 2 |
Bills and receipts, 1842-1850 |
| Folder 3 |
Bills and receipts, 1851-1869 |
| Folder 4 |
Cotton records, 1842-1869 |
| Folder 5 |
Farm and labor records, 1844-1868 |
| Folder 6 |
Medical receipts, 1843-1855 and undated |
| Folder 7 |
Promissory notes, 1841-1862 and undated |
| Folder 8 |
Records related to people who were enslaved, 1839-1860 |
| Folder 9 |
Tax receipts, 1797?, 1844-1866 |
| Folder 10 |
Miscellaneous papers, 1844-1866 and undated |
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2. Pictures, pre-1864 and 1889.
Arrangement: chronological.
Two photographs as described below.
| Image Folder PF-770/1 |
William Dunn Moseley (1795-1863) portrait photograph, undated |
Live Oak Plantation photograph, 1889The home, location unknown (probably Florida), which burned down in 1894, may relate to William Dunn Moseley or to the Branch family of North Carolina and Florida (see Branch Family Papers, #2718). |
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