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 rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Size | 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,600 items) |
Abstract | John Williams emigrated from Scotland in 1810 and became a merchant in Wilmington, N.C.; after his death in 1857 his business was carried on by his son, William Augustus Williams (born 1810). The collection includes papers of four generations of the Williams family of Wilmington, N.C. Papers to 1830 consist chiefly of letters received by John Williams from his mother in Scotland and from his brothers, Robert Williams (died 1823) in Jamaica and William A. Williamson (died 1829), a surgeon at sea with the British navy. From 1830 to 1859, the papers are more extensive, consisting of account books, business correspondence, and other business papers related to the importing and selling of general merchandise, the sale of cotton to England, and the dyeing of cotton cloth; records, 1830-1835, of the estate of Joseph Gorrie; accounts for household expenses; family correspondence, including letters of the Iredell family of Wilmington beginning in 1844; and William Augustus Williams's diary of a trip to England and Scotland, 1833. From the 1880s into the 20th century, there is extensive family correspondence of William Arthur Williams and his wife Jane Iredell Meares Williams and their children, including letters from sons, Frank Williams and Robert Williams, with the United States army on the Mexican border, 1916-1917, and in France during World War I. |
Creator | Iredell (Family : Wilmington, N.C.)
Williams, John, -1857. Williams, William Augustus, 1809-1880. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
John Williams (died 1857) emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland in 1810 and became a merchant in Wilmington, N.C. His son, William Augustus Williams (born 1810) became an active partner in the business in 1830. William Augustus Williams had five children, the youngest of whom was William Arthur Williams (fl. 1870-1919). William Arthur Williams married Jane Iredell Meares, daughter of Jane Iredell and Thomas Davis Meares, in 1881. Their children were Jane, William, Sarah, Isabel, Frank (died 1918), Helen, Robert, and Catherine.
Other members of the Williams family include John Williams's mother, Isabel Marshall; his brothers, Robert Williams (died 1823) and William A. Williamson (died 1829); and William Augustus Williams's son, Robert D. Williams.
Back to TopThe collection includes papers of four generations of the Williams family of Wilmington, N.C. Papers to 1830 consist chiefly of letters received by John Williams from his mother in Scotland and from his brothers, Robert Williams in Jamaica and William A. Williamson, a surgeon at sea with the British navy. From 1830 to 1859, the papers are more extensive, consisting of account books, business correspondence, and other business papers related to the importing and selling of general merchandise, the sale of cotton to England, and the dyeing of cotton cloth; records, 1830-1835, of the estate of Joseph Gorrie; accounts for household expenses; family correspondence, including letters of the Iredell family of Wilmington beginning in 1844; and William Augustus Williams's diary of a trip to England and Scotland, 1833. From the 1880s into the 20th century, there is extensive family correspondence of William Arthur Williams and his wife Jane Iredell Meares Williams and their children, including letters from sons, Frank and Robert Williams, with the United States army on the Mexican border, 1916-1917, and in France during World War I.
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