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 under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 90 items) |
Abstract | The collection documents William Eaton (1785-1862), a plantation owner and enslaver in Halifax and Warren counties, N.C.; other members of the Eaton and Bell families of Warren and Halifax counties, N.C.; and a few of the people who were enslaved by William Eaton and his brother Thomas Eaton. Included are colonial land grants, deeds, indentures, and receipts; store merchandise accounts, 1850-1857, of William Eaton; letters, 1853, to Ella Rives Eaton Bell, from John McGill, Roman Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Va., written while he was in Paris, France, describing the wedding of Napoleon III and referring to Levi Silliman Ives (1797-1867); letters, 1853-1856, to Ella Rives Eaton Bell from Teresa and Beatrice Orsini of Rome, Italy; legal papers, 1870-1876, including the wills of William Eaton and Martha P. Eaton; and business papers, 1880-1893, of Peter Hansborough Bell (1812-1898), a former governor of Texas, and his wife Ella Rives Eaton Bell, living in Littleton, N.C. |
Creator | Eaton, William, 1785-1862. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Rebecca Hollingsworth, June 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, November 2010
Conscious editing by Nancy Kaiser, April 2024: Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical note, collection overview, contents list.
In April 2024, archivists reviewed this collection to uncover more information about the lives of enslaved people. Containers that include materials related to enslaved people during the antebellum period or the institution of slavery are indicated as "Records of enslavement." Researchers are advised that the collection may include more documentation of slavery than has been identified in this finding aid.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
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.
William Eaton (1785-1862) was a plantation owner and enslaver in Halifax and Warren counties, N.C. He was married to Martha P. Eaton (d. 1880). His children included Nathaniel Eaton, Buckner Eaton, William Eaton Jr., Betsy Macon Eaton (Field), and Ella Rives Eaton (Bell). His daughter Ella Rives Eaton married Peter Hansbrough Bell (1810-1898), and they settled in Halifax County in 1857. Bell, a native Virginian, had been in Texas during its war for independence and the Mexican War. He had been governor of Texas from 1849 to 1853 and served as U.S. congressman from Texas, 1853-1857.
Enslaved people who are documented in this collection include:
The collection documents William Eaton (1785-1862), a plantation owner and enslaver in Halifax and Warren counties, N.C.; other members of the Eaton and Bell families of Warren and Halifax counties, N.C.; and a few of the people who were enslaved by William Eaton and his brother Thomas Eaton. Included are colonial land grants, deeds, indentures, and receipts, some as early as 1725, involving William Eaton, Thomas Eaton, Edward Young, Frederick Cooke, Allen and Wiley Jones, and others; a copy of the North Carolina state constitution, adopted 18 December 1776; store merchandize accounts, 1850-1857, of William Eaton; letters, 1853, to Ella Rives Eaton in Rome, Italy, from John McGill, Roman Catholic Bishop of Richmond, written while he was in Paris, France, and including a description of the emperor's wedding and references to Levi Silliman Ives (1797-1867); letters, 1853-1856, to Ella Rives Eaton from Teresa and Beatrice Orsini of Rome; legal papers, 1870-1876, of the Eaton and Bell families, including the wills of William Eaton and his wife Martha P. Eaton; and business papers, 1880-1893, of Peter Hansbrough and his wife Ella Rives Eaton Bell of Littleton, N.C.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
Papers, 1725-1749Includes original finding aid of 1961 and deeds for land in Northampton County, Granville County, Edgecombe County, and Bertie County. |
Oversize Paper OP-1052/1-2
OP-1052/1OP-1052/2 |
Papers, Colonial land grants, 1749 |
Folder 2 |
Papers, 1752-1776Includes deeds for land in Edgecombe County, Granville County, Northampton County, Bute County, and Halifax County, and a copy of the North Carolina state constitution, adopted 18 December 1776. Also included is the undated answer of Charles Turnbell to a bill of complaint filed against him by Thomas Lowe et al, regarding a copartnership agreement to carry on trade of deerskins with the Catawba nation, 1753-1757. |
Folder 3 |
Papers, 1781-1848Includes deeds for land in Warren County, Halifax County, Northampton County, and Wake County. Records of enslavement:
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Folder 4 |
Papers, 1850-1866 |
Folder 5 |
Papers, 1870-1876Records of enslavement:
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Folder 6 |
Papers, 1880-1893, undated, and fragments |