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Collection Number: 01195-z

Collection Title: William Cooper Diaries, 1862-1886

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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Size 4 items
Abstract William Cooper was a planter of Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Ala., and Magnolia Plantation, Coahoma County, Miss. He travelled frequently between his home at Tuscumbia, Ala., and his plantation in Coahoma County, Miss. William Cooper's diaries chiefly contain brief daily records of weather, but include occasional discussions of dealings with slaves and of life in Tuscumbia during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The events described are often illustrated with color drawings. Volumes for 1865 and 1872 are on microfilm only (originals at Alabama Department of Archives and History).
Creator Cooper, William, b. 1802.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the William Cooper Diaries #1195-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Lucie M. Pettit of Memphis, Tenn., in November 1946 and Winona B. Elmore of Montgomery, Ala., in December 1950.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, July 1996

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, November 2006

Finding aid updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, September 2010

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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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William Cooper was a planter of Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Ala., and Magnolia Plantation, Coahoma County, Miss. He travelled frequently between his home at Tuscumbia, Ala., and his plantation in Coahoma County, Miss.

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The diaries of plantation owner William Cooper of Tuscumbia, Ala., and Coahoma County, Miss., chiefly contain brief daily records of weather, but include occasional discussions of dealings with slaves and of life in Tuscumbia during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The events described are often illustrated with color drawings.

Volumes for 1865 and 1872 are on microfilm only (originals at Alabama Department of Archives and History)

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Diaries, 1862, 1865, 1872, 1886.

4 items.

Two manuscript volumes and one reel of microfilm of two manuscript volumes (originals at the Alabama State Department of Archives and History.) Volumes 1 and 4 have typescript copies.

Folder 1

Volume 1: 1862

Diary written chiefly at Tuscumbia, Ala., with references to the sale of slaves and the occupation of the area by Federal troops. Folder contains original and typed copy. 118 pages.

Reel M-1195/1

Volume 2: 1865

Diary written chiefly at Magnolia Plantation with discussion of the move to from Tuscumbia to Coahoma, provisions for slaves, and general lawlessness. 97 pages.

Volume 3: 1872

Diary written chiefly at Tuscumbia, Ala., with agricultural and workers accounts and some political references. 118 pages.

Folder 2

Volume 4: 1886

Diary written chiefly at Tuscumbia with references to a Democratic Party barbecue, an Africa American female preacher, a trip to Russellville, and a land boom around Sheffield, Ala. Folder contains original and typed copy. 50 pages.

Image Folder PF-1195/1

Two photostat copies of the 25 December 1862 entry from volume 1

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