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Size | 4.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,300 items) |
Abstract | The Burgwyns, a white family of Northampton County, N.C., included such prominent family members as Henry King Burgwyn (1813-1877), planter, and his sons Henry King Burgwyn Jr. (1841-1863), a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a colonel in the 26th North Carolina Regiment, C.S.A.; William Hyslop Sumner Burgwyn (1845-1913), who served in the 35th North Carolina Regiment, was a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Harvard Law School, and a lawyer in Baltimore, Md., and Henderson, N.C., where he also ran a bank; John Alveston Burgwyn (1850-1898), planter, merchant, and government official of Northampton County; and Thomas Williams Mason Long, husband of Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long and a North Carolina state senator and physician who was active in the field of public health. The collection includes miscellaneous papers of the Burgwyn family of Northampton County, N.C. The bulk of the papers, other than the volumes, are those of William Hyslop Sumner Burgwyn of Henderson, N.C., chiefly in the 1880s, and consist of deeds, family letters, and papers pertaining to Henderson Female College. Volumes include a plantation diary, 1885-1889, and account books, 1880-1907, of John Alveston Burgwyn, and a record of cotton pickers' wages, 1919. Other items include copies of six colonial family letters from Wilmington, N.C.; a plantation account book and letters to the overseer from Henry King Burgwyn in Europe in 1851; letters from and diaries of Henry King Burgwyn Jr., as a Confederate officer, and a few of his other papers; and Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long's records of the Episcopal women's auxiliary at Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 1915-1917. The Additions of 2005, 2006, and 2013 consist primarily of correspondence among various Burgwyn family members, including George Pollock Burgwyn, Anna Greenough Burgwyn, Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley, Thomas Ridley Burgwyn, Marian Greenough Burgwyn Long, and Frank Patterson Hunter Jr., 1850-1994, discussing family matters. There are also some Burgwyn family portraits, 1860s-1890s; papers concerning Thomas Williams Mason Long and his career in public health, 1908-1964; and photographs of Long's early twentieth-century mosquito eradication project in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. |
Creator | Burgwyn (Family : Northampton County, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Gina Overcash, Roslyn Holdzkom, and Meg Phillips, January 1997
Encoded by: Bari Helms, April 2005
Updated by: Jackie Dean, January 2014; Amy Morgan and Jodi Berkowitz, January 2019; and Nicole Cvjetnicanin, April 2019, because of additions.
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.
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.
Members of the Burgwyn family of Northampton County, N.C., were descendants of John Burgwin (1731-1803), who came to North Carolina from Wales in 1751. The spelling of the family name was changed to Burgwyn by Burgwin's son John Fanning (1783-1864). The Burgwyns were prosperous planters in the northeastern part of the state. Henry King Burgwyn (1813-1877), son of John Fanning Burgwyn, was the owner of Thornbury, a plantation on the Roanoke River in Northampton County.
Henry King "Harry" Burgwyn, Jr. (1841-1863), known as "The Boy Colonel," was the oldest son of Henry King Burgwyn and his wife, the former Anna Greenough (1817-1887). He was one of the youngest colonels in the Civil War. He studied at West Point from 1856 to 1857, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1857, and from Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va., in 1861. At age nineteen he was elected lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment of the Confederate Army. This regiment, whose colonel was Zebulon B. Vance, was involved in battles in coastal and eastern North Carolina and in the Petersburg-Richmond area of Virginia. When Vance resigned to become governor of North Carolina in the late summer of 1862, Burgwyn was promoted to colonel. He was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg, 1 July 1863.
Henry King Burgwyn's second son, William Hyslop Sumner Burgwyn, was born 23 July 1845. He served in Company H, Thirty-fifth North Carolina Regiment. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1868 and from Harvard Law School in 1870. He practiced law in Baltimore, Maryland, until his return to North Carolina in 1882. While in Baltimore, he entered Washington Medical University. Although he received an M.D. in 1876, he did not apply for a license to practice medicine.
In 1882 W. H. S. Burgwyn settled in Henderson, N.C. There he established a private bank, W. H. S. Burgwyn and Co. In 1884 it became the Bank of Henderson with Burgwyn as its first president. Burgwyn also established a tobacco factory, an electric light system, and water works in Henderson. He served as national bank examiner for the southern states from 1893 to 1901. After his resignation from that position, he was founder and president of banks in Weldon, Rich Square, Ayden, Rocky Mount, and Jackson, all in North Carolina. He also established banks in Roanoke Rapids and Halifax, North Carolina, and a bank in Florida. Known as an excellent orator, Burgwyn delivered many speeches throughout North Carolina. He served as chairman of Stockholders and president of the Board of Directors of Henderson Female College from 1886 to 1891. He married Margaret Carlisle Dunlop on 21 November 1876. He and his wife had no children. Burgwyn died on 3 January 1913.
Two other sons of Henry King Burgwyn and Anna Greenough also lived in Northampton County. George Pollock Burgwyn was born 14 May 1847. He attended the University of North Carolina from 1863 to 1864. On 27 May 1869, he married Emma Wright Ridley, the daughter of Thomas Ridley. Burgwyn owned lands in Northampton and Warren counties. He was a merchant and proprietor of Ball Hill Mills, Odom, North Carolina, and Gee Farms, Jackson, North Carolina. He died on 5 January 1907. John Alveston Burgwyn (1850-1898) was a planter, merchant, and Northampton County official.
Thomas Williams Mason Long (1886-1941) married Maria Greenough Burgwyn in 1910. Long, born in Northampton County, N.C., was the son of L. M. and Betty Mason Long and the brother of W. Lunsford Long. He was a physician trained at the University of North Carolina, V.P.I., and the University College of Medicine in Richmond, Va., and was respected for his work in public health. Long was also active in politics, serving as mayor of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 1922-1930, and in the state senate in 1933, 1937, and 1941, where he sponsored many bills relating to public health.
Sources: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 1, A-C, William S. Powell, editor; and documents in this collection.
Back to TopThe collection includes miscellaneous papers of the Burgwyn family of Northampton County, N.C. The bulk of the papers, other than the volumes, are those of William Hyslop Sumner Burgwyn of Henderson, N.C., chiefly in the 1880s, and consist of deeds, family letters, and papers pertaining to Henderson Female College. Volumes include a plantation diary, 1885-1889, and account books, 1880-1907, of John Alveston Burgwyn, and a record of cotton pickers' wages, 1919. Other items include copies of six colonial family letters from Wilmington, N.C.; a plantation account book and letters to his overseer from Henry King Burgwyn in Europe in 1851; letters from and diaries of Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., as a Confederate officer, and a few of his other papers; and Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long's records of the Episcopal women's auxiliary at Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 1915-1917.
Of particular interest are Henry King Burgwyn, Jr.'s, diaries and letters containing his accounts of Civil War battles and life in the Confederate Army.
The Addition of 2005 consists of a note from George Pollock Burgwyn, dated 19 December 1892, inquiring about the per bushel price of cottonseed.
The Addition of 2006 primarily consists of Burgwyn family papers and photographs, as well as some material on Thomas Williams Mason Long. The Burgwyn family papers, dated 1850-1994, consist chiefly of correspondence among various family members, including George Pollock Burgwyn, Anna Greenough Burgwyn, Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley, Thomas Ridley Burgwyn, Marian Greenough Burgwyn Long, and Frank Patterson Hunter Jr. There are some Burgwyn family portraits, 1860s-1890s. Papers of Thomas Williams Mason Long include a typescript memoir of Long by R. Hunt Parker, printed materials about Long's career, and photographs of Long's early twentieth-century mosquito eradication project in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.
The Addition of 2013 consists of scattered letters from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley to her grandson Thomas Ridley Burgwyn. There is also a handwritten death notice and printed death card, 1893, for Emma Wright Ridley Burgwyn.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Series contains mostly personal correspondence between various members of the Burgwyn family as well as correspondence between members of the Burgwyn family and friends and business associates.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters dated 1843 written to Mr. and Mrs. Souter discuss the health of their daughter Sarah. Arthur Souter was the overseer of the Burgwyn plantation. Letters written during this period also discuss the management of the plantation. Also included are letters written by Henry King Burgwyn concerning business matters. Beginning in 1856, Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., wrote frequently to his parents concerning his experiences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Virginia Military Institute. See also V-1687/1.
Folder 1 |
1787, 1843, 1846 |
Folder 2 |
1854-February 1857 |
Folder 3 |
March-October 1857 |
Folder 4 |
1858-1859 |
Folder 5 |
1860 |
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters from Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., to his parents and brothers and sisters continue. He writes of life in the Confederate Army and of various battles. The letter dated 14 July 1862 consists of a journal recounting the events preceding and following the Battle of Richmond (26 June 3-July 1862). Letters of August concern the controversy surrounding Henry King Burgwyn, Jr.'s, promotion to colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment. Letters written after 1 July 1863 express sympathy about Henry King Burgwyn, Jr.'s, death.
Letters written during February 1861 are from Henry King Burgwyn to his wife while he was on a personal business trip to Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C.
Folder 6-8
Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8 |
1861 |
Folder 9-18
Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13Folder 14Folder 15Folder 16Folder 17Folder 18 |
1862 |
Folder 19-22
Folder 19Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22 |
January-July 1863 |
Folder 23 |
August 1863-1867 |
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters between members of the Burgwyn family concern health and family matters. Also included from this period are letters from various attorneys concerning financial and legal matters, and, on 8 November 1917, a letter relating to Thomas Williams Mason Long's work on malaria.
Folder 24 |
1868-1869 |
Folder 25 |
1870-June 1876 |
Folder 26 |
August 1876-1880 |
Folder 27 |
1882-1887 |
Folder 28 |
1888-1891 |
Folder 29 |
1892-1896 |
Folder 30-31
Folder 30Folder 31 |
1898 |
Folder 32 |
1899-1903 |
Folder 33 |
1905-1918 |
Folder 34 |
1922-1924 |
Folder 35 |
1925 |
Folder 36 |
1926 |
Folder 37 |
1927 |
Folder 38 |
1932-1987 |
Folder 39 |
Undated |
Arrangement: chronological.
Series includes marriage settlements, wills, deeds, and indentures of members of the Burgwyn family. Also included are receipts for sales and purchases of slaves; stock certificates for Henderson Female College; insurance records; titles and plats for land purchased or sold by the Burgwyns; and receipts for various items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly receipts for sales and purchases of slaves; marriage settlements, indentures, wills, and land deeds; receipts; documents relating to the settlement of debts; and lists of slaves at Thornbury Plantation.
Folder 40 |
1830-1843 |
Folder 41 |
1845-1849 |
Folder 42 |
1850-1861 |
Arrangement: chronological.
Subseries includes lists of purchases of items at auction; bank receipts; loan applications; insurance records; stock certificates for Henderson Female College; deeds, wills, indentures, and marriage settlements; titles and plats for land purchased or sold by the Burgwyns; documents relating to George Burgwyn's bankruptcy and legal fees; receipts for various items; and business correspondence. There are also several items relating to Henry King Burgwyn, Jr.'s military career.
Folder 43 |
1862-1873 |
Folder 44 |
1874-1876 |
Folder 45 |
1877-1879 |
Folder 46 |
1881-June 1882 |
Folder 47 |
September 1882-1883 |
Folder 48 |
1884 |
Folder 49-50
Folder 49Folder 50 |
1885 |
Folder 51-52
Folder 51Folder 52 |
1886 |
Folder 53-55
Folder 53Folder 54Folder 55 |
1887 |
Folder 56 |
January-February 1888 |
Folder 57 |
March 1888-March 1889 |
Folder 58 |
April-June 1889 |
Folder 59 |
July-August 1889 |
Folder 60 |
September 1889-September 1890 |
Folder 61 |
November 1890-1891 |
Folder 62 |
1892-1898 |
Folder 63 |
1899-1924 |
Arrangement: By type.
Series includes transcriptions of poems; newspaper clippings, many relating to the death of Thomas Williams Mason Long in 1941; notes for a speech given by William Hyslop Sumner Burgwyn and copies of letters upon which the speech apparently was based, dated 1764-1770 and primarily written by Margaret Haynes (Mrs. John) Burgwyn to her sister Mrs. Waddell; notes by George Pollock Burgwyn, Jr., for speeches; genealogical notes and letters, chiefly collected by Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long; "Specifications for Thornbury" by Gridley James Fox Bryant (Thornbury, the Burgwyn plantation house, was built about 1843-1845); and other items. Also included are copies of two drawings: "The Three Colonels of the 26th Regiment" and a drawing of the monument erected in memory of Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., at Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, N.C.
Folder 64 |
Writings |
Folder 65a-65b |
Clippings |
Folder 66a |
Genealogy |
Folder 66b |
Specifications for Thornbury |
Folder 67 |
Miscellaneous |
Arrangement: by type.
Volumes consist of journals and diaries, account books, writings, letters, clippings, and other items. V-1687/5 and V-1687/6 are journals kept by Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., during his service in the Civil War.
Folder 68 |
V-1687/1Letters from Europe by H. K. Burgwyn addressed to his wife Anna Greenough Burgwyn, August-November 1851 (typed transcription available). |
Arrangement: chronological.
Folder 69 |
V-1687/2Transcriptions of poems, author unknown, 1803-1823. |
Folder 70 |
V-1687/3Reminiscences, 1839-1861, of Anna Greenough Burgwyn, consisting of lists of births, deaths, trips, and other important family events, date written unknown. |
Folder 71 |
V-1687/4Reminiscences, 1863-1874, of Anna Greenough Burgwyn, containing lists of important events, date written unknown. |
Folder 72 |
V-1687/5Journal of events, H. K. Burgwyn, Jr., 27 August 1861-10 February 1862. |
Folder 73 |
V-1687/6Diary, H. K. Burgwyn, Jr., 12 March 1863-12 June 1863. |
Folder 74 |
V-1687/7Diary (in French), Sarah Emily Burgwyn, 1869?. |
Folder 75 |
V-1687/8Diary, John Alveston Burgwyn, 8 July 1871-31 December 1872. |
Folder 76 |
V-1687/9Farm Diary, John Alveston Burgwyn, 1885-1889. |
Folder 77 |
V-1687/10Diary, Anna Greenough Burgwyn, 13 May 1886-6 April 1887. |
Folder 78 |
V-1687/11Retrospective account of time spent in Florence, Italy, Katharine Mary MacRae, 2 December 1912. |
Arrangement: chronological.
Folder 79 |
V-1687/12Account book containing lists of purchases for farm and lists of slaves, Thomas Pollock Burgwyn, 1840-1863. |
Folder 80 |
V-1687/13Intermittent farm accounts including lists of slaves, crops planted, horses, and other records, 1844-1877. |
Folder 81 |
V-1687/14Expense account for various European cities, 1869-1870. |
Folder 82 |
V-1687/15Farm ledger, John Alveston Burgwyn, 1889-1891. |
Folder 83 |
V-1687/16Account book, 1889-1890. |
Folder 84 |
V-1687/17John Alveston Burgwyn, Account book, June-December 1890; Memoranda book and daybook, May-September 1891. |
Oversize Volume SV-1687/18 |
Account book, 1891-1893 |
Folder 85 |
see SV-1687/18 |
Folder 86 |
V-1687/19Checkbook register, May-September 1894. |
Folder 87 |
V-1687/20Account book, George Pollock Burgwyn and Henry King Burgwyn, 1902. |
Folder 88 |
V-1687/21Account book, intermittently 1903-1907. |
Folder 89 |
V-1687/22Account book of trust fund of the estate of Thomas Ridley Burgwyn, 1907-1912. |
Folder 90 |
V-1687/23Account book, 1908-1919. |
Folder 91 |
V-1687/24Account book, 1919. |
Folder 92 |
V-1687/25Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, W. H. S. Burgwyn and his wife Margaret Dunlop Burgwyn, undated. |
Folder 92a |
V-1687/25aScrapbook containing newspaper clippings, John Burgwyn McRae, undated. |
Folder 93 |
V-1687/26Secretary's book containing minutes, roll, etc., Woman's Auxiliary, Episcopal Church, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 1915-1918. |
Folder 94 |
V-1687/27Secretary's record of letters sent and other activities, Woman's Auxiliary, Edgecombe District, ca. 1920. |
Folder 95 |
V-1687/28: Henry King Burgwyn Diary, 1838-1844 (Addition of December 1996)Diary, 166 p., was kept by Henry King Burgwyn between March 1842 and June 1844, recording plantation activities and the details of his farming experiments. The volume begins with a list of expenses in New York from January to June 1838. There are debit and credit accounts for fourteen slaves, with apparently unrelated accounting and farm records on the bottoms of the same pages. There are also a few other notes, such as a "List and size of shoes" for sixty-two slaves and estimates of corn, cotton, and oats for the various fields for 1843 and 1844. |
Arrangement: by type.
Series includes microfilmed copies of various additions to the Burgwyn Family Papers. After filming, most of these items were inserted into the collection. Reels 4 and 7 consist of microfilm copies of items not held in the Southern Historical Collection. Reels 1, 3, and 6 are not held in the Southern Historical Collection.
Image P-1687/1 |
W. H. S. Burgwyn, 1886 |
Image P-1687/2 |
"Longview," undated |
Note from George Pollock Burgwyn, 19 December 1892, inquiring about the per bushel price of cotton seed.
Folder 96 |
George Pollock Burgwyn note, 19 December 1892Inquiring about the per bushel price of cotton seed. |
Burgwyn family papers include undated letters to George Pollock Burgwyn from his mother Anna Greenough Burgwyn, primarily discussing family matters; letters to George Pollock Burgwyn from various correspondents; and other scattered Burgwyn family letters. There are also letters, 1896-1903, from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley written at the Bonnie Doon plantation near Courtland, Va., to her grandson Thomas Ridley Burgwyn of Jackson, N.C., discussing family news; and letters, 1936-1945, from various correspondents to Marian Greenough Burgwyn Long concerning her genealogical research. There is also correspondence, charts, notes, and printed materials concerning Burgwyn family history and genealogy and primarily printed materials concerning Frank Patterson Hunter Jr.'s military service in the United States Air Force. There are photographic portaits of Burgwyn family members as well as a photograph of an African-American woman with puppies and an African-American man with George Pollock Burgwyn's horses.
Thomas Williams Mason Long papers include a a typescript memoir of Thomas Williams Mason Long by R. Hunt Parker and primarily printed materials about Thomas Williams Mason Long's career. There are also photographs of Thomas Williams Mason Long's early twentieth-century mosquito eradication project in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.
Folder 97 |
Burgwyn family correspondence, 1850-1890 and undatedUndated letters to George Pollock Burgwyn from his mother Anna Greenough Burgwyn, primarily discussing family matters; letters to George Pollock Burgwyn from various correspondents; and other scattered Burgwyn family letters. |
Folder 98 |
Letters from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley to Thomas Ridely Burgwyn, 1896-1903Letters from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley written at the Bonnie Doon plantation near Courtland, Va., to her grandson Thomas Ridley Burgwyn of Jackson, N.C., discussing family news. |
Folder 99 |
Letters to Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long, 1936-1945Letters from various correspondents concerning Maria Greenough Burgwyn Long's genealogical research. |
Folder 100-103
Folder 100Folder 101Folder 102Folder 103 |
Burgwyn family historyCorrespondence, charts, notes, and printed materials concerning Burgwyn family history and genealogy. |
Folder 104 |
Frank Patterson Hunter Jr. papers, 1989-1994 and undatedConcerning Frank Patterson Hunter Jr.'s military service in the United States Air Force. Frank Patterson Hunter Jr., was Thomas Williams Mason Long's son-in-law. |
Image Folder PF-1687/2 |
Photographs: Burgwyn family members portraits, circa 1860s-1890sPrimarily cabinet cards, photographic postcards, and prints. |
Image Folder PF-1687/3 |
Photograph: African American woman with puppies,Black and white print. Identified on verso as Nurse Pattie. |
Image Folder PF-1687/4 |
Photograph: African American man holding two horses in street, circa 1899Cabinet card. Writing on verso indicates that the horses belonged to George Pollock Burgwyn. |
Folder 105 |
Empty envelopes |
Folder 106 |
Thomas Williams Mason Long papers, 1908-1964Contains commencement program from University College of Medicine, 1908; partially filled questionnaire from the National Cyclopedia of American Biography; printed obituaries, appreciations, and memorials for Thomas Williams Mason Long; a typescript memoir of Thomas Williams Mason Long by R. Hunt Parker; and other printed materials about Thomas Williams Mason Long's career. |
Image Folder PF-1687/5 |
Photographs: From mosquito control program-oil drip cansPhotographs of Thomas Williams Mason Long's early twentieth-century mosquito eradication project in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. Some labelled "Bunker Hill" or Pat Mill on verso. Original file folder title has been retained. |
Scattered letters, 1896-1902, from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley written at the Bonnie Doon plantation near Courtland, Va., to her grandson Thomas Ridley Burgwyn of Jackson, N.C., primarily discussing family news. There is also a handwritten death notice and printed death card for Emma Wright Ridley Burgwyn, who died in 1893 at the age of 46.
For additional letters from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley to Thomas Ridley Burgwyn see the Addition of July 2006.
Folder 107 |
Letters from Margaret Ann Bynum Jordan Ridley to Thomas Ridley Burgwyn, 1896-1902 |
Folder 108 |
Death notices for Emma Wright Ridley Burgwyn, 1893 |
Acquisitions Information: Accession 99842
Note that these papers are possibly those of John Burgwyn MacRae of collection #478).
Box 4 |
John Burgwyn MacRae papers |
John Burgwyn MacRae notebooks |
Acquisitions Information: Accession 103579
Portraits of Harry Burgwyn Baker (1869-1947), son of Maria Greenough Burgwyn Baker, as a toddler and adolescent.
Image Folder PF-1687/6 |
Harry Burgwyn Baker |