John M. Bright Papers, 1854-1911 (bulk 1871-1881).

Collection Number: 01840

Collection Title: John M. Bright Papers, 1854-1911 (bulk 1871-1881).

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.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 400 items)
Abstract	John Morgan Bright (1817-1911) was a lawyer, Confederate officer, and Democratic United States representative from Tennessee, of Fayetteville, Tenn. This collection contains letters, legal documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, pictures, and account books. The correspondence chiefly consists of letters received by Bright while he was in Congress (1871-1881). The letters concern politics, interests of constituents, and the business of the Committee on Claims of which he was chairman. Most letters relate to pensions and Civil War damages. Other papers include family correspondence, manuscript speeches, articles written for the Fayetteville (Tenn.) Observer on Biblical topics, and account books of domestic expenses and of the law firms of Bright and Bright and Bright and Sons.
Creator	Bright, John M. (John Morgan), 1817-1911.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.

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 John M. Bright Papers, #1840, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Gift of Mrs. M. M. Bright, 1951

Additional Descriptive Resources: A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

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.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, September 2010

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.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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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.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

John Morgan Bright (1817-1911) of Fayetteville, Tenn. began his career as a lawyer. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1847-1848. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate general for Governor Isham G. Harris. From 1871-1881 he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Tennessee, after which he returned to his law practice.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection contains letters, legal documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, pictures, and account books. The correspondence chiefly consists of letters received by Bright while he was in Congress (1871-1881). The letters concern politics, interests of constituents, and the business of the Committee on Claims of which he was chairman. Most letters relate to pensions and Civil War damages. Other papers include family correspondence, manuscript speeches, articles written for the Fayetteville (Tenn.) Observer on Biblical topics, and account books of domestic expenses and of the law firms of Bright and Bright and Bright and Sons.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Correspondence, 1854-1910 and undated.
2. Speeches, 1875-1879 and undated.
3. Other Materials, 1857-1911 and undated.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1854-1910 and undated.

Arrangement: chronological.

This series series contains correspondence, letters, and documents, with the bulk relating to Bright's career in Congress (1871-1881). The material from 1854-1871 primarily concerns Bright's law firm accounts and legal affairs, and tuition payment for Bright's daughters at W. E. Ward's Seminary for Young Ladies, Nashville, Tenn. The material from 1871-1881 is chiefly related to Bright's career in Congress. Included are letters from his constitutuents regarding claims for damages done by Federal solders and other claims against the Federal government; claims (14 April-19 May 1976) by cotton buying firm Southworth and Sample of St. Louis, Mo., which declared that a large tax on cotton had been illegally collected from it during the Reconstruction era; requests for pensions for services done by relatives in the War of 1812, Seminole War of 1831, and the Mexican War; requests for packages of seeds and agricultural reports; requests for copies of bills and information on a Supreme Court case; inquiries regarding the Fourteenth Amendment; support and opposition to bills; petitions regarding the establishment of local post offices and national banks in several towns; railroad legislation; appoitments to the Army, Navy, and West Point; and Bright's political career. There are also several letters written by members of Bright's family regarding personal and financial matters. Letters from 1882-1910 concern family affairs and finances. There are eight undated items, including an abstract of a petition on a whiskey tax; brief notes on government, political rights, and the Constitution; the indictment of Bright by the Federal government for participation in the Civil War; memorandums concerning claims against the Federal goverment for damages done by Federal troops during the Civil War; and a memorandum concerning mail delivery in McMinnville, Tenn.

Folder 1a	Original finding aid
Folder 1	1854-1871
Folder 2	January 1872
Folder 3	February 1872
Folder 4	March-April 1872
Folder 5	May 1872-November 1873
Folder 6	February 1874-August 1876
Folder 7	January 1877-November 1878
Folder 8	January 1879-February 1879
Folder 9	March 1879-April 1880
Folder 10	May 1880-1910
Folder 11	Undated

Expand/collapse Series 2. Speeches, 1875-1879 and undated.

This series contains eight speeches, undated unless otherwise noted, on various topics including the centennial celebration of the Mecklenburg Declaration at Charolotte, N.C., charity, bank currency, literature, an army appropriation bill, and old age.

Folder 12	Mecklenburg Declaration Centennial, 20 May 1875
Folder 13	Charity; An Address to the Opponents of Bank Currency in the United States of America
Folder 14	The Influence of Literature on Nations
Folder 15-17 Folder 15 Folder 16 Folder 17	Nashville Centennial speech
Folder 18	Tullahoma, Tenn. speech, 6 July 1872; Army Appropriation bill 1879 speech; Old Age

Expand/collapse Series 3. Other Materials, 1857-1911 and undated.

This series contains newspaper articles, engraved images of John Morgan Bright, and five volumes. The newspapers, 1884-1911, are primarily of clippings regarding speeches by Bright as well as his career. Also included are 20 clippings of articles by Bright on religious topics. The three engraved images of Bright are of the same image of him when he was a congressman from Tennessee. The volumes chiefly consist of account books for Bright's law firms and other financial transactions, but also include notebooks on family history and the study of law.

Folder 19	Newspaper articles 1884-1911
Folder 20	Three engraved images of John Morgan Bright
Folder 21	Volume 1: Account book The first portion is entitled "Hon. J. M. Bright in acc. with Bryan Brothers" and covers grocery purchases for 14 December 1871-18 April 1872. The remainder of the book appears to be in a different handwriting, and is an undated list of purchases of food from a number of persons.
Folder 22	Volume 2: Account book The first portion regards Bright's family history dating from his great-grandfather, John Morgan; the second section is an account for Bright and Woodward with John M. Bright, 4 November 1889-January 1895, covering travel and hotel expenses; the third section gives accounts of payments of rent and miscellaneous items to Bright by various persons, 1890-26 April 1906, with the bulk of entries being for the 1890s.
Folder 23	Volume 3: Notebook The first section contains notes on William Blackstone, the study of law, and the laws of England; the second section contains accounts of money loaned by Bright to various members of his family from 1870-1880.
Folder 24	Volume 4: Account book Accounts of the law firm Bright and Bright, covering January 1857-November 1871
Folder 25	Volume 5: Account book Accounts of the law firm Bright and Bright, 22 February 1861-29 September 1879. The firm seems to have become Bright and Sons following the death of James R. Bright.

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Collection Number: 01840 Collection Title: John M. Bright Papers, 1854-1911 (bulk 1871-1881).