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 | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 150 items) |
Abstract | Thomas Sparrow was a lawyer, North Carolina state legislator, and Confederate officer of Washington (Beaufort County), N.C. Antebellum papers include legal and political correspondence and letters to Thomas Sparrow from colleagues and constituents while he was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1858-1859. Correspondents include George E. Badger, David L. Swain, and John A. Stanly. There are references to several duels. Civil War papers, mostly 1861, include Sparrow's letters to his wife and a diary kept while he was captain of Company A, 7th North Carolina Infantry (the Washington Greys), defending the Outer Banks of North Carolina and in prison at Fort Coumbus, Governor's Island, New York Harbor, and Fort Warren, Boston, Mass. Also included are manuscript notes of an ordnance inspection of the Wilmington, N.C., defenses, 1863. Postwar items consist chiefly of a manuscript speech to freedmen, 1867, clippings about Sparrow's management of the impeachment trial of North Carolina governor W. W. Holden, 1871, and a full account of Sparrow's life. |
Creator | Sparrow, Thomas, 1819-1884. |
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, April 2009; Nancy Kaiser, May 2021
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.
Thomas Sparrow (1819-1884), a native of New Bern and resident of Washington, N.C., was a lawyer, state legislator, and Confederate officer. Sparrow was educated at Princeton University, 1839-1842. In 1847 he moved to Washington, N.C., and there had a law practice with Edward Stanly. He served as chairman of the Eighth Congressional District Whig Committee and in 1856-1857 as a representative in the North Carolina General Assembly. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sparrow raised a company of Beaufort County, N.C., volunteers, the Washington Grays, and served as captain. His company was involved in the defense of Fort Hatteras where they were surrendered and captured. He was imprisoned at Fort Columbus, N.Y., and Fort Warren, Mass., until February 1862. Upon parole, he returned to North Carolina and served as major in the 10th North Carolina Regiment. After the war he returned to law practice and again served in the General Assembly, 1870-1872 and 1879-1890. While serving as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, 1870, he was manager for the house of the impeachment of Governor William W. Holden.
Back to TopThe collection includes legal, political, and personal correspondence; Civil War diaries; speeches; clippings; and other papers of Thomas Sparrow. Antebellum papers include legal and political correspondence and letters to Thomas Sparrow from colleagues and constituents while he was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1858-1859. Correspondents include George E. Badger, David L. Swain, and John A. Stanly. There are references to several duels. Civil War papers, mostly 1861, include Sparrow's letters to his wife and a diary kept while he was captain of Company A, 7th North Carolina Infantry (the Washington Grays), defending the Outer Banks of North Carolina and in prison at Fort Columbus, Governor's Island, New York Harbor, and Fort Warren, Boston, Mass. Also included are manuscript notes of an ordnance inspection of the Wilmington, N.C., defenses, 1863. Postwar items consist chiefly of a manuscript speech to freedmen, 1867, clippings about Sparrow's management of the impeachment trial of North Carolina governor W. W. Holden, 1871, and a full account of Sparrow's life.
Back to TopFolder 1a |
Original finding aid |
Folder 1 |
1835-1849 |
Folder 2 |
1852-1856Includes a record of the legal case State v. Dawson Wiggins, in which Wiggins, a black man, is charged with stealing on board a boat in 1855. |
Folder 3 |
1858-1859 |
Undated |
|
Folder 4 |
1860-1871 |
Folder 5 |
Undated |
Folder 6 |
Clippings |
Folder 7 |
Volume 1: Diary, August-October 1861 |
Folder 8 |
Volume 2: Diary, October-December 1861 |
Folder 9 |
Volume 3: Diary, 1863 |
Folder 10 |
Volume 4: Speech, 1867 |
Reel M-1878/1-2
M-1878/1M-1878/2 |
Microfilm |
Microfilm (M-1878/1-2)
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