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 Walter Clark Papers, #2751, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. J. Ernest Erwin of Morganton, N.C., 1943.

Received from Hugh T. Lefler of the University of North Carolina, 1972.

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.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, January 2009

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.

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.

• Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925.
• Clark, Walter, 1846-1924.
• Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
• Hillsborough (N.C.)--History--19th century.
• Judges--North Carolina--History.
• Judges--United States--Election--History.
• Philippines--History--1812-1898.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate.
• United States. Congress. Senate--Elections.
• Washington (N.C.)--History--19th century.
• Women--Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
• Women--Legal status, laws, etc.--History.

Walter Clark (1846-1924) was born in Halifax County, N.C. He served in the Civil War with the 22nd North Carolina Regiment, 1861-1862, and 35th North Carolina Regiment, 1862-1863. He resigned in early 1863 to pursue his education at the University of North Carolina. After his graduation, 1864, he returned to fight with the 70th North Carolina Regiment. After the war, Clark studied and practiced law. He was appointed judge of the superior and supreme courts of North Carolina, and later elected chief justice. He also sought the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate, 1912, and acted as an umpire in the National War Labor Board disputes, 1917-1918. He was married to Susan Washington Graham in 1875.

The collection includes scattered papers including speeches on political, religious, and civic occasions; miscellaneous literary writings; notes concerning legal rights of women; bills from a European trip, 1881; clippings; and miscellaneous other papers of Walter Clark. Included is a letter, 1889, from William Jennings Bryan to Clark about the popular election of judges and senators and the Philippines. Other correspondents include Charles B. Aycock, 1900, and William W. Holden, 1886. Also included are Civil War reminiscences by two North Carolina women. One of these, handwritten with typed transcription, is unascribed; it was written about experiences in Hillsborough, N.C. The other, typescript only, is apparently by a Mrs. Wiswall of Washington, N.C. There is also a long manuscript account of the Battle of Alamance.