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 161 items) |
Abstract | The collection includes papers created and accumulated by William S. Leonard and his brother, Isam Leonard, sons of Jacob Leonard of South Bridgewater, Mass. William came to North Carolina in 1819 with New England goods to sell, and remained for over a year in Hertford, Perquimans County, as a school teacher. The next year he and his brother opened a store in Hertford which they operated for several years, returning to Massachusetts over the summers. In 1822 they moved their business to Windsor, Bertie County, N.C. In 1825 they both became ill, William died, and Isam moved back to Massachusetts, returning to North Carolina the next year to close the business. The papers consist of letters between the brothers, correspondence with another brother, L. W. (Levi Washburn) Leonard, a Unitarian minister in Dublin, N.H., and with their father; a few letters from North Carolinians, especially Edward Wood and John S. Wood, of Hertford; and letters and other papers from commission merchants in Boston, New Bedford, New York, and elsewhere. The later items deal with efforts to collect money owed to the Leonards, and with later members of the family. There is one letter, 16 May 1862, written by a Union soldier from Massachusetts while in New Bern, N.C. |
Creator | Leonard, William S., 1794-1825. |
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, September 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.
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.
William S. Leonard (1794-1825), son of Jacob Leonard of South Bridgewater, Mass., came to North Carolina in 1819 with New England goods to sell, and remained for over a year in Hertford, Perquimans County, as a school teacher. The next year he and his brother, Isam, opened a store in Hertford which they operated for several years, returning to Massachusetts over the summers. In 1822 they moved their business to Windsor, Bertie County, N.C. In 1825 they both became ill, William died, and Isam moved back to Massachusetts, returning to North Carolina the next year to close the business.
The Leonards dealt in a variety of produce in North Carolina, shipping to the North wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, beeswax, tar, turpentine, staves, feathers, tallow, peas, flaxseed, and cotton. In Windor they operated a cotton gin. Among the items they sold were chairs, salt, rum, cotton gins, hardware, drygoods, and other general merchandise.
Back to TopThe collection includes papers created and accumulated by William S. Leonard and his brother, Isam, and consist of letters between the brothers; correspondence with another brother, Levi, a Unitarian minister in Dublin, N.H., and with their father; a few letters from North Carolinians, especially Edward Wood and John S. Wood, of Hertford; and letters and other papers from commission merchants in Boston, New Bedford, New York, and elsewhere. The later items deal with efforts to collect money owed to the Leonards, and with later members of the family. There is one letter, 16 May 1862, written by a Union soldier from Massachusetts while in New Bern, N.C.
Back to TopFolder 1a |
Original finding aid |
Folder 1 |
1808-1817 |
Folder 2 |
1818-1820 |
Folder 3 |
1821 |
Folder 4-6
Folder 4Folder 5Folder 6 |
1822 |
Folder 7-9
Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9 |
1823 |
Folder 10-11
Folder 10Folder 11 |
1824 |
Folder 12-13
Folder 12Folder 13 |
1825 |
Folder 13 |
1825-1829, 1853, 1862, 1898, and undated |