Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

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 Willis G. Briggs Papers #3077, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Sarah Briggs Trentman, 1954-1958.

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: Suzanne Ruffing, March 1996

Encoded by: Bari Helms, April 2005

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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.

• Alston family.
• Baptist State Convention of North Carolina--History.
• Briggs family.
• Briggs, Thomas Henry, 1847-1928.
• Briggs, Willis G. (Willis Grandy), 1875-1954.
• Camden County (N.C.)--History.
• Camden County (N.C.)--Militia--Records and correspondence.
• College students--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 44th.
• Currituck County (N.C.)--History.
• Diaries.
• Ferebee family.
• Ferebee, Enoch D., d. 1876.
• Grandy family.
• Grandy, Willis Sawyer, 1822-1899.
• Granville County (N.C.)--History.
• Hargrave family.
• Hargrove, Tazewell Lee, 1830-1889.
• Hunter family.
• Johnson Island Prison.
• Journalists--North Carolina.
• Knights of Pythias.
• Livestock exhibitions--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• North Carolina--Genealogy.
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
• Norwood family.
• Postmasters--United States--History--20th century.
• Raleigh (N.C.)--History.
• Republican Party (N.C.)--History.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.
• Utley family.
• Wake County (N.C.)--History.
• Wake County Cattle Club.
• Wake Forest College--Students--History--19th century.

Willis Grandy Briggs (1875-1954) was born in Raleigh, N.C., the son of Thomas Henry and Sarah Grandy Briggs. He was educated at the Raleigh Male Academy, run by Charles C. Holden, and at Wake Forest College, from which he graduated cum laud in 1896. After graduating, Briggs became the city editor of the Raleigh Evening Times.

Briggs, a Republican, was appointed postmaster in Raleigh by President Theodore Roosevelt, and he continued to serve in this capacity until 1914, when he returned to Wake Forest to study law. Admitted to the bar in 1915, Briggs was promptly chosen city court prosecutor, in which capacity he served until 1921. He was the assistant U.S. attorney of the Eastern District from 1921 until 1930, when he resigned to resume his private practice. In 1928 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Briggs was deeply interested in the history of North Carolina, especially that of Raleigh and Wake County. Briggs devoted much of his time to research and writing, and some of his published works include a history of the First Baptist Church in Raleigh and a biography of Henry Potter (1766-1857).

Briggs married Beulah Sanderlin on 16 February 1910, and they became the parents of two daughters, Sarah Wooten and Eliza Sanderlin. Briggs died on 24 February 1954 in Raleigh.

The collection consists of political and personal correspondence of Willis G. Briggs and materials relating to his ancestors and other relatives. Briggs' correspondence concerns his student days at Wake Forest College; Raleigh newspaper work, 1895-1905; Republican Party activities through five decades; his interest in the history of Raleigh, N.C., and the history of North Carolina Baptists; his genealogical studies of the Briggs, Grandy, Ferebee, Utley, Hunter, Alston, Hargrove, and Norwood families; and his miscellaneous biographical studies. Papers before 1893 are of the Briggs, Grandy, and Ferebee families in Camden County, N.C., Currituck County, N.C., Granville County, N.C., and Wake County, N.C., and include papers of Willis Sawyer Grandy (1822-1899), Dr. Enoch D. Ferebee (d. 1876), and the Civil War papers of Tazewell L. Hargrove (1830-1899), lieutenant colonel, 44th North Carolina Regiment, and others, including an autograph book from Johnson Island prison. Twenty volumes include the record book of the judge advocate of the Camden County militia, 1803-1835; the personal diary, 1866-1868, of Thomas Henry Briggs (1847-1928) of Raleigh; Knights of Pythias local records, 1871-1875; and minutes of the Raleigh Cattle Club, 1886-1890, which was organized to sponsor livestock exhibitions.

• Photographs (P-3077/1-3)