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Collection Number: 03162

Collection Title: Coffield and Bellamy Family Papers, 1723-1920

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.

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Size 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 400 items)
Abstract Land grants, deeds, bills, accounts, wills, other business Papers, and some family correspondence of David Coffield (d. 1818?) of Edgecombe County, N.C.; his sons, Spier W. Coffield and John W. Coffield; and their Whitaker, Bellamy, Hall, and other relatives in Edgecombe, Nash, and Halifax counties, N.C. Papers after 1835 are chiefly from the Bellamy family. Included are papers of various estates; papers of Stephen W. Carney (1762-1811) relating to racehorse breeding near Scotland Neck, N.C.; Dr. John F. Bellamy's business papers in Nash County; and a daybook, 1860-1861 (480 p.) of Whitaker, Batchelor & Co., a general mercantile firm in Enfield, N.C.
Creator Bellamy (Family : Nash County, N.C.)

Coffield (Family : Edgecombe County, N.C.)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Coffield and Bellamy Family Papers #3162, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. J. D. Hall in 1955, Mr. John McGwigan in 1955-57, and Louise McGwigan Hall in 1979 - 1996.
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.
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Processed by: Adera Scheinker, March 1997

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Laura Hart, January 2022

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

The Bellamy, and Coffield families resided in North Carolina in Nash, Edgecombe, and Halifax counties. David Coffield was collector of revenue in 1798 and executor of estates for Edgecombe County, N.C.

Coffield family line:

William Coffield m. Elizabeth

Spier Coffield (d.1771) m. West Duck

David Coffield (1765-1817) m. Elizabeth Whitaker (1775-1835)

Spier William Coffield (1798-1825) m. Sarah Hunter (1801-1842)

Martha Crowell (b.1824) m. John Godwin Whitfield

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Whitfield (b.1823) m. Frederick Cotten

Elizabeth (Lizzie)

Spencer

Sarah Spier William (Willie) (1825-1880) m. John Thomas Nicholson Bellamy (1827-1905)

Spier Coffield (1859-1928)

Sadie Coffield (1864-1895) m. Charles Edward McGwigan (1855-1926)

Sadiebelle (1887-1974) m. John Denby Hall (1883-1949)

Sarah Bellamy (1917-1994) m. Francis Harrell (b.1914)

Louise McGwigan (b.1920)

Martha Whitfield (1924-1995) m. William Daniel Holloman (1923-1991)

Bellamy family line:

Alexander Bellamy (b.1710)

William Bellamy (b.1740) m. Mary Clinch

John Bellamy (b.1772) m. Susan Exum

John Fletcher (1794-1846) m. Ann Malvina Nicholson (d.1832)

Ann Nicholson Bellamy m. William Hunter

John Thomas Nicholson Bellamy

John Fletcher - 2nd marriage Sarah Hunter Coffield (widow of Spier William Coffield)

Joseph Clinch Bellamy (d.1920)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection includes the personal correspondence and the financial and legal papers of the Coffield and Bellamy families, residents of Nash, Edgecombe and Halifax counties, N.C. from 1723 to 1921. This collection contains records about people who were enslaved and claimed as property by the Coffield and Bellamy families.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Coffield and Bellamy Family Papers, 1723-1920

About 400 items.
Folder 1-10

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Correspondence and related papers, 1803-1913 and undated

Arrangement: chronological.

Personal correspondence, mostly letters of David Coffield or John Bellamy. Most of these letters are personal and family correspondence or business correspondence with local merchants and lawyers. Of note are several Civil War letters, including one with a hand-drawn battle map. This series also includes a few play scripts, speeches, and invitations to various social events.

Folder 11-43

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Financial and legal papers, 1723-1920 and undated

Financial and legal papers of the Coffield, and Bellamy families. This collection includes records about people who were enslaved and claimed as property by the Coffield and Bellamy families, deeds, contracts, indentures, wills, petitions, and other legal papers. Receipts are also included, particularly in the later years. Included are records about horses, schools, and burials. There are also a ledger book for a business in which Bellamy had dealings, military certificates, tax receipts, and medical information. Some 18th-century legal papers are housed in oversized papers.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3162/1

Oversize legal papers from the 18th century

Oversize Volume SV-3162/1

Ledger book

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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