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 | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,150 items) |
Abstract | William Thomas Sutherlin (1822-1893) was a farmer, leaf tobacco dealer, and tobacco manufacturer of Danville, Va. He also served as mayor of Danville, president of the Danville Bank, a delegate to the Virginia secession convention, and a Confederate officer. The collection contains correspondence and other materials related to Sutherlin's businesses, including those of Sutherlin as tobacco manufacturer and distributor throughout the southeast; Confederate major and quartermaster at Danville; builder and operator of railroad lines in the vicinity of Danville; farmer, banker, capitalist; and holder of miscellaneous positions of trust in the community and state. The papers are concerned also with legislation affecting banking and railroads, current politics in relation to economic conditions, requests for political and economic patronage, loans, and other aid. The Civil War papers include letters from soldiers in Virginia, state legislators, and Confederate congressmen and businessmen, as well as papers relating to Sutherlin's work in procuring provisions for the Confederate Army, locating scarce items for commercial and industrial use, and his own tobacco business. Included are letters, 1860-1866, from traveling salesmen and crop-buying agents covering the southeast on tobacco business. |
Creator | Sutherlin, William Thomas, 1822-1893. |
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 Adam Fielding and Jodi Berkowitz, November 2010
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.
William Thomas Sutherlin (1822-1893) was a farmer, leaf tobacco dealer, and tobacco manufacturer of Danville, Va., 1846-1861. Additionally, he was mayor of Danville, 1855-1861, president of the Danville Bank, delegate to the Virginia secession convention, and Confederate major and quartermaster at Danville. After the Civil War, Sutherlin owned and operated several farms near Danville, was in the state legislature, 1872-1874, served as president of the State Board of Agriculture and was a member of agricultural societies, railroad director, bank director and president, Methodist, Mason, and speaker and writer on economic and agricultural topics.
Back to TopThe collection contains business correspondence of William Thomas Sutherlin, deeds, bills, notes, voting returns, sales records and balance sheets, circular letters, shipping manifests, lists of current wholesale prices, accounts, telegrams, bankruptcy papers, payrolls and timetables, and contracts with agents, managers, and other business firms. The volumes, 1853-1892, are accounts and memoranda. The correspondence and other papers relate to the varied business affairs of Sutherlin as tobacco manufacturer and distributor throughout the southeast; Confederate major and quartermaster at Danville, Va.; builder and operator of railroad lines in the vicinity of Danville; farmer, banker, capitalist; and holder of miscellaneous positions of trust in the community and state. The papers are concerned also with legislation affecting banking and railroads, current politics in relation to economic conditions, requests for political and economic patronage, loans, and other aid.
The Civil War papers include letters from soldiers in Virginia, state legislators, and Confederate congressmen and businessmen, as well as papers relating to Sutherlin's work in procuring provisions for the Confederate Army, locating scarce items for commercial and industrial use, and his own tobacco business. Included are letters, 1860-1866, from traveling salesmen and crop-buying agents covering the southeast on tobacco business.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
This series contains business correspondence, deeds, bills, notes, voting returns, sales records and balance sheets, circular letters, shipping manifests, lists of current wholesale prices, accounts, telegrams, bankruptcy papers, payrolls and timetables, and contracts with agents, managers, and other business firms. The correspondence and other papers relate to the varied business affairs of William Thomas Sutherlin as tobacco manufacturer and distributor throughout the southeast; Confederate major and quartermaster at Danville, Va.; builder and operator of railroad lines in the vicinity of Danville; farmer, banker, capitalist; and holder of miscellaneous positions of trust in the community and state. The papers are also concerned with legislation affecting banking and railroads, current politics in relation to economic conditions, requests for political and economic patronage, loans, and other aid. The Civil War papers include letters from soldiers in Virginia, state legislators, and Confederate congressmen and businessmen, as well as papers relating to Sutherlin's work in procuring provisions for the Confederate Army, locating scarce items for commercial and industrial use, and his own tobacco business. Included are letters, 1860-1866, from traveling salesmen and crop-buying agents covering the southeast on tobacco business.
Arrangement: chronological.
The volumes are ledgers, memoranda, account books, and daybooks for Sutherlin's businesses, and include information on wages paid to laborers and operating costs.
Folder 46 |
Volume 1: February 1853-April 1857Account of W. T. Sutherlin with Branch Bank of Virginia at Danville. |
Folder 47 |
Volume 2: 1872Ledger of W. T. Sutherlin's accounts with individual laborers for provisions advanced and wages paid. |
Folder 48 |
Volume 3: 27 September 1873-30 June 1875Daybook of W. T. Sutherlin's accounts with various banks, merchants, and firms. |
Folder 49 |
Volume 4: 1 February 1878-31 May 1879Daybook of W. T. Sutherlin's accounts with Johnston & Cheek of Danville, Va. |
Folder 50 |
Volume 5: 1877Memoranda titled "Transit No. 1," consisting apparently of surveyor's notes on a trial railroad line from a depot to a warehouse in Milton, N.C. |
Folder 51 |
Volume 6: January 1887-September 1890Daybook showing expenditures paid, mostly through bankers Johnston & Cheek, for operating Sunny Side, Cloverdale, Norwood Farm, and other businesses in the Danville area. |
Folder 52 |
Volume 7: 1880; 1891-1892Pages 1-14 are expense accounts, 1880. The remainder of the volume is a ledger, 1891-1892, showing expenditures for operating expenses relating to Cloverdale, Norwood Farm, Mayo's Place, and Sunny Side. |