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Collection Number: 03496

Collection Title: Burwell J. Corban Books, 1850-1890.

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.

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Size 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 30 items)
Abstract Burwell J. Corban (born 1853) was a farmer, merchant, and magistrate of Corbandale and Palmyra, Montgomery Country, Tenn. This collection contains records of Burwell J. Corban and his father. Volumes are chiefly daybooks and ledgers for general merchandise business in the 1850s and 1865-1878. Also included are records of judgments in minor cases tried by a Montgomery County, Tenn., magistrate, 1854-1877; a magistrate's docket, 1858-1890; physician's accounts, 1852; scattered accounts for lumber milling, blacksmith work, and wages; a schedule of local mails; and a list of local subscribers of newspapers, 1850-1861.
Creator Corban, Burwell J., b. 1853.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Burwell J. Corban Books, #3496, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Charles Elder of Nashville, Tenn., 1960.
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton, and Jodi Berkowitz, December 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.

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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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Burwell J. Corban (born 1853) was a farmer, merchant, and magistrate of Corbandale and Palmyra, Montgomery Country, Tenn. He was magistrate of the 19th District of Montgomery County, 1882; member of the county executive committee, 1884; elected in 1886 as representative of Montgomery County in Lower House of the Tennessee Legislature; Justice of the Peace and chairman of the Prohibition Meeting of 1887; member of the Coleman Hunting Club; and member and officer of the McCulloch Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, Palmyra, Tenn. He appears to have also been involved in a number of businesses including a lumber business, an ironworks, and a general store. Business names that appear in the collection are Poplar Spring Furnace; Corban, Parrish & Co.; Corban, Roberts & Co.; Corban, Nebtell & Co.; Palmyra Mills; and Corbandale Mills.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection contains records of Burwell J. Corban (born 1853) and his father, merchants and magistrates of Corbandale and Palmyra, Montgomery County, Tenn. Volumes are chiefly daybooks and ledgers for general merchandise business in the 1850s and 1865-1878. Also included are records of judgments in minor cases tried by a Montgomery County, Tenn., magistrate, 1854-1877; a magistrate's docket, 1858-1890; physician's accounts, 1852; scattered accounts for lumber milling, blacksmith work, and wages; a schedule of local mails; and a list of local subscribers of newspapers, 1850-1861.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Burwell J. Corban Books, 1850-1890 and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

Volume 1: October 1850-1861

Tennessee. Volume contains a schedule of mails, list of newspapers and local subscribers, register of money and other valuable letters sent, list of boarders along with a rent and meal check, agreements between Corban and Nebtell & Co., 1854, and ledger notations.

Folder 2

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/2

Volume 2: February 1852-September 1854

Palmyra. Daybook containing itemized account of general merchandise sold.

Folder 3

Volume 3: 9 February 1852-July 1853

Palmyra. Daybook containing itemized list of general merchandise sold.

Folder 4

Volume 4: 1852-1855

Palmyra. Ledger of Corban, Parrish & Co., listing wholesale dealers and prices.

Folder 5

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/5

Volume 5: 1852

Ledger of J. M. Jackson, physician.

Folder 6

Volume 6: 1852-1856

Ledger listing totals only.

Folder 7

Volume 7: August 1853-30 June 1854

Palmyra. Daybook containing itemized account of general merchandise sold.

Folder 8

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/8

Volume 8: 1853

Palmyra. Ledger containing itemized account of general merchandise sold.

Folder 9

Volume 9: 6 April 1854-28 August 1858

Probably a magistrate's casebook.

Folder 10

24 May 1854-23 August 1875

Tennessee. Record of legal cases tried and of fines paid to justices of the peace.

Folder 11

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/11

Volume 11: July 1854-September 1855

Palmyra. Daybook containing itemized account of general merchandise sold.

Folder 12

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/12

Volume 12: October 1854-June 1859

Palmyra and Corbandale. Daybook of Corban, Parrish & Co. containing itemized account of general merchandise.

Folder 13

Volume 13: 1855-1858

Tennessee. The first half of the volume is an itemized ledger from the Palmyra Mills, a lumber mill, March 1855-February 1857. The second half of the volume is a daybook of an itemized account of general merchandise sold in Corbandale, October 1858-April 1859.

Folder 14

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/14

Volume 14: 1855-1857

Ledger from Corban, Parrish & Co. showing totals only. Many of the individual itemized accounts from which this was taken are in Volume 12.

Folder 15

Volume 15: 1855-1856; 1859

Palmyra. Itemized account of general merchandise sold and daybook. The spine of the book is labeled "Negro."

Folder 16

Volume 16: 1855-1875

Volume appears to have three uses over time used: 1855-1862 is a chronological record of cash received and paid out; 1865 is an itemized ledger of merchandise, primarily foodstuffs, sold and delivered; August 1865-1875 is a daybook of an itemized account of merchandise sold. Volume might be related to Palmyra Mill.

Folder 17

Volume 17: November 1856-May 1857

Palmyra. Daybook containing itemized merchandise.

Folder 18

Volume 18: 1857-1867

Ledger used for several types of accounts including blacksmith work, general merchandise, lumber, services received, board, and day-laborers' time.

Folder 19

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/19

Volume 19: 4 September 1858-1877

Palmyra. Magistrate's docket; separate index is enclosed.

Folder 20

Volume 20: 1866-1867

Ledger containing itemized accounts of purchases, working time, and board owed of several individuals.

Folder 21

Volume 21: 1866-1873

Volume used for three purposes: merchandise account, cash account, and itemized account of general merchandise sold and wages owed to various individuals.

Folder 22

Volume 22: 1867-1870

Ledger containing itemized account of general merchandise sold and wages owed to various individuals.

Folder 23

Volume 23: 1867-1868

Ledger containing itemized account of general merchandise sold and wages owed to various individuals.

Folder 24

Volume 24: November 1867-11 July 1868

Daybook of Poplar Spring Furnace, containing itemized list of general merchandise sold.

Folder 25

Volume 25: April 1875-1878

Ledger containing itemized list of purchases of general merchandise.

Folder 26

Folder number not used.

SV-3496/26

Volume 26: 1876-9 September 1890

Montgomery County magistrate docket

Folder 27

Volume 27: 1883

Palmyra. Bylaws, member roll, minutes of meetings and incorporation of the Palmyra School House.

Folder 28

Volume 28: Undated

Scrapbook containing clippings regarding Montgomery County, Corban, and the Democratic Party in Tennessee and nationally.

Folder 29

Volume 29: Undated

Volume containing sample exercises in bookkeeping.

Reel 1-4

Reel 1

Reel 2

Reel 3

Reel 4

Microfilm copy of Volumes 1-29

Reel 1: Volume 1-7; reel 2: vol 8-13; reel 3: vol 14-19; reel 4: vol 20-29

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