Restrictions to Access

Use of audio materials may require production of listening copies.

This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

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 John Sprunt Hill Papers #3564, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the John Sprunt Hill Estate, Durham, N.C., in January 1962; George Watts Hill, Durham, N.C., in June 1965; and Mary L. Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., in June 2004 (Acc. 99799) and November 2008 (Acc. 101025).

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.

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.

• Agriculture, Cooperative--North Carolina.
• Architecture--North Carolina--Durham.
• Banks and banking--North Carolina.
• Beal family.
• Brownrigg family.
• Buckner family.
• Businessmen--North Carolina.
• Campaign literature.
• Campbell family.
• Carolina Inn (Chapel Hill, N.C.)--History.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--History.
• Democratic Party (New York, N.Y.)
• Dudley family.
• Duplin County (N.C.)--History.
• Durham (N.C.)--History.
• Durham (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Erwin Cotton Mills.
• Faison family.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Genealogists--North Carolina.
• Hill family.
• Hill, George Watts, 1901-1993.
• Hill, John Sprunt, b. 1869.
• Insurance--North Carolina.
• Jennings family.
• Lanier family.
• Latham family.
• Lawyers--New York (State)--New York.
• Legislators--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Liquor laws--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Littlejohn family.
• Major family.
• McCullough family.
• Montfort family.
• North Carolina Highway Commission.
• North Carolina--Genealogy.
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
• North Carolina. General Assembly--Officials and employees.
• Philanthropists--North Carolina.
• Politicians--North Carolina.
• Roads--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Simms family.
• Snead family.
• Stith family.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Alumni and alumnae.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Benefactors.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina (System)--History.
• Virginia--Genealogy.
• Watts family.
• Watts, George Washington, 1851-1921.
• Wilcox family.
• Williams family.

• George Watts Hill Papers (#4202)
• George Watts Hill Jr. Papers (#5162)

John Sprunt Hill was born on 17 March 1869 in Faison, Duplin County, N.C. He was the son of William Edward Hill and Frances Diana Hill. After leaving school at age twelve, he worked in a country store for four years. He then attended the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1889 with a Ph.B. Following graduation, Hill taught at Faison High School for two years. He began attending law school at the University of North Carolina in 1891 and, in 1892, moved to New York City to complete his degree at Columbia University. Hill graduated with a law degree in 1894 and that same year was admitted to the bar in New York and began practicing.

Hill opened his own law firm and practiced estate law, becoming a well-regarded and successful lawyer. In 1898, Hill partipated in the Spanish-American War, fighting in Puerto Rico. He returned to New York and continued his law practice, also becoming involved with the Democratic Party in Manhattan. He joined and served as a leader in groups like the Reform Club and the Young Men's Democratic Club. Hill ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1900, but was defeated.

Hill married Annie Louise Watts on 29 November 1899. Her father was George Washington Watts, a North Carolina businessman who had co-founded the American Tobacco Company. After several years of marriage, Hill decided to move with his wife and young son to Durham, N.C., to go into business with his father-in-law. Watts and Hill became powerful partners in the growing city. They founded the Home Savings Bank and Durham Loan & Trust Company. Hill served as president and chair of the board of these institutions, respectively. In 1916, Watts and Hill founded the Home Security Life Insurance Company. In response to the deep economic depression of the 1930s, they reorganized the Durham Loan & Trust Company into the Durham Bank & Trust Company in 1931. In 1950, the Home Savings Bank merged with the Durham Bank & Trust. In early 1961, shortly before Hill's death, the Durham Bank & Trust became Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company.

In addition to banking and insurance, Hill was active in a wide variety of other areas. He served as vice-president of Erwin Cotton Mills from 1908 to 1910. A golf enthusiast, he began building what became the Hillandale Country Club in Durham in 1909. Hill donated the golf course to Durham in 1934, one of many philanthropic gifts the Hills made to the city. In the 1910s, Hill became interested in farmers' co-operative organizations and credit unions and launched a personal campaign to help establish them around North Carolina. Hill served on the North Carolina Highway Commission from 1921 to 1931, then successfully ran for a seat in the North Carolina Senate, serving from 1933 to 1938.

Perhaps Hill's longest-running interest was his love of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He donated generously from the time of his graduation in 1889 until his death. In 1904, Hill was named a trustee of the University of North Carolina and continued as a trustee of the consolidated university in 1932. Hill remained a trustee for the rest of his life. In 1920, Hill built the Carolina Inn next to the University of North Carolina campus and later donated the hotel to the University. The profits from the hotel helped support what became the North Carolina Collection in the Wilson Library. Hill and his family made numerous other financial donations for University projects.

Annie Watts Hill died on 26 March 1940. She and John Sprunt Hill had three children: George Watts Hill, Laura Valinda Hill DuBose and Frances Faison Hill Fox.

John Sprunt Hill died on 29 July 1961 at the age of 92.

The John Sprunt Hill collection consists of correspondence, family materials, letterbooks, minutes, planning materials, clippings, maps, photographs, and other materials related to Hill's career as a North Carolina banker, lawyer, and legislator, and his interest in genealogy. The collection includes genealogical studies and genealogical correspondence, primarily from the 20th century. They concern the Hill family and related families in Virginia and in Duplin County, N.C. Other family names mentioned include Beal, Brownrigg, Buckner, Campbell, Dudley, Faison, Hill, Jennings, Lanier, Latham, Littlejohn, Major, McCulloch, Montfort, Sims, Snead, Stith, Watts, Wilcox, and Williams. The collection also includes 17th- through 19th-century family papers, including wills, deeds, and letters.

Other items relate to John Sprunt Hill's service as a North Carolina state senator, mainly on the topics of liquor legislation and the issues relating to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. There are also letterbooks, correspondence, and other materials relating to Hill's career as a New York City lawyer and Durham, N.C., businessman. The letterbooks address Hill's legal work, the founding of the Durham Loan & Trust, other Durham business issues, the death of George Washington Watts and the disbursement of his estate, the building and furnishing of Hill family homes, and North Carolina highways. Businesses and organizations mentioned include banks like the Durham Loan & Trust, Durham Bank & Trust, and Home Savings Bank; farmers' co-operatives; insurance companies like the Home Security Life Insurance Company; government organizations like the City of Durham and the North Carolina Highway Commission; and other business ventures like Erwin Mills.

There are also maps, correspondence, campaign advertising, voter lists, clippings, and other materials related to Hill's interest in the New York City Democratic Party and its campaigns, 1900-1902. Personal materials about the life and interests of Hill include biographical materials, tributes, photographs, and clippings. Personal materials also include information about organizations of interest to Hill; his writings and stories; family financial materials and family history materials; information about his death and estate; and sympathy correspondence following Hill's death, which were answered by his son, George Watts Hill (1901-1993). Also included are architectural drawings for Harwood Hall, Hillandale Dairy, the Durham Loan & Trust, and the Washington Duke Hotel, all located in Durham, N.C.; plans for Wakefield Farm, a service station, and Bankers Building; and other items.

The Addition of November 2008 contains correspondence, financial records, and other materials related to the personal and professional activities of John Sprunt Hill and Annie Sprunt Hill. Included are letters and other materials related to John Sprunt Hill's election to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1934; his work on the consolidation of the University of North Carolina system, 1934-1936; speeeches; clippings; and other professional materials. There are letterbooks containing business correspondence, mostly belonging to John Sprunt Hill, but with occasional letters from Annie Watts Hill, 1920-1925; a ledger listing stocks held by the Hills, 1906-1923; genealogies of the Watts family; photographic postcards of buildings around Durham, N.C., likely taken by Hill's son, George Watts Hill, in 1930; financial materials of Annie Watts Hill and her estate; and a scrapbook of undated photographs, likely taken sometime in the mid-to-late 19th-century in Scotland, England, and France.

• Audiotape (T-3564/1)
• Extra oversize paper folders (XOPF-03564/1-7)
• Oversize paper folder (OPF-03564/8)
• Oversize photographs (XOP-PF-3564/1)
• Oversize volumes (SV-3564/1-9)
• Photographs (P-3564/1-2)
• Glass negatives (SF-P-3564/1-2)