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Size | 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1700 items) |
Abstract | Drury Lacy of Prince Edward County, Va., studied at the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; was minister at Presbyterian churches in New Bern, N.C., 1834-1837, and Raleigh, N.C., 1837-1855; served as president of Davidson College, 1855-1860; lived in Warrenton, N.C., 1861-1862; and served as chaplain at Confederate military hospitals at Raleigh and Wilson, N.C., 1862-1865. During 1866-1878, he taught at Peace Institute, where his wife was Lady Principal. He married first Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846), and second, in 1849, Mary Ritchie Rice, both of Virginia. Also represented in the collection is Lacy's oldest daughter, Bessie (1832-1900). In 1853, she married Thomas Webber Dewey (1827-1875) and moved to Charlotte, N.C., where he was a banker. The papers consist chiefly of family and personal correspondence of Drury Lacy, Presbyterian minister, educator, and army chaplain; and of his daughter, Bessie Dewey, leader in social and cultural activities in Charlotte, N.C.; and of other members of the Lacy family and the Dewey family. Included are letters from relatives and friends in Prince Edward County, Va., Raleigh, N.C., New Bern, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., and other North Carolina towns; letters written at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Presbyterian General Assembly at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1839 and 1842; Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., 1845-1848, 1851; a boys' school at Hillsborough, N.C., 1847-1848; and Davidson College. There are also Civil War letters from civilians in Raleigh, N.C., Warrenton, N.C., and Richmond, Va.; Confederate soldier letters from North Carolina and Virginia; and Confederate chaplains' letters written at Richmond, Va., Petersburg, Va., and Wilson, N.C. Letters of the Reconstruction period are chiefly about life in Raleigh, N.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Also included are letters, 1872-1878, from Peace Institute in Raleigh, N.C. Letters of the 1880s and 1890s are mostly from Charlotte, N.C., Morganton, N.C., and Lincolnton, N.C., and include observations on the Presbyterian General Assembly in Charlotte, 1897. Correspondence, spanning nearly 80 years, concerns daily home life and social life; Presbyterian Church matters; education of children; and comments on reading, national issues, and local events. Papers of the 1950s and 1960s belonged to Elisabeth Chambers Holt and address Charlotte, N.C., banking history and her ownership of the Lacy and Dewey family papers. Also included are miscellaneous papers consisting of receipts, songs and poems, essays, orations, compositions, and obituary clippings. Volumes include sermons, notes, and lectures of Drury Lacy; records of literary organizations and musical organizations in Charlotte, N.C.; and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey. |
Creator | Lacy, Drury, 1802-1884. |
Language | English |
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.
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Drury Lacy, son of Drury and Anne (Smith) Lacy, Prince Edward County, Va., studied at the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at New Bern, N.C., 1834-1837, and of the Raleigh Presbyterian Church, 1837-1855; served as president of Davidson College, 1855-1860; as home missionary, Orange Presbytery, living at Warrenton, Va., 1861-1862; and as chaplain at Confederate military hospitals at Raleigh, N.C., and Wilson, N.C., 1862-1865. Three sons served in the Confederate army. During 1866-1878, Drury Lacy served as supply pastor for churches in Orange Presbytery and taught at Peace Institute, where his wife was Lady Principal. He married first Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846), and, in 1849, Mary Ritchie Rice, both of Virginia.
Drury Lacy's oldest daughter Bessie (1832-1900) attended Miss Taylor's school in Raleigh and Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., and continued her education in the home of her cousin, Dr. Moses Drury Hoge, in Richmond, Va. In 1853, she married Thomas Webber Dewey (1827-1875) and went to Charlotte, N.C., where he was a banker. She was organist at the First Presbyterian Church, taught classes, was librarian of the Public Library of the Charlotte Library Association from its inception in 1891, and was the inspiration for the Saturday Morning Literary Club.
Drucy Lacy's other children included James Horace Lacy (1835-1852); Drury Lacy, Jr. (1839-1869); William Sterling Lacy (1842-1899); Presbyterian minister Singleton Wilson Lacy (1845-1862); and, with his second wife, Agnes Lacy (b. 1852); Benjamin Rice Lacy (b. 1854); and John Holt Lacy (b. 1856).
Back to TopThe papers consist chiefly of family and personal correspondence of Drury Lacy, Presbyterian minister, educator, and army chaplain; and of his daughter, Bessie Dewey, leader in social and cultural activities in Charlotte, N.C.; and of other members of the Lacy family and the Dewey family. Included are letters from relatives and friends in Prince Edward County, Va., Raleigh, N.C., New Bern, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., and other North Carolina towns; letters written at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Presbyterian General Assembly at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1839 and 1842; Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., 1845-1848, 1851; a boys' school at Hillsborough, N.C., 1847-1848; and Davidson College. There are also Civil War letters from civilians in Raleigh, N.C., Warrenton, N.C., and Richmond, Va.; Confederate soldier letters from North Carolina and Virginia; and Confederate chaplains' letters written at Richmond, Va., Petersburg, Va., and Wilson, N.C. Letters of the Reconstruction period are chiefly about life in Raleigh, N.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Also included are letters, 1872-1878, from Peace Institute in Raleigh, N.C. Letters of the 1880s and 1890s are mostly from Charlotte, N.C., Morganton, N.C., and Lincolnton, N.C., and include observations on the Presbyterian General Assembly in Charlotte, 1897. Correspondence, spanning nearly 80 years, concerns daily home life and social life; Presbyterian Church matters; education of children; and comments on reading, national issues, and local events. Papers of the 1950s and 1960s belonged to Elisabeth Chambers Holt and address Charlotte, N.C., banking history and her ownership of the Lacy and Dewey family papers. Also included are miscellaneous papers consisting of receipts, songs and poems, essays, orations, compositions, and obituary clippings. Volumes include sermons, notes, and lectures of Drury Lacy; records of literary organizations and musical organizations in Charlotte, N.C.; and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Folder 28 |
Miscellaneous papers, undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 28Includes receipts, prescriptions, drafts of letters to newspaper editors, a sermon by a ten-year-old child (William Sterling Lacy), a few club papers and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey, and the floor-plan of Thomas W. Dewey's residence in Charlotte, N.C. |
Folder 29 |
Songs and poems, undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 29Includes manuscripts, broadsides, and clippings. |
Folder 30 |
Essays and orations: Thomas W. Dewey, 1840s and undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 30 |
Folder 31 |
Correspondence: Thomas W. Dewey, 1851-1852 and undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 31Includes correspondence with women prior to his engagement to Bessie Lacy. |
Folder 32 |
Compositions: James Horace Lacy, 1851-1852 and undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 32 |
Folder 33 |
Miscellaneous writings: Drury Lacy, undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 33Includes "Random Thoughts," pages 187-228, consisting of Christian meditations, notes on lectures and sermons, part of his "Life of My Son Horace," and reminiscences of experiences of giving public toasts. |
Folder 34 |
Clippings: obituary and memorial tributes, 1875, 1890s-1909, and undated #03641, Series: "2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated." Folder 34Miscellaneous clippings of the Chambers family, 1890s-1909; letters of the 1780s-1790s of Drury Lacy (1758-1815), published and clipped from Presbyterian Watchman (undated); and a sermon of Drury Lacy, 1801, reprinted 1875. |
Arrangement: roughly chronological.
Folder 35 |
Volume 1, undated #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 35Manuscript music with lyrics; also poems without music, probably the book of Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846) when she was a young girl. |
Folder 36 |
Volume 2, 1826 and undated #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 36Commonplace book containing mostly poems, probably belonging to Williana Wilkinson. |
Folder 37 |
Volume 3, 1840 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 37Pocket-sized volume containing mounted newspaper clippings of William Henry Harrison songs and poems published during the presidential campaign of 1840. |
Folder 38 |
Volume 4, undated #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 38A portfolio containing about 70 manuscripts of sermons and lectures of the Reverend Drury Lacy. |
Folder 39 |
Volume 5, 1844-1845 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 39Album of Bessie Lacy in which her family and friends have written poems and messages for her. |
Folder 40 |
Volume 6, [1845-1848?] #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 40Notes and writings, probably of Bessie Lacy, concerning the time she was enrolled at the Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C. |
Folder 41 |
Volume 7, 1852, 1855-1870 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 41Commonplace book of Bessie Lacy, containing mostly poems but also prose paragraphs and miscellany. Other members of the family may also have written in it. |
Folder 42 |
Volume 8, 1858-1859, 1861-1862 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 42Constitution and minutes of Charlotte Presbyterian Ladies Tract and secretary and treasurer's records of Soldiers Aid Society. |
Folder 43 |
Volume 9, October 1864-March 1865 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 43Minutes of the Social Reading Club, Charlotte, N.C., kept by Bessie Dewey, secretary. The reading club was a group of young men and women who met several times a month to read together. |
Folder 44 |
Volume 10, December 1878-June 1881 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 44Minutes of the Gounod Musical Club, of which Bessie Dewey was secretary. The group produced The Pirates of Penzance in 1881. |
Folder 45 |
Volume 11, February 1881-April 1881 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 45Bessie Dewey's record of anthems, hymns, and sermon texts of all the weekly services at the Presbyterian Church, Sundays and Wednesdays. |
Folder 46 |
Volume 12, January 1872-March 1873 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 46Detailed minutes of the Rip Van Winkle Reading Club, Charlotte, N.C., of which Bessie Dewey was secretary. |
Folder 47 |
Volume 13, November 1893-June 1897 #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 47Minutes of the Mecklenburg Historical Society, Charlotte, N.C., 37 pages. |
Folder 48 |
Volume 14, 1891-1896 and undated #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 48Teaching notes and poems from various sources. |
Folder 49 |
Volume 15, 1895-1896 and undated #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 49Approximately 65 pages of teaching notes and quotations. |
Folder 50 |
Volume 16, [1890s?] #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 50Teaching materials of Bessie Dewey: Questions in English literature and history, and Greek and Latin mythology (pages 1-64); curriculum in music at the Charlotte Institute for young ladies and some notes and questions for teaching (pages 266-282) |
Folder 51 |
Volume 17, [1890s?] #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 51Teaching material of Bessie Dewey: questions on Hamlet. |
Folder 52 |
Volume 18, [1890s?] #03641, Series: "3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated." Folder 52Teaching notes of Bessie Dewey. |
Processed by: Staff, 1992
Encoded by: Peter Hymas, February 2005
Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.
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