Liddell and Pickens Family Papers, 1820-1997

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Summary

Creator:
Liddell family. and Pickens family.
Abstract:

Liddell, Pickens, and related Hall, Forgey, and Battle family members lived chiefly in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The collection includes correspondence of Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle and her daughter, Vinton Liddell Pickens, and other papers of members of the related Liddell, Pickens, Battle, and Hall families. Letters are from Vinton Liddell (Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle's first husband) to his mother, Anna Amelia Brubaker Liddell, from Europe and Palestine; letters to daughter Vinton Liddell (later Pickens) from schoolmates in Europe during World War I; letters from Madelon Battle Hancock at the front during World War I; and letters from Anna Forbes Liddell about women's suffrage in North Carolina and from Germany in the 1930s. Pickens family correspondence includes letters from journalist Robert Sylvester Pickens (husband of Vinton Liddell Pickens) in China in 1927, letters from Vinton Liddell Pickens in China in the early 1930s, Dorothy Pike's letters about conditions in England and Ireland in the 1940s, and Cornelia Pickens Suhler's letters about diplomatic service in Germany in the 1950s. Also included are Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle's recollections of the years 1864-1949. The addition of 2002 includes many letters relating to World War II both of soldiers in the field and on the homefront; it also includes typed transcriptions of many of the items in the collection as well as year-by-year detailed narratives describing family activities through 1952. The addition of 2005 contains Pickens family correspondence from 1911 to 1992, correspondence transcriptions, and family diaries, writings, and clippings.

Extent:
26,800 items (33.0 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Jane Hyde Hall Liddle Battle (1866-1952) was the daughter of John Geary Hall and Eliza Hyde Hall of Ridgway, Penn. Her sister was Susan Esther Hall. Her first husband was Vinton Liddell (1859-1915) of Charlotte, N.C., son of Anna Amelia Brubaker Liddell and Walter James Forbes Liddell (Eva Liddell was their daughter). Jane Hyde Hall Liddle Battle and Vinton Liddell's daughter was also named Vinton Liddell (b. 1900) until her marriage to Robert Sylvester Pickens in 1924. Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle's second husband was Samuel Westray Battle (1854-1927), physician of Asheville, N.C., whom she married on 7 February 1918. Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle died in Ashville on 20 January 1952.

Robert Sylvester Pickens was the son of Emma Watts Pickens and Cornelius Miller Pickens, a Methodist minister of Charlotte and elsewhere in North Carolina. Robert Sylvester Pickens was a journalist who worked in China and other countries as well as in Washington, D.C. Jane Liddle Pickens Church (b. 23 February 1925 in Hickory, N.C.), who married Herbert Matthew Church on 27 April 1946, and Cornelia Stanton Pickens Suhler (b. 19 February 1926 in Statesville, N.C.), who married Sidney Vernon Suhler on 29 July 1950, were daughters of Roberts Sylvester Pickens and Vinton Liddell Pickens.

Other family members and friends included Madelon Battle Hancock, who was known as "Glory". Mrs. Mortimer J. Hancock was his daughter; her son was Westray Battle Hancock. Maud Battle (Mrs. Octave Battle) was the sister-in-law of Samuel Westray Battle; Helen and Betty were her daughters. Westray Battle Boyce was later Mrs. William Leslie, then, after Leslie's death, Mrs. Wiley Long. Harriet Teal was a contemporary and friend of Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle and Susan Esther Hall.

James Forbes's daughter was Isabella Forbes Liddell. Forbes Liddell was the son of Walter James Forbes Liddell and Amelia Brubaker Liddell. His wife was Myra Ravenscroft Liddell. M. J. Liddell was probably Mark John Liddell (listed as John Liddell in some genealogies). He was the half-brother of Walter James Forbes Liddell. Harry Alvan Hall was the youngest son of Benjamin McDowell Hall, only four years older than his niece, Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle.

Talitha White Pickens was the third wife of Robert Wesley Pickens. Susan Miller Forgey Pickens was the second wife of Robert Wesley Pickens. Cornelius Miller Pickens, son of Robert Wesley Pickens and his second wife Susan Forgey, was known as Neal. His wife was Emma Watts Pickens. Wiley Miller Pickens was Cornelius Miller Pickens's brother. Caroline Bickley Pickens was Robert Wesley Pickens's first wife.

Note that genealogical information, including family trees, may be found in folders 1 and 2.

Scope and content:

The collection includes correspondence of Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle and her daughter, Vinton Liddell Pickens, and other papers of members of the related Liddell, Pickens, Battle, Forgey, and Hall families. Letters are from Vinton Liddell (Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle's first husband) to his mother, Anna Amelia Brubaker Liddell, from Europe and Palestine; letters to daughter Vinton Liddell (later Pickens) from schoolmates in Europe during World War I; letters from Madelon Battle Hancock at the front during World War I; and letters from Anna Forbes Liddell about women's suffrage in North Carolina and from Germany in the 1930s. Pickens family correspondence includes letters from journalistRobert Sylvester Pickens (husband of Vinton Liddell Pickens) in China in 1927, letters from Vinton Liddell Pickens in China in the early 1930s, Dorothy Pike's letters about conditions in England and Ireland in the 1940s, and Cornelia Pickens Suhler's letters about diplomatic service in Germany in the 1950s. Also included are Jane Hyde Hall Liddell Battle's recollections of the years 1864-1949.

Note that there is much overlap among the series. The addition of 2002 includes many letters relating to World War II both of soldiers in the field and on the homefront; it also includes typed transcriptions of many of the items in the collection as well as year-by-year detailed narratives describing family activities through 1952. The addition of 2005 contains Pickens family correspondence from 1911 to 1992, correspondence transcriptions, and family diaries, writings, and clippings.

Acquisition information:

Received from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sylvester Pickens, Janelia Farm, Ashburn, Va., in 1971, 1973, and 1976, and from Jane Pickens Church, 1988-2005.

Processing information:

Processed by: Manuscripts Department Staff, 1970s-1980s

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2005

Series 1 and 2 (formerly Series A and B) have been maintained in the order created by the donor, Vinton Liddell Pickens.

Finding aid updated in October 2005 by Valerie Gillispie because of addition.

Additions received after 1976 have not been integrated into the original deposits. Researchers should always check additions to be sure they have identified all files of interest to them.

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.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Liddell and Pickens Family Papers #3828, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu