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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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Collection Overview
| Size | 25.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 19,500 items) |
| Abstract | William L. (William Luther) Spoon (1862-1942) was a civil engineer and good roads advocate of Alamance County, N.C. The collection includes personal and professional correspondence, writings, reports, blueprints, maps, and other papers of William Luther Spoon, his wife, Susan Addeline (Addie) Vernon Neville Spoon, their daughter, Nancy Miriam Spoon Alexander, and other members of the Shoffner, Spoon, and Neville families. Family correspondence includes letters between Spoon and his wife about their children, farm, saw and grist mill operations, and neighborhood affairs; letters from Spoon to his mother describing his work as a diamond drilling supervisor with the North Carolina Geological Survey, 1891-1892; and letters, 1916-1920, between the Spoons and their daughter, Nancy Miriam, when she was a student at Salem College. Spoon's professional correspondence with his supervisors, J. A. Holmes and Joseph Hyde Pratt of the North Carolina Geological Survey, and Logan W. Page, Vernon M. Peirce, and E. W. James of the Office of Public Roads, concerns his assignments, administrative matters, and expenses. Other papers relating to Spoon's career as an engineer include reports road crew supervisors made to him on road work and costs; Spoon's reports to the Office of Public Roads, United States Department of Agriculture, about trips he made promoting good roads; contractors' estimates for costs of road construction; diagrams, sketches, and notes concerning road construction projects; blueprints; and maps of the North Carolina highway system. Also included in the collection are genealogical notes; household account books; papers related to Spoon's education; a record book of the Woman's Home Missionary Auxiliary, Mt. Pleasant Church, 1910; photographs and negatives; and other miscellaneous papers and volumes. |
| Creator | Spoon, William L. (William Luther), 1862-1942. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
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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Biographical Information
William L. Spoon (1862-1942) was a civil engineer and good roads advocate of Alamance County, N.C. Spoon was the son of Georg Monroe and Nancy Stafford Spoon. Following the death of Georg Monroe Spoon during the Civil War, Nancy Stafford Spoon married Michael Shoffner, a farmer and miller of Hartshorn, Alamance County, N.C., on whose farm William L. Spoon spent his early youth. Spoon began his education in the public schools of Coble Township, later moved to the Oakdate Academy for one term and the Friendship School in Coble Township for two years. He turned to farming on his stepfather's land and taught in public schools in his neighborhood until 1886 when he entered a college preparatory course at Graham Normal College (later Elon College) at Graham, N.C. The following year, at the age of 25, he entered the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1891 with B.S. and B.E. degrees.
After graduation, Spoon served as an engineer with the North Carolina Geological Survey, supervising diamond drilling for coal and marble at various locations throughout the state, 1891-1892. He also surveyed and produced a map of Alamance County, N.C., 1893-1894. Following this venture, he entered into private road work, largely in Alamance and Orange counties, N.C.
In July 1895, Spoon went to Texas where he obtained a teaching position in the town of Moody. After summering in North Carolina, he returned to Texas in August but was forced to return again to North Carolina after failing to find work. Upon his return, he operated as an independent engineer until June 1897 when he became a road superintendent and county engineer for Alamance County, N.C., a position he held until January 1901.
During 1901 Spoon traveled in North Carolina and Tennessee as a salesman and road machinery-construction expert for the Good Roads Machinery Company of Kennett Square, Pa. Later the same year, he was with the Good Roads Train, staging road construction demonstrations in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. In 1902 he engaged in private engineering work for Erwin Cotton Mills Company of Durham, N.C. He then received an appointment as a special agent for the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Public Roads, an affiliation he maintained with various promotions until April 1909. After leaving the Department of Agriculture, he became a highway engineer for the North Carolina Geological Survey and served as the highway engineer for Forsyth County, N.C., 1911-1913. He later returned to the office of Public Roads as a senior highway engineer, 1913-1920.
Though Spoon officially left federal service in 1920 and became a partner in the firm of Spoon and Lewis, Consulting Engineers, in Greensboro, N.C., he continued to receive assignments from the Office of Public Roads until 1931, when age regulations barred him from further service.
Spoon was married to Susan Addeline Vernon Neville (called Addie) in 1897. They had two children: Nancy Miriam and William Mozart. After Addie's death in 1936, Spoon married Ruth Baldwin in 1940. A daughter, Willie Ruth, was born in 1943, shortly after William L. Spoon's death.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence, writings, reports, blueprints, maps, and other papers of William Luther Spoon, his wife, Susan Addeline (Addie) Vernon Neville Spoon, their daughter, Nancy Miriam Spoon Alexander, and other members of the Shoffner, Spoon, and Neville families. Family correspondence includes letters between Spoon and his wife about their children, farm, saw and grist mill operations, and neighborhood affairs; letters from Spoon to his mother describing his work as a diamond drilling supervisor with the North Carolina Geological Survey, 1891-1892; and letters, 1916-1920, between the Spoons and their daughter, Nancy Miriam, when she was a student at Salem College. Spoon's professional correspondence with his supervisors, J. A. Holmes and Joseph Hyde Pratt of the North Carolina Geological Survey, and Logan W. Page, Vernon M. Peirce, and E. W. James of the Office of Public Roads, concerns his assignments, administrative matters, and expenses. Other papers relating to Spoon's career as an engineer include reports road crew supervisors made to him on road work and costs; Spoon's reports to the Office of Public Roads, United States Department of Agriculture, about trips he made promoting good roads; contractors' estimates for costs of road construction; diagrams, sketches, and notes concerning road construction projects; blueprints; and maps of the North Carolina highway system. Also included in the collection are genealogical notes; household account books; papers related to Spoon's education; a record book of the Woman's Home Missionary Auxiliary, Mt. Pleasant Church, 1910; photographs and negatives; and other miscellaneous papers and volumes.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1858-1958 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Includes personal and professional correspondence of William L. Spoon. Personal correspondence is chiefly between Spoon and his first wife, Susan Addeline Vernon Neville Spoon, during periods of seperation. Their letters discuss family matters; farm procedures, yields, and labor problems; saw and grist mill operations; and neighborhood affairs. There is little discussion in these letters of Spoon's work as a highway engineer. There are also numerous personal letters between Spoon and his mother Nancy Stafford Spoon Shoffner prior to his marriage. These describe his work as a diamond drilling supervisor with the North Carolina Geological Survey, 1891-1892, and his sojourns in Texas, 1895 and 1896. There are also letters between the Spoons and their daughter Nancy Miriam, during her childhood and while she was a student at Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C. Also included in the personal correspondence, are scattered family letters to Nancy Stafford Spoon Shoffner and to Susan Addeline Vernon Neville Spoon. Among additional personal correspondents are Mary Jane Cheek, W. A. Erwin, LaCoste Evans, Caleb G. Cates, Cyrus Kehr, C. M. Scott, J. B. Robertson, J. E. Stafford, and Howard E. Rondthaler.
Professional correspondence is chiefly concerned with William L. Spoon's assignments, administrative matters connected to his position as a highway engineer, and his allocations and expenses. Among Spoon's regular correspondents are supervisors, J. A. Holmes and Joseph Hyde Pratt of the North Carolina Geological Survey, and Logan W. Page, Vernon M. Peirce, and E. W. James of the Office of Public Roads; his business partner, C.F. Lewis; and his patent lawyer, Cyrus Kerr. There are also several letters directed to county commissioners and to road machine and bridge construction firms, particularly the Good Roads Machinery Company of Kennett Square, Pa., and the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company.
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Series 2. Miscellaneous Papers
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Subseries 2.1. Non-Professional Papers, 1797-1968.
Includes copies of William L. Spoon's writings, both literary and expository; items relating to his daughter Nancy Miriam's education; deeds, plats, and descriptions of land parcels owned by Spoon and his relatives; financial papers, including bills, receipts, tax returns, and material relating to Spoons' application for a Federal Farm Loan in the 1930s; genealogical notes on the Spoon, Stafford, Shoffner, Vogelman, Vestal, Isley,Ingle, Noe, and Greeson families; descriptions, diagrams, and letters patent for some of Spoon's inventions; legal papers; Alamance County (N.C.) Superior Court vouchers; copies of a few public highway bills presented to the North Carolina General Assembly; weaving patterns; and other miscellaneous items.
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Subseries 2.2. Professional Papers, 1886-1936.
Includes material relating to William L. Spoon's professional career as an engineer and good roads advocate, including reports, contractors' estimates, and other items.
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Subseries 2.3. Printed Material and Photographs
Includes obituaries of both William L. Spoon and his uncle William Luther Spoon Sr.; newspaper clippings about Spoon's work with the Good Roads movement; brochures, leaflets, postcards, and other items about Pilot Mountain, Surry County, N.C.; and other items.
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Series 3. Volumes, 1802-1942 and undated.
The bulk of the volumes in this collection are memorandum books kept by William L. Spoon in which he jotted down random notes about his personal and professional life, including his activities, expenses, and itineraries, as well as notes on farm business and road construction. There are also a number of cross section and field books containing diagrams, sketches, and notes concerning specific road construction projects. Other volumes include auto mileage records; farm produce sales records; ledgers belonging to William Luther Spoon, Addie (Neville) Spoon, Nancy Shoffner, and Georg Spoon; professional expense records; records of diamond drilling progress in North Carolina; school notebooks; and time records. Miscellaneous volumes include genealogical notes; copies of lectures Spoon delivered; an address book of Addie (Neville) Spoon; a record of Pilot Mountain gate receipts for 1933; two household account books of Addie (Neville) Spoon; an inventory for the firm of Spoon and Lewis, 1938; record of the Woman's Home Missionary Auxiliary, Mt. Pleasant Church, 1910; and one printed volume of testimony in a 1905 lawsuit involving one of Spoon's patents.
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Series 4. Maps, Blueprints, and Industrial Diagrams
The bulk of the blueprints relate to road construction. Maps are primarily of North Carolina's highway system.
| Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4009/2 |
Maps, blueprints, and industrial diagrams #04009, Series: "4. Maps, Blueprints, and Industrial Diagrams" OPF-4009/2 |
| Box 17 |
Survey of land near Hillsborough, N.C., 1940s #04009, Series: "4. Maps, Blueprints, and Industrial Diagrams" Box 17 |
| Folder 743 |
Blueprints and patent documents, undated #04009, Series: "4. Maps, Blueprints, and Industrial Diagrams" Folder 743Received as part of Acc. 103140. |
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Items Separated
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, April 2010
Updated by: Jodi Berkowitz, September 2017
Updated by: Mary Oliva, September 2017
Updated by: Lydia Neuroth and Laura Smith, December 2017
Updated by: Rebeca Stubbs and Laura Smith, February 2022
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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