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Size | 10.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 7000 items) |
Abstract | The collection is chiefly correspondence of Nims, Rankin, and Spratt family members, most in Mount Holly, Gaston County, N.C., and Fort Mill, York County, S.C. Included are several letters, 1850s, describing railroad building in the South; some letters with detailed information about slaves and Native Americans in Georgia; and a few letters, 1860-1865, showing the centrality of the Civil War in the lives of family members and discussing life in the Confederate army. Letters, 1865-1907, deal chiefly with family life, including discussions of the family's agricultural interests and its cotton mill in Mount Holly, N.C. A few letters relate to service in a hospital in the Philippines during the Insurrection. After 1910, correspondence increasingly centers around Spratt family members in Mount Holly, chiefly the women, who included a Gaston County, N.C., social worker and a professor of home economics at Cornell University. All of these women wrote frequent and highly detailed letters, most dealing with their time as college students and later with routine family matters, fashion, and sewing. Also included are family financial and legal papers, including labor contracts with freedmen in 1866; writings; school materials; genealogical materials relating to the White, Spratt, Jenkins, Rankin, and Campbell families; diaries with short entries by some of the Spratt and Rankin women; clippings; and photographs, chiefly of family members and soldiers from Camp Greene in Charlotte, N.C. |
Creator | Nims (Family : Gaston County, N.C.)
Rankin (Family : Gaston County, N.C.) Spratt (Family : Mount Holly, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English. |
Processed by: Lu Ann Jones and Roslyn Holdzkom, October 2001
Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom
Updated by: Roslyn Holdzkom, October 2002
Updated: May 2019
Back to TopThe 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.
Frederick Nims, son of James and Lucy Boyden Nims, was born 29 May 1810 in Conway, Mass. He studied civil engineering at Andover and, after graduating at age 25, began working for the Georgia State Railroad. Nims surveyed and was a contractor for various railroads in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. On 20 November 1855, he married Elizabeth White of Fort Mill, S.C. In 1859, he bought a farm and mill in Gaston County, N.C., where he died in 1867.
Elizabeth White Nims Rankin, daughter of Susan Rachel Spratt and Joseph White, was born on 13 November 1835 at Fort Mill, S.C. Between 1856 and 1867, Elizabeth and Frederick Nims had five sons and two daughters: Luther (1856-1930), Frank White (1858-1876), Susie Spratt (1860-1887), Frederick (1862-1951), Annie (1864-1864), Edward (1865-1867), and Boyden (1867-1927). On 18 February 1874, Elizabeth married Wade D. Rankin, with whom she had two daughters: Eleanor Wade (called Nell; also called Chet by her sister Bess) (1875-1965) and Elizabeth White (called Bess and Bessie; also called Carrie by her sister Nell) (1877-1963). The sisters lived with their parents until their deaths. When Eleanor Wade Rankin married Roy Spratt (1876-1928) from Chester, S.C., in 1904, he came to live with the family. Wade D. Rankin died in 1906. Elizabeth White Nims Rankin died at Mount Holly, N.C., in 1908.
Boyden Nims, whose wife was named Edna Jackson, earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Michigan and was a chemist in Columbia, S.C. He had a heart attack while running towards a fire at his pleasure park, Boyden Arbor Picnic and Campgrounds, and died in 1926. Also included are Luther Nims and his wife, Eunice Nims, of the Nims Manufacturing Company, which produced cotton yarns in Mount Holly, and Frederick Nims (d. 1953) of Fort Mill, S.C., who married Floride Harrison.
Children of Eleanor Wade Rankin Spratt and Roy Spratt were: Wade Rankin (1904-1962); Frances Marion (1906-1997); Elizabeth White (1908-1999); Eleanor Royden (1912-1999); and Julia Caldwell (1916-1938).
Wade Rankin Spratt went to the University of Virginia, Rutherford College, and North Carolina State College. He became an engineer with Duke Power and lived with his wife, Mabel Rankin Spratt, whom he married in 1928, first in Chapel Hill, N.C., and then in Spencer, N.C., Pelzer, S.C., and finally in Belmont, N.C. Wade and Mabel had one son, Wade R. Spratt, Jr.
Julia Caldwell Spratt (called Coddie) attended Mitchell College in Statesville, S.C., and died in 1938 at age 22 in an automobile accident. Elizabeth White Spratt (called Bink, Binks, Inkie, Shortie, Lal, Libba) had surgery in 1921 because of scarring resulting from burns suffered when she was 4 years old; attended Queens College and the North Carolina College for Women in Greensboro, N.C., in the late 1920s; lived in Mount Holly; and worked for most of her life in social services in Gaston County. Frances Marion Spratt (called Toots, Til, and Tiltz) attended the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, N.C.; taught school in Spencer, Statesville, Mooresville, and Mount Holly, N.C.; received a Masters Degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.; and became a professor in the Clothing and Textile Division of the University of Texas in Austin, Tex. She later moved to the New York State College of Home Economics at Cornell University from which she retired to Mount Holly in 1967. Eleanor Spratt (called Leen and Lena) attended school in Greensboro in the early 1930s, then pursued a retail career in Asheville, N.C. She married Cliff T. Beatty in 1941 and lived with him in Long Island, N.Y., and, during World War II, in the Canal Zone. The Beattys had three children: Eleanor Wade (called Nell), born in the Canal Zone in 1944, who attended North Carolina State University and received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan; Nancy Todd (called Nan) (b. 1946), who attended Peace Academy in Raleigh, N.C., in the 1960s, married in 1963, attended Meredith College, and was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Elizabeth Caldwell (called Bess) (b. 1947), who attended Wake Forest University and received a Ph.D. from Florida State University. Eleanor Beatty married George Hacker in 1960.
For additional information, see genealogies and family histories in Series 2.
Back to TopThe collection is chiefly correspondence of Nims, Rankin, and Spratt family members, most in Mount Holly, N.C., and Fort Mill, S.C. Many letters, especially in the 1850s, are from Frederick Nims to Horace Nims describing railroad building and other labor in the South. Limited but detailed information about slaves and Native Americans in Georgia appears in Frederick's earlier letters. There are a few letters, 1860-1865, showing the centrality of the Civil War in the lives of family members and discussing life in the Confederate army. Letters, 1865-1907, deal chiefly with family life, including discussions of the family's agricultural interests and of Luther Nims's cotton mill in Mount Holly, N.C. Some of Boyden Nims's letters relate to his service in a hospital in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. In the 1900s, Boyden wrote from Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was professor of physiology at the University of Michigan. After 1910, correspondence increasingly centers around Spratt family members in Mount Holly, chiefly Eleanor Rankin Spratt, her husband Roy Spratt, and their children: Wade Spratt, who became an engineer for various power companies in North Carolina and South Carolina; Julia Caldwell Spratt, who died in an automobile accident in 1938; Elizabeth Spratt, who worked in social services in Gaston County, N.C.; Frances Spratt, professor at the New York State College of Home Economics at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.; and Eleanor Spratt, who married first Cliff T. Beatty, with whom she had three daughters, then George Hacker. All of these women wrote frequent and highly detailed letters, most dealing with their lives as college students and later with routine family matters, fashion, and sewing.
There are also family financial and legal papers, including labor agreements with freedmen in 1866; writings; school materials; genealogical materials relating to the White, Spratt, Jenkins, Rankin, and Campbell families; diaries with short entries by some of the Spratt and Rankin women; clippings; and photographs, chiefly of family members and friends on leave in North Carolina during World War I.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological by year.
Early letters are chiefly between Frederick Nims and his brother Horace Nims, and between Elizabeth White Nims Rankin and her children and two husbands. Letters concern business affairs, family life and events, and local and national politics.
Correspondence from the 1830s includes a few detailed letters from Frederick Nims to relatives in Massachusetts describing conditions of slaves and Native Americans observed while he was on railroad surveying teams in Georgia. Letters from the 1840s follow some Nims family members as they moved from Massachusetts to Michigan and Horace as he joined Frederick in the South.
The 1850s letters from Frederick to Horace describe their lives and concerns as railroad contractors. Common topics include the difficulty of obtaining labor (primarily hired slaves), the treatment of labor, and the weather, and how these factors affected the speed, cost, and quality of railroad work. There is also scattered correspondence with fellow railroad contractors. The Nims brothers commented on the profitability of land speculation near Charlotte, N.C. Frederick also offered advice to Horace about marriage. Other correspondents include relatives who often asked for financial help and described illnesses and deaths.
Correspondence from 1860 to 1865 shows the centrality of the Civil War in the lives of family members largely located in Gaston County, N.C., and Fort Mill, S.C. Letters to and from soldiers in Virginia in the Confederate army concern battles, conscription, destruction, deaths, Sherman's march, and food shortages and hardships on the home front.
Letters from 1865 to 1907 deal chiefly with family life, including discussions of the family's agricultural interests and of Luther Nims's cotton mill in Gaston County, N.C. Many of the letters written around the turn of the century are to and from Elizabeth's son, Boyden Nims, and relate to his work in a hospital in the Philippines during the Insurrection and his activities at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. A few letters written in this period mention racial tensions and race riots in the South.
Nims and Rankin family members are still important in materials after 1910, particularly Elizabeth White Rankin (called Bess) of Mount Holly, N.C., and Boyden Nims. Correspondence after 1910, however, chiefly documents the lives of the women of the family. See the biographical note for information about family members nicknames and activities.
Undated letters are particularly voluminous due, in part, to the curious habit of some correspondents who razored out postmarks on envelopes and dates and the names of recipients and, on occasion, of writers on the letters themselves.
Folder 1 |
1824-1839Includes descriptions of the conditions of enslaved people and Native Americans in Georgia. |
Folder 2 |
1840-1849 |
Folder 3 |
1850 |
Folder 4 |
1851 |
Folder 5 |
1852 |
Folder 6 |
1853 |
Folder 7 |
1854 |
Folder 8 |
1855 |
Folder 9 |
1856 |
Folder 10 |
1857 |
Folder 11 |
1858 |
Folder 12 |
1859 |
Folder 13 |
1850s |
Folder 13a |
1860-1864 |
Folder 14 |
1865-1869 |
Folder 15 |
1870-1874 |
Folder 16 |
1875-1877 |
Folder 17 |
1878-1885 |
Folder 18 |
1886-1889 |
Folder 19 |
1890-1891 |
Folder 20 |
1892-1893 |
Folder 21 |
1894 |
Folder 22 |
1895 |
Folder 23 |
1896 |
Folder 24 |
1897 |
Folder 25 |
1898 |
Folder 26 |
1899 |
Folder 27 |
1900 |
Folder 28 |
1901 |
Folder 29 |
1902 |
Folder 30 |
1903 |
Folder 31-32
Folder 31Folder 32 |
1904 |
Folder 33 |
1905 |
Folder 34 |
1906 |
Folder 35 |
1907 |
Folder 36 |
1908 |
Folder 37 |
1909 |
Folder 38 |
1911 |
Folder 39 |
1912 |
Folder 40 |
1913 |
Folder 41 |
1914 |
Folder 42 |
1915 |
Folder 43 |
1916 |
Folder 44 |
1917 |
Folder 45 |
1918 |
Folder 46 |
1919 |
Folder 47 |
1920 |
Folder 48-48a |
1921 |
Folder 49-50
Folder 49Folder 50 |
1922 |
Folder 51 |
1923 |
Folder 52 |
1924 |
Folder 53 |
1925 |
Folder 54-56
Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
1926 |
Folder 57-59
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59 |
1927 |
Folder 60-61
Folder 60Folder 61 |
1928 |
Folder 62-64
Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64 |
1929 |
Folder 65-67
Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67 |
1930 |
Folder 68-70
Folder 68Folder 69Folder 70 |
1931 |
Folder 71-74
Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74 |
1932 |
Folder 75-76
Folder 75Folder 76 |
1933 |
Folder 77-79
Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79 |
1934 |
Folder 80 |
1935 |
Folder 81 |
1936 |
Folder 82-84
Folder 82Folder 83Folder 84 |
1937 |
Folder 85-86
Folder 85Folder 86 |
1938 |
Folder 87 |
1939 |
Folder 88 |
1940 |
Folder 89 |
1941 |
Folder 90 |
1942 |
Folder 91 |
1943 |
Folder 92-93
Folder 92Folder 93 |
1944 |
Folder 94 |
1945 |
Folder 95-96
Folder 95Folder 96 |
1946 |
Folder 97 |
1947 |
Folder 98-100
Folder 98Folder 99Folder 100 |
1948 |
Folder 101-103
Folder 101Folder 102Folder 103 |
1949 |
Folder 104-105
Folder 104Folder 105 |
1950 |
Folder 106-107
Folder 106Folder 107 |
1951 |
Folder 108-110
Folder 108Folder 109Folder 110 |
1952 |
Folder 111-113
Folder 111Folder 112Folder 113 |
1953 |
Folder 114-117
Folder 114Folder 115Folder 116Folder 117 |
1954 |
Folder 118-122
Folder 118Folder 119Folder 120Folder 121Folder 122 |
1955 |
Folder 123-127
Folder 123Folder 124Folder 125Folder 126Folder 127 |
1956 |
Folder 128-133
Folder 128Folder 129Folder 130Folder 131Folder 132Folder 133 |
1957 |
Folder 134-139
Folder 134Folder 135Folder 136Folder 137Folder 138Folder 139 |
1958 |
Folder 140-145
Folder 140Folder 141Folder 142Folder 143Folder 144Folder 145 |
1959 |
Folder 146-150
Folder 146Folder 147Folder 148Folder 149Folder 150 |
1960 |
Folder 151-155
Folder 151Folder 152Folder 153Folder 154Folder 155 |
1961 |
Folder 156-159
Folder 156Folder 157Folder 158Folder 159 |
1962 |
Folder 160-162
Folder 160Folder 161Folder 162 |
1963 |
Folder 163-165
Folder 163Folder 164Folder 165 |
1964 |
Folder 166-168
Folder 166Folder 167Folder 168 |
1965 |
Folder 169-171
Folder 169Folder 170Folder 171 |
1966 |
Folder 172-173
Folder 172Folder 173 |
1967 |
Folder 174 |
1968 |
Folder 175 |
1969-1971 |
Folder 176 |
1972 |
Folder 177 |
1973 |
Folder 178 |
1976-1995 |
Folder 179-209
Folder 179Folder 180Folder 181Folder 182Folder 183Folder 184Folder 185Folder 186Folder 187Folder 188Folder 189Folder 190Folder 191Folder 192Folder 193Folder 194Folder 195Folder 196Folder 197Folder 198Folder 199Folder 200Folder 201Folder 202Folder 203Folder 204Folder 205Folder 206Folder 207Folder 208Folder 209 |
Undated and fragments |
Loose financial and legal materials include several labor contracts between Frederick Nims and freedmen in 1866 and some statements listing slave purchases. Also included are routine bills, receipts, promissory notes, records of general merchandise purchases and estate settlements, land purchases, stock reports, and slight account books. Volumes are chiefly account books and ledgers.
Photographs include many World War I era images, some of soliders from Camp Greene in Charlotte, N.C. There are also a few portraits and snapshots of unidentified individuals. Writings include Elizabeth Rankin's recollections of her life and family. School materials include school notebooks and a few assignments, chiefly for classes in domestic science, 1910s-1930s. Diaries have short entries by Eleanor Spratt, 1940s; Bess Rankin, 1960; and Frances Spratt, 1940-1993 and undated. Genealogical materials are chiefly family trees, and birth, death, and marriage records of the White, Campbell, Rankin, Jenkins, and Spratt families. Spratt family records refer to the period beginning roughly in 1735 and continuing through the late 19th century. Clippings, 1847-1988, chiefly document family activities and deaths of family members. There are a few clippings relating to the Nims-Rankin-Spratt home in Mount Holly, N.C.
Image Folder PF-4255/1-2
PF-4255/1PF-4255/2 |
First World War-era photographs |
Image Folder PF-4255/3 |
Portraits and snapshots of unidentified individuals |
Image Folder PF-4255/4 |
Post card with image of soldier, circa 1918Acquisitions Information: Accession 101664 (Addition of September 2012). Post card received by oy Spratt. |
Folder 232-234
Folder 232Folder 233Folder 234 |
Writings: Includes Elizabeth Rankin's recollections and materials relating to Thomas D. Spratt |
Box 20 |
Diary of E.W. Rankin, circa 1906Acquisitions Information: Accession 101664 (Addition of September 2012). [Elizabeth White Nims Rankin]. |
Folder 235-237
Folder 235Folder 236Folder 237 |
School materials: Notebooks and assignments, many of them for classes in domestic science, 1910s-1930s |
Folder 238 |
Diaries: Bess Rankin, 1960 |
Folder 239 |
Diaries: Eleanor Spratt, 1940s |
Folder 240-243
Folder 240Folder 241Folder 242Folder 243 |
Diaries: Frances Spratt, 1940, 1951, 1953, 1961, 1963, 1970, 1982, 1983-1989, 1991, 1993, and undated |
Folder 244-246
Folder 244Folder 245Folder 246 |
Genealogical materials |
Folder 247-249
Folder 247Folder 248Folder 249 |
Clippings, 1847-1988 |
Image Folders: PF-4255/1-4
Oversize Volumes: SV-4255/1-4 and photographs (P-4255/folders 1-3).
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