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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 | 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,800 items) |
| Abstract | James Crawford Biggs was an attorney in various North Carolina locations, 1894-1933 and 1935-1950; solicitor general of the United States, 1933-1935; and federally-appointed trustee for the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad Company. Correspondence, chiefly 1915-1924 and 1933-1939; organizational records and financial and legal material relating to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway; notes for court cases; speeches and other writings on law, politics, and North Carolina history; miscellaneous financial and legal material; and photographs of Biggs and friends from the 1930s and 1940s. Correspondence comprises about three-quarters of the collection. The earlier correspondence concerns legal cases, points of law, and Democratic politics in North Carolina. Major correspondents include Henry Groves Connor, O. Max Gardner, William B. Guthrie, and Angus W. McLean. The larger group of correspondence, 1933-1939, consists of Biggs's generally routine and professional letters to and from North Carolina citizens, friends and acquaintances, railroad officials, attorneys, and Cabinet officials. There are letters from J. Melville Broughton, B. H. Griffin, William B. Guthrie, Stanley Reed, N. C. Hines, Robert R. Reynolds, William B. Snow, John J. Parker, and Frank Daniels. There are also a number of personal letters from Josephus Daniels during these and other years. |
| Creator | Biggs, James Crawford, 1872-1960. |
| 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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Processing Information
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, December 2009
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.
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
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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
| 1872 | James Crawford Biggs born in Oxford, N.C. |
| 1883-1887 | Educated at the Horner Military School, Oxford, N.C. |
| 1889-1893 | Educated at the University of North Carolina |
| circa 1893-1894 | Taught at St. Alban's School, Radford, Va. |
| 1894-1898 | Served in North Carolina National Guard as adjutant general |
| 1897 and 1898 | Elected mayor of Oxford, N.C. |
| 1898-1900 | Associate professor and acting dean of the University of North Carolina Law School |
| 1899 | Helped found the North Carolina State Bar Association |
| 1899 | Returned to private law practice in Durham, N.C. |
| 1905 | Served as a representative to the North Carolina General Assembly from Durham County, N.C. |
| 1905-1906 | Appointed North Carolina Supreme Court Reporter |
| 1906 | Married Marjorie C. Jordan |
| 1906-1911 | Served as Judge of the North Carolina superior court from the Ninth Judicial District |
| 1911 | Birth of daughter, Marjorie |
| 1911 | Resumed private practice; appointed professor of law at Trinity College |
| 1912 | Floor manager for Woodrow Wilson at the State Democratic Convention; moved to Raleigh, N.C. |
| 1914 | Supported the Progressive Democratic Convention in Raleigh, N.C. |
| 1917 | Appointed special assistant to the United States attorney general, Southern Pacific Railroad Case |
| 1919-1960 | Served as a trustee of the University of North Carolina |
| 1920 | Managed Democrat O. Max Gardner's campaign for governor of North Carolina. |
| 1920-1922 | Served as special assistant to the attorney general of the United States in the Camp Bragg condemnation suits |
| 1928 | Co-managed Al Smith's presidential campaign in North Carolina with Senator Josiah Bailey |
| 1929 | Chaired North Carolina Board of Elections |
| 1933-1935 | Served as solicitor general of the United States |
| 1935 | Appointed to try the case of United States v. Northern Pacific Railway Company, involving the adjustment of land grants made to the railway |
| 1935-1936 | Director of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company |
| 1950 | Retired from public life |
| 1960 | Died at Hardimont near Raleigh, N.C. |
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Scope and Content
Correspondence, chiefly 1915-1924 and 1933-1939; organizational records and financial and legal material relating to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway; notes for court cases; speeches and other writings on law, politics, and North Carolina history; miscellaneous financial and legal material; and photographs of Biggs and friends from the 1930s and 1940s. Correspondence comprises about three-quarters of the collection. The earlier correspondence concerns legal cases, points of law, and Democratic politics in North Carolina. Major correspondents include Henry Groves Connor, O. Max Gardner, William B. Guthrie, and Angus W. McLean. The larger group of correspondence, 1933-1939, consists of Biggs's generally routine and professional letters to and from North Carolina citizens, friends and acquaintances, railroad officials, attorneys, and Cabinet officials. There are letters from J. Melville Broughton, B. H. Griffin, William B. Guthrie, Stanley Reed, N. C. Hines, Robert R. Reynolds, William B. Snow, John J. Parker, and Frank Daniels. There are also a number of personal letters from Josephus Daniels during these and other years.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Subject Files
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Subseries 1.1. Solicitor General Years, 1933-1935.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly professional correspondence of James Crawford Biggs during his tenure as United States Solicitor General, 1933-1935. Mostly letters and telegrams filed by correspondent or subject, the papers contain both incoming and outgoing correspondence and occasional other items, such as memoranda by Biggs to Attorney General Homer Commings. A significant number of letters are from North Carolina citizens, Biggs's friends and acquaintances, and others requesting assistance in application for positions in the administration. The papers also include invitations, congratulatory letters, and letters on the occasion of Bigg's retirement, as well as correspondence with cabinet officials, leaders of the American bar, prominent North Carolina attorneys and other well-known citizens of the state. There are, in addition, about twelve personal letters between the Biggses and Mr. and Mrs. Josephus Daniels, as well as other correspondence with members of the Daniels family of Raleigh, N.C.
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Subseries 1.2. Office Files, 1935-1950.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly personal and professional correspondence of James Crawford Biggs, beginning immediately after the announcement of his resignation as solicitor general. Although a number of letters relate to the resignation, most of the material consists of correspondence, relating to Biggs's financial and legal dealings with J. Melville Broughton and others. Also included is an address by Biggs relating to Durham, N.C., in the late nineteenth century, and correspondence with Josephus Daniels, 1935-1936.
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Subseries 1.3. Miscellaneous, 1916-1956.
Chiefly correspondence, research notes, writings, and assorted printed material, relating to North Carolina history, Biggs family history, financial and legal matters, and Biggs's major court cases. Included are letters from Archibald Henderson, Frank Porter Graham, Paul Green, Josephus Daniels, Hubert M. Poteat, Kay Kyser, Jonathan Daniels, and others largely relating to the Raleigh (N.C.) Sesquicentennial Commission, and a number of business letters from Governor J. Melville Broughton.
| Folder 99 |
Research |
| Folder 100 |
Writings |
| Folder 101 |
Financial and legal matters, 1936-1938 |
| Folder 102 |
Financial and legal matters, 1947-1948 |
| Folder 103 |
Correspondence: General |
| Folder 104 |
Correspondence: Legal and financial |
| Folder 105 |
"Old Cases Papers," 1917-1947 |
| Folder 106 |
"Old Correspondence: Personal," 1916-1920 |
| Folder 107 |
Correspondence: Miscellaneous, 1939-1946 |
Folder 108-109
Folder 108Folder 109 |
Miscellaneous items |
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Series 2. Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company
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Subseries 2.1. Correspondence, 1932-1940 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly routine business and professional correspondence, 1935-1937, between Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company trustee James Crawford Biggs, officers of the railroad, and businessmen and government officials. Arranged chronologically, most of the letters are between Biggs and W. M. Duncan, chairman of the board of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company, and James H. Agate, general attorney for the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Rairoad, principal stockholder in the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company. Some correspondence of James Crawford Biggs with creditors of the Wheeling and Lake Erie is included, yet most letters are routine notifications of recent financial transactions or of unpcoming board meetings. This subseries does not include any of Biggs's personal correspondence.
Folder 110-113
Folder 110Folder 111Folder 112Folder 113 |
1935 |
Folder 114-116
Folder 114Folder 115Folder 116 |
1936 |
Folder 117-118
Folder 117Folder 118 |
1937 |
| Folder 119 |
1938 |
| Folder 120 |
1939-1940, undated |
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Subseries 2.2. Financial and Legal Material, 1916-1939.
Chiefly miscellaneous financial and legal records of James Crawford Biggs in his position as trustee of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company, 1935-1939. Material includes balance sheets (called "income accounts"), bank statements, receipts, and financial reports.
Folder 121-122
Folder 121Folder 122 |
Income accounts |
Folder 123-124
Folder 123Folder 124 |
Miscellaneous financial and legal |
| Folder 125 |
Undated items |
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Subseries 2.3. Organizational Records, 1929-1939.
Arrangement: chronological within type.
Chiefly administrative memoranda, reports, and records of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company, 1935-1939. There is much statistical information on the railroad, as well as notices to shareholders and other miscellaneous records. There are copies of agendas for meetings, but no actual minutes of the board meetings of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company.
Folder 126-127
Folder 126Folder 127 |
General organizational records |
Folder 128-129
Folder 128Folder 129 |
Agendas for board meetings |
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Series 3. Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1915-1960.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly scattered professional correspondence of James Crawford Biggs, including incoming and outgoing letters. Nearly half of the letters date from the period between 1915 and 1918, covering Bigg's years in private practice in Durham, N.C., and the first years of his involvement in the federal government's "Elk Hills" Case. Most of the letters deal with points of law, endorsements, and Biggs's government appointment, and include correspondence with North Carolinians such as Henry Groves Connor, Josephus Daniels, O. Max Gardner, and William B. Guthrie. The letters for these years do not reflect Biggs's involvement in North Carolina Democratic politics.
Correspondence for the remaining years is largely professional between Biggs and clients and also with prominent members of the North Carolina bar concerning matters of law, individual legal cases, endorsements, and Democratic politics in North Carolina. Included are a letter, 1924, from Angus W. McLean seeking Biggs's assistance in a controversy with Senator Josiah Bailey about the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company; occasional letters from Josephus Daniels to Biggs and his wife, Marjorie; and a copy of a 1924 Daniels letter to Calvin Coolidge. There are also a few letters from Robert Watson Winston, Archibald Henderson, and Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy.
| Folder 130 |
1915 |
| Folder 131 |
1916 |
| Folder 132 |
1917 |
| Folder 133 |
1918 |
| Folder 134 |
1919 |
| Folder 135 |
1920 |
| Folder 136 |
1922 |
| Folder 137 |
1923 |
| Folder 138 |
1924 |
| Folder 139 |
1927 |
| Folder 140 |
1928 |
| Folder 141 |
1929 |
| Folder 142 |
1930 |
| Folder 143 |
1932 |
| Folder 144 |
1938 |
| Folder 145 |
1940 |
| Folder 146 |
1941 |
| Folder 147 |
1942 |
| Folder 148 |
1960 |
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Series 4. Writings
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Subseries 4.1. Speeches and Essays, circa 1915-1944.
Chiefly addresses by James Crawford Biggs to civic groups, historical societies, and attorneys in North Carolina that generally fall under four headings: the American legal system, North Carolina history, the role of women in society, and politics. Included in the latter category are two drafts of a speech, "Smith As A Man and Candidate," 1928, defending the stands taken by Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith on temperance, the race question, and other issues.
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Subseries 4.1.1. American Legal System
| Folder 149 |
"American Constitutional Law" |
| Folder 150 |
"The Constitution of the United States" |
| Folder 151 |
"The Supreme Court of the United States," 1934 |
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Subseries 4.1.2. North Carolina History
| Folder 152 |
"The University Man: His Duty as a Citizen" |
"The Protest of the Bar in North Carolina Against Judicial Activity in Politics During Reconstruction" |
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Subseries 4.1.3. Women's Roles
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Subseries 4.1.4. Politics
| Folder 154 |
"Smith as a Man and Candidate," 1928 |
| Folder 155 |
"North Carolina Anti-Smith Committee," 1928 |
| Folder 156 |
"Franklin D. Roosevelt," 1932 |
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Subseries 4.2. Notes and Memoranda, circa 1930-1940.
Mostly notes relating to court cases of James Crawford Biggs. Included is Biggs's transcription of an article in the Greensboro (N.C.) News of 1933, speculating on candidates for the United States solicitor general.
| Folder 157 |
Notes and memoranda |
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Subseries 4.3. Other Writings, 1933-1949.
Copies of writings by others relating to Biggs family ancestors, the banking industry (circa 1935), and the Bill of Rights.
| Folder 158 |
Other writings |
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Series 5. Miscellaneous Financial and Legal Material
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Subseries 5.1. Court Cases Papers, circa 1917-1935.
Arrangement: roughly chronological.
Chiefly notes and other writings pertaining to James Crawford Biggs's court cases, circa 1917-1935. Well over half of the items are Biggs's "notes for cases argued by Solicitor General," chiefly for the fall term of 1934 and for the case of the United States versus Northern Pacific Railway Company et. al. Other items include a few 1934 memoranda from the attorney general's office to the solicitor general. Papers relating to Biggs's other cases before, during, and after his term as solicitor general are largely absent.
Folder 159-192
Folder 159Folder 160Folder 161Folder 162Folder 163Folder 164Folder 165Folder 166Folder 167Folder 168Folder 169Folder 170Folder 171Folder 172Folder 173Folder 174Folder 175Folder 176Folder 177Folder 178Folder 179Folder 180Folder 181Folder 182Folder 183Folder 184Folder 185Folder 186Folder 187Folder 188Folder 189Folder 190Folder 191Folder 192 |
"Notes for Cases argued by Solicitor General" |
Folder 193-194
Folder 193Folder 194 |
U.S. v. Northern Pacific Railway |
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Subseries 5.2. Other Material, 1863-1957.
Chiefly deeds and other legal and financial papers, circa 1940, relating to James Crawford Biggs's "Hardimont" estate in Raleigh, N.C., and other real estate interests. Included are two property maps and a sketch. Also included are two Civil War era medical documents tied to Dr. B. W. Robinson.
Folder 195-199
Folder 195Folder 196Folder 197Folder 198Folder 199 |
Miscellaneous financial and legal material |
| Folder 200 |
Miscellaneous financial and legal material, 19th century |
| Folder 201 |
Folder number not used |
| Extra Oversize Paper Folder X-OPF-4299/1 |
Maps and sketchIncludes a map and sketch, 1929, related to the development of the grounds of the James Crawford Biggs estate. Also includes a map, circa 1917, showing federal oil lands in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif., relating to the federal government's case against the Southern Pacific Railway. |
| Folder 202 |
Account book, 1893-1894 |
| Folder 203 |
Passports |
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Series 6. Miscellaneous Printed Material, circa 1902-1960.
Arrangement: chronological
Chiefly clippings from North Carolina newspapers relating to the public career of James Crawford Biggs, particularly his two years as solicitor general of the United States, 1933-1935. A few clippings of newspaper articles by Biggs are included, as well as items about Biggs's court cases, his wife Marjorie, and obituaries.
| Folder 204 |
1902-1932 |
Folder 205-208
Folder 205Folder 206Folder 207Folder 208 |
1933-1935 |
| Folder 209 |
1936-1939 |
| Folder 210 |
1943-1952 |
| Folder 211 |
1956-1960 |
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Series 7. Pictures, circa 1927-1942.
Almost entirely photographs of James Crawford Biggs, seperately and with friends, during his years as solicitor general, 1933-1935. Also included are photographs of North Carolina governors Angus W. McLean, circa 1927, and J. Melville Broughton, 1942, and a photograph album containing fifteen photos taken at the dedication ceremonies for the Department of Justice Building, 1934.
Image P-4299/1-2
P-4299/1P-4299/2 |
Biggs, James Crawford, circa 1933-1945Photographer: Underwood & Underwood, Washington, D.C. |
Image P-4299/3-10
P-4299/3P-4299/4P-4299/5P-4299/6P-4299/7P-4299/8P-4299/9P-4299/10 |
Biggs, James Crawford, circa 1933-1945Photographer: Blackstone Studios, New York, N.Y. |
| Image P-4299/11 |
Biggs, James Crawford and others at a meetingPhotograph was presumably taken at the meeting of the executive committee of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, Raleigh, N.C., 1948. |
Oversize Image OP-P-4299/1-2
OP-P-4299/1OP-P-4299/2 |
Biggs, James Crawford and United States Justice Department officials, 1935Photographer: Harris and Ewing, Washington, D.C. |
| Image P-4299/13 |
Biggs, James Crawford and friends at a formal dinner, circa 1933-1945Photographer: Underwood and Underwood, Washington, D.C. |
| Image P-4299/14 |
McLean, Angus W., circa 1927Photographer: Harris and Ewing, Washington, D.C. |
| Image P-4299/15 |
Broughton, J. Melville, 1942Caption reads, "To my old and former law partner J. Crawford Biggs, with best wishes, J. Melville Broughton." |
| Image SF-P-4299/16 |
Unidentified individuals, tintype, circa 1900-1920 |
| Photograph Album PA-4299/1 |
Photograph album and scrapbookContains photographs taken at the dedication ceremonies for the Department of Justice Building, 1934. |
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Items Separated