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Size | 9.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2600 items) |
Abstract | John Witherspoon Ervin (1823-1902), a teacher and writer, his wife, Laura Catherine Nelson Ervin, and their six sons and three daughters, lived in Morganton, N.C. Their fifth son, Samuel James Ervin (1855-1944) married Laura Theresa Powe (1865-1956); he became a prominent lawyer in western North Carolina. Correspondence among members of the Ervin family, chiefly 1915-1960; legal account books of Samuel James Ervin and medical account books of William Caldwell Tate (1808-1869), both of Morganton; short stories and poems by John Witherspoon Ervin; and other items. Most of the correspondence concerns family matters and was addressed to Laura Powe Ervin or one of her daughters, Catherine Ellerbe Ervin (1890-1940) or Jean Conyers Ervin (b. 1909). Some letters from Samuel James Ervin, Jr. (1896-1985), then U.S. senator, are included. Other material includes legal notes and writings by Samuel James Ervin, Sr., a diary kept in Morganton in the late 1930s by Catherine Ervin, photographs and other material relating to Ervin family history, and files relating to Jean Conyers Ervin's work in speech therapy. |
Creator | Ervin (Family : Morganton, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Gina Overcash, January 1988
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, January 2022
This collection is not yet refoldered since additions are expected.
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.
John Witherspoon Ervin (27 March 1823 - 15 April 1902) was a teacher in Clarendon County, South Carolina; he married Laura Catherine Nelson in 1844. In 1874, the Ervins moved to Morganton, North Carolina, where Ervin taught school and wrote fiction and poetry. The Ervins had six sons and three daughters.
The Ervins' fifth son was Samuel James Ervin (21 June 1855 - 13 July 1944). S. J. Ervin passed the North Carolina bar examination in 1879 and became one of the most prominent lawyers of his time in western North Carolina. He married Laura Theresa Powe (25 June 1865 - 14 June 1956) in 1886, and with her had ten children, among whom were Joseph W., Samuel James, Jr. (the U.S. senator), Jean, Catherine, and Laura.
William Caldwell Tate (circa 1825-1870), two of whose account books are in this collection, was the father of Catherine Elvira Powe, mother of Laura Theresa Powe (wife of S. J. Ervin the elder).
ERVIN FAMILY
John Ervin (1754?-1810) m. (1-1775) Jane Witherspoon (1753-1790) (2) Margaret Witherspoon
James Robert (1788-1836) m. 1813 Elizabeth Powe (1798-1832)
John Witherspoon (1823-1902) m. 1844 Laura Catherine Nelson (1821-1887)
Lawrence Nelson (b. 1845)
Erasmus Ellerbe (b. 1847)
John Conyers (1848-1922?)
Donald McQueen (1850-1915)
Susan Elizabeth (b. 1854)
Louise Nelson (1854-1929)
Annie Davis (b. 1861)
Henry Flinn (1864-1865)
Samuel James (1855-1944) m. 1886 Laura Theresa Powe (1865-1956)
Laura Witherspoon (1888-1976) m. James King Hall (1875-1948)
James King (b. 1918)
Dorman Thompson (b. 1919)
Samuel Ervin (b. 1921)
Catherine Ellerbe (1890-1940)
Margaret Tate (1892-1911)
Edward Powe (1894-1933)
Samuel James (1896-1985) m. Margaret Bruce Bell (1898-1986)
Samuel James (b. 1926) m. Elizabeth (Betty) Crawford
Elizabeth "Betsy" Fore m. 1987 Kenneth Anthony Razza
Robert Crawford m. 1987 Mary Cameron Clark
Samuel James "Jimmy" m. 1986 Mary Temple Coutu
Margaret Bell
Margaret Leslie m. Gerald Hansler
Laura Powe
Hugh Tate (b. 1898)
Joseph Wilson (1901-1945) m. Susan Graham Erwin
Eunice Worth (b. 1903)
John Witherspoon (1906-1973)
Jean Conyers (b. 1909) m. (1) Frank Porcher (2) Herbert Nelson Budlong
Other children
Other children
POWE FAMILY
Erasmus Powe (1768-1829?) m. 1792 Esther Ellerbe (1770?-1853?)
Elizabeth (1798-1832) m. 1813 James Robert Ervin (1788-1836)
William Ellerbe (1793-1845) m. 1815 Elizabeth Sloan Torrence (1797-1840)
William Ellerbe, Jr. (1829-1905) m. 1862 Catherine "Katie" Elvira Caldwell (1841-1918)
Laura Theresa (1865-1856) m. 1886 Samuel James Ervin (1855-1944)
Edward Knox (1863-1929)
Erasmus Ellberbe (b. 1873)
Mary Wood (1876-1932)
William Tate (1869-1906)
Elizabeth "Bessie" Torrence (or Tate) (1866-1895)
Other Children
TATE FAMILY
Hugh Tate (1772-1816) m. 1798 Margaret Erwin (1777-1850)
William Caldwell (1808-1869) m. (1-1836) Laura Thera Wilson Polk (1808-1848) Polk (1808-1848) m. (2) Adeline Massey
Catherine "Katie" Elvira m. 1862 William Ellerbe Powe, Jr. (1829-1905)
Other Children
Other Children
Back to TopThe arrangement of this collection and the inclusive dates and size of each series and subseries are indicated below. This material is arranged within each series and subseries largely as it was when it was received at the Southern Historical Collection.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Two account books of William Caldwell Tate (1808-1869), a physician in Morganton, North Carolina. This series also contains a letter written by William Caldwell Tate during a trip north in 1845.
Folder 1 |
Account Book, 1847-1855 |
Folder 2a |
Account Book, 1855-1869 |
Folder 2b |
Letter |
Arrangement: By type of work, then alphabetically by title.
Fiction and poetry written by John Witherspoon Ervin (1823-1902), a teacher in Clarendon County, South Carolina and Morganton, North Carolina. Note: see Folder 126 for biographical information on John Witherspoon Ervin.
Folder 3 |
"The Ball-Room Belle" |
Folder 4 |
"The Brothers" |
Folder 5 |
"Little Dorrick" |
Folder 6 |
"Marion Prileau" |
Folder 7 |
"The Masquerade" |
Folder 8 |
"The Missing Wife" |
Folder 9 |
"The Monk of Caipha or Love in a Monastery" |
Folder 10 |
"The Pet Sister" |
Folder 11 |
"The Revelation of a Lost Locket" |
Folder 12 |
"Short Incidents" (under pseudonym Alvan Allen) |
Folder 13 |
Short Story (Class F) |
Folder 14 |
"Tracking the Forgers or The Mountain Home" |
Folder 15 |
"The Butterfly Boy" |
Folder 16 |
"By the Skin of My Teeth (In the Swamp)" |
Folder 17-19
Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
"Horseshoe Valley" |
Folder 20a |
"The Lost Bride" |
Folder 20b |
"Margaret of Glenquarry" (newspaper clipping) |
Folder 21 |
"The Spectre of the Fireside" |
Folder 22 |
"Until the Dream Be Fulfilled" |
Folder 23 |
"Vancluse Hall" |
Folder 24 |
The Feast of Babylon, Cantos I-III |
Folder 25 |
The Feast of Babylon, Canto IV, draft |
Folder 26 |
The Feast of Babylon, Canto IV |
Folder 27 |
The Feast of Babylon, Canto V, draft |
Folder 28 |
The Feast of Babylon, Canto V |
Folder 29 |
Short Poems (photocopies of handwritten transcripts) |
Folder 30-31
Folder 30Folder 31 |
Poems (typed transcripts) |
Folder 32 |
Typed transcription of excerpt from journal, 1894-95 |
Legal writings and account books of Samuel James Ervin, Sr., (1855-1944); notebooks and an address book of Ervin's wife, Laura Powe Ervin (1865-1956); correspondence between Samuel James Ervin, Sr., and his wife; and letters to the Ervins from their children, other family members, and friends and business associates.
Arrangement: chronological.
Professional account books of Samuel James Ervin, Sr., a prominent lawyer in western North Carolina.
Folder 33 |
1888-1896 (3 books) |
Folder 34 |
1897-1901, 1912, 1915 (3 books) |
Folder 35 |
1918-1919, 1925, 1932 (3 books) |
Folder 36 |
1933, 1936-1938 (3 books) |
Folder 37 |
1938-1941 (4 books) |
Notes on cases and chapters on the competency of witnesses and the relevancy and law of evidence. This subseries also includes a typed copy of an undated commencement address written by Samuel James Ervin, Sr.
Folder 38 |
Notes |
Folder 39-43a |
Writings |
Folder 43b |
Commencement address |
A notebook containing names and addresses, a notebook containing mostly notes and magazine clippings about daylilies, notes on visitors at the Ervin home, and other items.
Folder 44a-44b |
Address book, 1929; engagement calendar/diary, 1948; and other items |
Folder 45 |
Daylily notebook and other items |
Folder 45a |
Notes on visitors at the Ervin home, 1886-1949 |
Arrangement: By correspondent, then chronologically.
Correspondence between Samuel James Ervin, Sr., and Laura Powe Ervin; and letters from their children, other family members, and friends. This subseries also contains letters, mostly to Laura Powe Ervin, but also to Samuel James Ervin, Sr., and the Ervin children, written at the time of the illnesses and deaths of various family members. Letters from Samuel James Ervin, Jr., are in Folder 51.
Folder 75b |
Railway passes and other items |
Arrangement: By correspondent.
Letters to Catharine Ellerbe Ervin from family members, friends, and others, and a few copies of outgoing letters.
Folder 76-77a |
Letters from Laura Powe Ervin |
Folder 77b |
Fragments of letters from Laura Powe Ervin |
Folder 78 |
Letters from Samuel James Ervin, Sr. |
Folder 79 |
Letters from Joseph Wilson Ervin |
Folder 80 |
Letters from Jean Conyers Ervin |
Folder 81 |
Letters from other family members |
Folder 82-83
Folder 82Folder 83 |
Letters from P. G. Hamlin, 1914-1917 |
Folder 84 |
Correspondence with Bayard Wooten, Chapel Hill photographer, 1935-1938 |
Folder 85 |
Correspondence with officials of the North Carolina College for Women, 1927-1931 |
Folder 86 |
Letters from others, 1913-1924 |
Folder 87 |
Letters from others, 1925-1928 |
Folder 88 |
Letters from others, 1929-1930 |
Folder 89 |
Letters from others, 1931-1935 |
Folder 90 |
Letters from others, 1936-1940 |
Folder 91-93
Folder 91Folder 92Folder 93 |
Letters from others, undated |
Typed and handwritten versions of a diary of Catharine Ervin recounting daily events and containing garden notes and newspaper clippings; and Catharine Ervin's writings about the history of women's work in the First Presbyterian Church, Morganton, North Carolina.
Folder 94a |
Garden Diary |
Folder 94b |
History of Women's Work, First Presbyterian Church, Morganton, N.C. |
Letters to Jean Conyers Ervin; material relating to her work as a speech therapist and professor of speech and other subjects; and material relating the history of the Ervin family.
Arrangement: By correspondent.
Letters written by family, friends, and professional associates to Jean Conyers Ervin. Of particular interest are letters and postcards from Samuel James Ervin, Jr., in Folder 97, dated 23 June 1940, 19 June 1963, 4 March 1966, 7 October 1968, 23 March 1970, 19 June 1970, 13 January 1971, 9 July 1971, 17 September 1974, 8 May 1975, 8 March 1976, and 20 April 1976.
Folder 95 |
Letters from Laura Powe Ervin |
Folder 96 |
Letter from Samuel James Ervin, Sr. |
Folder 97 |
Letters from brothers and sisters |
Folder 98 |
Letters from other family members |
Folder 99 |
Letters from others, 1942-1966 |
Folder 100a |
Letters from others, 1967-1977 |
Folder 100b |
Letters from others, 1978-1987 |
Folder 101 |
Letters from others, undated |
Folder 102 |
Letters from Bower and Lucille Aly 1944-1976 and undated |
Folder 103 |
Correspondence with the Mayflower Society of Connecticut |
Arrangement: By subject. Then alphabetical within subject.
Files concerning professional activities, trips, property, and other aspects of Jean Ervin's life. Folder 116 contains a letter from Samuel James Ervin, Jr. (24 November 1980).
Arrangement: Chronological.
Information collected by Jean Ervin on the history and genealogy of the Ervin family. This subseries includes information about the Ervin, Erwin, Faison, McFadden, Goode, James, Tait, and Tate families. See also Folder 101, Undated letter from Claudia (Mrs. John M.) Belk. Folders 123, 125a, 125b, 126, and 129 contain material written by Samuel James Ervin, Jr.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Letters to other members of the Ervin family, primarily to children of Samuel James Ervin, Sr., and Laura Powe Ervin. This series also includes writings and clippings concerning Eunice Worth Ervin and the writings and subject files of other Ervin family members.
Mostly black and white photographs of various members of the Ervin family.