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Size | 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1000 items) |
Abstract | Papers collected or created by Annie Blackwell Thorne (born 1878) include correspondence, legal and financial documents, genealogical papers, photographs, and other materials of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Thorne, and related families, chiefly of Warren and Halifax counties, N.C. Also included is Thorne family material largely from Saint Martin Parish, La. Correspondence pertains chiefly to personal matters, but also deals with business affairs. Included are two letters, 1831, from Thomas Whitmell Harriss (1810-1890) describing his religious conversion while he was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; a few letters relating to the Civil War in Virginia and Louisiana; and letters, 1890s, to Annie's sister, Tempe Williams Thorne (born 1874), from family members and friends. Financial documents include slave bills of sale and materials concerning tobacco sales in the 1850s. Legal materials, many in French, include documents, 1866-1869, relating to cases handled by John Davis Thorne (1834-1900), justice of the peace in Saint Martin Parish, La. The Addition of 2012 consists primarily of correspondence between members of the Thorne family of Littleton, N.C. The majority of letters were exchanged with the children while they were away at college and discuss the family members' daily lives and concerns, including financial matters, tuition bills, and social activities. Silas O. Thorne and Samuel Thomas Thorne II both attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C., and Thomas Whitmell Thorne attended the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. Nena Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne and Tempe Williams Thorne all attended Littleton Female College in Littleton, N.C. There are also some letters, including bills, pamphlets and advertisements, sent in the early 1960s to Tempe Williams Thorne and Annie Blackwell Thorne. Other materials include school essays, diplomas from Littleton Female College, a notebook, printed materials, and photographs. |
Creator | Thorne, Annie Blackwell, b. 1878. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English and French |
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, October 1988; Linda Sellars, June 1999
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, November 2009
Updated by: Julie Seifert in November 2012 because of addition
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.
Materials in this collection were collected by Annie Blackwell Thorne (born 1878), probably in cooperation with her sister Tempe Williams Thorne (born 1874). The intertwining of the families represented in these papers is well documented in the genealogical materials found in Series 4.
The activities of members of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Thorne, and related families largely took place in and around Warren and Halifax counties, N.C. Three Thorne family members entered into family ventures in Saint Martin Parish, La., in the 1840s. Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) and his brother John Davis Thorne (1834-1900) owned property on Bayou Teche at Grand Pointe. Their older brother, William H. Thorne, had property further north on Bayou Portage. These ventures were abandoned shortly after the Civil War, and the brothers returned to Warren and Halifax counties.
Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) married Mollie Thorne. They lived in Littleton, N.C., with their children: Nena Thorne, Tempe Williams Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne, Silas O. Thorne, Samuel Thomas Thorne II, and Thomas Whitmell Thorne. Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) worked for the Panacea Water Company.
Silas O. Thorne attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C. It appears that he started there in 1893 or 1894 and left in 1897 or 1898. After leaving college, he worked for the General Fire Extinguisher Company in Atlanta, Ga. and later New Orleans, La.
Samuel Thomas Thorne II also attended Trinity and graduated in 1908 or 1909. He later worked at the General Fire Extinguisher Company in Charlotte, N.C.
Nena Thorne graduated from Littleton Women's College in 1900 and became a Latin teacher. She married A.S. Busey. Later in life she moved to West Palm Beach, Fla.
In 1906, Thomas Whitmell Thorne entered North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. He later lived in Atlanta, Ga., and New Orleans, La.
Annie Blackwell Thorne graduated from Littleton Female College in 1894 and studied French. She and her sister Tempe Williams Thorne lived most of their lives in Littleton, N.C.
Back to TopPapers collected or created by Annie Blackwell Thorne (born 1878) include correspondence, legal and financial documents, genealogical papers, photographs, and other materials of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Thorne, and related families, chiefly of Warren and Halifax counties, N.C. Also included is Thorne family material largely from Saint Martin Parish, La. Correspondence pertains chiefly to personal matters, but also deals with business affairs. Included are two letters, 1831, from Thomas Whitmell Harriss (1810-1890) describing his religious conversion while he was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; a few letters relating to the Civil War in Virginia and Louisiana; and letters, 1890s, to Annie's sister, Tempe Williams Thorne (born 1874), from family members and friends. Financial documents include slave bills of sale and materials concerning tobacco sales in the 1850s. Legal materials, many in French, include items, 1866-1869, relating to cases handled by John Davis Thorne (1834-1900), justice of the peace in Saint Martin Parish, La.
The Addition of 2012 consists primarily of correspondence between members of the Thorne family of Littleton, N.C., including Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921), Mollie Thorne, Silas O. Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne, Tempe Williams Thorne, Thomas Whitmell Thorne, Samuel Thomas Thorne II, and Nena Thorne. There are also some letters to and from other family members and friends. The majority of letters were exchanged with the children while they were away at college and date primarily from 1895 to 1915, although there are some earlier materials. Letters discuss the family members' daily lives and concerns, including financial matters, tuition bills, and social activities, such as travel to Virginia and a football game in Chapel Hill, N.C. Silas O. Thorne and Samuel Thomas Thorne II both attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C., and Thomas Whitmell Thorne attended the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. Nena Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne and Tempe Williams Thorne all attended Littleton Female College in Littleton, N.C. There are also some letters sent in the early 1960s to Tempe Williams Thorne and Annie Blackwell Thorne while they were living in Littleton, N.C. Some of these letters are from family members but the later materials for the most part are bills, pamphlets and advertisements. Other materials include school essays; diplomas from Littleton Female College; a notebook; printed materials, including Trinity College and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts early twentieth-century ephemera; and photographs of Anna Bryan and an unidentified female wearing a mortar board.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Letters to and from members of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, and Thorne families. For the most part, there is little connection between the letters. There are a few letters from each person represented and a few from each year, but the exchange of letters is not apparent. The earliest letters include some transcripts and photocopies, the originals of which are not present.
Two letters, 1831, from Thomas Whitmell Harriss (1810-1890) to his sister, Martha Rosanna Williams Harriss, describe his religious conversion while he was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Letters from the 1850s are primarily business letters to W. K. Kearny from N. M. Martin, Bro. & Co., of Petersburg, Va., concerning sales of tobacco and wheat.
Two letters, one from D. C. Clark and one from E. A. Thorne, both of whom were serving in the Confederate Army in Virginia, describe Confederate military life in 1862. Also included are a pass, dated 18 February 1865, by which Samuel Thomas Thorne was authorized by Governor Henry W. Allen to "introduce goods into our lines for the state of Louisiana"; a letter, dated 25 August 1865, in which L. L. Kearny discussed post-Civil War conditions; and a condolence letter from Octavia Williams Polk, niece of William K. Kearny, to "Aunt Maria" on the death of William K. Kearny.
Three letters, 1876, and one, 1878, are from M. A. Kearny to her daughter, Martha Helen Hardee Kearny Harriss. A letter dated 23 January 1882 from T. W. Harriss of Tennessee to his uncle, written in Salina, Utah, describes Harriss's impressions of the Mormons and the landscape in Utah. Also included are two letters, 26 January 1887 and 30 April 1889, to a Harriss family member from Adolphus Williamson Mangum (1834-1890), Methodist minister and professor at the University of North Carolina.
Most of the letters in the 1890s are addressed to Tempe Williams Thorne from cousins and friends in Washington, Littleton, and Oakland, N.C., as well as other places. Two letters are from Silas O. Thorne at Trinity College in Durham, N.C., to his parents.
Folder 1 |
1810-1849 |
Folder 2 |
1852-1859 |
Folder 3 |
1860-1869 |
Folder 4 |
1870-1889 |
Folder 5 |
1891-1893 |
Folder 6 |
1894-1895 |
Folder 7 |
1896: June-July |
Folder 8 |
1896: August-October |
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly bills of sale, ledger sheets, and tax and bond receipts. Early materials relate to the Kearny and Alston families in Warren County, N.C., including some documenting transactions having to do with the buying and selling of slaves. A volume, 1829, lists slaves by family, with the names and ages of the children. Also included are accounts, 1820s, of William K. Kearny as guardian of Littleton and Joseph Maclin. Material from the 1850s chiefly relates to the sale of tobacco and other commodities by William K. Kearny. Material in the 1860s includes Confederate States of America tax and bond receipts belonging to the Louisiana branch of the Thorne family.
Folder 9 |
1769-1818 |
Folder 10 |
1821-1823 |
Folder 11 |
1824 |
Folder 12 |
1825 |
Folder 13 |
1826 |
Folder 14 |
1827-1828 |
Folder 15 |
1829 |
Folder 16 |
1830-1846 |
Folder 17 |
1852-1856 |
Folder 18 |
1857-1859 |
Folder 19 |
1860-1869 |
Folder 20 |
1872-1882 |
Arrangement: chronological.
Materials relating to cases handled by John Davis Thorne (1834-1900), justice of the peace in Saint Martin Parish, La. These are chiefly documents ordering constables Godfrey Dupre and Alexandre Patin to collect certain sums from individuals against whom small claims judgments were made. Also included are several sheets detailing testimony by witnesses to a shooting, a poisoning, and other serious crimes. Financial material that appears to relate to some of the cases tried before Thorne is filed in folder 22. Much of this material is in French.
Folder 21 |
1864-1867 |
Folder 22 |
1868-1870 and undated |
Arrangement: chronological.
Indentures, deeds, wills, and other legal papers of various families. Those dated 1811 through 1835 are chiefly wills and indentures relating to the Alston, Williams, and Kearny families in Warren County, N.C.; later papers relate chiefly to the Thorne, Harriss, and Clarke families in Beaufort and Warren County, N.C.
Folder 23 |
1784-1891 |
Folder 24 |
1904-1959 and undated |
Letters, notes, printed materials, and other items relating to the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Whitmell, Williams, and Thorne families. Included are a large family tree that traces five generations beginning with Samuel Thorne (1767-1838), correspondence about the Thorne coat of arms, and several applications for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Folder 25 |
Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Whitmell, Williams families |
Folder 26 |
Thorne family |
Folder 27 |
Coat of arms |
Folder 28 |
Clippings |
Folder 29 |
Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) applications |
Certificates include William R. Kearny's pardon for having served the Confederacy and his acknowledgement of receipt and acceptance of the pardon and Thomas W. Harriss's Dental Surgeon Certificate of Registration, dated 15 February 1890.
Writings include an essay dated 28 February 1890 by Tempe Williams Thorne on "The Pleasures of the Imagination"; an address by Thomas Whitmell Harriss (1810-1890) on the future of the South; and an essay titled "Woman in Mission Work" and several poems, one of which was written by T. W. Harriss in 1878.
School material includes the 1902 class schedule for Nena Thorne at Randolph-Macon Woman's College; grade reports, 1904-1905, for Thomas Whitmell Thorne from Littleton High School, Littleton, N.C.; and grade reports, 1908 and 1909, for T. W. Thorne from the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, West Raleigh, N.C.
Printed items include a funeral sermon, 1861, on the death of James W. Harriss of Halifax County, N.C., by Reverend A. W. Mangum; a program for Children's Day, A Missionary Festival, on Sunday, 2 June 1889; an invitation to "A Poverty Soshul" to be held at the residence of E. S. Hoyt, 19 April 1894; a newspaper clipping, 1888, of the charge to the jury in James Harriss's suit against the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad Company for false arrest; and "Our Boys and Girls," volume 1, no. 1, Littleton, N.C., September 1901, published monthly by Samuel Thomas Thorne II, editor and publisher.
Folder 30 |
Certificates |
Folder 31 |
Writings |
Folder 32 |
School |
Folder 33 |
Printed items |
Oversize Paper OP-4521/1 |
Pardon of William R. Kearny, 1866 |
Image P-4521/1 |
Photograph of unidentified young man, 1 August 1863. |
Image P-4521/2 |
Photograph of Mrs. Thomas Harriss(?), circa 1916On verso: "Mrs. [Thomas?] Harriss at Kell Vault, taken 24 years ago, Doc was buried at bottom on the left." |
Image P-4521/3 |
Photograph of J.J.W., undated"Grandpa J. J. W.'s picture." Negative on file. |
Image P-4521/4 |
Photograph of William Williams Thorne, undated. |
Special Format Image SF-P-4521/1 |
Tintype of two unidentified girls, undatedA figure, apparently male, seated between them has been cut out of the picture. |
The Addition of 2012 consists primarily of correspondence between members of the Thorne family of Littleton, N.C., including Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921), Mollie Thorne, Silas O. Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne, Tempe Williams Thorne, Thomas Whitmell Thorne, Samuel Thomas Thorne II, and Nena Thorne. There are also some letters to and from other family members and friends. The majority of letters were exchanged with the children while they were away at college and date primarily from 1895 to 1915, although there are a few earlier letters. Letters discuss the family members' daily lives and concerns, including financial matters, tuition bills, and social activities, such as travel to Virginia and a football game in Chapel Hill, N.C. Silas O. Thorne and Samuel Thomas Thorne II both attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C., and Thomas Whitmell Thorne attended the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. Nena Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne and Tempe Williams Thorne all attended Littleton Female College in Littleton, N.C. There are also some letters sent in the early 1960s to Tempe Williams Thorne and Annie Blackwell Thorne while they were living in Littleton, N.C. Some of these letters are from family members but the later materials for the most part are bills, pamphlets and advertisements.
Other materials include school essays; diplomas from Littleton Female College; a notebook; printed materials, including Trinity College and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts early twentieth-century ephemera; and photographs of Anna Bryan and an unidentified young woman in a mortar board.
Folder 34 |
1871 |
Folder 35 |
1876 |
Folder 36 |
1878 |
Folder 37 |
1888 |
Folder 38 |
1891 |
Folder 39 |
1892 |
Folder 40-42
Folder 40Folder 41Folder 42 |
1893There is a letter from 25 January 1893 from John F. Crowell, the president of Trinity College in Durham, N.C, and another from 25 June 1893, both addressed to Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) |
Folder 43-44
Folder 43Folder 44 |
1894Includes two letters, 23 June 1894 and 26 June 1894, to Mollie Thorne from Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921), describing family life at home while Mollie Thorne was on a trip to Raleigh. |
Folder 45-48
Folder 45Folder 46Folder 47Folder 48 |
1895A letter dated 27 September 1895 from Annie Blackwell Thorne to Nena Thorne describes an ice cream party and expresses fear that Uncle William will die. In a letter dated 29 September 1895, Silas O. Thorne wrote to Mollie Thorne of his reaction to the death of his Uncle William, as well as his own religious uncertainty and concerns about mortality. A letter dated 20 October 1895 to Mollie Thorne, possibly from Samuel Thomas Thorne II, describes a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., to see a football game. There is also a handwritten letter from 3 October 1985 from the Sears Roebuck Company describing their goods and prices. |
Folder 49-50
Folder 49Folder 50 |
1896 |
Folder 51-53
Folder 51Folder 52Folder 53 |
1897 |
Folder 54 |
1898 |
Folder 55 |
1899 |
Folder 56 |
1900 |
Folder 57 |
1901 |
Folder 58 |
1902 |
Folder 59 |
1903 |
Folder 60 |
1904 |
Folder 61-63
Folder 61Folder 62Folder 63 |
1906A letter dated 10 August 1906 from Mollie Thorne to Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) describes a family trip to Norfolk, Va. There is also an invitation to the 1906 Trinity College commencement. |
Folder 64-70
Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69Folder 70 |
1907 |
Folder 71-73
Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73 |
1908Includes a group of recommendation letters sent from W. W. Smith, president of Littleton Female College, describing Nena Thorne's strength in Latin. |
Folder 74-75
Folder 74Folder 75 |
1909A letter dated 27 October 1909 from Samuel Thomas Thorne II describes in detail his work at the General Fire Extinguisher Company in Charlotte, N.C. |
Folder 76 |
1911 |
Folder 77 |
1912 |
Folder 78 |
1913 |
Folder 79 |
1914 |
Folder 80 |
1915 |
Folder 81 |
1955 |
Folder 82 |
1961 |
Folder 83 |
1962 |
Folder 84 |
1963 |
Folder 85-89
Folder 85Folder 86Folder 87Folder 88Folder 89 |
Undated |
Folder 90 |
School essaysEssays written by members of the Thorne family. Includes Nena Thorne's graduation essay from 1900, Annie Blackwell Thorne's graduation essay from 1895, essays written in 1908 by Samuel Thomas Thorne II for Philosophy III and Geology I, and a few others. |
Oversize Paper OP-4521/2-4
OP-4521/2OP-4521/3OP-4521/4 |
Littleton Female College diplomas, 1894-1895, 1900 |
Folder 91-93
Folder 91Folder 92Folder 93 |
Other materialsIncludes a notebook that appears to have been owned by Samuel Thomas Thorne II; a sheet of lyrics to songs from the North Carolina School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; several advertisements for various products; newspaper clippings; checks, 1914-1917, written by Annie Blackwell Thorne to herself; and a special report from the Board of Trustees on the Condition and Prospects of Trinity College from 1893 and a few other materials related to Trinity College. |
Image P-4521/5 |
Portrait of Anna Bryan, circa 1905On verso: "May this remind you sometimes of one who loves you and wishes for you every good thing. Anna Bryan." |
Image P-4521/6 |
Portrait of a young woman wearing a mortar board, circa 1890s |