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Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 140 items) |
Abstract | The Galyean and Munchus families of Surry County, N.C., including James Munchus (d. circa 1850), and James C. Galyean (d. circa 1890). There are also a few items relating to James's wife Elizabeth; to Samuel Galyean, who appears to have been James's father, 1840s; and to Ephriam Galyean, who may have been James and Elizabeth's son, 1880s. Family letters, financial and legal materials, and other papers relating to the Munchus and Galyean families. Letters are mostly from relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. Letters show relatives selling brandy in Georgia in 1842. Two letters, 1855 and 1860, urge James Munchus to move west. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War and bad luck working with freedmen after the war. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick acquaintance of James C. Galyean in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town. The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans; these are the only materials linking the two families. Also included are four small notebooks, two of which contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines. |
Creator | Galyean family.
Munchus family. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
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.
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The Galyean and Munchus families appear to have lived in the Haystack section of Surry County, N.C., in what is now called Stewarts Creek, an area bordered by the towns of Franklin, Mount Airy, and Dobson.
Not much information can be gleaned about either family from the materials in this collection. It appears that both were farming families, involved in buying and selling land; planting and harvesting crops, chiefly cotton and corn; and routine activities, like raising children, supervising the work of slaves, paying taxes, and suing and being sued by their neighbors. It also appears that both families were involved in making brandy, which they sold or used in payment of debts.
Most of the Munchus family material involves James Munchus (also spelled Munkus, Munker, Muncus, Munkess) and dates from the 1810s through the 1840s; there is no Munchus family material after 1850. Most of the Galyean family material relates to James C. Galyean (also spelled Gallyean, Galion, Galyen) and begins around 1841. There are also a few items relating to James's wife Elizabeth; in the 1840s, to Samuel Galyean, who appears to have been James's father; and, in the 1880s, to Ephriam Galyean, who may have been James and Elizabeth's son.
The collection contains a few family letters, most of which were from Munchus or Galyean family relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. There are two letters, 1855 and 1860, from J. K. Munchus in Alabama to James Munchus in which James was urged to move west and to remember the importance of educating his children. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick Mary Teague in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town, but saying that her companions, who seem also to be from Surry County, were unalterably opposed to returning home.
The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans. These are the only materials in the collection that link the two families. Also included are a recipe for horse liniment, two advertisements, and four small notebooks, two of which contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.
Back to TopFamily letters, financial and legal materials, and other papers relating to the Munchus and Galyean families. Letters are mostly from relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. Letters show relatives selling brandy in Georgia in 1842. Two letters, 1855 and 1860, urge James Munchus to move west. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War and bad luck working with freedmen after the war. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick acquaintance of James C. Galyean in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town. The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans; these are the only materials linking the two families. Also included are four small notebooks, two of which contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.
Back to TopChiefly family letters, most of which are from Munchus or Galyean family relatives, who were either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia.
On 25 November 1842, J. K. Munchus wrote from Columbus, Ga., where he was having good luck selling brandy. In a 12 December 1842 letter from Henry Lawless in the Anderson District, S.C., to his cousin James Munchus, Lawless inquired about the feasibility of selling cotton yarn in Surry County. There are two letters, 1855 and 1860, from J. K. Munchus, who had apparently settled in Russell City, Ala., to James Munchus in which James was urged to move west and to remember the importance of educating his children. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War. An undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick Mary Teague in Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town, but saying that her companions, who seem also to be from Surry County, were unalterably opposed to returning home.
Folder 1 |
Correspondence, 1842-1880 and undated |
Arrangement: roughly sorted by decade.
Chiefly indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal materials relating to both families.
In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans. These are the only materials in the collection that link the two families. A 17 September 1852 receipt shows that James Galyean paid off a debt in brandy. There is a document, dated 28 October 1887, by which James Galyean, who was "...becoming feeble ... in consequence of old age and ... desirous of providing ... support and maintenance for himself and wife Elizabeth," deeded land and other property to Albert Hodges in exchange for caretaking. James Galyean apparently died in the early 1890s; there are two summonses, both dated 1892, calling Elizabeth Galyean and three members of the Hodges family to appear in court regarding a suit brought by G. S. Atkins on behalf of James Galyean's estate.
Folder 2 |
1793-1839 |
Folder 3 |
1840s |
Folder 4 |
1850s |
Folder 5 |
1860s |
Folder 6 |
1870s |
Folder 7 |
1880s |
Folder 8 |
1890s and undated |
An undated recipe for horse liniment; an undated handbill for R. R. Crawford's Hardware Store in Winston, N.C.; an undated deposit envelope with advertising for the First National Bank of Mount Airy, N.C.; and four small notebooks that seem to have belonged to James C. Galyean. The notebooks, probably from the 1850s through the 1880s, contain few entries, most of which are indecipherable. Two of the notebooks, however, contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.
Folder 9 |
Other papers |