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Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 30 items) |
Abstract | Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe worked in India, 1840-1842, as a cotton culture advisor for the British East India Company. In 1842, Wolfe returned to the United States where he married Maria Bernard Temple of Fredericksburg, Va., and moved to New Orleans where he practiced law until his death. The collection is chiefly long, detailed letters, 1840-1842, from Wolfe relating to his service with the British East India Company in India, containing much description of the land and people of India, particularly those living around Bombay, where Wolfe was stationed. His position as advisor on the growing of cotton afforded him many opportunities to travel about the country and discuss agricultural and other issues with a wide variety of people. His letters include comments on religious practices, the condition of women, the physical beauty of the land, and the general poverty of the people. There is also a diary (circa 40 pp.) that Wolfe kept in 1842 on his journey home. The diary contains detailed observations on sites in Egypt, particularly Wolfe's visits to Cairo, the Sphinx, and the Great Pyramids; it also includes descriptions of Italy, particularly Naples and the surrounding countryside. There are also a speech that Wolfe delivered in 1836 at Louisiana College; two letters, 1836 and 1837, Wolfe wrote from Louisiana College about student and family life; and an 1819 letter written by his aunt in Virginia about her impending marriage. |
Creator | Wolfe, Thomas Roberdeau, 1819-1856. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, March 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Materials have been kept in the order in which they appear in the typed transcriptions provided by the donor.
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.
Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe (1819-1856) was the second child and first son of Mary Ann Patten Wolfe (1795-1822) and Dr. Thomas Wolfe (d. 1825). Mary Ann Patten Wolfe, born in Alexandria, Va., was the first child of Mary Roberdeau Patten and Thomas Patten. Dr. Wolfe was the second son of Lewis Wolfe, attorney in Winchester, Va.; state senator, 1804-1811; and trustee of Winchester Academy (est. 1786). Dr. Wolfe was born in Winchester, Va., and educated in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied medicine. After working as a doctor in London, he returned to the United States, where he set up a practice in Philadelphia. Later he settled in Winchester and married a Miss Cowan with whom he had four children: Alfred; Addison; Catherine; and Sidney. His first wife having died, on 14 May 1816, he married Mary Ann Patten. He and his family moved to Culpepper Courthouse in 1818. The couple had four children: Mary DeNeale (b. 1817); Thomas Roberdeau; Joseph Lewis (1821-1833); and James Edward (January-July 1822). Mary Ann Patten Wolfe died 23 August 1822, and Dr. Wolfe died 25 December 1825.
Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe was born 7 May 1819 in Culpepper. Orphaned at a young age, he went to live with his maternal uncle, Joseph May Patten, in Lake Providence, La. Wolfe was educated at Louisiana College in Jackson, La. In 1840, at the age of 21, he went to work for the British East India Company as a cotton culture advisor in India. He returned to the United States in 1842, and, on 25 July 1843, married Maria Bernard Temple of Fredericksburg, Va. About the same time, he moved to New Orleans, where he practiced law for thirteen years. The Wolfes had seven children: Robert Temple; Mary Patten; Elise; Charlotte Carter; Maria Temple; Ellen Roberdeau; and Thomas Roberdeau, Jr. He died of consumption at Sharon Springs, N.Y., on 6 July 1856.
(Based on a biographical note in The Collected Papers and Letters of Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe by Helen Wolfe Evans, 1990.)
Back to TopThe collection consists of materials from Wolfe's pre-India days and materials generated during his stay in India and his journey back to the United States. The pre-India materials include a speech on ambition that Wolfe delivered on 28 November 1836 at Louisiana College. The occasion for the speech is unknown. There are also two letters, 1836 and 1837, written by Wolfe while a student at Louisiana College to his uncle, in which Wolfe discussed the progress of his studies and inquired about activities at home. Also included is a letter not directly related to Wolfe, but written by his aunt, Harriet Rozier Patten, in Winchester, Va., 15 January 1819, to her sister, Mary Ann Patten Wolfe, in which she discussed her impending marriage to John W. Miller, a widower with two children.
The bulk of the papers are letters from Wolfe, 1840-1842, relating to his service with the British East India Company in India. The earliest letters were written home as Wolfe journeyed first to England and then on to India; the last letters were written on his return journey. Most of these letters were composed over a period of days, sometimes weeks, and record in great detail all that Wolfe did and saw. There is much description of the land and people of India, particularly those living around Bombay, where Wolfe was stationed. His position as advisor on the growing of cotton afforded him many opportunities to travel about the country and discuss agricultural and other issues with a wide variety of people. His letters include comments on religious practices, the condition of women, the physical beauty of the land, and the general poverty of the people.
Also included is a diary, about 40 pages, that Wolfe kept from February through April 1842, documenting a portion of his journey home. The diary contains detailed observations on sites in Egypt, particularly Wolfe's visits to Cairo, the Sphinx, and the Great Pyramids. It also includes descriptions of Italy, particularly Naples and the surrounding countryside.
There is also a typed, annotated transcription of all materials in the collection that was prepared by Helen Wolfe Evans in 1990 and bound together as The Collected Papers of Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe, 197 pages.
Back to TopA speech on ambition that Wolfe delivered on 28 November 1836 at Louisiana College, occasion unknown; two letters, 1836 and 1837, written by Wolfe while a student at Louisiana College to his uncle, in which Wolfe discussed the progress of his studies and inquired about activities at home; and a letter written by Wolfe's aunt, Harriet Rozier Patten, in Winchester, Va., 15 January 1819, to her sister, Mary Ann Patten Wolfe, in which she discussed her impending marriage to John W. Miller, a widower with two children.
Folder 1 |
Louisiana College |
Folder 2 |
Patten, Harriet Rozier |
Letters, 1840-1842, relating to Wolfe's service with the British East India Company in India. The earliest letters were written as Wolfe journeyed first to England and then on to India; the last letters were written on his return journey. Most of these letters were composed over a period of days, sometimes weeks, and record in great detail all that Wolfe did and saw. There is much description of the land and people of India, particularly those living around Bombay, where Wolfe was stationed. His position as advisor on the growing of cotton afforded him many opportunities to travel about the country and discuss agricultural and other issues with a wide variety of people. His letters include comments on religious practices, the condition of women, the physical beauty of the land, and the general poverty of the people.
Folder 3 |
1840 |
Folder 4 |
1841 January-June |
Folder 5 |
1841 July-December |
Folder 6 |
1842 |
Diary, about 40 pages, that Wolfe kept from February through April 1842, documenting a portion of his journey home. The diary contains detailed observations on sites in Egypt, particularly Wolfe's visits to Cairo, the Sphinx, and the Great Pyramids. It also includes descriptions of Italy, particularly Naples and the surrounding countryside.
Folder 7 |
Diary, 1842 |
A typed, annotated transcription of all materials in the collection that was prepared by Helen Wolfe Evans in 1990 and bound together as The Collected Papers of Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe, 197 pages. The volume includes photocopies of photographs of Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe and Maria Bernard Temple Wolfe and of a painting of Dr. Thomas Wolfe. There is also a brief biographical sketch and description of the contents. The volume consists of the following transcriptions:
Pages 4-7 Louisiana College speech
Pages 8-11 Letters from Louisiana College
Pages 12-14 Harriet Rozier Patten letter
Pages 15-160 Letters relating to India
Pages 161-197 Diary
Folder 8-10
Folder 8Folder 9Folder 10 |
The collected papers of Thomas Roberdeau Wolfe, 1990 |