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.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 160 items) |
Abstract | The Rev. James M. Benson (1853-1919) was a Methodist minister from 1896 or 1897 until his death in 1919. A native of Hyde County, N.C., Benson attended Trinity College and served churches throughout eastern North Carolina. Correspondence, financial and legal records, poems, essays, and sermons, financial and legal records, and arithmetic books. Correspondence concerns business matters, family deaths, and conditions at private girls' schools in the late 19th century. Financial records document a dry-goods business and the cost of private education. Poems, most by Benson, are both light-hearted and sentimental. Benson's sermons follow biblical texts. |
Creator | Benson, James M., 1853-1919. |
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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According to published obituaries included in this collection, James M. Benson was born in Hyde County, N.C., in 1853, attended Trinity College, became a Methodist minister in 1896 or 1897, and served various circuits in the Eastern North Carolina Conference until shortly before he died in 1919 in Nashville, N.C. Benson married twice and was the father of six children.
Back to TopIn addition to documenting the sermons and religious musings of a turn-of-the-century Methodist minister, this eclectic collection provides insight into student life at private boarding schools in late 19th-century North Carolina and the relationship between students and parents.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Correspondence of James Benson and his father, siblings, children, and friends. Included are letters from his sisters who were attending private schools in eastern North Carolina, from a brother regarding business matters, from friends offering condolences after the death of his first wife in 1890 and of his son in 1894, and letters between the Bensons and their daughter Sallie while she attended boarding school in the 1890s.
Folder 1 |
1853-1888 |
Folder 2 |
1890-1895 |
Arrangement: chronological.
Accounts and receipts concerning a dry-goods business and schooling of two generations of the Benson family. Among these items is a petition from Benson and neighbors asking the Hyde County Board of Commissioners to refuse a liquor license to a shop in their community.
Folder 3 |
1852-1905 |
Poems, sermons, essays, and miscellaneous newspaper clippings. Included are five poems by "Jimmie Benson"; an essay on the evils of snuff-dipping; sermons inspired by biblical texts; and newspaper clippings that include the obituaries of Benson, his two wives, and his son.
Folder 4 |
Newspaper clippings |
Folder 5 |
Obituaries, 1890-1919 |
Folder 6 |
Poems |
Folder 7 |
Sermons and essays |
Folder 8 |
Sermons |
Account books, arithmetic books belonging to Reuben Benson, and James M. Benson's sermon book.
Folder 9 |
Account books |
Folder 10-11
Folder 10Folder 11 |
Arithmetic books |
Folder 12 |
Sermon book |