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.
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items) |
Abstract | The Smith, Wheeler, and Taylor families were from Ashley County, Ark.; Bradley County, Ark.; and Coffeeville, Miss. Ransom Smith, a planter, served in the Arkansas 1st Battalion, Company B, during the Civil War. Smith seems to have been a moderately successful planter both before and after the war. John Taylor also served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. George Brown of Bradley County, Ark., was a teacher before and after the Civil War. The collection consists of letters, financial and legal material, notebooks, and printed material of the Smith, Wheeler, and Taylor families and their neighbors in 19th-century Arkansas and Mississippi that were collected by Clyde Malcom Hughes. The bulk of the material is from Bradley and Ashley counties in southeastern Arkansas and Coffeeville, Miss. Smith family papers, which comprise about half of the collection, include letters, financial and legal papers, and seven small notebooks that document R. S. Smith's accounts with laborers and related expenses. Smith family Civil War materials include letters and an account book, probably kept by Ransom Smith, for the 1st Arkansas Battalion, Company B. There are also a few materials, 1852-1865, of the Joseph Wheeler family of Bradley County, Ark., and a group of Civil War letters of various members of the Taylor family of Coffeeville, Miss. A letter written by John W. Taylor in Corinth, Miss., 11 April 1862, gives a detailed description of his experience in the Battle of Shiloh. Another, 20 May 1863, describes the Battle of Baker's Creek, and another by Stewart Taylor, 22 August 1865, anticipates the hardships of Reconstruction. George Brown, a teacher both before and after the Civil War, is represented by tuition bills, lists of school rules, certificates of eligibility to teach, and related materials. Printed material includes advertising flyers describing cotton gins and other machines and a postcard with a drawing of Andersonville Prison. Papers relating to Clyde Hughes include correspondence concerning this collection and printed advertisements for guns. |
Creator | Hughes, Clyde. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Meg Phillips, January 1997
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, April 2005
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
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.
The Smith, Wheeler, and Taylor families were from Ashley County, Ark.; Bradley County, Ark.; and Coffeeville, Miss. Ransom Smith, a planter, served in the Arkansas 1st Battalion, Company B, during the Civil War. Smith seems to have been a moderately successful planter both before and after the war. John Taylor also served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. George Brown of Bradley County, Ark., was a teacher before and after the Civil War.
Back to TopThe collection consists of letters, financial and legal material, notebooks, and printed material of the Smith, Wheeler, and Taylor families and their neighbors in 19th-century Arkansas and Mississippi, that were collected by Clyde Malcom Hughes. The bulk of the material is from Bradley County, Ark., and Ashley County, Ark., in southeastern Arkansas and Coffeeville, Miss. Although some documents date from as early as 1837 and as late as 1969, most were generated from the 1860s to 1880s. Smith family papers, which comprise about half of the collection, include letters, financial and legal papers, and seven small notebooks that document R. S. Smith's accounts with laborers and related expenses. Smith family Civil War materials include letters and an account book, probably kept by Ransom Smith, for the 1st Arkansas Battalion, Company B, C.S.A. There are also a few materials, 1852-1865, of the Joseph Wheeler family of Bradley County, Ark., and a group of Civil War letters of various members of the Taylor family of Coffeeville, Miss. A letter written by John W. Taylor in Corinth, Miss., dated 11 April 1862, gives a detailed description of his experience in the Battle of Shiloh. Another, dated 20 May 1863, describes the Battle of Baker's Creek, and another written by Stewart Taylor on 22 August 1865 anticipates the hardships of Reconstruction. Other Civil War material can be found in a file of miscellaneous letters. George Brown, a teacher both before and after the Civil War, is represented by tuition bills, lists of school rules, certificates of eligibility to teach, and related materials. Printed material includes advertising flyers describing cotton gins and other machines and a postcard with a drawing of Andersonville Prison. Papers relating to Clyde Hughes include correspondence concerning this collection and printed advertisements for guns.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
George Brown papers, 1837-1870 |
Folder 2 |
Smith family letters, 1862-1901 |
Folder 3 |
Smith family legal and Confederate Army papers, 1862-1888 |
Folder 4 |
Smith family financial papers, 1859-1904 |
Folder 5 |
(Ransom Smith) 1st Arkansas Battalion, Company B, account book, 1863-1865 |
Folder 6 |
R. S. Smith notebook, 1859-1871 |
Folder 7 |
R. S. Smith notebook, 1866-1872 |
Folder 8 |
R. S. Smith notebooks, 1881-1888 |
Folder 9 |
R. S. Smith notebook, 1899-1904 |
Folder 10 |
Taylor family letters, 1861-1865 |
Folder 11 |
Wheeler family letter, 1864 |
Folder 12 |
Wheeler family financial and legal papers, 1847-1865 |
Folder 13 |
Miscellaneous letters, 1861-1905 |
Folder 14 |
Miscellaneous financial papers, 1839-1914 |
Folder 15 |
Printed material, 1864-1889 |
Folder 16 |
Clyde Hughes papers, 1941-1969 |