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 | 90.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 60,000 items) |
Abstract | The collection consists of records of Glencoe Mills, a cotton mill established in 1880, the Glencoe Mills store, Lakeside Mills, Windsor Mills, and Carolina Mills, all owned and operated by the white Holt and Green families of Alamance County, North Carolina. The earliest letters are between Robert Holt in North Carolina and his brother Samuel Holt in Texas. Early mill records consist mainly of correspondence, inventory books, day books, ledgers, time records, meeting minutes, letter books, and other records. The collection also includes the papers of Walter Guerry Green (1868-1946) that document his law practice, his political activities in the Republican Party and the American Independent Party, his community activities, and his financial affairs. |
Creator | Glencoe Mills. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Linda Sellars, December 1997
Encoded by: Margaret Dickson, February 2006
Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, Gillian McCuistion, and Chaitra Powell, October 2019
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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.
Glencoe Mills, established in 1880 by James Henry Holt (1833-1897) and William Erwin Holt (1839-1917), operated until 1954, producing cotton fabric. In 1951, the mill reported capitalization of $225,000; 5,736 spindles; and 220 looms. It operated with electric power, had a dye plant, and had finishing equipment. Glencoe Mills closed in 1954.
Glencoe Mills was one of several mills owned and operated in Alamance County, N.C., by the Holt family. Edwin Michael Holt (1807-1884) started the Holt and Carrigan Cotton Mill in 1837. By 1860, it was called Alamance Cotton Mill and was famous for plaids. Edwin Michael Holt's sons, James Henry Holt and William Erwin Holt established Carolina Cotton Mills in 1869. Carolina Mills was operated by J. H. and W. E. Holt and Company. In 1879, James and William Holt acquired a building that had been a tobacco processing plant and that was a short way upstream from Carolina Mills. By 1880, they had installed cotton mill machinery and built mill tenement houses and a company store. They called the mill and the village Glencoe. William Holt moved to Charlotte to be a banker, leaving James Holt to run Glencoe Mills.
In 1890, James Henry Holt helped his sons, James Jr. (1864-1924) and Robert (1866-1923) build Windsor Cotton Mills in Burlington. Windsor Mills was operated by R. L. and J. H. Holt and Company. In 1892, Holt helped sons Samuel (1862-1924) and William (1868-1916) build Lakeside Mills in Burlington. After James Henry Holt died in 1897, his sons Samuel and Ernest moved to Texas to be cattle ranchers. Robert Holt managed Glencoe, Carolina, Alamance, and Elmira Cotton Mills, and was almost sole owner of Glencoe Mills. In 1902, he retired from management of the other mills and devoted 100% of his time to Glencoe. When Robert Holt died in 1923, ownership of Glencoe Mills passed to his sister, Daisie Holt Green (1879-1976).
Daisie Holt Green's husband, Walter Guerry Green (1868-1946), managed Glencoe Mills for a number of years. Green was a native of Sumter, S.C. He married Daisie Holt on 25 November 1902. Their son, Walter G. Green, Jr. (d. 1987), managed Glencoe Mills after his father. Walter Green, Jr., was an attorney. He married Irma Camman Jameson on 1 September 1934. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. Green was an active Republican in the 1950s and 1960s.
Back to TopRecords of Glencoe Mills and Lakeside Mills, a few records of other mills owned by the Holt family, and papers of Walter G. Green, Jr. The early correspondence files arrived at the Manuscripts Department in letter boxes which were not labeled. The earliest letters are between Robert Holt in North Carolina and his brother Samuel Holt in Texas. Early mill records consist mainly of correspondence and ledgers. Volumes include inventory books, day books, ledgers, time records, meeting minutes, letter books, and other records of Glencoe Mills, the Glencoe Mills store, Lakeside Mills, Windsor Mills, and Carolina Mills.
Files removed from filing cabinets in Walter Green's office at Glencoe Mills include files relating to his law practice, his political activities, his community activities, and his financial affairs, as well as Glencoe Mills records. For the most part, folder order and titles have been retained. Folder titles have been created for a few folders that were not labeled and a few folders containing material that was not in folders. Papers on any one subject may be found in several boxes.
The Addition of September 2019 consists chiefly of financial records, 1948-1951, including invoices from Charles W. Angle Inc. Building Contractors regarding the cost of construction of a new dam. Additional invoices from this company involve the construction of a new finishing plant, as well as other miscellaneous projects and installations. Also included are invoices from the Ambursen Dam Company and the E.F. Craven Company for road building machinery and power repairs, and a few checks. Correspondence from 1946 concerns Glencoe Dam rebuilding plans and includes blueprints, sketches, and cost estimates. Correspondence from 1949 concerns flood damage and includes cost estimates due to lack of insurance. Other materials include photograph copies of the Glencoe Mills site and operations from the 1940s; maps and sketches of site plans, including R.L. Holt's planting plans for 1919; engineering diagrams of machinery; company graphics and print materials; and a folder of educational materials on the history of Glencoe Mills, which was required learning material at the Glencoe School, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Back to TopThe early correspondence files arrived at the Manuscripts Department in letter boxes which were not labeled. Staff removed letters from the boxes and placed them in folders. The folders were labeled with the letters from the tab dividers in the box and the years of the items in the folder. The earliest letters are correspondence between Robert Holt in North Carolina and his brother Samuel in Texas. The next letters date from 1904-1920, with only a few from 1904-1912 and 1918-1920 and the bulk of the early correspondence dating from 1913 to 1917.
The later correspondence chiefly dates from the early 1940s, with a few items from the late 1930s and a few from the late 1940s and early 1950s. These letters arrived in file folders, some of which contain material other than correspondence. The folder titles have been retained.
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-04881/1 |
Plans for Glencoe Mills buildings, most for weave shed, 1907 |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4881/1b |
Payroll ledger sheets, political posters, and other items |
Box 1 |
1900-1908: R. Holt |
1912-1919: S. Holt |
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1904-1917: A-Z |
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1904-1920: A |
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Box 2 |
1904-1920: B-F |
Box 3 |
1904-1920: F-I |
Box 4 |
1904-1920: I-M |
Box 5 |
1904-1920: N-S |
Box 6 |
1904-1920: T-Z |
1935-1952: AA. J. Whittlemore and Sons A. M. Tenney Associates Acme Steel Company Aetna Felt Company Aetna Metal Products Company Alamance County American Enka Corporation American Numbering Machine Co. American Pulley Company American Wool and Cotton Reporter Amoskeag Industries Inc. Anderson, Clayton & Company Andrews & Goodrich, Inc. Army Service Forces Arnold, Hoffman, and Co., Inc. Art Craft Printery Arthur, James H. Asheboro Hosiery Mills, Inc. Ashworth Bros., Inc. Associated Transport, Inc. Atlanta Brush Company Atlantic Manufacturing Company Atlantic Supply Company Atlas Plywood Corporation Atlas Supply Company Automatic Control Company A Miscellaneous |
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Box 7 |
1935-1952: B-JB. S. Roy and Sons Co. C and H Air Conditioning Fan Company C. G. Sargents Sons Corp. C. M. Wall and Son Carolina Bagging Company Chas. M. Setzer and Co. Consolidated Products Co. Cooper and Sanders Cotton Mill Machinery Co. Crescent Corporation Crompton and Knowles Loom Works Curtis Curtis and Marble Machine Co. C Miscellaneous D and M Company Davis and Furber Machine Company Dixie Machine Co. Draper Corporation #2 Duke Power Company E. C. Peele Erwin Cotton Mills Co. F. C. Todd, Inc. F. H. Ross and Co., Inc. F. L. Toepleman and Company Flax Processing and Linen Company G. A. White and Co. General Electric Co. Grinnell Company H and B American Machine Co. H. F. Livermore Co. H. K. Roberts and Sons Hungerford and Terry Inc. Inman Brothers: General J. Wiss and Sons Co. J. E. Sirrine and Co. J. H. Windle and Co., No. 1 J. S. Scofield and Sons |
Box 8 |
1935-1952: JJ. W. Valentine Co., Inc. J. W. Valentine, President 160 Army Drill Army Twill Type IV Best, Harry M. Colors Detailed Cost Duck (Government) Imitation Viella Flannel Plaid Interlinings Marine Corp. Order-Bernard Textile Co.: Congress Shirt Co., G-601; G-608, Deluxe Wash Suit Co.; Deluxe Wash Suit Co.; Eckerling Brothers, G-604; G-606 Fawn Grove Mfg. Co.; M. Fine and Sons Mfg. Co.; Kline Meyers Mfg. Co.; Fox Knapp Mfg. Co. G-598: Lobl Mfg. Co.: Manhattan Shirt Co. G-607; Marlboro Shirt Co.; Samuel Miller and Sons G-583; New York Pants Co.; Perla Shirt Co. G-599; The Prinz and Rau Mfg. Co.; Sears Roebuck and Co. G-600; Shetland Textile Co.; Trenton Shirt Mfg. Co.; Universal Overall Co. G-605; Western Leather Clothing. John Sidebotham, Inc. Joseph Walker and Co. |
Box 9 |
1935-1952: L-SL. Banks Holt Mfg. Co. Lemar Import Co. Leon Kimmel Machinery Co. Logan and Kanawha Coal Co. M. Hornik and Co. Marvin D. White Myles Salt Co. M Miscellaneous N Miscellaneous Office Memoranda Penick and Ford Ltd. Quinn-Marshall Co. Railway Supply Mfg. Co. Raleigh Smokeless Fuel Co. Ramseur Broom Works Ranlo Mfg. Co. Reconstruction Finance Corporation Red Band Company Red Tip Manufacturing Co. Redman Card Clothing Co. Reeves Manufacturing Co. Remington Rand Inc. Rhodes-Rhyne Mfg. Co. Rhyne, Moore, and Thies Robb Plumbing and Heating Co. Robbins and Meyers, Inc. Rodman-Heath Cotton Mills Rodney Hunt Machine Co. Ross, Harold L. Roxboro Cotton Mills Royal Mfg. Co. R Miscellaneous S. B. Thomas Co. S. Morgan Smith Co. Saco-Lowell Shops Scott, C. L. Boiler Track Repair Sears, Roebuck and Co. Sides Woolen Mills Signode Steel Strap Co. Silk Machine Co. Simplex Wire and Cable Co. Simpson, A. H. Singer Sewing Machine Co. Skinner Engine Co. Skybryte Co. Smith-Courtney Co. Smith, Yates D. Smokeless Fuel Co. Smoot, J. Watson Snow Lumber Co. Somers, Garrison and Coltman Sonoco Products Co. Sonoco Products Co. No. 2 Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company Inc. Southern Electric Service Co. Southern Railway Co., LCL-Hauling Allowance Sturtevant Company Sykes Foundry and Machine Co. |
Box 10 |
1935-1952: S-YS Miscellaneous T. W. Woods and Sons No. 1 Tenn. Commission for the Blind Terrell Machine Co. Teuscher Pulley and Belting Co. Texas Freight Company Textile Age Textile Engineering Co. Textile-Finishing Machinery Co. Textile Salvage Co. Textile Specialty Co. Textile Store Todd Company Toledo Scale Company Tolhurst Centrifugal Division: American Machine and Metals Transportation, Inc. Travora Manufacturing Co. Troy Whitehead Machine Company Truitt Brothers-Roving Trucks Turner Transfer Co. T Miscellaneous United Paper Co., Inc. U.S. Bobbin and Shuttle Co. No.1 United States Employment Office: Burlington, N.C. Universal Fibre Mills Inc. Universal Ref. Prod. Co. Universal Winding Co. Utility Supply Co., No.2 Victor Ring Traveler Co. Virginia Mills V Miscellaneous W. E. Caldwell Co., Inc. Wachovia Bank and Trust Co. WAK Incorporated Walker Engineering Co. Wallace and Tiernan Co., Inc. War Manpower Commission War Production Webb, John Graham Weil Brothers Wellington Sears Company Wennonah Cotton Mills Westinghouse Electric and Mfg. Co. Western Marine Express Werthan Bag Corporation White, Ted Whitin Machine Works Whitinsville Spinning Ring Co. Wickwire Spencer Steel Co. Williams, Walter M. Winsor and Jerauld Manufacturing Company Winston Printing Co. Wolf and Company Inc. Wood Lumber Co. Woonsocket Napping Machinery Co. Worksheets for Stock Reports Workman, J. P.: Painter Worthington Pump and Machinery Co. W Miscellaneous The Yale and Towne Mfg. Co. Yarnall, John B. Young and Warley Y Miscellaneous |
Insurance files were in file cabinets in the basement of the Glencoe Mills offices. Folder order and titles have been retained.
Box 11 |
A-NAmerican Mutual Liability Insurance Co. Associated Factory Mutual Chas. V. Sharpe Factory Insurance Association Factory Mutual Firemen's Mutual Insurance Co. Gate City Life Insurance Co. Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. Insurance Audit & Inspection Co. Insurance Coverage Maybank, Theodore D. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company New Hampshire Fire Insurance Co. North Carolina Insurance Adjusters North Carolina Unemployment Compensation Commission North Western Mutual Life Insurance |
Box 12 |
P-WPilot Life Insurance Co. Planet Insurance Company Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co. R. F Murray & Bro., Inc. Roof Bonds Sharpe & Jones, Inc. South-Eastern Underwriters Standard Accident Insurance Co. Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. W. C. Wilbur & Co. Westbrook Insurance Agency Wolf, Harry C., Jr. The World Fire and Marine Insurance Co. |
These files were removed from filing cabinets and boxes in the basement of the Glencoe Mills offices. Folder titles have been retained.
Volumes include inventory books, day books, ledgers, time records, meeting minutes, letter books, and other records of Glencoe Mills, the Glencoe Mills store, and Lakeside Mills.
Volumes were stacked in the loft. Volumes small enough to fit in folders were sorted by the type of record they contain and put in folders and boxes. Larger volumes were similarly sorted and put in special volumes. They are listed after the boxed volumes.
These files were removed from filing cabinets in Walter Green's office at Glencoe Mills. They include files relating to his law practice, his political activities, his community activities, and his financial affairs, as well as records of Glencoe Mills, Lakeside Mills, and other businesses. Folders listed under Lakeside were in folders with the Lakeside name and logo printed on them. For the most part, folder order and titles have been retained. Folder titles have been created for a few folders that were not labeled and a few folders containing material that was not in folders.
Acquisitions Information: Accession 103715
Chiefly financial records, 1948-1951, including invoices from Charles W. Angle Inc. Building Contractors regarding the cost of construction of a new dam. Additional invoices from this company involve the construction of a new finishing plant, as well as other miscellaneous projects and installations. Also included are invoices from the Ambursen Dam Company and the E.F. Craven Company for road building machinery and power repairs, and a few checks. Correspondence from 1946 concerns Glencoe Dam rebuilding plans and includes blueprints, sketches, and cost estimates. Correspondence from 1949 concerns flood damage and includes cost estimates due to lack of insurance. Other materials include photograph copies of the Glencoe Mills site and operations from the 1940s; maps and sketches of site plans, including R.L. Holt's planting plans for 1919; engineering diagrams of machinery; company graphics and print materials; and a folder of educational materials on the history of Glencoe Mills, which was required learning material at the Glencoe School, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Box 60 |
Financial records and correspondence |
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-04881/2-4
XOPF-04881/2XOPF-04881/3XOPF-04881/4 |
Site plans |
Image Folder PF-04881/7 |
Mill building interiors and exteriors, machinery, 1900s-1979 |