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 microfilming of this collection.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 100 items) |
Abstract | The Penney family of Wake and Johnston counties, N.C., included J. J. (Joseph James) Penney (b. ca. 1843), Penelope Barber Penney, G. W. (George W.) Barber (d. 1863), and others. The collection consists of Civil War correspondence of J. J. Penney, Penelope Barber, G. W. Barber, and others; a few legal papers; receipts; report cards; genealogical materials; a photograph; and other items of members of the Penney family of North Carolina. The majority of the letters are from J. J. Penney in Company D, 50th North Carolina Regiment, Confederate States of America, to Penelope Barber in Wake County, N.C. There are also numerous letters from Penelope Barber to Penney; letters from G. W. Barber, Penelope's brother, serving in the 31st North Carolina Regiment, Confederate Army; and a few letters to or from other family members. Letters describe military life in Virginia in 1862 and in eastern North Carolina in 1863 and 1864, including discussion of feelings about fighting and army life, as well as descriptions of the weather, health, living quarters, food, clothing, news of battles, and speculations on the length of the war. Letters from Penelope Barber describe her life in central North Carolina and give news of family and friends. Also included are deedds and indentures relating to land in Wake County, N.C. Post-Civil War material comprises scattered financial papers of various family members; a few letters, a small amount of genealogical material, a 1914 photograph of a young man in a suit, and other items. |
Creator | Penney (Family : Wake County, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Linda Sellars, January 2002
Encoded by: Linda Sellars, January 2002
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.
Revisions: Finding aid updated in June 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.
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.
J. J. (Joseph James) Penney, b. ca. 1843:
5 May 1862 | Enlisted in Company D, 50th Regiment, North Carolina Troops. Company commanded by Captain Henry J. Ryals. |
15 May 1862 | Promoted to sergeant. |
30 June 1862 | Reduced to ranks. |
14 August 1862 | Promoted to sergeant. |
June-December 1862 | Regiment in Virginia, mostly near Drewry's Bluff. |
January 1863-November 1864 | Regiment in eastern North Carolina. |
May or June 1863 | Married Penelope Barber. |
20 October 1863 | Promoted to 2nd lieutenant. |
13 May 1864 | Promoted to 1st lieutenant. |
November-December 1864 | Regiment in Georgia. |
George W. Barber, d. 1863.
18 September 1861 | Enlisted in Company D, 31st Regiment, North Carolina Troops. |
8 February 1862 | Captured at Roanoke Island, N.C. |
21 February 1862 | Paroled at Elizabeth City, N.C. |
21 August 1862 | Exchanged. |
15 September 1862 | Returned to duty. |
20 January 1863 | Promoted to sergeant. |
September 1862-February 1863 | Regiment in eastern North Carolina. |
February 1863 | Regiment to Charleston, S.C. |
7 or 8 March 1863 | Died of disease in Charleston, S.C. |
Civil War correspondence of J. J. Penney (Joseph James Penney), Penelope Barber Penney, G. W. Barber, and others, a few legal papers, receipts, report cards, genealogical materials, a photograph, and other items of members of the Penney family of North Carolina. The majority of the letters are from J. J. Penney in Company D, 50th North Carolina Regiment, Confederate States of America, to Penelope Barber in Wake County, N.C. There are also numerous letters from Penelope Barber to Penney. Barber and Penney were married in May or June 1863. Also included are letters from G. W. Barber, Penelope's brother, serving in the 31st North Carolina Regiment, Confederate Army, and a few letters to or from other family members and friends.
J. J. Penney's letters describe military life in Virginia in 1862 and in eastern North Carolina in 1863 and 1864. His letters to Penelope Barber discuss his affection for her and tell of his feelings about fighting and army life, as well as describing the weather, his health, living quarters, food, and clothing. They also relay news of other battles and speculations on the length of the war. Penney's letter, 23 July 1862, to G. W. Barber describes the Seven Days' Battles. Penney's letters in the latter part of 1864 describe attacks from Union gunboats in the Roanoke River.
The earliest material in the collection consists chiefly of deeds and indentures relating to ownership of land in Wake County, N.C. Post-Civil War material comprises scattered financial papers of various family members; report cards, 1886-1887, of Lena Rarely of Durham, N.C.; one letter, 1913, to Lena Penney, Raleigh, N.C., from George, on stationery of the Seashore Hotel and Steel Pier, Wrightsville Beach, N.C.; and a small amount of genealogical material. The photograph pictures a young man in a suit and is inscribed "To Mother Dec. 1914."
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Folder 1 |
1815-1849 |
Folder 2-4
Folder 2Folder 3Folder 4 |
1862 |
Folder 5-8
Folder 5Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8 |
1863 |
Folder 9-10
Folder 9Folder 10 |
1864 |
Folder 11 |
1873-1940 |
Folder 12 |
Fragments |
Folder 13 |
Genealogy |
Image Folder P-5072/1 |
Photograph, 1914 |