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No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the D. Abeel Williamson Account Book and Receipt #5091-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Purchased from Terry Alford of Springfield, Va., in April 2002 (Acc. 99222).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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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• Account books--Mississippi.
• Natchez (Miss.)--Social life and customs.
• Plantations--Mississippi.
• Teachers--Mississippi--History--19th century.
• Williamson, D. Abeel, fl. 1860-1862.

D. Abeel Williamson of New Jersey was employed as a tutor on G. B. Shields's plantation in Natchez, Miss., from 12 November 1860 to 11 May 1861. On the inside back cover of the account book, in another person's handwriting, it is reported that Williamson went on to become a lawyer and serve in the 7th New York Infantry Regiment.

The collection includes a small account book containing a detailed listing of the expenses that D. Abeel Williamson incurred in the course of his six-month tenure as a tutor on G. B. Shields's plantation in Natchez, Miss. Since his employer had agreed to provide for his "necessary expenses," that is his "board lodging & washing & fires," the account book records Williamson's discretionary spending. In addition to recording the costs associated with the more mundane aspects of life, such as haircuts, boot repair, and postage, Williamson's ledger itemizes the costs he incurred during visits to New Orleans, the circus, race tracks, and a concert by Blind Boy Tom. A few notations following the accounts date from early 1862.

Also included is a receipt from the Presbyterian Church in Natchez acknowledging Williamson's payment of the yearly pew tax.