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 250 items) |
Abstract | The collection documents the white Sherrod family of Franklin County, N.C., including Thomas Sherrod (1730-1818); Jordan R. Sherrod (active 1818-1859); and John M. Sherrod (1828-1914) and Henry H. Sherrod (active 1837-1865), both of whom served in Company E, 15th Regiment North Carolina Infantry during the American Civil War. The collection consists primarily of receipts, warrants, business correspondence, and other financial papers, 1802-1865. These papers provide a record of the Sherrod family's connections to slavery, including people who were enslaved by family members; rent and tax payments; sales of cotton; purchases of goods and services; and transactions conducted to settle the estates of family members. Many of the receipts and warrants from the 1820s through the 1850s concern Jordan R. Sherrod, while most papers from the late 1850s and early 1860s relate to the business of Sherrod and Green of Franklinton, N.C., a partnership that included Henry H. Sherrod and Andrew Green. The collection also contains Confederate documents authorizing a disability discharge for John M. Sherrod and leaves of absence for Henry H. Sherrod. Other items include an 1802 marriage license; a transcription of Thomas Sherrod's 1818 will, which documents trafficking of enslaved people through inheritance; an 1879 school report; and a 1967 letter about family genealogy. |
Creator | Sherrod (Family : Franklin County, N.C.) |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English |
Processed by: Elise Allison, July 2005
Encoded by: Elise Allison, July 2005
Conscious editing by Nancy Kaiser, April 2024: Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical information, scope and content, and contents list.
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.
Other processing info
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 white Sherrod family resided in Franklin County, N.C., in the 19th century. Thomas Sherrod was born in Northampton, N.C., in 1730. He was a member of North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress, which met in Halifax on 4 April 1776, and he fought in the American Revolution, reaching the rank of colonel. He may have been married twice, the second time to Elizabeth, and he had at least seven children: Temperance, Charity, Martha, Penelope, James, Nancy, and Benjamin.
Thomas Sherrod died in 1818, leaving Jordan R. Sherrod as one of the executors of his will. Their relationship is uncertain since the copy of the will in this collection refers to Jordan R. Sherrod as "formerly Jordan R. Steagall." Jordan R. Sherrod was probably born in the 1770s and died in 1859. His children included John, Henry, Lucian, Alphonzo, and Martha.
John M. Sherrod was born around 1828 and during the American Civil War served in Company E, 15th Regiment North Carolina Infantry until he was discharged for disability in June 1863. Henry H. Sherrod was born around 1837 and served in the same regiment. In addition, he was an active partner in the business of Sherrod and Green in Franklinton, N.C., during the early 1860s.
Enslaved people who are documented in this collection include:
The collection documents the white Sherrod family of Franklin County, N.C., including Thomas Sherrod (1730-1818); Jordan R. Sherrod (active 1818-1859); and John M. Sherrod (1828-1914) and Henry H. Sherrod (active 1837-1865), both of whom served in Company E, 15th Regiment North Carolina Infantry during the American Civil War. The collection consists primarily of receipts, warrants, business correspondence, and other financial papers, 1802-1865. These papers provide a record of the Sherrod family's connections to slavery, including people who were enslaved by family members; rent and tax payments; sales of cotton; purchases of goods and services; and transactions conducted to settle the estates of family members. Many of the receipts and warrants from the 1820s through the 1850s concern Jordan R. Sherrod, while most papers from the late 1850s and early 1860s relate to the business of Sherrod and Green of Franklinton, N.C., a partnership that included Henry H. Sherrod and Andrew Green. The collection also contains Confederate documents authorizing a disability discharge for John M. Sherrod and leaves of absence for Henry H. Sherrod. Other items include an 1802 marriage license; a transcription of Thomas Sherrod's 1818 will, which documents trafficking of enslaved people through inheritance; an 1879 school report; and a 1967 letter about family genealogy.
Back to TopArrangement: by subject, then chronological.
Folder 1 |
Confederate documents, 1861-1864 |
Folder 2 |
Financial papers, 1802-1819Records of enslavement:
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Folder 3 |
Financial papers, 1820-1829Records of enslavement:
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Folder 4 |
Financial papers, 1830-1839 |
Folder 5 |
Financial papers, 1840-1849Records of enslavement:
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Folder 6 |
Financial papers, 1850-1854Records of enslavement:
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Folder 7 |
Financial papers, 1855-1859Records of enslavement:
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Folder 8 |
Financial papers, 1860-1865Records of enslavement:
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Folder 9 |
Other papers, 1802-1967Records of enslavement:
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