Joseph Adolph Linn Papers, 1839-1881

Summary

Creator:

Linn, Joseph Adolph, 1820-1864.

Abstract:

Joseph Adolph Linn, of Gold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., was a student at the Lutheran theological seminaries at Lexington, S.C., and Gettysburg, Pa., and a minister of several churches in Rowan County. He also operated a farm and grist mill.

Among the papers are letters of J. A. Linn as a student; disconnected items pertaining to his church work and his varied business interests, including farming, milling, a tannery and shoe-making business, and a gold mine; papers of Shuler and Bernhardt relatives; papers relating to slaves, including some about insurance policies on slaves; several letters from Confederate soldiers in Virginia; and a few items pertaining to Western Carolina Male Academy (later North Carolina College) in Cabarrus County, N.C. Volumes include library records of the seminary at Lexington, lecture notes kept by Linn as a student, and the diary of Margaret Bernhardt, Linn's second wife, while in school in Concord, N.C., 1845-1846.

Extent:

175 items (0.5 linear feet)

Language:

Materials in English

Library Catalog Link:

View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Joseph Adolph Linn (1820-1864), of Gold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., was a Lutheran minister and business man. Linn was educated at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Lexington, S.C., and at the Wittemburg Seminary at Gettsyburg, Pa. He served as a minister of several churches in Rowan County. He also operated a farm and grist mill and had business interests in a tannery and leather-working company and a gold-mining company. Linn was married twice. His first wife was Rebecca Shuler of Lexington, S.C., who died in 1848, leaving a son, John T. S. Linn. His second wife was Margaret Ann Bernhardt (also spelled Barnhardt) of Cabarrus County, N.C., with whom he also had a son, Joseph Adolph Linn Junior.

Scope and content:

The collection includes correspondence and varied business papers of Joseph Adolph Linn. Correspondence relates to Linn's education; Lutheran religious topics, including church activities and appointments; family and personal affairs; and other matters. There are also disconnected items pertaining to Linn's business interests including farming, milling, a tannery and shoe-making business, and a gold mine. Also included are some papers of Shuler and Bernhardt relatives; papers relating to slaves; several letters from Confederate soldiers in Virginia; and a few items pertaining to Western Carolina Male Academy (later North Carolina College) in Cabarrus County, N.C. Volumes include library records of the seminary at Lexington, lecture notes kept by Linn as a student, and the diary of Margaret Bernhardt, Linn's second wife, while in school in Concord, N.C., 1845-1846.

Acquisition information:

Received from Mrs. William H. Hobson of Salisbury, N.C. September 1955.

Processing information:

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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.

Related

Other finding aids:

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Agriculture--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Theological seminaries--United States--History--19th century.
Enslaved persons--Insurance requirements.
Insurance policies--North Carolina--History--19th century.
College students--United States--Social life and customs.
Flour mills--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Gold mines and mining--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Leather industry and trade--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Lutheran Church--North Carolina--Clergy--History--19th century.
Lutherans--North Carolina.
Slave bills of sale--North Carolina.
Theology--Study and teaching--Lutheran Church--History--19th century.
Women--North Carolina--Diaries.
Women--Education--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Diaries.

Names:

Lutheran Theological Seminary (Lexington, S.C.)--Students--History--19th century.
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.--Students--History--19th century.
North Carolina College (Mt. Pleasant, N.C.)--History.
Western Carolina Male Academy.
Bernhardt family.
Linn family.
Shuler family.
Linn, Joseph Adolph, 1820-1864.

Places:

Rowan County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
Rowan County (N.C.)--Religion--19th century.

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

No usage restrictions.

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 Joseph Adolph Linn Papers, #3163, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:

Southern Historical Collection

Louis Round Wilson Library

200 South Road

Chapel Hill, NC 27515

Contact:

(919) 962-3765

wilsonlibrary@unc.edu