Breese Family Papers, 1729-1937

Has Online Content

Some materials from this collection are available online.
Show only online content

Summary

Creator:
Breese (Family : Breese, William Cebra, 1808-1883)
Abstract:

Breese family of Charleston, S.C., and Asheville and Brevard, N.C. William Cebra Breese was cashier of the First National Bank of Charleston until his death in 1883. William Edmond Breese, son of Cornelia Edmond and William Cebra Breese, served in the Confederate Army's South Carolina Cadets and saw action at Kennesaw Mountain and other Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina battles. In 1883, he succeeded his father as cashier of the First National Bank of Charleston. In 1885, he moved to Asheville, N.C., for the health of his son, William Edmond Breese, Jr., and established the First National Bank of Asheville. When the bank failed in 1897, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy, embezzlement, abstraction, and misapplication. After six trials, he was acquitted of all charges. William Edmond Breese, Jr., son of Margaret Lowndes Perroneau and William Edmond Breese, graduated from the University of North Carolina and was active in politics. He served as a member of the North Carolina Senate and was mayor of Brevard, N.C. He married Rebekah Nicolson Woodbridge.

Correspondence, 1847-1915 and 1937, includes letters about personal and professional issues. There are several 1864 letters from William Cebra Breese to William Edmond Breese serving with the South Carolina Cadets and two letter-press books, 1881-1891, that belonged to William Edmond Breese containing copies of letters, some of them relating to Breese's duties in Charleston banks. In addition to Breese family materials there are some letters to and from Hume family members (the family of William Edmond Breese's second wife). Also included are legal and financial Papers, 1810-1908, of the Breese and Hume families, primarily deeds, stock receipts, and other legal documents. Included is an 1810 receipt for the purchase of a slave girl. Some materials relate to the failure of the First National Bank of Asheville and the criminal trials of William E. Breese, 1897-1911. Genealogical Papers, 1729-1909, include documents relating to the Breese, Cebra, Digges, Edwin, Van Vechten, and other families. There are also scrapbooks containing letters, clippings, and other materials; writings of William Edmond Breese and William Edmond Breese Jr., chiefly short humorous sketches and reminiscences, some of which they tried to publish; speeches of William Edmond Breese that he gave at United Confederate Veterans meetings; two brief diaries, 1867 and undated; and photographs of members of the Breese and other families and promotional photos from the First National Bank of Asheville.

Extent:
300 items (1.0 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

William Cebra Breese, son of Maria Cebra and James Breese, moved to South Carolina in 1828. He worked in banks in Columbia and Charleston, ultimately serving as cashier of the First National Bank of Charleston, a position he held until his death in 1883.

William Edmond Breese was born on 17 April 1848, the son of Cornelia Edmond and William Cebra Breese. He was a cadet in the Georgia Military Academy until 1864, when he entered the Confederate Army with the Corps of Cadets. In 1865, he was transferred to the Battalion of South Carolina Cadets. Breese fought in battles at Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and many others in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. During the war, he was wounded, captured once and escaped, captured again, and eventually paroled. After the war, he farmed in Anderson, S.C., then moved to Charleston where he worked in several businesses until 1883, when he succeeded his father as cashier of the First National Bank of Charleston. In 1885, he moved from Charleston to Asheville, N.C., for the health of his son, William Edmond Breese, Jr. Breese established the First National Bank of Asheville and acted as president of the bank until its failure in 1897. His management of the bank was called into question, and he was ultimately arrested and charged with conspiracy, embezzlement, abstraction, and misapplication. After six trials held in several different cities, he was acquitted of all charges. Breese moved from Asheville to Brevard, N.C., where he managed a farm and mill.

William E. Breese (b. 1848) married Margaret Lowndes Perroneau, who died in 1880. In 1883, Breese married Mary Motte Hume.

William Edmond Breese, Jr., was born on 20 December 1873, the son of Margaret Lowndes Perroneau and William Edmond Breese (b. 1848). He graduated from the University of North Carolina and was active in politics. He served as a member of the North Carolina Senate and was mayor of Brevard, N.C. He married Rebekah Nicolson Woodbridge.

Scope and content:

Papers documenting three generations of the Breese family of Charleston, S.C., and Asheville and Brevard, N.C. William Edmond Breese (b. 1848), veteran of the Civil War and founder of the First National Bank of Asheville is most thoroughly represented, but there are papers of his father, William Cebra Breese (d. 1883), and his son, William E. Breese, Jr. (b. 1873). Included are correspondence, legal and financial materials, writings, genealogical materials, scrapbooks, pictures, and other papers.

Acquisition information:

Received from Rebekah Hudson Huggins of Pisgah Forest, N.C., in September 1997 (Acc. 97118).

Processing information:

Processed by: Nick Graham, March 1998

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, January 2010

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.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

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

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Breese Family Papers #4890, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu