John H. Wheeler (1806-1882) Diaries and Papers, MfP.51
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- John H. Wheeler (1806-1882) Diaries and Papers
- Call Number
- MfP.51
- Creator
- Unknown
- Date
- 1584-1882
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Collection Overview
Papers of John Hill Wheeler of Hertford Co., historian, legislator, state treasurer (1843-1845), and minister to Nicaragua (1854-1857), consisting mainly of diaries (1854-1882, broken series) describing Wheeler's social and political activities in Washington, D.C., including discussions with congressmen and U.S. presidents beginning with President Franklin Pierce, for whom he was assistant secretary (1853-1854). Personal topics include family, real estate and farm in Washington area, his writings on N.C. history, and travels to Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh. Also described are his voyage to Nicaragua via Cuba and his involvement in a Nicaraguan revolution; work with the Division of Documents (Dept. of the Interior); arrangements for visit of President James Buchanan to commencement at UNC (1859); return to North Carolina, Sept., 1861; and trip to Europe to copy North Carolina colonial records, traveling on the Advance (1863). Postwar entries concern the state's readmission to the Union, Reconstruction, and President Andrew Johnson's impeachment and trial; Wheeler's work for the census office, the Library of Congress (1875-1880), and the War Records Office; and revival of the N.C. Historical Society and its efforts to secure manuscripts collected by David L. Swain. Others mentioned in diaries include Samuel A. and Thomas Ashe, Kemp P. Battle, Thomas Bragg, L. O'B. Branch, William Garl Browne, Walter Clark, Thomas L. Clingman, James C. Dobbin, Daniel R. Goodloe, William A. Graham, D. H. Hill, William W. Holden, James M. Leach, B. F. Moore, John W. Moore, Charles and Samuel Phillips, John Pool, Matt W. Ransom, Kenneth Rayner, Thomas Ruffin, Alfred M. Scales, Thomas Sully, and Alfred M. Waddell. Other items include autobiographical notes (1806-1877); broadsides, programs, and other printed material; and his London notebook (1863-1864) containing copies, abstracts, and notations of documents (1584-1780) in the Public Record Office relating to North Carolina and letters from Gov. Zebulon B. Vance and Confederate envoy James M. Mason. Original diaries and papers are in the Library of Congress.