Thomas Burke (ca. 1747-1783) Papers, PC.55
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Thomas Burke (ca. 1747-1783) Papers
- Call Number
- PC.55
- Creator
- Burke, Thomas, approximately 1747-1783
- Date
- 1769-1794
- Extent
- 0.400 cubic feet
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Collection Overview
Papers of Burke, physician, lawyer, member of provincial congress from Orange Co. (1775-1776), delegate to Continental Congress (1777-1781), and governor (1781-1782). An early letter book (1769-1774) and a few letters concern legal cases and personal affairs in Virginia and North Carolina. Later correspondence (1774-1783) includes letters from Richard Caswell, Nathanael Greene, Cornelius Harnett, Joseph Hewes, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Johnston, Allen Jones, Archibald Maclaine, Henry E. McCullough, Andrew Miller, John Penn, Thomas Person; and a letter book (1782-1783) kept in an unidentified ironworks ledger (1777). Subjects include Gov. Josiah Martin; unequal representation for western counties; mail tampering (1774); the Association; hopes for reconciliation; rumors of assasination plots against Washington (1776) and against North Carolina leaders (1777); work of the provincial and continental congresses, including debate on independence; a move in Congress to charge Burke with contempt (Apr., 1778) and Burke's quarrel with Gen. John Sullivan (Sept., 1778); troop provisions; currency problems; New Bern privateers; illicit trade with the enemy (Jamaica) and cases in Admiralty Court (1778-1779); election of Thomas Jefferson as governor of Virginia; peace moves (1779, 1781); war in Virginia and the Carolinas, including a letter from Burke to John Adams in Amsterdam (1780); loyalists; Burke's imprisonment by the British on James Island, his parole violation, and ethics involved; need for collection of revenue; and efforts by loyalists and others to collect debts (1783). Undated material includes letters to "Miss Betsey" or "Madam," giving suggestions for reading; a marriage proposal; criticism of the militia; draft letter to Henry Laurens concerning Burke's rumored connection with Silas Deane in commerce injurious to America; criticism of Laurens from Whitmell Hill; and unsigned letter to George Washington, water-marked 1794, concerning the raising of troops. Other items include draft of an address to the General Assembly; Burke's full account of his imprisonment and breaking of parole; account of expenses while governor; and a folder of poems. Other Burke papers are in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC.