Miscellaneous Collection, PC.21
Abstract
This is a collection of miscellaneous items such as letters, deeds, grants, surveys,
wills, leases, miscellaneous items, that also included a number of photcopies and
transcripts from other repositories. Writers, letter recipients, and subjects of these
materials vary widely. They range from governors, generals, to ordinary citizens and
cover a range of historical periods, from the pre-Revolutionary period on to the 20th
century, with 21st century additions expected.
Papers from the colonial period include letters such as a contemporary abstract of
letter about Governor Dobbs's marriage to a girl of fifteen. Revolutionary War letters
discuss topics such as the Batttle of Moores Creek Bridge and southern campaings,
loyalists, privateers, condition of soldiers, among various others.Post-Revolutionary
material includes an unsigned and incomplete but detailed discussion of the U.S.Constitution;
and letters about western and bounty lands (1795-1797), and more. Subjects of Civil
War letters include preparations in South Carolina; blockade-running; and the fall
of Fort Fisher. Postwar letters include Lillie Devereux Blake on the New York Women's
Suffrage Association (1886); Jefferson Davis about North Carolina's distinguished
history (1889);William Jennings Bryan to Walter Clark (1909, n.d.), as a small sample.
Throughout the collection are letters relating to court cases and personal business
affairs. Twentieth century materials include a brochure with recipes and nutritional
information, a promotion from the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission, Inc, a non-profit
organization; programs for different events, such as Maya Angelou's Homecoming Funeral,
2014; dedication of Holy Name Cathedral, 2017, and more.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Miscellaneous Collection
- Call Number
- PC.21
- Creator
- State Archives of North Carolina. Private Manuscripts Archivists
- Date
- 1689-2017
- Extent
- 1.020 cubic feet, 1.000 items
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Quick Links
- PC.21.1. Deeds, Grants, Leases, Etc.,1697-1980
- PC.21.2. Correspondence,1755-1788
- PC.21.3. Correspondence,1789-1830
- PC.21.4. Correspondence,1831-1861
- PC.21.5. Correspondence,1861-1912, and undated
- PC.21.6. Correspondence, Bond, Deed, Certificate, Etc. (Photocopies),1775-1867
- PC.21.7. Letters, Land Records, and Miscellaneous Material
- PC.21.8. Mixed Materials , 1824-1980
- Oversized Materials, 1800-2017
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item] and volume or box number in PC.21, Miscellaneous Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C., U.S.A.
Collection Overview
This is a collection of miscellaneous original materials, and a portion of photocopies and transcripts from other repositories. Historical periods represented include the colonial era, Revolutionary War, post-Revolutioary War; Civil War, Reconstruction, and into the early twentieth century, with twenty first century material anticipated. There are political items from most eras. Throughout the collection are letters relating to court cases and personal business affairs. Land papers (1696-1823), including a grant to Thomas Pollock (1722), are mostly for northeastern counties of North Carolina, especially Bertie Co. Landowners include the Tuscarora Indians. Wills include that of Cornelius Harnett (1781). The photocopies are of varied original material, with many relating to western lands, especially those of the Transylvania Company, with descriptions of Tennessee and Kentucky.
Papers from the colonial period include a contemporary abstract of letter about Governor Dobbs's marriage to girl of fifteen; duplicate of instructions from General Assembly to agents in London concerning internal taxation and the right to emit currency (1768); contemporary copy of letter to Hermon Husband describing attempts to obtain indictments against county officials at Salisbury General Court (1769); Thomas Jones to Sir Nathaniel Duckenfield about cancellation of Tyrrell Co. court session because of absence of justices (1771); and letters loyal to Gov. Josiah Martin from Archibald Neilson (1774-1775). Revolutionary War letters discuss the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge and southern campaigns, loyalists, privateers, condition of soldiers, parole of Governor Burke, and surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. There are also letters from Benjamin Hawkins in Philadelphia (1781) and as Creek Indian agent (1811).
Post-Revolutionary material includes an unsigned and incomplete but detailed discussion of the U.S. Constitution; and letters about western and bounty lands (1795-1797) from Stockley Donelson, Jesse Speight, and Tench Coxe to William Tyrrell and William Polk, with copy of letter from Thomas Blount about David Allison. There are also letters about North Carolina's debt to France (1789, 1797); reminiscences by William Polk on the Cumberland Association and by Lewis Williams and others on the Cherokee expedition of 1776; original and copied correspondence with and about the Creeks and Cherokees (1786-1788); and letters in 1816 about the Chickasaws and possible Cherokee removal.
Political items include a printed report to constituents from Lewis Williams (1810), letter on state politics from Benjamin Williams (1808), and letters on national and international politics (1818-1852) from Daniel Forney, Lewis Williams, Henry Clay, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr., Romulus Saunders, John Owen, Kenneth Rayner, Asa Biggs, Edward Stanly, John C. Calhoun, and Weldon Edwards. A reminiscence (1912) recalls J. Motley Morehead in the legislature of 1858-1859. Also included are letters of Gen. Joseph Graham about the Revolutionary army and militia (1808); of former slave about life in Liberia (1828); of Dr. and Mrs. Elisha Mitchell (1819-1846), including Mitchell to D. L. Swain about UNC campus; of Mitchell's sons on his death and burial; and of others about Archibald D. Murphey's finances, the State Capitol fire (1831), Cherokee lands, the Literary Fund, professional men in Hillsborough and Raleigh (1843), the Mexican War, and the insane asylum. Subjects of Civil War letters include preparations in South Carolina; discontent with N.C. Gov. H. T. Clark (1862); description of several Confederate generals (1862); blockade-running; salt; railroads; meeting of governors of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri (1864); and the fall of Ft. Fisher. Postwar letters include John A. Gilmer describing Greensboro (May 8, 1865); William A. Graham about his involvement with the North Carolina Railroad (1873); Lillie Devereux Blake on the New York Women's Suffrage Association (1886); Jefferson Davis about North Carolina's distinguished history (1889); William Jennings Bryan to Walter Clark (1909, undated); and W. W. Fuller (1910) recalling Matt W. Ransom's fight against the Force Bill.
Throughout the collection are letters relating to court cases and personal business affairs. Land papers (1696-1823), including a grant to Thomas Pollock (1722), are mostly for northeastern counties of North Carolina, especially Bertie Co. Landowners include David Stone, Archibald D. Murphey, and the Tuscarora Indians. Wills include that of Cornelius Harnett (1781). Photocopies are chiefly material relating to western lands, especially those of the Transylvania Company, with descriptions of Tennessee and Kentucky. Other copies refer to cooperation with other colonies (1768-1774); expeditions against the British at Cape Fear and against the Cherokees (1776); privateering (1778,1812); the U.S. Constitution; politics (1803, 1808, 1840-1860); Capt. J. W. Cooke of the Albemarle, George Davis, and Victor Blue; UNC and Davidson College (1869); and state's sale in 1879 of the Western N.C. Railroad to private interests (1911).
Among the miscellaneous items in the collection is an abstract of a letter describing Governor Dobbs' marriage to a fifteen year old girl, a letter (presumably from Governor Tryon) regarding the loyalty of the people of North Carolina, correspondence concerning western lands and military land grants, North Carolina's debt to France (1797), and a review of the organization of military units in the Revolutionary War (1808). There are several letters from Ells ha Mitchell giving news from ChapeiL Hill, accounts of his trips in North and South Carolina, and proposals for improvements to the University campus (1819-1847). Also included are letters reporting the disappearance of Mitchell and the details of his death and funeral (1857-1858). Other miscellaneous correspondence deals with such subjects as private business affairs of Archibald D. Murphey, discussion of Revolutionary War Association in Cumberland County (1825), attempt to collect material for book on William R. Davie (1826), letter from a former slave who had settled in Africa (1828), description of burning of state capitol and political implications (1831), activities in Mexico during the war with that country (1847), a one-line verse signed by John C. Calhoun (1848), a review by Jefferson Davis of North Carolina history from colonial times to the Civil War (1889), reports on service of Lieutenant Victor Blue during the Spanish-American War (1898), genealogy of David Lindsey and George Durant families (1910), detailed account of sale of Western North Carolina Railroad (1911), and Governor Morehead's policy on railroad building (1912). Undated items include a letter from Thomas Sully advising the state on a portrait of George Washington, a discussion of David Schenck's history of the invasion of North Carolina by the British with specific attention to the battle of Guilford Court House, and an unsigned letter discussing the problems of procuring salt and maintaining railroads during the Civil War.
Box 6. This is photocopied material and consists primarily of material concerning
the Transylvania Company lands and other western lands. These papers include descriptions
of areas visited in the west and business activities and prospects for future development
in Tennessee and Kentucky. Other items in this binder include: mention of privateering
(1778, 1812), Revolutionary War news (including disease and activities of Congress,
1778), report of vandalism and degradation at University and bright prospects for
Davidson College (I869), garrisoning of fort at Beaufort by Negro troops (1867), politics
(1840-1860), and various other private and financial matters.
The following container and folder list is for PC.21.7, a box of material accessioned
after the last printing of the GUIDE TO PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS, 1983. Note that an 8th
box is in process with additions made from about 2017.
Container List: PC.21.7
Folder 1. James K. Polk to David L. Swain. 29 Apr. 1847
Folder 2. 1869 deed for 1, 0354 acres in Sampson County.
Folder 3. Archives of Henderson Co. Public Library. Ca. 1850-1852. Land records. 5
documents.
Folder 4. Deed, 1800, Buncombe Co. (prvd 1817). DAR App, Janie O.R. Twichell (nd)
Folder 5. Deed, 1842 (1853 copy). Wright & Wetmore to Fayetteville Commrs.
Folder 6. Deeds, Randolph Co. 1819; 1844; 1845 (and 1881 True copy); 1891.
Folder 7. John Steele declaration of intent to become a citizen, 1835.
Folder 8. Palfrey Letter, 22 Sept 1863; Tupper Letter, 10 July 1865.
Folder 9. Deed and Bond, Rowan Co. Deed, Cooper to Brown, 1838; and Bond to make a
Deed, Roseman to Brown, 1840.
Folder 10. Agreement to Exchange Land, 1896. Haywood; Hawkins; Olds
Folder 11. Letita Tyler Semple Autograph
Folder 12. James Patterson Land Grant. Orange Co., #1806, 12 July 1811.
Folder. 13. "An Act to provide... for public defense. " May 1861.
Folder. 14. T. J. Young Letter. 16 Sept. 1863.
Folder 15. John Miller letter, 1764 (1771) & certification by Thomas James
Folder 16. Specifications for a court house at Hendersonville, Henderson Co. [1845]
Folder 17. Petition for Partition of land, 1852; and Eligibillity for Southern Cross
of Honor
Folder 18. Land Grant of Thomas Pollock, 1722
Folder 19. Account of capture by Spanish privateer at Puerto Rico in 1794, written
at New Bern, 21 Apr 1798.
Folder 20. Warrant to pay annuity to his Majesty's Keeper of the Hawks
Folder 21. Diplomas, Philadelphia Medicate Institute, for Thomas Davis, 1829.
Folder 22.Land grant to John Maxwell, 1 April 1780.
Folder 23. William S. Mhoon to Richard Bunting, 27 Jan 1834
Folder 24. Private copy of Granville grant to John Patterson 23 May 1758.
Folder 25. John Faw to James Goslin, 9 July 1867
Folder 26. "The Negro Problem," 1890
Folder 27. Court minutes abstract, 1784, re forgery of tobacco notes.
Folder 28. Grant of land to David Allison, Moore County, 27 May 1795.
Folder 29. Invitation to the Sesqui-Centennial of the Discovery of Gold in American,
Concord, N.C., 1949.
Folder 30. Deeds and land records, Glasgow and Lenoir, 1790-1910.
Box 8 contains a number of materials from the antebellum period to the 21st century.
Box 9 contains oversized materials.
Arrangement Note
Each of the volumes is in chronological order. For the most part, box seven is in the order in which the material was received.
Contents of the Collection
1. PC.21.1. Deeds, Grants, Leases, Etc.,1697-1980
Scope and Content:
1697-1823: Consists of deeds, land grants, and other records relating to land transactions, and a few wills. Many of the land records are for the northeastern counties of the state: Albemarle, Chowan, Bertie, Edge¬combe, Northampton, Craven, Johnston. Tyrrell, Halifax, and Martin, as well as Isle of Wight County, Virginia (1697), are represented, along with the Forked Deer and Obion River areas in Tennessee (1823). Most of the records in this volume, however, relate to land in the Roanoke River-Roquist (Rocquiss) Swamp area of Bertie County, much of which eventually passed through the hands of Governor David Stone. There are also records of transactions involving Archibald D. Murphey, and there are several long-term lease agreements between the Tuscarora Indian nation and various individuals for Indian lands in the Roanoke River area. Wills in this collection include the original will of Cornelius Harnett (New Hanover Co., 1781), and copies of those of John Paul (Northampton Co., 1762), William Tryon (1787), Allen Jones (Northampton Co., 1807), and Margaret Tryon (1818).
2. PC.21.2. Correspondence,1755-1788
Scope and Content:
1775-1788: Of particular interest for the pre-Revolutionary period are the letters and abstracts of letters (1768-1774) expressing sympathy and support for the people of Boston and the colony of Massachusetts in their struggle with Great Britain. These letters relate the zeal of the people of North Carolina in sending supplies to that colony. There are several pro-British letters (1774-1775) from Archibald Neilson criticizing the traitorous actions of the revolutionists, noting that the people of Boston planned to burn their town as a protest arid that a ship loaded with tea had been burned at Baltimore. There is an abundance of correspondence concerning the Revolutionary War (1776-1783). Beginning in 1776 with the Scottish uprising in the east and the Indian War in the west, the letters of this period give details con¬cerning supply shortages, problems with the drafting of men for the militia, payroll difficulties, a proposal to capture a British fort on Bald Head Island, military operations in the North, civil and-military problems, British attacks in Georgia and South Carolina and details of their fortifications (1779), exchanging of prisoners, coastal defenses, enemy raids on the Cape Fear, details of the encounter in Virginia (with the movement of the French fleet up the James River and the approach of French and American troops to Yorktown, 1781), attempts by Alexander Martin to secure the release of Governor Burke from his imprisonment by the British, British and Tory activities a after Yorktown, and continued efforts to collect provisions for the American forces (1781-1783). There are several letters to and from leaders of the Cherokee and Creek Indian nations concerning their problems (1785-1788). These include efforts to sign treaties, "injustices by the white man," "outrages by the Indians," and the Indian war that followed. Among the letters regarding the issue of the new Federal Constitution is Willie Jones' refusal to attend the Constitutional Convention (1787), a typed copy of a George Washington letter on ratification, a twenty-page detailed argument favoring the new Constitution.
3. PC.21.3. Correspondence,1789-1830
Scope and Content:
1789-1830: There are a number of letters concerning Indian affairs during the 1811-1816 period as the states and the federal government negotiated with the Indians, laying the groundwork for moving them west of the Mississippi River. Later accounts of the 1776 Indian uprising were given in 1825 by Joseph Williams, (and in 1843 by John Stevenson, and in 1850 by S. McDowell. See Vol. 4 or PC.21.4). Among the letters regarding the issue of the new Federal Constitution is Willie Jones' refusal to attend the Constitutional Convention (1787), a typed copy of a George Washington letter on ratification, a twenty-page detailed argument favoring the new Constitution, and the resolves of the North Carolina convention giving amendments desired by the state (1789). Political trends continued to be a major topic of correspondence during the first half of the nineteenth century. Richard Stanford compared the policies of the Adams and Jefferson administrations (1803), Benjamin Williams discussed state elections and activities in 1808, Daniel Forney and Lewis Williams reported on national and international affairs in 1818, and such men as Henry Clay, Romulus Saunders, John Owen, and Richard Dobbs Spaight discussed politics during the 1820s with particular interest in the 1824 presidential election. Although there are a sprinkling of politically oriented letters during the 1830s, most of these are in the form of requests to politicians for patronage by their constituents.
4. PC.21.4. Correspondence,1831-1861
Scope and Content:
1831-1861: There are a number of letters concerning Indian affairs during the 1811-1816 period as the states and the federal government negotiated with the Indians, laying the groundwork for moving them west of the Mississippi River. Volume contains later accounts of the 1776 Indian uprising, including those given in 1825 by Joseph Williams, in 1843 by John Stevenson, and in 1850 by S. McDowell. Political trends continued to be a topic of correspondence, although there appear to be more in the previous volume, covering the early decades of the nineteenth century. In the fourth volume there are a sprinkling of politically oriented letters during the 1830s, most of these are in the form of requests to politicians for patronage by their constituents. There are a number of letters discussing politics, both local and national, during the 1840-1850 period. Among the correspondents on this subject are Kenneth Rayner, Asa Biggs, Edward Stanly, and Weldon N. Edwards.
5. PC.21.5. Correspondence,1861-1912, and undated
Scope and Content:
1861-1912, and undated: Correspondence of the Civil War period includes news of several battles with a brief description of several top Confederate officers, conditions and discontent in Beaufort-Edgecombe County area (1862), a letter from Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to J. E. B. Stuart on movement of troops (1863), shipment of cotton aboard the "Advance," description of life in camp, an account of George Davis' effort to flee after the fall of the Confederacy and his final capture and imprisonment, problems of supply, private difficulties after the fall of Fort Fisher, and a description of the feats of Captain James W. Cooke aboard the ironclad "Albemarle" (1874).
6. PC.21.6. Correspondence, Bond, Deed, Certificate, Etc. (Photocopies),1775-1867
Scope and Content:
1775-1869: Box of photocopies that consists for the most part of material concerning the Transylvania Company lands and other western lands. These papers include descriptions of areas visited in the west and business activities and prospects for future development in Tennessee and Kentucky. Other items in this group include: mention of privateering (1778, 1812), Revolutionary War news (including disease and activities of Congress, 1778), report of vandalism and degradation at University and bright prospects for Davidson College (I869), garrisoning of fort at Beaufort by Negro troops (1867), politics (1840-1860), and various other private and financial matters. Prior to July of 2014, these copies were housed in a container possibly described as a binder or as a volume.
7. PC.21.7. Letters, Land Records, and Miscellaneous Material
Scope and Content:
The material in this box has been arranged in the order in which it has been acquired and accessioned. The donors and sources vary. If more information is needed, please see the acquisition note of this finding aid.
8. PC.21.8. Mixed Materials , 1824-1980
Scope and Content:
Commission of Elijah Salter, Esq., as a captain in the Hunting Quarter of the Infantry, in recognition by the field officers of the 17th Regiment, and signed by Colonel Thomas Fulford, 12 May 1841.
9. Oversized Materials, 1800-2017
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
The nature of this collection renders impossible a comprehensive record of acqusition. If the source of a specific record is essential, please contact the registrar.