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Collection Number: 05066

Collection Title: Joseph Nathaniel Allen Papers, 1808-1967

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 150 items)
Abstract Educator, attorney, and Confederate officer Joseph Nathaniel Allen (also known as Nat Allen) was born in Warren County, N.C., in 1834 and died in 1917. The collection includes correspondence, writings, genealogical materials, and financial and legal documents of Joseph Nathaniel Allen and his family. Correspondence contains discussions of family and local news, social events, health, religion, and travel. There are detailed accounts of an 1858 Independence Day celebration and an 1890 trip to Charleston, S.C. Also included is a brief sketch by Allen of Confederate General Robert Ransom, whom he served as private secretary during the Civil War. Genealogical materials include a 1967 biographical essay about Allen written by his grandson and a 1953 essay about the Watson family. Financial and legal materials mainly consist of receipts, Confederate bonds, and a North Carolina certificate proclaiming Allen's right to practice law. There are also newspaper clippings from the 1920s about Charles Applewhite Hill's tenure in the North Carolina Senate, 1823-1827.
Creator Allen, Joseph Nathaniel, 1834-1917.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
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 Nathaniel Allen Papers #5066, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from Sarah Davis of Louisburg, N.C., in July 2001 (Acc. 98977, 99012).
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.
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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Joseph Nataniel Allen (also known as Nat Allen) was born in 1834 to Edmond and Sallie Park Watson Allen in Warren County, N.C. Allen was educated at the Warrenton Male Academy and, in the 1850s, he read law with Judge Richmond M. Pearson. Although admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1859, it appears that Allen's primary vocation was education and his career culminated with his election to the post of Warren County superintendent of public instruction, in which position he served, 1899-1909.

During the Civil War, Allen served the Confederacy in three different capacities: in November 1861, he served briefly as a captain with the 34th Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the North Carolina Militia; he then served as private secretary to General Robert W. Ransom; and then he was dispatched to Wilmington, N.C., to serve on the staff of the Commissary Department.

Allen was married twice. In 1859, he married Mary Elizabeth Powell; they had two sons, Eugene and Ivey. In 1868, two years after his first wife's death, Allen married Mattie Harper, who was also an educator. They had three surviving daughters: Ida, Edna, and Sallie. Allen died in 1917.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence, writings, genealogical materials, and financial and legal documents of educator, lawyer, and Confederate officer Joseph Nathaniel Allen and his family of Warren County, N.C. Correspondence contains discussions of family and local news, social events, health, religion, and travel. There are detailed accounts of an 1858 Independence Day celebration and an 1890 trip to Charleston, S.C. Also included is a brief sketch by Allen of Confederate General Robert Ransom, whom he served as private secretary during the Civil War. Genealogical materials include a 1967 biographical essay about Allen written by his grandson and a 1953 essay about the Watson family. Financial and legal materials mainly consist of receipts, Confederate bonds, and a North Carolina certificate proclaiming Allen's right to practice law. There are also newspaper clippings from the 1920s about Charles Applewhite Hill's tenure in the North Carolina Senate, 1823-1827.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1808-1967.

About 150 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Correspondence, writings, genealogical materials, and financial and legal documents of educator, lawyer, and Confederate officer Joseph Nathaniel Allen and his family of Warren County, N.C. Correspondence contains discussions of family and local news, social events, health, religion, and travel. There are detailed accounts of an 1858 Independence Day celebration and an 1890 trip to Charleston, S.C. Also included is a brief sketch by Allen of Confederate General Robert Ransom, whom he served as private secretary during the Civil War. Genealogical materials include a 1967 biographical essay about Allen written by his grandson and a 1953 essay about the Watson family. Financial and legal materials mainly consist of receipts, Confederate bonds, and a North Carolina certificate proclaiming Allen's right to practice law. There are also newspaper clippings from the 1920s about Charles Applewhite Hill's tenure in the North Carolina Senate, 1823-1827.

Folder 1

Correspondence, 1852-1859

Folder 2

Correspondence, 1864-1871

Folder 3

Correspondence, 1880-1907

Folder 4

Correspondence, undated

Folder 5

"General Robert W. Ransom: A sketch written from memory by his private secretary, Mr. Nat Allen."

Folder 6

Genealogical materials, 1953-1967

Folder 7

Financial and legal materials, 1808-1871

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-5066/1

Three one thousand dollar bonds issued by the Confederate States of America, no. 5062-5064, 4th series, 17 February 1864

Folder 8

Newspaper clippings, 1920s

Folder 9

Miscellaneous

Image Folder PF-5066/1

Photograph: Carte-des-visite portrait of unidentified young woman

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Photograph (PF-5066/1)

Extra-oversize papers (XOPF-5066/1)

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