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 Brevard and McDowell Family Papers #86, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Franklin Brevard McDowell, his niece Mrs. Thomas H. Wright, and her son Lenoir G. Wright from 1924 to 1973.

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.

Processed by: Rebecca Hollingsworth, February 1993

Encoded by: Joseph Nicholson, June 2006

Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, August 2020; and Laura Smith, January 2022

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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.

• Brevard family.
• Brevard, Alexander, 1755-1829.
• Brevard, Joseph, 1766-1821.
• Camden (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Charlotte (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Diaries.
• Enslaved persons--Employment--North Carolina.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Fort Moultrie (S.C.)--History--19th century.
• Home economics--Accounting--History--19th century.
• Iron industry and trade--North Carolina--History--18th century.
• Iron industry and trade--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Lincoln County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Lincoln County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• McDowell family.
• McDowell, Franklin Brevard, 1849-1927.
• McDowell, Rebekah Brevard, 1823-1904.
• Mount Tirzah Forge (Lincoln County, N.C.)
• New York (N.Y.)--Description and travel.
• North Carolina--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• North Carolina. Militia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• Philadelphia (Pa.)--Description and travel.
• Private libraries--North Carolina--History--18th century.
• Roach family.
• Slavery--North Carolina.
• South Carolina--History--1775-1865.
• Travelers--Diaries--History--18th century.
• United States--History--War of 1812.
• Women--North Carolina--Diaries.
• Women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Wright family.

Alexander Brevard (1755-1829), fifth son of John and Jane McWhorter Brevard, was a native of Iredell County, N.C., but spent most of his adult life in Lincoln County. During the Revolutionary War, he and seven of his brothers served in the Continental army. After 1779, Alexander Brevard was a captain of the North Carolina militia. After the war, he married Rebecca Davidson (1762-1824), daughter of John Davidson (1735-1832). About 1792, Brevard and his father-in-law, along with Joseph Graham (1759-1836), another son-in-law of John Davidson, went into partnership with Peter Forney, a pioneer in the Lincoln County iron industry. Together they purchased a share in the "big ore bank," a few miles east of Lincolnton, and made plans to erect facilities to manufacture iron products. For his part in the enterprise, Brevard built Mount Tirza Forge on Leeper's Creek. In 1795, Forney sold his interest in the partnership and the others continued to operate under the name of Joseph Graham and Company. By 1804, when Davidson sold his interest to Brevard and Graham, the company assets included over five thousand acres; nine slaves; improvements, equipment, and stock conservatively valued at $5,000; and cash and notes receivable in the amount of $8,876. Brevard manufactured and sold iron until his death in 1829, and, despite declining profits, the business remained in the family until 1870.

Joseph Brevard (1766-1821) was one of Alexander Brevard's younger brothers. Joseph also served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, enlisting at the age of seventeen. He became a lieutenant in the 10th North Carolina Regiment before transferring to the 2nd as regimental quartermaster. After the war, he settled in Camden, S.C. He was sheriff of the Camden District from 1789 to 1791, when he was appointed commissioner in equity for the Northern District of South Carolina. In 1792, he was admitted to the bar. He was elected circuit court judge in December 1801 and served until forced by poor health to resign in December 1815. He was a member of Congress from 1819 to 1821.

Franklin Brevard McDowell (1849-1928) was the son of Robert Irwin McDowell (1813-1885) and Rebecca Rowena Brevard McDowell (1823-1904). He attended Davidson College and the University of Virginia, practiced law in Statesville, N.C., and came to Charlotte in 1872 to work for the Charlotte Observer. He succeeded D. H. Hill as editor of The Southern Home; served as mayor of Charlotte and state senator; was an owner of a publishing company and the Consolidated Construction Company, which manufactured streetcars; and took an interest in local and regional history, making addresses and contributing articles for local publication. He married May King in 1884.

The collection consists of papers of members of the Brevard, McDowell, and related families. Papers of Alexander Brevard include land grants, deeds, wills, and business papers relating to Mount Tirzah Forge in Lincoln County, including some relating to slaves working at the Forge; North Carolina Revolutionary War militia papers, including a muster roll, 1780-1781; and an account, 1827, of his war service. Joseph Brevard's papers include a diary of a trip, 1791, from Camden, S.C., to Philadelphia and New York; a catalog, 1794, of his library; and a military order book kept at Fort Moultrie, S.C., during the War of 1812. Papers after 1871 are chiefly business papers of the McDowell family, including the diary, 1870-1874, of Rebecca Brevard McDowell, concerning her household and family activities, and her housekeeping book, ca. 1859-1870. Other items include volumes containing Brevard, McDowell, Wright, and Roach family genealogical information and newspaper articles written by Franklin Brevard McDowell about historical topics.

Pictures (P-86/1)

Microfilm (M-00086/1)