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Collection Number: 03570

Collection Title: George W. Bryan Papers, 1857-1899.

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.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 175 items)
Abstract George W. Bryan (fl. 1860-1880) was a planter and lawyer of Henry County and Worth County, Ga. He was married to Cornelia Stokes Bryan. The collection includes family correspondence, scattered business papers, and account books. Most correspondence is dated 1859-1873, with a few Civil War items. It includes 74 love-letters between the couple before their marriage. The rest of the correspondence and all other loose papers are business related. There are also ten seemingly unrelated letters from Minnie Ritherdon and Edward H. Ritherdon, apparently children, to "Hughie." Volumes, chiefly 1866-1875, are records of accounts with sharecroppers and paid labor, including merchandise advanced.
Creator Bryan, George W., fl. 1860-1880.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
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 George W. Bryan Papers, #3570, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased, March 1962.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid is filed in folder 1a.
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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, March 2010; and Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2010

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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

George W. Bryan (fl. 1860-1880) was a planter and lawyer of Henry and Worth counties, Ga. He was the democratic candidate for the 35th district in the Georgia state senate race, 1876. There are some items in the collection that indicate he may have been elected.

Bryan married Cornelia "Nelie" Stokes in April 1861.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes family correspondence, scattered business papers, and account books of George W. Bryan and his wife Cornelia Stokes Bryan. Most correspondence is dated 1859-1873, with a few Civil War items. It includes 74 love-letters between the couple before their marriage. The rest of the correspondence and all other loose papers are business related. One letter is addressed to Bryan at the state legislature, indicating that he may have been a legislator. There are also ten seemingly unrelated letters from Minnie and Edward H. Ritherdon, apparently children, to "Hughie." Volumes, chiefly 1866-1875, are records of accounts with sharecroppers and paid labor, including merchandise advanced.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence and Related Material, 1857-1899 and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1857-1859

Folder 2

1860

Folder 3

1861-1864

Folder 4

1865-1868

Folder 5

1869-1871

Folder 6

1872-1881; 1885; 1899

Folder 7

Undated and fragments

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Ledgers and Account Books, 1866-1880 and undated.

Folder 8

Volume 1: Day book, 25 February-12 May 1866

Contains accounts with laborers for provisions and merchandise supplied to them. The volume also includes miscellaneous expenditures of George W. Bryan.

Folder 9

Volume 2: Day book, 14 May 1866-February 1868

The 1866 portion of this volume contains accounts with laborers. Records from 1867-1868 are the expense accounts of George W. Bryan.

Folder 10

Volume 3: Ledger, 1866; 1868-1869

Entries from 1866 are store accounts of freedmen. Entries from 1868-1869 are expense accounts of George W. Bryan and are mingled with the store accounts.

Folder 11

Volume 4: "Statement of Business," 1871-1876

Detailed accounts of various operations on Waverly and Scotland Plantations, first planted by George W. Bryan in 1871 and 1872, respectively. The book contains summaries of crops, inventories, accounts with overseers, and other records.

Folder 12

Volume 5: Ledger, 1872

Store accounts with laborers at Scotland Plantation.

Folder 13

Volume 6: Ledger, 1872-18783

Store accounts with laborers at Scotland Plantation. Cash and credit advanced.

Folder 14

Volume 7: Ledger, 1873-1874

Store accounts with laborers at Scotland Plantation.

Folder 15

Volume 8: Ledger, 1874-1875

Store accounts with laborers at Waverly and Scotland Plantations.

Folder 16

Volume 9: Ledger, 1875

Store accounts with laborers at Scotland Plantation. Also includes miscellaneous accounts of money paid to cotton pickers.

Folder 17

Volume 10: Account book, 1880 and undated

Includes accounts of goods and services purchased by George W. Bryan as well as accounts with laborers for their purchases.

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