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Collection Number: 03549

Collection Title: Bullitt Family Papers, 1772-1960

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 processed with support from the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.

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Size 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,000 items)
Abstract In part, microfilm. The majority of the collection is correspondence. Included are letters to Mildred Ann (Fry) Bullitt at Oxmoor Plantation, Louisville, Ky., from friends and relatives, and a few from Virginia, Missouri, Alabama, Ohio, New Mexico, and England. The letters relate principally to family and community news. Many of the Civil War-era letters are from Confederate prisoners of war. Other letters relate to Morgan's raid of July 1862 and efforts to get aid to Confederate prisoners. Most late 19th-century letters were written by Thomas Walker Bullitt to his wife while he travelled on business for his law firm. He wrote from New York, Canada, and London, among other places. Letters in the late 1890s and early 1900s are from James Bell Bullitt to his parents while he was a student at Washington and Lee University and in medical school at the University of Virginia. Letters for the period 1903-1920 are principally of James B. Bullitt and his family in Oxford, Miss., and Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was teaching in the medical schools. During World War I he was stationed at a military hospital in France and wrote of his daily life. Letters from the period 1920-1945 are from James B. Bullitt's sister, Agatha Bullitt Grabisch, from Berlin, Germany, where she was a journalist and teacher. She wrote about economic and political conditions as well as about visitors and family affairs. Volumes include three diaries, 1857-1864, of T. W. Bullitt during his time as a student at Centre College, Danville, Ky.; while studying law in Philadelphia; and during the Civil War. John Bell Bullitt's diary, 1928-1929, describes his travels in western Europe. Materials on microfilm are items from the genealogical files of William Marshall Bullitt (1873-1957). Families represented include the Bullitts, Christians, Logans, and Frys.
Creator Bullitt family.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Bullitt Family Papers, #3549, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Available on Microfilm:
Volumes 1, 2, and 3
53 items from the Agatha Bullitt Grabisch correspondence
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection 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, April 2011

This collection was processed with support from the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.

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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 Scope and Content

In part, microfilm. The majority of the collection is correspondence. Included are letters to Mildred Ann (Fry) Bullitt at Oxmoor Plantation, Louisville, Ky., from friends and relatives, and a few from Virginia, Missouri, Alabama, Ohio, New Mexico, and England. The letters relate principally to family and community news. Many of the Civil War-era letters are from Confederate prisoners of war. Other letters relate to Morgan's raid of July 1862 and efforts to get aid to Confederate prisoners. Most late 19th-century letters were written by Thomas Walker Bullitt to his wife while he travelled on business for his law firm. He wrote from New York, Canada, and London, among other places. Letters in the late 1890s and early 1900s are from James Bell Bullitt to his parents while he was a student at Washington and Lee University and in medical school at the University of Virginia. Letters for the period 1903-1920 are principally of James B. Bullitt and his family in Oxford, Miss., and Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was teaching in the medical schools. During World War I he was stationed at a military hospital in France and wrote of his daily life. Letters from the period 1920-1945 are from James B. Bullitt's sister, Agatha Bullitt Grabisch, from Berlin, Germany, where she was a journalist and teacher. She wrote about economic and political conditions as well as about visitors and family affairs. Volumes include three diaries, 1857-1864, of T. W. Bullitt during his time as a student at Centre College, Danville, Ky.; while studying law in Philadelphia; and during the Civil War. John Bell Bullitt's diary, 1928-1929, describes his travels in western Europe. Materials on microfilm are items from the genealogical files of William Marshall Bullitt (1873-1957). Families represented include the Bullitts, Christians, Logans, and Frys.

The collection also includes writings by members of the Bullitt family and others; miscellaneous financial and legal materials; diaries of Thomas Walker Bullitt and James Bell Bullitt; and miscellaneous other materials.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1785-1945 and undated.

About 750 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters written prior to 1860 consist primarily of letters to Mildred Ann (Fry) Bullitt at Oxmoor, from friends and relatives in various places in Kentucky and Virginia as well as Missouri, Alabama, Ohio, New Mexico, and England. This series contains roughly 125 Civil War-era letters, mostly from Confederate prisoners of war. Later correspondence includes letters, 1890s-early 1900s, from James Bell Bullitt to his parents while a student at Washington and Lee University and later a medical student at the University of Virginia. Also included are letters, 1903-1920s, from James Bell Bullitt and his wife, Evelyn Bryan Bullitt, to his mother. These letters are written from Oxford, Miss., and Chapel Hill, N.C., where James was a university faculty member. Letters written between 1920 and 1945 are primarily from James's sister, Agatha Bullitt Grabisch, written from Berlin, Germany, where she worked as a journalist and teacher.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1785-1817

Folder 2

1818-1819

Folder 3

1820-1825

Folder 4

1828-1829

Folder 5

1830-1852

Folder 6

1853-1855

Folder 7

1856-1860

Folder 8

1862

Folder 9

January-September 1863

Folder 10

October-December 1863

Folder 11

January-June 1864

Folder 12

July-December 1864

Folder 13

1861-1865

Folder 14

1866-1867

Folder 15

1868-1869

Folder 16

1870

Folder 17

1871-1872

Folder 18

1873-1876

Folder 19

1877

Folder 20

1878-1879

Folder 21

1880-1882

Folder 22

1883

Folder 23

1884-1885

Folder 24

January-March 1886

Folder 25

April-December 1886

Folder 26

1887-1888

Folder 27

1889

Folder 28

1890

Folder 29

1891

Folder 30

January-June 1892

Folder 31

July-December 1892

Folder 32

1893

Folder 33

1894

Folder 34

1895

Folder 35

1896

Folder 36

January-August 1897

Folder 37

September-December 1897

Folder 38

1898

Folder 39

1899

Folder 40

1900

Folder 41

January-April 1901

Folder 42

May-June 1901

Folder 43

July 1901

Folder 44

August 1901

Folder 45

September-December 1901

Folder 46

January-August 1902

Folder 47

September-December 1902

Folder 48

1904-1905

Folder 49

1906

Folder 50

1907

Folder 51

1908

Folder 52

January-June 1909

Folder 53

July-December 1909

Folder 54

January-March 1910

Folder 55

April-August 1910

Folder 56

September-December 1910

Folder 57

1911

Folder 58

January-June 1912

Folder 59

July-December 1912

Folder 60

January-April 1913

Folder 61

May-August 1913

Folder 62

September-December 1913

Folder 63

January-June 1914

Folder 64

July-December 1914

Folder 65

January-June 1915

Folder 66

July-September 1915

Folder 67

October-December 1915

Folder 68

January-June 1916

Folder 69

July-August 1916

Folder 70

September-December 1916

Folder 71

1917

Folder 72

January-July 1918

Folder 73

August 1918

Folder 74

September-December 1918

Folder 75

January-February 1919

Folder 76

March 1919

Folder 77

April-December 1919

Folder 78

1920

Folder 79

1921

Folder 80

1922

Folder 81

1923-1924

Folder 82

1925-1929

Folder 83a

1941-1945

Folder 83b

Correspondence of Agatha Bullitt Grabisch

Folder 83c

Typed transcriptions of Agatha Bullitt Grabisch letters

Folder 84

Letters to James Bell Bullitt, undated

Folder 85

Letters to William C. Bullitt, undated

Folder 86

Letters to Mrs. T. W. Bullitt, undated

Folder 87-88

Folder 87

Folder 88

Miscellaneous correspondence, undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings, circa 1855; 1869 and undated.

About 20 items.
Folder 89

Writings by and presumably by members of the Bullitt family

Includes handwritten versions of two essays about the Union and the Constitution; notes for a speech, probably by William C. Bullitt, condemning lenient immigration and naturalization policies for Roman Catholics, circa 1855; "To the Voters of Beargrass," 1869, an address by William C. Bullitt; and "Memoirs of the Bullitt Family," by Alexander Scott Bullitt.

Folder 90

Writings presumably not by members of the Bullitt family

Poems, songs, miscellaneous undated writings and notes

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Financial and Legal, 1772; 1785-1787; 1857-1960.

About 150 items.

Arrangement: by creator.

This series includes purchase orders and records of other financial transactions of William Christian and his wife, Anne Henry Christian; scattered bills, receipts, copies of wills and contracts; and other materials. Also included are about 100 check registers and canceled checks of James Bullitt, 1898-1960.

Folder 91

William and Anne Henry Christian, 1785-1787

Folder 92

Miscellaneous financial and legal materials, 1772; 1821; 1857-1919

Folder 93

James B. Bullitt checks, 1897-1903

Folder 94

James B. Bullitt checks, 1907-1924

Folder 95

James B. Bullitt checks, 1933-1960

Reel M-3549/17

Materials relating to Bullitt family land, 1774-1786; Account book from "C   T Bullitt's Store," 1797-1813

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Miscellaneous, 1857-1929 and undated.

About 65 items.
Folder 96

Newspaper clippings

Folder 97

Miscellaneous printed material

Folder 98

Miscellaneous material

Folder 99

Volume 1: Diary of Thomas Walker Bullitt, 1857-1862; 1893

Folder 100

Volume 2: Diary of Thomas Walker Bullitt?, 1861

Folder 101

Volume 3: Reminiscences and prison journal of Thomas Walker Bullitt, 1862-1864 (typescript)

Folder 102

Volume 4: Cash and check book of Thomas Walker Bullitt, 1872-1878

Folder 103

Volume 5: Cash and memoranda book of James Bell Bullitt, 1902-1903

Folder 104

Volume 6: Diary of James Bell Bullitt, 1928-1929

Image Folder PF-3549/1

Four pictures

Two photographs of an unidentified individual, and two drawings by James Bell Bullitt.

Reel M-3549/1-14

M-3549/1

M-3549/2

M-3549/3

M-3549/4

M-3549/5

M-3549/6

M-3549/7

M-3549/8

M-3549/9

M-3549/10

M-3549/11

M-3549/12

M-3549/13

M-3549/14

Genealogical and family history information from the files of William Marshall Bullitt, 1772-1957

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