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 Ralph Potts Buxton Papers, #116, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Ernest Gains, prior to 1940.

Transferred from University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, January 1963.

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.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2009

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.

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.

• Asheville (N.C.)--History.
• Banks and banking--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Buxton family.
• Buxton, Jarvis, 1820-1902.
• Buxton, Ralph Potts, 1826-1900.
• Buxton, Rebecca Bledsoe, fl. 1860-1903.
• Cumberland County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Episcopal Church--North Carolina--Clergy.
• Episcopal Church--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Fayetteville (N.C.)--History--19th century.
• Home economics--Accounting--History--19th century.
• Lawyers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Lawyers--North Carolina--Political activity.
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
• Textile industry--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Women poets--North Carolina.
• Women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Ralph Potts Buxton (1826-1900) was a Fayetteville, N.C., lawyer, judge, Republican Party leader, member of the state convention of 1875, and candidate for governor, 1880. Buxton was married to Rebecca Bledsoe of Raleigh, N.C., in December 1860.

The collection includes legal, political, and personal papers of Ralph Potts Buxton and of his family, chiefly 1830s through 1890s. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, record books, and legal papers related to law practice including discussions of cases and court decisions. Political correspondence is chiefly after 1865, focusing on the 1880 gubernatorial race, with a small amount discussing sectional issues before that. A variety of business papers is included: household accounts, papers concerning banking and textile investments, and other items. The earliest papers are indentures, deeds, wills, and other items related to the settlement of various estates. The collection also contains many letters from and papers of Buxton's brother, Jarvis (1820-1903), Episcopal minister of Asheville, N.C.; volumes containing published and unpublished manuscript poetry of his wife, Rebecca (Bledsoe) Buxton, and her scattered memoranda, 1858-1869; and a bank account book of the Cumberland County, N.C., public debt, 1897.