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 Dobson Family Papers #4654-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Capp F. Shanks, Jr., of Englewood, Co., in March 1993 (Acc. 93049).

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: Roslyn Holdzkom, May 1993

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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.

• Dobson family--Photographs.
• Dobson family.
• Dobson, William Polk, 1783-1846.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Mount Airy (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Rockford (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Stoneman's Raid, 1865.
• Surry County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Women--Education--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Dobson family members included William Polk Dobson (1783-1846), lawyer, farmer, and merchant of Rockford, Surry County, N.C., who served in the N.C. Senate between 1818 and 1842 and was a member of the state's constitutional convention in 1835. Dobson was a cousin and political supporter of President James Knox Polk, who often visited the family home at Dobson Hill. When Surry County was divided in 1850, the county seat was named Dobson in the family's honor.

William Polk Dobson married Mary Hughes, with whom he had twelve children, including John Hughes Dobson (b. 1807), who served as clerk of the court and married Elizabeth Martin, with whom he had three children, including Bettie and Mary. John Hughes Dobson's brother, Joseph Dobson (1822-1885), was a lawyer and solicitor of the N. C. Superior Court, who served in the N.C. House of Representatives, 1852-1860, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1875. Joseph married Sallie Jane Hamlin, and the couple had eleven children. Their son, John Hamlin Dobson (1856-1922) was a lawyer who also served as solicitor and represented Surry County in the state legislature. He married Alice Price Cornelius (1867-1946), with whom he had six children, including farmer, John Hamlin Dobson.

(Source: Simple Treasures: The Architectural Legacy of Surry County, Laura A. W. Phillips, Surry County Historical Society, 1987.)

Letters, school compositions, and pictures relating to Dobson family members. Included are 14 letters exchanged by Bettie and Mary, daughters of John Hughes and Elizabeth Martin Dobson, when Bettie attended school in Mount Airy, N.C., 1864-1865. Most of the letters are from Bettie to Mary, describing her life at school and her course of studies. In 1865, slight reference is made to George Stoneman's raid around Mount Airy and to life in the town. Also included are a few school compositions, probably written by Bettie. There are also a few photocopies of other family letters from this period and of certificates and other documents relating to William Polk Dobson's medical education. Original pictures are cased images of family members from the 1840s to around 1860. There are also a few photocopies of more recent images.