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Collection Number: 03498-z

Collection Title: Charles Henry Foster Papers, 1847-1881.

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.


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Size 35 items.
Abstract MICROFILM ONLY. Native of Orono, Me., Foster attended Bowdoin College and in 1857 moved to Norfolk, Va., where he worked as a newspaper editor. In 1859 he moved to Murfreesboro, N.C., where he owned and operated a newspaper for a short period. During the Civil War he tried unsuccessfully to be elected to the United States Congress as a union representative from North Carolina. In 1863 he was commissioned as a captain in the Union Army and succeeded in raising a regiment of North Carolina troops which saw limited action along the coast. His commission was taken from him in the spring of 1864 and he thereafter divided his time between a law practice at Plymouth, N.C., and trips to Maine and Boston, Mass. Foster returned to Murfreesboro as hostilities were drawing to a close in April 1865 and lived there until 1878, operating a small mercantile establishment, practicing law, and serving as a reporter to northern papers. In 1878 he moved to Philadelphia where he became a leading editorialist for the Record. Miscellaneous papers, including diary/notebooks, 1847-1849 (9 volumes) written at Orono, Me., and Bowdoin College by Charles H. Foster as a young man, containing brief memoirs, essays, comments, descriptions of books read, and notes of events; diary, 1865, documenting his move from Boston to federally-occupied Murfreesboro, N.C., where he was a merchant, mentioning social and economic conditions in the area; diaries, 1875, 1878, and 1881, reflecting life in Murfreesboro, the family's move to Philadelphia in 1878, and Foster's work as a freelance writer; diary and memoranda book, 1868-1876, of Foster's wife and daughter recording household activities and community life at Murfreesboro; and miscellaneous papers, including items relating to Foster's recruiting activities for the 2nd North Carolina Regiment of Union Volunteers, U.S.A. Also includes one photograph of Charles Henry Foster.
Creator Foster, Charles Henry, 1830-1882.
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 Charles Henry Foster Papers, #3498-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Typed transcript of 1865 diary available.
Location of Originals
Original items privately owned.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection.
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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Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, December 2021

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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

Native of Orono, Me., Foster attended Bowdoin College and in 1857 moved to Norfolk, Va., where he worked as a newspaper editor. In 1859 he moved to Murfreesboro, N.C., where he owned and operated a newspaper for a short period. During the Civil War he tried unsuccessfully to be elected to the United States Congress as a union representative from North Carolina. In 1863 he was commissioned as a captain in the Union Army and succeeded in raising a regiment of North Carolina troops which saw limited action along the coast. His commission was taken from him in the spring of 1864 and he thereafter divided his time between a law practice at Plymouth, N.C., and trips to Maine and Boston, Mass. Foster returned to Murfreesboro as hostilities were drawing to a close in April 1865 and lived there until 1878, operating a small mercantile establishment, practicing law, and serving as a reporter to northern papers. In 1878 he moved to Philadelphia where he became a leading editorialist for the Record.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

MICROFILM ONLY. Miscellaneous papers, including diary/notebooks, 1847-1849 (9 volumes) written at Orono, Me., and Bowdoin College by Charles H. Foster as a young man, containing brief memoirs, essays, comments, descriptions of books read, and notes of events; diary, 1865, documenting his move from Boston to federally-occupied Murfreesboro, N.C., where he was a merchant, mentioning social and economic conditions in the area; diaries, 1875, 1878, and 1881, reflecting life in Murfreesboro, the family's move to Philadelphia in 1878, and Foster's work as a freelance writer; diary and memoranda book, 1868-1876, of Foster's wife and daughter recording household activities and community life at Murfreesboro; and miscellaneous papers, including items relating to Foster's recruiting activities for the 2nd North Carolina Regiment of Union Volunteers, U.S.A.

Also includes one photograph of Charles Henry Foster.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Charles Henry Foster Papers, 1847-1881.

Reel M-3498/1-3

M-3498/1

M-3498/2

M-3498/3

Microfilm

Image Folder PF-3498/1

Photograph of Charles Henry Foster

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