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Collection Number: 01636

Collection Title: W. R. Gwaltney Papers, 1862-1948

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.


Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 13 items)
Abstract William Robert Gwaltney (1835-1907) was born near Taylorsville, N.C. During the Civil War, Gwaltney served as colporteur and chaplain with the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment in Virginia. In 1863, he was ordained a Baptist minister. Gwaltney married Amelia Ellen Staley in 1866, and the following year he received his diploma from Wake Forest College. For the next four decades, Gwaltney lived, preached, and built churches in various counties around the state, including Orange, Wake, Guilford, Forsyth and Catawba counties. Gwaltney's diary, 1862-1875, chiefly concerns his religious and educational activities among the soldiers of the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment in Virginia from 1862 to 1864. Also included are three notebooks, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous other items.
Creator Gwaltney, W. R. (William Robert), 1835-1907.
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 W. R. Gwaltney Papers #1636, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed 2005-2006) available.
  • Reel 1: Entire collection
Alternate Form of Material
Handwritten transcription of parts of the diary are available.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. K. C. Menzies and Mrs. Paula G. Love of Hickory, N.C., in August 1949.
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, 1950

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, January 2005

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

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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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William Robert Gwaltney (1835-1907) was born near Taylorsville, N.C. During the Civil War, Gwaltney served as colporteur and chaplain with the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment in Virginia. In 1863, he was ordained a Baptist minister. Gwaltney married Amelia Ellen Staley in 1866, and the following year he received his diploma from Wake Forest College. For the next four decades, Gwaltney lived, preached, and built churches in various counties around the state, including Orange, Wake, Guilford, Forsyth and Catawba counties. William and Amelia Gwaltney had nine children.

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Diary, 1862-1875, of William Robert Gwaltney (1835-1907), a Baptist minister of Taylorsville, N.C., who served as a colporteur and chaplain with the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment in Virginia during the Civil War. The diary chiefly concerns Gwaltney's religious and educational activities among the soldiers, but also includes a brief summary of his life in the decade after the Civil War. Also included are three notebooks, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous other items.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1862-1948.

13 items.

Folder 1

Volume 1: Diary, 25 June 1863-6 March 1864

Folder 2

Volume 2: Diary, 12 November 1862-31 July 1863, 1 April-1 May 1864

Includes text for a marriage ceremony

Folder 3

Volume 3: Diary, 2 May 1864-1 January 1865 (chiefly May-December 1864)

Includes description of deserters in Alexander County, N.C., and brief summary of Gwaltney's life from 1865 to 1875

Folder 4

Handwritten transcriptions of parts of volumes 1, 2, 3

Folder 5

Miscellaneous material, 1862-1907, 1933

Includes an 1862 military pass, newspaper clippings, and family history materials

Folder 6

Volume 4: Notebook, ca. 1948

Folder 7

Volume 5: Notebook, ca. 1948

Folder 8

Volume 6: Notebook, undated

Reel M-1636/1

Microfilm

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