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Collection Number: 05285

Collection Title: Harbison Family Papers, 1792-1963

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 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 100 items)
Abstract William Thomas Harbison (1844-1896) of Morganton, N.C., joined Company B, 11th Regiment of the Confederate army in 1861. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Gaines Mill on 2 June 1864, resulting in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. He served as Register of Deeds of Burke County, N.C., for ten years, having been elected to five consecutive terms. His son, William Alexander Harbison, established one of Burke County's oldest insurance firms, Morganton Insurance and Realty Company. The Harbison family papers contain Civil War materials, including a letter of William Thomas Harbison to his parents written from Camp Davis, New Hanover County, N.C., 13 June 1862; a list of pay and clothing of William Thomas Harbison as a soldier of the Confederacy; and an application for retirement of William Thomas Harbison because of wounds received in battle. Clippings relate to the deaths of William Thomas Harbison and William Alexander Harbison. Indentures, 1792-1898, relate to the Harbison family and others in Burke County, N.C. Insurance materials consist primarily of lists of grave sites of Harbison family members and others. There are also tax receipts, manuscript fragments, and two family photographs.
Creator Harbison 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 Harbison Family Papers #5285, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from William A. Harbison III of Charlotte, N.C., in June 2004 (Acc. 100463).
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: Jodi Berkowitz, July 2006

Encoded by: Jodi Berkowitz, July 2006

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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 Thomas Harbison (1844-1896) of Morganton, N.C., joined Company B, 11th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the Confederate army in 1861. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Gaines Mill on 2 June 1864, resulting in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. He served as Register of Deeds of Burke County, N.C., for ten years, having been elected to five consecutive terms. His son, William Alexander Harbison, established one of Burke County's oldest insurance firms, Morganton Insurance and Realty Company.

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Papers of the Harbison family of Morganton, N.C., in Burke County, N.C., contain Civil War materials, including a letter of William Thomas Harbison to his parents written from Camp Davis, New Hanover County, N.C., 13 June 1862; a list of pay and clothing of William Thomas Harbison as a soldier of the Confederacy; and an application for retirement of William Thomas Harbison because of wounds received at the Battle of Gaines Mill while a member of the 11th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Clippings relate to the deaths of William Thomas Harbison and William Alexander Harbison. Indentures, 1792-1898, relate to the Harbison family and others in Burke County, N.C. Insurance materials consist primarily of lists of grave sites of Harbison family members and others. There are also tax receipts, manuscript fragments, and two family photographs.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Harbison Family Papers, 1792-1963 and undated.

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