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Collection Number: 01174

Collection Title: Hays Books, 1803-1918.

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.


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.

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Size 36 items
Abstract The collection contains business account books, scrapbooks, notebooks, and other volumes kept by white residents of Granville County and Vance County, N.C., and the surrounding area. The account books of Samuel Duty (fl. 1803-1865) include carpenter, blacksmith, and general merchandise transactions. The scrapbooks and legal notebook of lawyer John Willis Hays (1834-1901), chiefly consist of material dated circa 1887-1900 on notable individuals, including American and English jurists. The school notebooks and papers of physician and public health officer Benjamin K. Hays (fl. 1887-1918) include material related to education, health, history, science, religion, and the status of African Americans in the South. Other account books dating from 1835 to 1883 document transactions for general merchandise, a shoe shop, tobacco sales, estate settlements, blacksmith work, an academy, and other businesses in Oxford and Henderson, N.C. The collection also includes an arithmetic book of William B. Brandon and a family history and genealogical journal with reminiscences by John Willis Hays II, John Willis Hays III, and F.B. Hays. In his narrative writing, John Willis Hays III discusses Reconstruction in Oxford, N.C., including the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the hiring of African American laborers.
Creator Hays, John Willis, 1834-1901.

Duty, Samuel, fl. 1803-1865.

Hays, Benjamin K., fl. 1887-1918.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Hays Books, #1174, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy (filmed 1978) available.
  • Reel 1: Carpenter's day book, 1803-1810
Acquisitions Information
Received from Francis B. Hays of Oxford, N.C., in 1946 and Liz Vermillion in October 2014 (Acc. 102124).
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding and Jodi Berkowitz, April 2011

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.

Updated: May 2019

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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

Samuel Duty (fl. 1803-1865) lived in Vance County, N.C. John Willis Hays (1834-1901) of Oxford, N.C., was a lawyer. Benjamin K. Hays (fl. 1887-1918) of Oxford, N.C., was a physician and public health officer.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains business account books, scrapbooks, notebooks, and other volumes kept by white residents of Granville County and Vance County, N.C., and the surrounding area. The account books of Samuel Duty (fl. 1803-1865) include carpenter, blacksmith, and general merchandise transactions. The scrapbooks and legal notebook of lawyer John Willis Hays (1834-1901), chiefly consist of material dated circa 1887-1900 on notable individuals, including American and English jurists. The school notebooks and papers of physician and public health officer Benjamin K. Hays (fl. 1887-1918) include material related to education, health, history, science, religion, and the status of African Americans in the South. Other account books dating from 1835 to 1883 document transactions for general merchandise, a shoe shop, tobacco sales, estate settlements, blacksmith work, an academy, and other businesses in Oxford and Henderson, N.C. The collection also includes an arithmetic book of William B. Brandon and a family history and genealogical journal with reminiscences by John Willis Hays II, John Willis Hays III, and F.B. Hays. In his narrative writing, John Willis Hays III discusses Reconstruction in Oxford, N.C., including the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the hiring of African American laborers.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. William B. Brandon Arithmetic Book, 1818.

1 item.

This series is an arithmetic book containing rules and examples.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

Volume 1: Arithmetic book, 1818

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Samuel Duty Account Books, 1803-1865.

10 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

This series consists of carpenter and general account books. Volume 11 also includes blacksmith accounts and mention of tobacco purchases.

Folder 2

Volume 2: Carpenter's account book, 1803-1810

Folder 3

Volume 3: Account book, October 1829-February 1832

Folder 4

Volume 4: Account book, October 1829-September 1830

Folder 5

Volume 5: Account book, 1830-1831

Folder 6

Volume 6: Account book, 1831-1832

Folder 7

Volume 7: Account book, 6 February-22 October 1832

Folder 8

Volume 8: Account book, October 1832-1834

Folder 9

Volume 9: Account book, November 1833-1835

Folder 10

Volume 10: Account book, 1835

Folder 11

Volume 11: Account book, 1848-April 1865

Includes tobacco purchased 1852, 1855; blacksmith accounts, April 1865.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. John Willis Hays Scrapbooks, circa 1887-1900 and undated.

6 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

This series includes scrapbooks on notable individuals, including American and English jurists, and a legal notebook of John Willis Hays.

Folder 12

Volume 12: Legal notebook with clippings and enclosures, circa 1887-1896

Folder 13

Volume 13: Political clippings scrapbook, 1892

Folder 14

Volume 14: Clippings scrapbook, circa 1896-1899

Clippings on notable Americans, legal cases and questions, Confederate matters, poems, other subjects.

Folder 15

Volume 15: Scrapbook on W. E. Gladstone and others, undated

Folder 16

Volume 16: Scrapbook on American and English jurists, circa 1900

Folder 17

Volume 17: Clippings scrapbook, 1900

Includes a series of clippings titled "Review of the 19th Century."

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Benjamin K. Hays Notebooks, 1887-1918 and undated.

10 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

This series contains notebooks and papers chiefly related to education and health, along with other material relating to history, science, religion, and the status of African Americans in the South.

Folder 18

Volume 18: Teacher's secondary school classroom record book, 1887

Folder 19

Volume 19: Notebook on English history, 1888

Folder 20

Volume 20: Notebook, "Evolution of Religious Thought in the 19th Century," undated

Folder 21

Volume 21: Notebook, undated

Contains an essay on the status of African Americans in the South at the turn of the century.

Folder 22

Volume 22: Notebook, 1898-1913

Appears to be a list of North Carolina doctors, their universities, and degrees received.

Folder 23

Volume 23: Essay, "Thoughts on Health," by Benjamin K. Hays, 1914

Folder 24

Volume 24: Essay, "What Schoolteacher Should Know and Teach About Health," by Benjamin K. Hays, circa 1916-1918

Folder 25

Volume 25: Student's notebook on Latin and Greek word studies, undated

Folder 26

Volume 26: Papers on first aid, undated

Folder 27a-27c

Volume 27: Assorted papers, undated

Contains poetry, notes, writings, and speeches on subjects including literature, history, science, religion, education, African Americans in the South, and the status of women.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Other Account Books, 1835-1883.

8 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

This series includes miscellaneous accounts for general merchandise, a shoe shop, tobacco sales, estate settlements, blacksmith work, an academy, and other business, all of Oxford or Henderson, N.C.

Folder 28

Volume 28: Notebook of Thos. H. Willie, treasurer of The Trustees of the Oxford Male Academy, 1835-1839

Folder 29

Volume 29: Shoemaker account book of L. A. Paschall and Thos. S. Hayes, 1841

Folder 30

Volume 30: Account book of several estates, 1847-1865

Administrator L. A. Paschall's accounts of several estates including Wm. V. Paschall, Benj. Currin, and L. Gilliam.

Folder 31

Volume 31: Account book of L. A. Paschall, 1848-1869

Includes accounts of tobacco sales and shoes.

Folder 32

Volume 32: Blacksmith account book of L. Latham, 1857-1858; and scribble book of Frank B. Hays, 1883

Folder 33

Volume 33: Shoemaker account book of L. A. Paschall, 1857-1871

Includes fees received for registering deeds and blacksmith and beef accounts, 1857-1860; general supplies, 1867; St. Stephen's Church, 1870-1871.

Folder 34

Volume 34: General account book of Allen, Clement and Currin, 1873

Folder 35

Volume 35: Tobacco account book of Allen and Clement, 1874

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Additions.

1 item.
Oversize Volume SV-1174/1

Volume 36: Family history and genealogy journal

Acquisitions Information: Accession 102124 (Addition of October 2014).

This family journal documents genealogical history of the Hays, Harris, and Duty families and includes sections of personal and family history written by John Willis Hays II, John Willis Hays III, and F.B. Hays. John Willis Hays II described life in Oxford, N.C., as a lawyer during the American Civil War. John Willis Hays III discussed his memories as a child during the Civil War and his impressions of Reconstruction. He mentioned the rise and power of Ku Klux Klan, the hiring of African American laborers, and women relatives sent to an asylum. F.B. Hayes discussed family traditions and his ancestor John Harris of Wales.

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