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Collection Number: 00380

Collection Title: William Johnson Papers, 1760-1888.

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 under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items)
Abstract The collection includes business and family letters, chiefly 1783-1849, of the family of William Johnson, a Franklin County, N.C., planter, including correspondence concerning such matters as the Philanthropic Society at the University of North Carolina, 1812, the hiring out of slaves, conditions in Alabama in 1838, and life on the home front during the Civil War; financial and legal papers, chiefly 1840-1854, of John H. Hawkins and various members of the Johnson family; and an undated manuscript by Simon Blank of the 6th New York Cavalry Regiment, "Anecdotes of a Soldier who Fought in the War of Rebellion under Generals Grant and Sheridan." Correspondents include William Johnson's brother, George W. Johnson, merchant of Milton, N.C.; sisters Elizabeth ("Betsy"), Sally Adams, Rebecca (d. 1838), and Emily C. C. Johnson; and Robert A. Jones.
Creator Johnson, William, circa 1805-circa 1850.
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 William Johnson Papers #380, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Alice Green before 1940.
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: Rebecca Hollingsworth, July 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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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

Col. William Johnson (fl. 1763-1820) was a Franklin County, N.C., planter. His children included sons William, George, and Samuel, and daughters Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sally, and Emily.

William Johnson (fl. 1810-1850) attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, before returning to Franklin County, where he became a planter. His brother George W. Johnson (fl. 1825-1890) was a merchant in Milton, N.C.

The relationship of others--John H. Hawkins, Thomas Christmas, Thomas Jenkins, Thomas Person--represented chiefly in the Financial and Legal Papers series to the Johnsons is unknown.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes business and family letters, chiefly 1783-1849, of the family of William Johnson, a Franklin County, N.C., planter, including correspondence concerning such matters as the Philanthropic Society at the University of North Carolina, 1812, the hiring out of slaves, conditions in Alabama in 1838, and life on the home front during the Civil War; financial and legal papers, chiefly 1840-1854, of John H. Hawkins and various members of the Johnson family; and an undated manuscript by Simon Blank of the 6th New York Cavalry Regiment, "Anecdotes of a Soldier who Fought in the War of Rebellion under Generals Grant and Sheridan." Correspondents include William Johnson's brother, George W. Johnson, merchant of Milton, N.C.; sisters Elizabeth ("Betsy"), Sally Adams, Rebecca (d. 1838), and Emily C. C. Johnson; and Robert A. Jones.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1783-1890.

About 180 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters, chiefly 1825-1860, of various members of the Johnson family of Franklin and Caswell counties, N.C. Most letters are to William Johnston, a planter in Franklin County, from his brother George W. Johnson, a merchant in Milton, N.C. Letters chiefly discuss business matters, such as horse trading and the hiring out of slaves,. and including brief comments, 1838, on conditions in Alabama. Also included are letters of George W. Johnson to his brother Samuel and his sisters Elizabeth (Betsy), Rebecca, and Emily C. C. Johnson, about business matters and family news; letters, 1810-1812, that William Johnson received when he was a student at the University of North Carolina, including several from Robert A. Jones, 1812, concerning business of the Philanthropic Society; and letters, 1783-1800, to William and George's father Col. William Johnson, also a planter.

Folder 1

1783-1809

Folder 2

1810-1811

Folder 3

1812-1820

Folder 4

1822-1832

Folder 5

1833-1835

Folder 6

1836-1837

Folder 7

1838-1839

Folder 8

1841-1849

Folder 9

1850-1859

Folder 10

1860-1870, 1878, 1888-1890, and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers, 1760-1888.

About 310 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Mostly bills, receipts and accounts, 1842-1865, pertaining to the affairs of John H. Hawkins as guardian of the children of Thomas Christmas and Thomas Jenkins. Also included are papers, 1760-1813, concerning Col. William Johnson, including deeds for land in Franklin County and bills of sale for slaves; deeds, 1838-1841, for land bought by Thomas Person; and receipts and accounts, 1856-1888, of Elizabeth ("Betsy") and George W. Johnson.

Folder 11

1760-1823

Folder 12

1824-1838

Folder 13

1840-1843

Folder 14

1844-1845

Folder 15

1846

Folder 16

1847-1848

Folder 17

1849-1852

Folder 18

1853

Folder 19

1854-1868

Folder 20

1870-1888

Folder 21

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Other Papers, Undated.

About 10 items.

Included are a handwritten manuscript titled "Anecdotes of a Soldier who Fought in the War of Rebellion under Generals Grant and Sheridan" (64 pp.) by Simon Blank of the 6th New York Cavalry; an essay on "The Scottish Clans and their Tartans"; and fragments of wallpaper and sketched decorative borders.

Folder 22

"Anecdotes of a Soldier"

Folder 23

Miscellaneous items

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