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Collection Number: 04989-z

Collection Title: John Richter Jones Papers, 1854-1863

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 microfilming of this collection.

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Size 17 items
Abstract John Richter Jones (1803-1863) was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1821 and joined the Pennsylvania Bar in 1827. He was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1836, retiring from practice when his term of office ended in 1847. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, Jones was appointed colonel in the 58th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He participated in the capture of Norfolk, Va., in May 1862. In January 1863, he was transferred to the Department of North Carolina under Major General John G. Foster, where he operated in the Batchelor's Creek Station area near New Bern, N.C., until he was shot dead by a Confederate sniper on 23 May 1863. The papers are primarily letters Jones wrote to his wife and daughter before and during the Civil War. The letters discuss various aspects of civilian life in Pennsylvania, as well as some details of the military activities in which Jones was engaged. Events referred to include the first confrontation between the Merrimac and the Monitor; Magruder's burning of Hampton, Va.; the occupation of Norfolk, Va.; and Union operations on the James River peninsula. The collection also contains handwritten military communications between Jones and Major General John G. Foster; a hand-drawn map of the Core Creek area in Carteret County, N.C.; a printed announcement of Jones's death; a handwritten report of a court martial proceeding against an officer from Jones's regiment; a handwritten tribute to Jones from the Pennsylvania State Bar; and newspaper clippings relating to Jones's death.
Creator Jones, John Richter, 1803-1863.
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 John Richter Jones Papers #4989-z, 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
Acquisitions Information
Received from Charles Apfelbaum of Watchung, N.J., in August 1999 (Acc. 98435).
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: John Foster, November 2000

Encoded by: John Foster, November 2000

Revisions: Finding aid updated in May 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.

Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the 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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John Richter Jones was born in 1803. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1821 and joined the Pennsylvania Bar in 1827. He was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1836, retiring from practice when his term of office ended in 1847. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, Jones raised a regiment and was appointed colonel in the 58th Pennsylvania Volunteers by the governor of the state. In 1861, he published Slavery Sanctioned by the Bible. He participated in the capture of Norfolk, Va., in May 1862, spending the balance of the year at Portsmouth and Suffolk. In January 1863, he was transferred to the Department of North Carolina under Major General John G. Foster, where he operated in the Batchelor's Creek Station area near New Bern, N.C., until he was shot dead by a Confederate sniper on 23 May 1863.

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The papers of lawyer John Richter Jones are primarily letters written to his wife and daughter before and during the Civil War. The letters discuss various aspects of civilian life in Pennsylvania, as well as some details of the military activities in which Jones was engaged as colonel in the 58th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Events referred to include the first confrontation between the Merrimac and the Monitor; Magruder's burning of Hampton, Va.; the occupation of Norfolk, Va.; and other Union operations on the James River peninsula. The collection also contains handwritten military communications between Jones and Major General John G. Foster; a hand-drawn map of the Core Creek area in Carteret County, N.C.; a printed announcement of Jones's death; and a handwritten report of a court martial proceeding against an officer from Jones's regiment. In addition, the collection contains a handwritten tribute to Jones from the Pennsylvania State Bar and newspaper clippings relating to Jones's death.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Papers, 1854-1863.

17 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 1

Papers, 1854-1863

Reel M-4989/1

Microfilm copy of collection, 1854-1863

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