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Collection Number: 03163

Collection Title: Joseph Adolph Linn Papers, 1839-1881

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 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 175 items)
Abstract Joseph Adolph Linn, of Gold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., was a student at the Lutheran theological seminaries at Lexington, S.C., and Gettysburg, Pa., and a minister of several churches in Rowan County. He also operated a farm and grist mill. Among the papers are letters of J. A. Linn as a student; disconnected items pertaining to his church work and his varied business interests, including farming, milling, a tannery and shoe-making business, and a gold mine; papers of Shuler and Bernhardt relatives; papers relating to slaves, including some about insurance policies on slaves; several letters from Confederate soldiers in Virginia; and a few items pertaining to Western Carolina Male Academy (later North Carolina College) in Cabarrus County, N.C. Volumes include library records of the seminary at Lexington, lecture notes kept by Linn as a student, and the diary of Margaret Bernhardt, Linn's second wife, while in school in Concord, N.C., 1845-1846.
Creator Linn, Joseph Adolph, 1820-1864.
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.
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 Joseph Adolph Linn Papers, #3163, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. William H. Hobson of Salisbury, N.C. September 1955.
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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Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

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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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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Joseph Adolph Linn (1820-1864), of Gold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., was a Lutheran minister and business man. Linn was educated at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Lexington, S.C., and at the Wittemburg Seminary at Gettsyburg, Pa. He served as a minister of several churches in Rowan County. He also operated a farm and grist mill and had business interests in a tannery and leather-working company and a gold-mining company. Linn was married twice. His first wife was Rebecca Shuler of Lexington, S.C., who died in 1848, leaving a son, John T. S. Linn. His second wife was Margaret Ann Bernhardt (also spelled Barnhardt) of Cabarrus County, N.C., with whom he also had a son, Joseph Adolph Linn Junior.

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The collection includes correspondence and varied business papers of Joseph Adolph Linn. Correspondence relates to Linn's education; Lutheran religious topics, including church activities and appointments; family and personal affairs; and other matters. There are also disconnected items pertaining to Linn's business interests including farming, milling, a tannery and shoe-making business, and a gold mine. Also included are some papers of Shuler and Bernhardt relatives; papers relating to slaves; several letters from Confederate soldiers in Virginia; and a few items pertaining to Western Carolina Male Academy (later North Carolina College) in Cabarrus County, N.C. Volumes include library records of the seminary at Lexington, lecture notes kept by Linn as a student, and the diary of Margaret Bernhardt, Linn's second wife, while in school in Concord, N.C., 1845-1846.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Joseph Adolph Linn Papers, 1839-1881 and undated.

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