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Collection Number: 03954

Collection Title: Benjamin Franklin Little Papers, 1806-1935

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 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 550 items)
Abstract Benjamin Franklin Little was the white owner of Carlisle plantation, Richmond County, N.C.; a Confederate Army officer with the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment; a state legislator, 1864-1865; a dry goods merchant; and a delegate to the 1876 National Democratic Convention in Saint Louis, Mo. In 1856, he and Mary Jane Reid of Iredell County, N.C., were married. More than 75 people were enslaved by the Littles at Carlisle and the Reids at Mount Mourne, Iredell County, N.C., with some returning to work for the families or as tenant farmers after the Civil War. The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal materials, writings, volumes, photographs, and other papers. Enslaved people are documented by name in deeds, lists, and account books. Wiley, who was the personal servant to Benjamin Franklin Little during his service in the Confederate Army, and Henry, who managed the plantation during the Civil War, are mentioned in the correspondence. Letters describe family and plantation news; Civil War experiences at Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, N.C., in battles in Virginia and Pennsylvania theaters, and in hospitals and prisons in Maryland and Pennsylvania, including Fort McHenry, after Little's arm was amputated; Little's service in the North Carolina state legislature and as a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Saint Louis, Mo.; and horse breeding and racing interests. Financial and legal materials, 1833-1878, of Benjamin Franklin Little and his father, Thomas Little, concern slavery and tenant farming; the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherford Railroad; and Little's dry goods business. Writings include speeches by Little, chiefly at educational institutions, and notes for poems and other writings. Volumes include a school notebook with a short journal of Thomas Little's 1806 voyage as an immigrant from England to the United States; a Civil War journal with details of the movements of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, April 1862 to July 1863, and Benjamin Franklin Little's personal narrative as a Federal prisoner, 1863; a Carlisle plantation weather log, 1867-1879; household inventories; and Benjamin Franklin Little's estate. Also included are photographs of family and of General James Johnston Pettigrew; Confederate Army muster rolls, 1862, for Company E, 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment; clippings; recipes for horse remedies; and other items.
Creator Little, Benjamin Franklin, 1830-1879.
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 Benjamin Franklin Little Papers #3954, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy available.
All or part of this collection is also 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
Received from Jean McAlister in 1972, 1982 (Acc. 82137) and 1985 (Acc. 85071), and from Rufus Little in June 2009 (Acc. 101128).
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: Rebecca Hollingsworth, September 1992

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, April 2006

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, November 2009; Nancy Kaiser, March 2022

Conscious editing work by Nancy Kaiser, March 2022: Abstract, Subject Headings, Biographical Information, Scope and Content, and Contents List.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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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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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Benjamin Franklin Little (1830-1879), the white owner of Carlisle plantation in Richmond County, N.C., was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Little. In 1858, he and Mary Jane Reid (known as "Flax"), the daughter of Rufus Reid of Mount Mourne plantation, Iredell County, N.C., and his first wife Nancy Latta, who was the daughter of James and Jane Latta of Mecklenburg County, N.C., were married. Benjamin Franklin Little had a sister, Jennie, who died in 1857. Mary Jane Reid had a sister, Sallie, who was blind. Children of Benjamin Franklin Little and Mary Jane Reid Little included sons Rufus (b. 1860), Lacy, and Tom, and daughters Nancy and Sallie. Two other children, Homer and Jennie, died of diphtheria about 1864.

Benjamin Franklin Little served in North Carolina and Virginia as a captain in the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 1862-1863; was wounded and captured at Gettysburg (arm amputated in July 1863), where he received a field promotion to colonel; and was imprisoned at Fort McHenry, Md., until March 1864. After the Civil War, he continued farming and became a partner with James A. Liles of Anson County, N.C., in a dry goods business. He was also a trustee of Deshler Female Institute, Tuscumbia, Ala., and a director of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad. He represented Richmond County in the North Carolina legislature, 1864-1865, and was a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention in Saint Louis, Mo. He died at Carlisle, Little's Mill, Richmond County, N.C., in 1879.

The Little and Reid families enslaved people at their Carlisle and Mount Mourne plantations. Biographical information about enslaved people and tenant farmers in most cases is limited to name, but may include birth year, a mother's name, or the work they performed. A partial list of the people enslaved by the Little and Reid families includes:

A partial list of the people who returned as tenants at Carlisle or Mount Mourne include:

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The collection documents white plantation owner, merchant, Confederate States of America army officer, and North Carolina state legislator Benjamin Franklin Little, his wife Mary Jane ("Flax") Reid Little, and upwards of 75 people enslaved by the Little and Reid families at Carlisle plantation, Richmond County, N.C., and Mount Mourne plantation, Iredell County, N.C. Collection materials include correspondence, financial and legal materials, writings, volumes, photographs, and other papers. Enslaved people are documented by name in deeds and lists, as well as in account books. Wiley, who was the personal servant to Benjamin Franklin Little during his service in the Confederate Army, and Henry, who managed the plantation during the Civil War, are mentioned in the correspondence. Tenant farmers who may have been previously enslaved at Carlisle plantation are also found in account books. The addition of June 2009 includes mention of Wiley, as well as Mark, a tenant farmer at Mount Mourne, Iredell County, N.C., and Julia, Wilson, Caty, and Charles, who may have previously been enslaved at Carlisle but had returned as tenants to work at the house or as farmers.

Many letters were written by Benjamin Franklin Little to Mary Jane ("Flax") Reid Little as one or the other traveled on business or family visits, 1857-1860, and after 1865. Civil War letters, 1862-1864, were written by Benjamin Franklin Little from Camp Mangum near Raleigh, N.C., and from the North Carolina and Virginia-Pennsylvania theaters. They include accounts of battles, his feelings about the war, his daily activities, conditions in camp, and other information. Little frequently mentioned Wiley, the enslaved personal servant who accompanied him throughout the war, and sent instructions to Henry, the enslaved overseer who managed Carlisle in Little's absence. After Gettysburg, there are letters from Benjamin Franklin Little's army associates and from L. M. Oakley, Little's Union surgeon who appears to have amputated Little's arm in 1863, as well as from Little himself in hospitals and prisons in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In 1864 and 1865, there are a few letters relating to Little's service in the North Carolina state legislature, and, in 1876, letters from Little serving as a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Saint Louis, Mo. Beginning in 1877, there are a number of letters to Rufus Little, a student at Davidson College, Mecklenburg County, N.C.; most post-1879 letters are to Rufus Little about his horse breeding and racing interests.

The addition of June 2009 consists of correspondence that is similar to that of the original deposit. Topics include the health of enslaved people in the context of management of the cotton plantation in Anson County, N.C.; Civil War; the North Carolina legislature; Davidson College; chronic illnesses; and the death and mourning of Jennie Little (1857).

Financial and legal papers of Benjamin Franklin Little and his father, Thomas Little, include slavery and tenant farming records: a deed, 1833, conveying Milly, Fanny, Polly, and Richie, who were enslaved, from James J. Latta to Rufus Reid as trustee for Nancy Latta; a list, 1855, of 75 enslaved people who were to be divided among the heirs of Thomas Little; an undated list of enslaved people, probably by Mary Jane Reid, including Fanny, Susan, Peter, Rosanna, Margaret, Dovey, Ellen, Alexander, Augustus, Andy, Eliza, Sarah L. Reid, Polly, John, Sarah, Daniel, Adaline, Joe, Dorah, Robert, Maria, Wesstey, Sam, and Louisa; a document, "Cotton made at The Mountain," 1873, that is a record of production of cotton, as well as corn, by tenant farmers Henry, Alex, Adam, Will, Rufus, Peter, Bruton, Calvin, Scarboro, Ab. and and G. W. Andrews; a printed contract with "freedmen and women" tenant farmers; and a printed "Plantation Rules and Regulations." Other materials include scattered receipts of Benjamin Franklin Little, 1857 and 1865-1868; a certificate, 1871, of Benjamin Franklin Little's election as a director of the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherford Railroad; a petition to use principal of ward's estate to pay for education, 1871, by Benjamin Franklin Little on behalf of his ward, Samuel W. LeGrand; agreements, 1871, between Little and James A. Liles of Anson County, N.C., concerning their partnership in a dry goods business; and other items.

Writings include speeches by Little, chiefly at educational institutions, and notes for poems and other writings.

Volumes include account books that document enslaved people with records of births to enslaved women, their labor in cotton and corn production, and clothes allotted to them. Tenant farmers, who may have been enslaved previously at Carlisle plantation, are documented in a multi-purpose account book. Other volumes concern household inventories; bank accounts; estate settlements; corn, cotton, and hog records; house construction costs; the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, and Benjamin Franklin Little's personal narrative as a Federal prisoner in 1863; and a log of weather at Carlisle. There is also a school notebook of Thomas Little with a short journal of his 1806 voyage as an immigrant from England to the United States.

Also included are a few family photographs; a photograph of General James Johnston Pettigrew; Confederate Army muster rolls, 1862, for Company E, 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment; clippings; recipes for horse remedies; and other items.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1857-1894 and undated.

About 220 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters from around the time of the Littles' marriage in 1858 are between Benjamin Franklin Little at Little's Mill, Richmond County, N.C., and at Red and White Sulphur Springs, Va., and Mary Jane Reid Little ("Flax"), visiting in Marion, Ala., and at her home at Mount Mourne plantation, Iredell County, N.C. Letters from 1859 were written by Benjamin Franklin Little during his visits to Philadelphia, Pa., and Wilson's Springs, Cleveland County, N.C., and describe medical treatments, new acquaintances, and places visited.

Civil War letters, 1862-1864, were written by Benjamin Franklin Little from Camp Mangum near Raleigh, N.C., and from the North Carolina and Virginia-Pennsylvania theaters. They include full accounts of the fighting in which Little participated, his feelings about the war, his daily activities, the conditions in camp (especially regarding health and food supplies), news and rumors from other sectors, and meetings with friends from home. He frequently mentioned Wiley, the enslaved personal servant who accompanied him throughout the war, and sent instructions to Henry, the enslaved overseer who managed Carlisle in Little's absence. In the period after Gettysburg, there are several letters to Mary Jane Reid Little from Benjamin Franklin Little's army associates and from L. M. Oakley, Little's Union surgeon. There are also letters from Benjamin Franklin Little himself written from hospitals and prisons in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In 1864 and 1865, there are a few letters to Mary Jane Reid Little written while Benjamin Franklin Little was serving in the North Carolina state legislature.

Letters after 1865 are sporadic, written to and from Benjamin Franklin Little, Mary Jane Reid Little, and their children while Benjamin Franklin Little was on business trips, visiting various North Carolina and Virginia health resorts, and serving as a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Saint Louis, Mo., in 1876. Beginning in 1877, there are a number of letters to Rufus Little, a student at Davidson College, Mecklenburg County, N.C. There are also a few scattered letters from L. M. Oakley, Parthenia Stafford, and other friends. Most of the post-1879 letters were written to Rufus Little and relate to his interest in breeding and racing trotting horses.

Folder 1

Correspondence, 1857-1858

Folder 2

Correspondence, 1859-1860

Folder 3

Correspondence, March-June 1862

Folder 4

Correspondence, July-August 1862

Folder 5

Correspondence, September-October 1862

Folder 6

Correspondence, 1863

Folder 7

Correspondence, 1864

Folder 8

Correspondence, 1865-1869

Folder 9

Correspondence, 1872-1873

Folder 10

Correspondence, 1874-1875

Folder 11

Correspondence, 1876

Folder 12

Correspondence, 1877

Folder 13

Correspondence, January-August 1878

Folder 14

Correspondence, September-December 1878

Folder 15

Correspondence, 1879-1881, 1888

Folder 16

Correspondence, 1890-1894 and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1A. Correspondence, 1836-1878 and undated (Addition of June 2009).

About 230 items.

Chronological

Acquisition Information: Accession 101128

NOTE: Many letters include an abstract or analysis received from the donor. There are also a few transcriptions received from the donor.

Letters exchanged among family members of Benjamin Franklin Little, including Thomas Little; Jennie Little at Floral College, Robeson County, N.C.; Mary Jane Reid Little ("Flax"); Sallie Reid, who was blind and writing from Marion, Ala.; and Camille Reid, writing from Mount Mourne plantation, Iredell County, N.C. Wiley, the enlsaved personal servant of Benjamin Franklin Little during the Civil War, is mentioned in a letter dated 5 February 1863. A letter dated 13 March 1868 includes mention of Julia, Wilson, Caty, and Charles, all of whom may have been previously enslaved at Carlisle but had returned to work at the house. Mark, a Black tenant farmer at Mount Mourne, who accused an overseer of cheating his corn harvest, is mentioned in a letter dated 22 December 1868. Other topics include the health of enslaved people in the context of management of the cotton plantation in Anson County, N.C.; Civil War; the North Carolina legislature; Davidson College; chronic illnesses, often treated at springs in North Carolina and Virginia; and the mourning and death of Jennie Little (1857).

Box 3

Correspondence, 1836-1878

Correspondence, undated

Also includes letter fragments and other notes received from the donor.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1833-1878 and undated.

About 25 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Financial and legal papers chiefly of Benjamin Franklin Little and his father, Thomas Little. Records that document enslaved people and tenant farmers, who may have been enslaved previously at Carlisle or Mount Mourne plantations, include:

  • a deed, 1833, conveying Milly, Fanny, Polly, and Richie, who were enslaved, from James J. Latta to Rufus Reid as trustee for Nancy Latta;
  • a list, 1855, of 75 enslaved people who were to be divided among the heirs of Thomas Little; and
  • an undated list of enslaved people, probably by Mary Jane Reid, including Fanny, Susan, Peter, Rosanna, Margaret, Dovey, Ellen, Alexander, Augustus, Andy, Eliza, Sarah L. Reid, Polly, John, Sarah, Daniel, Adaline, Joe, Dorah, Robert, Maria, Wesstey, Sam, and Louisa.
  • a document, "Cotton made at The Mountain," 1873, that is a record of production of cotton, as well as corn, by tenant farmers Henry, Alex, Adam, Will, Rufus, Peter, Bruton, Calvin, Scarboro, Ab. and and G. W. Andrews;
  • a printed contract for "freedmen and women" tenant farmers;
  • a set of printed "Plantation Rules and Regulations."

Other materials include scattered receipts of Benjamin Franklin Little, 1857 and 1865-1868; a certificate, 1871, of Benjamin Franklin Little's election as a director of the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherford Railroad; a petition to use principal of ward's estate to pay for education, 1871, by Benjamin Franklin Little on behalf of his ward, Samuel W. LeGrand; agreements, 1871, between Little and James A. Liles of Anson County, N.C., concerning their partnership in a dry goods business; and other items.

Folder 17

Financial and legal materials, 1833-1878

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Writings, 1858-1866 and undated.

About 20 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Speeches given by Benjamin Franklin Little at commencement at Rockingham Academy, 1858; to the Philanthropic Society of Davidson College, 1858; to the Richmond County Agricultural Society, 1859; and to "the young ladies of Floral College," 1866. Also included are notes used in preparing various speeches, Little's notes as a law student, and drafts of poems and articles for publication in newspapers.

Folder 18

Speeches, 1858-1866

Folder 19

General notes

Folder 20

Law student notes

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Volumes, 1806-1890 and undated.

11 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Enslaved people are documented in account books that record names and birth year (sometimes date and month) of children born to enslaved women, their labor in cotton production, and clothes allotted to them. Tenant farmers, who may have been enslaved previously at Carlisle plantation, are documented in a multi-purpose account book.

Other volumes concern Thomas Little's immigration from England to the United States; bank accounts; estate settlements; corn, cotton, and hog records; house construction costs; the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, April 1862 to July 1863, and Benjamin Franklin Little's personal narrative as a Federal prisoner in 1863; and the weather.

Folder 21

Volume 1: School notebook of Thomas Little, undated

School notebook of Thomas Little, father of Benjamin Franklin Little, with a one-page journal of his voyage in 1806 as an immigrant from England to the United States.

Folder 22

Volume 2: Thomas Little's bank accounts, 1840-1853

Thomas Little's accounts with the Merchant's Bank, Cheraw, S.C., 1840-1844, 1848-1850, and with the Bank of Wadesboro, N.C., 1852-1853.

Oversize Paper OP-3954/1

Volume 3: Cotton account book, 1853-1860

Record of cotton picked by enslaved people, who are listed by name, with date and amount of cotton picked.

Folder 23

Folder number not used

Folder 24

Volume 4a: Account book, 1856-1867

Account book with brief expense summaries for 1860-1861 and 1866-1867; a record of amounts and prices of crops (mainly corn) sold in 1863 and January-March 1864; and a list of buyers, amounts, and prices of cotton sold, 1856-1860.

Folder 25

Volume 4b: Loose account book leaves, 1842-1864

List of enslaved women and the names and birth year (sometimes month and year) of their children, 1850-1864.

Cotton records, 1852-1855.

List of the weights of hogs slaughtered, 1842-1865.

Wheat records, 1856-1864.

Folder 26

Volume 5: Account book, circa 1861

Record of itemized expenses for building a house.

Folder 27

Volume 6: Account book of Flax M. Reid, 1861-1862

Record of clothing allotted to enslaved people.

Folder 28

Volume 7: Civil War journal, 1862-1863

Journal of the movements of the 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, April 1862 to July 1863, and Benjamin Franklin Little's personal narrative as a Federal prisoner in 1863.

Folder 29

Volume 8: Weather log, 1867-1879

Log with scattered entries recording temperature and weather at Carlisle plantation, near Little's Mill, Richmond County, N.C., 1867-1869, 1871-1879.

Folder 30

Volume 9: Account book, 1885-1887

Account book with general stores accounts for tenants, including Susy Little and Peter Little, Henry Little, Candace Little, Mary Ewing, Cajon Little, Lacy Little, Nannie Little, Sallie Little, 1885-1886; accounts for the estate of Benjamin Franklin Little, 1887; and an inventory of household linens, 1886.

Folder 31

Volume 10: Account book, 1890

Account book of Mary Jane Reid Little and Rufus Little as executors of the estate of Benjamin Franklin Little.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Pictures, 1870s-1935.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Other Papers, 1857-1880 and undated.

About 35 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Newspaper clippings realting to Benjamin Franklin Little, including obituaries for him and for other family members; Confederate Army muster rolls, 1862, for Company E, 52nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment; household inventories, circa 1859; complimentary rail passes presented to Little in 1872 and 1873; recipes for horse remedies; and other items.

Folder 32

Clippings

Folder 33

Confederate muster rolls

Folder 34

Inventory lists

Folder 35

Miscellaneous

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