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Collection Number: 00486-z

Collection Title: Basil Manly Papers, 1842-1893.

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 About 175 items
Abstract Basil Manly Jr. (1825-1892) was a prominent Baptist minister and educator in South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. Chiefly correspondence, 1842-1885, of Basil Manly Jr., and his brother Charles Manly (1837-1924), also a Baptist minister. Personal correspondence, 1850-1881, consists of letters to Charles Manly from his family, especially Basil Manly Jr., and letters written by Basil Manly Jr., to his parents and siblings. The letters detail family matters; church politics and activities; religious views; Basil Manly Jr.'s teaching career in South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia; and national politics, including secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Items of interest include a description of the February 1865 evacuation of Columbia, S.C., during Sherman's occupation; an 1870 letter describing black members of the South Carolina legislature; and letters of condolence at the death of Basil Manly, Sr. (1798-1868), a Baptist minister and educator and president of the University of Alabama. There are also many letters, 1842-1885, to Basil Manly Jr., from fellow ministers and educators, discussing church business, personalities, and politics; conflicts with Baptists in the North and other denominations; theological questions and controversies, especially the issue of pedobaptism; the publishing of Southern religious literature; and Basil Manly Jr.'s career as an administrator and professor at various Baptist colleges and seminaries. There are also several letters describing missionary activities in Shanghai, China, and among Turkish Armenians in the 1880s. There are also 22 letterbooks, 1852-1893, on microfilm of Basil Manly Jr., while he was professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., and at other institutions.
Creator Manly, Basil, 1825-1892.
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 Basil Manly Papers, #486-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm available.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. L. M. Parks, prior to 1940. Additional material lent for microfilming by Mr. Charles J. F. Manly, 1948, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1950.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.
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, April 2010; Nancy Kaiser, November 2020

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.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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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

Basil Manly Jr. (1825-1892) was a prominent Baptist minister and educator in South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. He was the son of Basil Manly (1798-1868) and Sarah Murray Rudulph Manly. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va., 1850-1854; president of the Richmond Female Institute, 1854-1859; professor of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greenville, S.C.; president of Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky., 1871-1877; and professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., 1877-1892.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection is chiefly correspondence, 1842-1885, of Basil Manly Jr., and his brother Charles Manly (1837-1924), also a Baptist minister. Personal correspondence, 1850-1881, consists of letters to Charles Manly from his family, especially Basil Manly Jr., and letters written by Basil Manly Jr., to his parents and siblings. The letters detail family matters; church politics and activities; religious views; Basil Manly Jr.'s teaching career in South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia; and national politics, including secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Items of interest include a description of the February 1865 evacuation of Columbia, S.C., during Sherman's occupation; an 1870 letter describing black members of the South Carolina legislature; and letters of condolence at the death of Basil Manly, Sr. (1798-1868), a Baptist minister and educator and president of the University of Alabama. There are also many letters, 1842-1885, to Basil Manly Jr., from fellow ministers and educators, discussing church business, personalities, and politics; conflicts with Baptists in the North and other denominations; theological questions and controversies, especially the issue of pedobaptism; the publishing of Southern religious literature; and Basil Manly Jr.'s career as an administrator and professor at various Baptist colleges and seminaries. There are also several letters describing missionary activities in Shanghai, China, and among Turkish Armenians in the 1880s. There are also 22 letterbooks, 1852-1893, on microfilm of Basil Manly Jr., while he was professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., and at other institutions.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Basil Manly Papers, 1842-1893.

Folder 1

Papers, 1842-1859 (original collection finding aid included)

Folder 2

Papers, 1860-1869

Includes a letter dated 1 April 1867 that describes African Americans and voting in South Carolina after the war.

Folder 3

Papers, 1870-1879

Folder 4

Papers, 1880-1891

Reel M-486/1-4

M-486/1

M-486/2

M-486/3

M-486/4

Microfilm

  • Reels 1-4: Letterbooks, 1852-1887

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Microfilm (M-486/1-4)

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