Timeline extended for launch of Wilson Library facilities work.

Collection Number: 04409

Collection Title: Manly Family Papers, 1782-1936 (bulk 1847-1870)

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.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1350 items)
Abstract Members of the Manly family of Wake County, N.C., included Charles Manly, governor of North Carolina, 1849-1851; his son, Basil Charles Manly, a lawyer who served as mayor of Raleigh, N.C.; and son-in-law George Badger Singeltary, lawyer of Greenville, N.C. The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal items, military papers, estate papers, account books, genealogical material, and other items relating to the family of Charles Manly. Materials pertain to the daily lives and financial and legal interests of the Manly family, chiefly 1847-1870, with some material concerning military careers during the Mexican and Civil wars. Topics include Charles Manly's personal business and law practice; lives of students at the University of North Carolina in the 1850s, including seven student essays by William Henry Manly and one letter concerning the closing of the University in 1868; the lives of women on a plantation in Wake County, especially in the 1850s, including their relations with slaves; George Badger Singeltary's dishonorable discharge during the Mexican War and other aspects of Singeltary's life; activities of the 9th and 44th North Carolina regiments in the Civil War; and the estates of William H. Haywood Sr., James C. S. McDowell, and others.
Creator Manly (Family : Wake County, N.C.)
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Manly Family Papers #4409, Southern Historical Collection, 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 Anerica as part of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, Series A.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. A. L. Purrington, Jr., of Raleigh, N.C., in March 1985 and February 1986.
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.
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Connie Cartledge and Anne von Storch, February 1986

Encoded by: Bari Helms, April 2005

Back to Top

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.

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Related Collections

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Charles Manly (1795-1891), last Whig governor of North Carolina, 1849-1851, was born in Chatham County, the son of Captain Basil Manly. His siblings included the Reverend Basil Manly, president of the University of Alabama; Matthias Manly, justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina; and Louisa Sophia, whose second husband was Pleasant M. Powell, a planter of Powellton, N.C.

In 1817, after graduating from the University of North Carolina and studying law in Raleigh, Charles Manly married Charity Hare Haywood, daughter of William H. Haywood, Sr., a prominent Raleigh banker. Charity Hare Haywood was the sister of William Henry Haywood Jr., United States senator, and sister-in-law of Edward B. Dudley, governor of North Carolina, 1836-1840. Manly's legal career centered in Raleigh, where he practiced law before and after his term as governor. He also owned the large plantation, Ingleside, northeast of Raleigh in Wake County.

The Manlys had twelve children. The oldest daughter was Ann Eliza (b. 1818). The oldest son, John Haywood (1820-1874), practiced law in Galveston, Tex. Langdon Cheves (1822-circa 1890), often referred to as "Chev," became a physician in Raleigh. Charles Jr. (1824-1848) and William Henry (1826-1848) both died as young men. Cora (1829-1876), known as "Sis Co" or "C", married George Badger Singeltary, a lawyer of Greenville, in 1853 or 1854. Singeltary became a Confederate colonel and was killed in 1862 (see The Confederate Reveille (1898)). A fifth son died as a baby. The third daughter, Julia (1832-1900), married James McDowell, owner of Quaker Meadows Plantation near Morganton, and had a number of children. McDowell also served as a Confederate colonel and was killed in the war. In 1855, Helen (1835-1921) married John Gray Blount Grimes, a planter of Pitt County, who served as a Confederate captain and was imprisoned during the war. They had six children, one of whom, Olivia Blount Grimes, was the donor of this collection.

Between 1855 and 1863, Sophia Louisa (b. 1837), the governor's next youngest daughter, received hundreds of letters from relatives and friends. Her correspondents included Sally Bett Tayloe and Clara Hoyt of Washington, N.C., and Annie and Fannie de Roulhac of Orange County. Fannie later married Daniel Heyward Hamilton and was the mother of J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, founder of the Southern Historical Collection. Sophia's most persistent beau between 1858 and 1863 was Thomas Chapeau Singeltary, younger brother of her brother-in-law George Badger Singletary, law student, and eventually also a Confederate colonel, commanding the 44th Regiment after his brother's death. Sometime after 1863, Sophie married Edward Jones Hardin, who bought the McDowell plantation, and moved with him to Texas.

Basil Charles (1839-1882), the governor's youngest son, a Confederate major (lst Artillery, 10th Regiment), managed the Ingleside plantation, practiced law, and served as mayor of Raleigh. The youngest daughter, Ida (1844-1908), like her sisters, carried on an ample correspondence.

Sources of this historical note and chart are Ashe's Biographical History of North Carolina, volume 6; The Confederate Reveille (1898); and Robert K. Krick, Lee's Colonels (1984).

Manly Family

Haywood Family

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Correspondence, financial and legal items, military papers, estate papers, account books, genealogical material, and other items relating to the family of Charles Manly (1795-1871), governor of North Carolina, 1849-1851. The collection pertains to the daily lives and financial and legal interests of the Manly family, chiefly 1847-1870, with some material concerning military careers during the Mexican War and the Civil War. Topics documented include Charles Manly's personal business and law practice; lives of students at the University of North Carolina in the 1850s, including seven student essays by William Henry Manly and one letter concerning the closing of the University in 1868; the lives of women on a plantation in Wake County, N.C., especially in the 1850s, including their relations with slaves; George Badger Singeltary's dishonorable discharge during the Mexican War and other aspects of Singeltary's life; activities of the 9th North Carolina Infantry Regiment and the 44th North Carolina Infantry Regiment in the Civil War; and the estates of William H. Haywood Sr., James C. S. McDowell, and others.

About half of these papers are letters received between 1850 and 1870 by members of the Manly family, the principal recipients being Charles Manly, Sophia Louisa Manly, and George Badger Singeltary. Also included are financial and legal items, other correspondence, estate papers, and an account book, all of which reflect the legal and business interests of Charles Manly and George Badger Singeltary. After Singeltary's death in 1862 and the death of James C. S. McDowell in 1863, Manly handled the financial affairs of their estates and families and, as a result, acquired Singeltary's papers and McDowell's estate papers. In addition, financial and legal items of William H. Haywood Sr. (Manly's father-in-law), are included in this collection. Manly was one of the executors of Haywood's estate and also a partner in several of Haywood's business ventures.

Back to Top

Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. General Correspondence, 1782, 1846-1886, 1922-1933, and undated.

About 430 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly letters to members of the family of Governor Charles Manly from Manly's brother, his in-laws, and the cousins, friends, and beaux of his younger children.

Letters from the 1850s through 1860 reflect the lives and interests of an articulate group of young people of the privileged planter and professional class of ante-bellum society in North Carolina. All of the Manly men attended the University of North Carolina, as did several of the young men who wrote to Manly's daughters. Correspondence from Chapel Hill, N.C., is limited chiefly to social doings there. Basil Manly (1839-1882) and some of his correspondents read law with Judge Richmond Pearson at Richmond Hill. The Manly girls went to Saint Mary's School in Raleigh, N.C.; a few of their letters and those of their contemporaries have to do with their school experience, but more concern the social life of young ladies. Chatty letters from and to the three married sisters, Cora Manly Singeltary, Julia Manly McDowell, and Helen Manly Grimes, describe many aspects of plantation and town life: domestic duties of the household mistress, procuring plants for the kitchen garden, relations with slaves, as well as fashions and social activities.

Correspondence from 1861 to 1863 reflects the war. Notable 1861 items include a letter of 5 June, from J. H. Jenkins of Greenville, N.C., concerning the impact of the war and certain "pro Mr. Lincoln" neighbors, and one of 11 November from M. F. Arundel of Beaufort, N.C., regarding the naval blockade. Thomas C. Singeltary's letters to Sophie, 1861-1863, describe the movements of his regiment (the 44th) in General James Johnston Pettigrew's brigade. Other letters from these years describe life on the battle front as well as the home front.

Correspondence from 1864 to 1886 consists chiefly of letters to and from Charles Manly. Items include letters from Manly's oldest son, John Haywood Manly, living in Houston, Tex., in 1866. The letters of Edward J. Hardin and Sophia Manly Hardin from the 1870s have to do primarily with Hardin's business travels from Texas to New York and elsewhere. There are also letters from Charles Manly to his brother, the Reverend Basil Manly (1798-1868), including one, dated 4 August 1868, about the closing of the University of North CarolinaC. The majority of the correspondence relates to family news, business, and political affairs. In several letters of 1866, Manly reveals his personal anguish over the illness of his daughter Ann Eliza Manly and her treatment at Mount Hope Institution.

Correspondence of 1922 and 1927 to 1935 consists chiefly of letters to Olivia Blount Grimes from various family members concerning Manly family genealogy. One letter is from J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton discussing the possibility of obtaining Charles Manly's papers for the University of North Carolina.

Other notable items include a letter of 22 September 1782, from Moses Young in Cork, Ireland, to Jonathan Williams in Nantes, France, introducing Edward Jones, a gentleman from North Ireland who planned to emigrate to "our Country" via Nantes; a letter of 8 February 1839, from Elizabeth Maultsby Manly (Charles Manly's mother) to her son Basil Manly commenting on Charles's relationship with his sister and children; a letter, 15 January 1842, of Charles Manly Sr., to Langdon Cheves Manly relating his taking Charles Manly Jr. to New York to arrange passage on the Victorian; and a letter dated 9 October 1886 from H. H. Reynolds, president of the H. H. Reynolds Tobacco Company of Winston, N.C., giving instructions to his addressee ("Dear Sir") as a participant in "the parade" of 26 October.

Folder 1

1782, 1839

Folder 2

1842, 1846-1855

Folder 3

1855

Folder 4-9

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

1856

Folder 10-12

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

1857

Folder 13-14

Folder 13

Folder 14

1858

Folder 15-17

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

1859

Folder 18-19

Folder 18

Folder 19

Undated 1850s

Folder 20-23

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

1860

Folder 24

1861

Folder 25

1862

Folder 26

1863

Folder 27

1864-1868

Folder 28

Undated 1860s

Folder 29

1870-1871

Folder 30

1873-1882, 1886

Folder 31

1922, 1925

Folder 32

1927

Folder 33

1928

Folder 34

1929-1933

Folder 35-36

Folder 35

Folder 36

Undated and fragments

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. George Badger Singeltary, 1818, 1828, 1837-1873, and undated.

About 670 items.

Arrangement: by type.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. Correspondence, 1818, 1847-1862.

About 390 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly letters to George Badger Singeltary from relatives, friends, business associates, military commanders, and soldiers. The majority of the business correspondence concerns legal matters and the collection of various financial accounts. Locations of the correspondents are chiefly places in North Carolina.

Of interest is a letter, 30 August 1818, of George E. Badger to John Singeltary, George Badger Singeltary's father, discussing married life.

For 1847, noteworthy letters include those of soldiers and commanders who wrote from Mexico to defend Singeltary when he was dishonorably discharged from the United States Army in Mexico. The papers provide only sketchy details of this incident.

From 1848 to 1860, correspondence consists chiefly of business and family letters. Notable items include six letters from Thomas Ruffin, 1853-1855, who in 1855 expressed concern about the popularity and growth of the American (Know Nothing) Party in North Carolina (folders 42, 43, 48). In addition, there are letters from a brickmaker and inventor, L. F. H. Smith of Baltimore, Md. Smith and Singeltary exchanged ideas for improving Smith's inventions, and Smith sent several of his inventions to Singeltary. In addition, Singeltary received correspondence relating to his business and legal practice from correspondents throughout North Carolina.

The 1861 correspondence relates chiefly to Singeltary's military operations near New Bern, N.C. Letters convey routine commands and requests from soldiers to transfer to Singeltary's company. There is little information about actual battles; most of the correspondence is administrative. Notable correspondents include D. H. Hill (folders 59, 61, and 62), and Governor Henry T. Clark (folders 55, 57, and 59).

Folder 37a

1818

Folder 37b

1847

Folder 38

1848-1851

Folder 39

1852

Folder 40-42

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

1853

Folder 43-45

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

1854

Folder 46-49

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

1855

Folder 50

1856

Folder 51-52

Folder 51

Folder 52

1857

Folder 53

1850s

Folder 54

1858-1860s

Folder 55-62

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

Folder 61

Folder 62

1861

Folder 63

1862

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. Military Papers, 1846-1862 and undated.

About 60 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Printed and handwritten materials documenting Singeltary's service in the Mexican and Civil Wars. Items include commissions; four muster rolls of Company A, the Green County Riflemen, and the Perquimans Beauregards of the 9th Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers; orders; general and special reports; volunteer lists for military service; statements for court martial hearings; and other material.

Folder 64

Commissions, 1846-1849, 1861-1862

Folder 65

Muster Rolls, 1861

Folder 66-67

Folder 66

Folder 67

Orders, 1861

Folder 68

Orders, 1861-1862

Folder 69

Other, 1860-1861

Folder 70

Other, 1861 and undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.3. Financial and Legal Items, 1837-1873 and undated.

About 200 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Items relate to Singeltary's personal business and to legal agreements that Singeltary prepared. Included are bills, receipts, store accounts, financial notes, deeds, legal agreements, legal statements, and other material. Items are chiefly related to Singeltary's personal affairs. However, about thirty items, interfiled among the others, have no relation to Singeltary's own affairs and probably represent the legal interests of his clients.

Folder 71

Financial Items, 1846, 1851-1852

Folder 72

Financial Items, 1853

Folder 73-74

Folder 73

Folder 74

Financial Items, 1854

Folder 75

Financial Items, 1855

Folder 76

Financial Items, 1856

Folder 77

Financial Items, 1857

Folder 78

Financial Items, 1858

Folder 79

Financial Items, 1859-1860

Folder 80

Financial Items, 1861

Folder 81

Financial Items, 1869-1873

Folder 82

Financial Items, undated

Folder 83

Legal Items, 1837-1853

Folder 84

Legal Items, 1854-1857

Folder 85

Legal Items, 1858-1860

Folder 86

Legal Items, 1850s-1860s and undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.4. Other Papers, 1828, 1845-1861, and undated.

About 20 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Survey reports and sketches, political speeches, printed items, notes on election returns, and other material. One notable item, circa January 1861, is an agreement between William B. Rodman and Edward J. Warren, describing the rules for their duel.

Folder 87

1828, 1845-1861

Folder 88

1850s-1860s and undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Estate Papers, 1800-1871 and undated.

About 220 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Papers apparently collected by Manly, who was executor or connected in some other way to the estates of William H. Haywood Sr., James C. S. McDowell, John Norcott, and Nymphus A. Price. These papers consist chiefly of legal and financial items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.1. William H. Haywood Sr., 1800-1868 and undated.

About 140 items.

Arrangement: by type, then chronological.

Correspondence, receipts, accounts, bills, financial notes, deeds, legal correspondence and papers concern Haywood's post as clerk of the United States Circuit Court for the District of North Carolina. Also included are a few papers of Haywood's son, William H. Haywood Jr. Notable items from 1854-1868 include items documenting the selling of several family slaves, valuation listings of slaves, and, in 1865, an item listing terms and costs of hiring former slaves.

Folder 89

General, 1800-1802, 1817-1818

Folder 90

General, 1831-1835, 1841, 1847-1848

Folder 91

General, 1852-1853

Folder 92

General, 1854-1857

Folder 93

General, 1857

Folder 94

General, 1858-1859

Folder 95

General, 1860-1868

Folder 96

General, undated

Folder 97

Court Papers, 1801-1802, 1847-1856

Folder 98

Court Papers, 1857 and undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.2. James C. S. McDowell, 1863-1871.

About 50 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence, receipts, bills, and accounts concerning the estate of James C. S. McDowell, chiefly financial items documenting the school expenses of McDowell's children and other expenses of his family after his death. Also included are correspondence and legal papers documenting Edward G. Hardin's renting of the McDowell plantation and his eventual purchase of the property.

Folder 99

1863-1869

Folder 100

1870-1871

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.3. Charles Manly Jr., 1842-1844, 1847-1849.

About 30 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Correspondence, financial and legal items, military papers, travel accounts and an obituary notice document the life of Charles Manly Jr.

Folder 101

Correspondence, 1847-1849

Folder 102

Financial and Legal Items, 1842-1843

Folder 103

Financial and Legal Items, 1844, 1847-1848

Folder 104

Military Papers, 1848

Folder 105

Obituary Notice, 1848

Folder 106-107

Folder 106

Folder 107

Travel Accounts, 1842

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.4. John Norcott, 1849, 1858.

5 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Legal items document the division of Norcott's plantation between Norcott's heirs. It is unclear how these papers came into Charles Manly's possession. Perhaps Norcott had been a client of George Badger Singeltary, whose estate Manly handled.

Folder 108

1849, 1858

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.5. Nymphus A. Price, 1849-1858.

4 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Three account books and one legal item document financial transactions made by Charles Green, administrator of the Price estate. It is unclear how these papers came into the possession of Charles Manly.

Folder 109

1849-1853

Folder 110

1852-1858

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Other Financial and Legal Items, 1820-1876.

About 250 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Items relate to Charles Manly's personal business and his law practice. Financial items include bills, receipts, notes, an account book, and other items. About one third of the financial items relate to Manly's payment of local and state taxes. The account book documents Manly's activities as commissioner of the Court of Equity for managing funds of Eleanor Kyle and Virginia Kyle; as partner in a shoemaking business with William H. Haywood; as part owner of Roanoke, a stallion; and as part owner of a meadow with Governor J. M. Morehead. It also records other property accounts, chiefly in Raleigh; estate settlements; and medical and custodial expenses for Ann E. Manly. The papers relating to Charles Daffron, a kinsman of Charles Sr., concern Daffron's financial difficulties and document the financial help he received from Charles Manly. Two items, 1842, document the expenditure of Charles Manly Jr.'s passage on the Victoria.

The legal items consist chiefly of correspondence and notes relating to Manly's legal practice in Chatham County, N.C. One notable item is a fee book which lists fees owed to Manly from individuals of Chatham County. Another item of particular interest is a deposition, circa 1861, of prisoners testifying against Francis Riggs, apparently on trial for disloyalty to the Confederacy. It is unclear what connection Manly had with the case.

Folder 111

Financial Items, 1820-1830

Folder 112

Financial Items, 1831-1842

Folder 113

Financial Items, 1846-1863

Folder 114

Financial Items, 1864-1869

Folder 115

Financial Items, 1870

Folder 116

Financial Items, 1871

Folder 117

Financial Items, 1872

Folder 118

Financial Items, 1873-1874

Folder 119

Financial Items, 1875-1876, 1870s

Folder 120

Financial Items: Account Book, 1836-1866

Folder 121

Financial Items: Charles Daffron Papers, 1855-1866

Folder 122

Legal Items, 1859, 1861, 1869, 1875, and undated

Folder 123

Chatham Court Items, 1828, 1839-1843

Folder 124

Chatham Court Items, 1850-1852

Folder 125

Chatham Court Items, 1854-1856

Folder 126

Chatham Court Items, 1857-1858

Folder 127

Chatham Court Items, 1850s

Folder 128

Chatham Fee Book, 1845-1860

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Other Papers, 1843-1936 and undated.

About 180 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Newspaper clippings, genealogical material, insurance papers of Charles Manly, receipts and bills of the Ladies' Memorial Association, and other materials reflect the various interests and activities of members of the Manly family. The Confederate medals and ribbons probably belonged to Major Charles Manly Stedman (1841-1930). Items of William Henry Manly include addresses and essays, a University of North Carolina diploma, and a Philanthropic Society diploma and resolution. Seven essays were written while Manly was a student at the University of North Carolina. The majority of items pertain to Charles Manly. Items of particular interest are his oaths, pardons, and "Yankee depredations statement," 1865-1866. Among the miscellaneous items are notes about an 1850 meeting of the vestry of the parish of Christ Church, Raleigh, N.C., and treasury notes of North Carolina and Virginia, 1861-1862.

Folder 129

Clippings

Folder 130

Confederate Medals and Ribbons, circa 1890-1910

Folder 131-135

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Genealogical Material

Folder 136-137

Folder 136

Folder 137

Genealogical Material: Maultsby Family

Folder 138

Insurance Papers

Folder 139

Ladies Memorial Association

Folder 140

Oaths, Pardons, and Depredations Statement

Folder 141-142

Folder 141

Folder 142

William Henry Manly, 1846-1848

Folder 143

Miscellaneous Items

Back to Top