Timeline extended for launch of Wilson Library facilities work.

Collection Number: 00493

Collection Title: William Francis Martin Papers, 1787-1884.

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.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,900 items)
Abstract William Francis Martin was a lawyer and Confederate Army officer from Elizabeth City, N.C. The collection includes correspondence and business papers, including 21 volumes, chiefly of Martin and his brother, James G. Martin, adjutant general of North Carolina and Confederate brigadier general. Much of the collection consists of legal papers, law account books, and other papers of W. F. Martin's law practice in northeastern North Carolina before and after the Civil War. Also included are Civil War papers of his agent, Gilbert Elliott (born 1843), who was involved in the construction of Confederate gunboats on the North Carolina coast; students' notebooks; volumes of accounts of or with the United States customs house for the Camden District, 1837-1843; journal of the schooner Bancroft mapping North Carolina coastal waters, 1852-1853; general merchandise accounts, 1855-1856 and 1865-1870, at Plymouth, N.C., and 1860-1861 at Elizabeth City; record of local and state taxes, [Pasquotank County?, N.C.], 1860; merchandise accounts with ships, 1860-1862 and 1865-1867; order book and journal of a United States revenue sloop off the North Carolina coast, 1872-1875 and 1877-1879; letter book of the United States Life Saving Service at Elizabeth City and Manteo, N.C., 1878-1881; and other items.
Creator Martin, William Francis, 1821-1880.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 William Francis Martin Papers, #493, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from the Martin family, 1940.
Additions and volumes received from Bessie Stewart and Mrs. Will Foreman of Elizabeth City, N.C.; Mrs. George Folk of Raleigh, N.C., and Sophie Wood and John Wood of Edenton, N.C.
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.
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, September 2009; Nancy Kaiser, April 2021

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.

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

William Francis Martin (1821-1880) was a lawyer and Confederate Army officer from Elizabeth City, N.C. He attended the University of North Carolina; practiced law in Elizabeth City; joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and commanded the 17th Regiment, North Carolina Volunteers; and was a prisoner of war at Fort Warren, Boston, Mass. He was a civic leader in Elizabeth City and in the Albemarle, N.C., section and was a vestryman at Christ (Episcopal) Church. Martin married Elizabeth McMorine, 1849, and their children were William John, Robert Bruce, Sophie, Charles, Helen, Martha McMorine, Elizabeth McMorine, and Edward.

Martin was also the brother of James G. (James Green) Martin (1819-1878), adjutant general of North Carolina and Confederate brigadier general.

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence and business papers, including 21 volumes, chiefly of William Francis Martin and his brother, James G. Martin. Much of the collection consists of legal papers, including deeds, indentures, bonds, wills, law account books, and other papers of W. F. Martin's law practice in northeastern North Carolina before and after the Civil War. Also included are Civil War papers of his agent, Gilbert Elliott (born 1843), who was involved in the construction of Confederate gunboats on the North Carolina coast; students' notebooks; volumes of accounts of or with the United States customs house for the Camden District, 1837-1843; journal of the schooner Bancroft mapping North Carolina coastal waters, 1852-1853; general merchandise accounts, 1855-1856 and 1865-1870, at Plymouth, N.C., and 1860-1861 at Elizabeth City; record of local and state taxes, [Pasquotank County?, N.C.], 1860; merchandise accounts with ships, 1860-1862 and 1865-1867; order book and journal of a United States revenue sloop off the North Carolina coast, 1872-1875 and 1877-1879; letter book of the United States Life Saving Service at Elizabeth City and Manteo, N.C., 1878-1881; and other items.

Back to Top

Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse William Francis Martin Papers, 1787-1884 and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1787-1820

Folder 2

1821-1830

Folder 3

1831-1837

Folder 4

1838-1842

Folder 5

1843-1845

Folder 6

1846

Folder 7

1847

Folder 8

1848

Folder 9

1849

Folder 10

1850

Folder 11-12

Folder 11

Folder 12

1851

Folder 13-14

Folder 13

Folder 14

1852

Folder 15-16

Folder 15

Folder 16

1853

Folder 17-18

Folder 17

Folder 18

1854

Folder 19-21

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

1855

Folder 22-23

Folder 22

Folder 23

1856

Folder 24-25

Folder 24

Folder 25

1857

Folder 26-27

Folder 26

Folder 27

1858

Folder 28-29

Folder 28

Folder 29

1859

Folder 30-32

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

1860

Folder 33-36

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

1861

Folder 37-39

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

1862

Folder 40

1863

Folder 41

1864-1865

Folder 42

1866-1868

Folder 43

1869

Folder 44-45

Folder 44

Folder 45

1870

Folder 46

1871-1872

Folder 47

1873-1875

Folder 48

1876-1879

Folder 49

1880-1884

Folder 50-52

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Undated

Folder 53

Clippings and printed material

Folder 54

Fragments

Folder 55

Volume 1: Record book, Customs House, District of Camden, N.C., 1837-1843

Folder 56

Volume 2: Commonplace book, Mrs. Marion McMorine, 1849

Includes attorney's accounts, 1861-1861.

Folder 57

Volume 3: Cash book, W. F. Martin, 1850-1851

Folder 58

Volume 4: Account book, W. F. Martin with servants, 1850-1857

Folder 59

Volume 5: Chemistry notebook, Robert Bruce Martin, 1851-1852

Folder 60

Volume 6: Journal, schooner Bancroft, survey of North Carolina coastal waters, 1852-1853

Folder 61

Volume 7: Ledger, Dashiell, Tatum and Company, 1855-1870

Folder 62

Volume 8: Account book, W. F. Martin with clients, 1856-1858

Folder 63

Volume 9: Daybook, W. F. Martin, 1859-1866

Folder 64

Volume 10: Diary and memoranda book, business transactions, 1860-1861

Folder 65

Volume 11: Tax record book, [Pasquotank County?, N.C.], 1860

Oversize Volume SV-493/12

Volume 12: Ledger, schooners and merchants, 1860-1861

Oversize Volume SV-493/13

Volume 13: Daybook, general merchandise, 1860-1861

Folder 68

Volume 14: Freight account book, schooner Ella, 1865-1867

Folder 69

Volume 15: Order book, United States Revenue Sloop Saville, 1872-1875

Folder 70

Volume 16: Chemistry notebook, Robert Bruce Martin, 1876

Folder 71

Volume 17: Letterpress copybook, W. F. Martin, 1877

Folder 72

Volume 18: Law student's notebook, Charles Finley McKesson, 1870s

Folder 73

See SV-493/19

Oversize Volume SV-493/19

Volume 19: Journal, United States Revenue Sloop Saville, 1877-1879

Folder 74

Volume 20: Letterbook, United States Life Saving Service, 1878-1881

Folder 75

Volume 21: Accountbook, undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Back to Top