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 Berry McKoy Papers, #471, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. William Berry McKoy of Wilmington, 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.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009; Nancy Kaiser, January 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.

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.

• Fear, Cape, Region (N.C.)--History--Sources.
• Freemasonry--North Carolina--History.
• McKoy, William Berry, 1852-1928.
• Medicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptions--History--19th century.
• North Carolina--Genealogy.
• Princeton University--Students--Social life and customs.
• Wilmington (N.C.)--History--Sources.

• Henry Bacon McKoy Collection (#3803).

William Berry McKoy (1852-1928) was a prominent Mason, lawyer and political leader of Wilmington, N.C. McKoy was educated at Princeton College, 1870-1875, and practiced law in Wilmington beginning in 1879. McKoy was deeply involved with Masonic organizations throughout his adult years, and was elected Grand Master in 1912. He was also active in state politics, and served for 25 years as a member of the Democratic Executive Committee. He was married to Katherine Bacon, daughter of Henry Bacon, civil engineer of the Cape Fear region.

The collection includes personal correspondence and research, chiefly 1893-1910, of William Berry McKoy, who was interested in the history of the settlement of the Cape Fear Region of North Carolina and the genealogies of prominent families there. Papers relate to his legal work, research, and participation in freemasonry but the only material dealing with his political activities is a scrapbook of clippings. Also present are letters from McKoy, 1870-1875, while a student at Princeton College; McKoy's notebooks of historical material; and miscellaneous account and memoranda books including a volume of formulae, recipes, and directions concerning medicines, 1825. The earliest items are indentures and records from New Hanover County, N.C. The genealogical material concerns McPherson, Treat, Paine, Brevard, Norfleet, and related families.

• Photographs (PF-471/1)
• Oversize volumes (SV-471/1-2)