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 Arthur Middleton Papers #505-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. James S. Middleton, Columbia, S.C.

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: Jill Snider, August 1990

Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2007

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.

• Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Estates (Law)--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Heyward, Alice I.
• Middleton family.
• Middleton, Alicia Hopton Russell, d. 1840.
• Middleton, Arthur, 1785-1837.
• Middleton, Arthur, b. 1832.

• Nathaniel Russell Middleton Papers (#506), Southern Historical Collection
• Thomas Middleton Papers (#507), Southern Historical Collection
• Middleton Family Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina

Arthur Middleton was the son of Nathaniel Russell Middleton (1810-1890) and Margaret Emma Izard. Born in 1832 in Charleston, S.C., he attended Sachleben's School and Charleston College. He married Julia Emma Rhett in 1853. During the Civil War, Middleton volunteered in the Santee Rifles; was transferred to the Engineer Corps; and, upon the loss of an eye, worked in the Quartermaster's Department. He returned after the war to his Daisy Bank Plantation on the Santee River and later moved to Charleston.

Letters and papers, chiefly 1851-1865, of Arthur Middleton and other Middleton family members. Letters received by Arthur Middleton and legal and financial papers pertaining to his affairs are scattered. Two letters, one received by Middleton in 1863 from Middleton & Co. of Charleston, S.C., and one written by James H. Ladson & Co. to Alice I. Heyward in 1851, concern Alice Heyward's estate, for which Middleton served as executor. Four letters received by Middleton in 1864 relate to his personal finances. The letters were written by Wilmot G. DeSaussure, W. I. Middleton, E. Marks, and Allen C. Izard. There are also two bonds, 1855 and 1869, and an 1864 receipt.

A few of the papers relate to Middleton's discharge from the Confederate Army during the Civil War. These consist of his Certificate of Discharge; an 1863 letter from surgeon William Weck of the Confederate General Hospital No. 1 in Columbia to Dr. Andrews, Examining Surgeon of the 5th Army District, urging him to discharge Middleton; and an 1864 letter from Major Roland Rhett verifying Middleton's service in the Quartermaster's Office. Other papers appearing are Middleton's Oath of Allegiance to the United States and a certification of his oath, both dated 1865.

The final letter, 1891, addressed to Middleton is from his cousin, Alice Rhett, and concerns the acquisition of letters written by his grandmother, Alicia Hopton Russell Middleton. Two of Alicia Middleton's letters, 1803 and 1804, appear in the collection and are addressed to Caroline Munro of Providence, R.I., who had been her schoolmate at Miss Newton's School in Medford, Mass. They briefly discuss health, weather, and family news.

Other correspondence consists of an 1855 letter from Henry D. Lesesne to Richard Roper about property Middleton may have wanted to buy and an 1891 letter from F. J. Lippett to Alice Rhett apprising her of the existence of Alice Middleton's letters. There is also a 1938 newspaper clipping on Middleton's grandfather, Arthur Middleton (1785-1837), also appears.