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 James Jones Philips Papers #972, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

All or part of this collection available on microfilm.

Additional microfilm: All or part of this collection is also available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Ella and Hattie Battle of Battleboro, N.C., in May 1945.

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: Scott Philyaw, May 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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.

• Agriculture--Florida--History--19th century.
• Agriculture--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Brandy--History--19th century.
• Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
• Edgecombe County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Florida--Social life and customs.
• Freedmen--Florida.
• Freedmen--North Carolina.
• Marianna (Fla.)--Social life and customs.
• Medicine--Practice--Accounting--History--19th century.
• North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Philips, Ethelred, 1801-1870.
• Philips, James Jones, 1798-1874.
• Physicians--Alcohol use--History--19th century.
• Physicians--Florida--History--19th century.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Slavery--Florida.
• Slavery--North Carolina.

• Ivan Proctor Battle Papers (#50-z);
• Archibald Hunter Arrington Papers (#3240).

James Jones Philips (1798-1874), was a physician and scientific farmer of Edgecombe County, N.C. His cousin Ethelred Philips (1801-1870) was a physician and farmer of Marianna, Fla.

Papers of James Jones Philips (1798-1874), physician and scientific farmer, of Edgecombe County, N.C., and his cousin Ethelred Philips (1801-1870), physician and farmer of Marianna, Fla.

The bulk of the materials are letters from Ethelred Philips to James J. Philips. Many of them contain instructions to James in his capacity as the manager of Ethelred's business affairs in North Carolina. Letters often contain information on crop yields, prices, and other aspects of the agricultural economy. Their primary value, however, lies in their portrayal of the views and opinions of an articulate, pro-Union Southerner. Ethelred Philips commented on a variety of subjects, including the political issues of the day--secession, the Confederate government, censorship, problems with democracy, and reconstruction; religion and philosophy, and the need for church reform and modernization; health care--reports of various epidemics, his own ill health, and the medicinal benefits of brandy, which he apparently frequently used himself; and relationships with slaves and freedmen. There are also a few letters to and from James J. Philips, Jr. (d. 1865), and other family members. An 1892 biographical sketch of Dr. James J. Phillips(sic) and an undated "fishing tale" are filed in Series 1.

Also included are three volumes containing medical records and accounts of James J. Philips. Volume 1 is a physician's record book (1832-1835). Volume 2 is an account book of James J. Philips with several estate records, 1849-1858, records with Ethelred Philips, 1856-1869, and accounts with slaves and freedmen, 1859-1860 and 1867-1870. Volume 3 is an 1871 book of accounts with laborers. There are also a few miscellaneous receipts.