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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 William Dunlap Simpson papers #3344, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased in 1958; purchased from Doug Mattox of Raleigh, N.C., in February 1995 (Acc. 95028); received from Joyce Talton and James Edward Gibson of Smithfield, N.C., in February 1995 (Acc. 95027).

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.

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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.

• Bankers--Southern States--History.
• Confederate States of America. Army. South Carolina Brigade, Gregg's.
• Confederate States of America. Army. South Carolina Brigade, McGowan's.
• Confederate States of America. Army. South Carolina Infantry Regiment, 14th.
• Confederate States of America. Congress.
• Courts--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Dean family.
• Dean, Hosea G.
• Democratic Party (S.C.)
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Fleming family.
• Fugitive enslaved persons--Alabama.
• Governors--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Hampton, Wade, 1818-1902.
• Health resorts--Michigan--History--19th century.
• Judges--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Laurens (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Lawyers--South Carolina--History--19th century.
• Simpson family.
• Simpson, Jane Young.
• Simpson, John Wells, 1871-1951.
• Simpson, Mabel Fleming.
• Simpson, William Dunlap, 1823-1890.
• South Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
• South Carolina. General Assembly. House of Representatives--History--19th century.
• South Carolina. Supreme Court.
• Spartanburg (S.C.)--Social life and customs. V
• Tri-weekly guardian.
• Wade family.
• Young family.

• William D. Simpson Papers, Special Collections, Duke University.

William Dunlap Simpson of Laurens, S.C., was the son of Dr. John W. Simpson. He was graduated from South Carolina College in 1843. He studied law with and became the partner and son-in-law of Henry Clinton Young of Laurens.

Simpson served in the state legislature, and, during the Civil War, was aide to M. L. Bonham, on active duty as lieutenant colonel with the 14th South Carolina Volunteers, and member of the Confederate Congress in 1863. After the war, he practiced law at Laurens and ran successfully for lieutenant governor, with running mate Wade Hampton, in 1876 and 1878. During his second term, he served as acting governor, and, in August 1880, before the expiration of his term, was named chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Simpson married Jane E. Young, daughter of Henry Clinton Young (b. 1794), lawyer of Laurens, S.C., and Lucy Melissa Young (1802-1874), daughter of John M. and Jennie Nisbet Young of Iredell County, N.C. William and Jane's children included William Dunlap, Jr., and Ernest, both lawyers, and John W., who was a banker in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. John W. Simpson married Mabel Donald Fleming on 25 September 1895 in Spartanburg, S.C.

Correspondence and related items, 1819-1852, include family and business letters, including an 1849 letter describing the capture of a violent runaway slave in Alabama. There are also letters of Mary Owen Dean in Spartanburg, S.C., and her husband Hosea G. Dean, clerk of the S.C. House of Representatives, 1852-1853. Letters in the late 1850s relate to William Simpson's law practice. During the Civil War, most letters are from William in the field, 1861-1862, with the 14th S.C. Volunteers, or from Richmond in the Confederate Congress, to his wife Jane, in charge of the Simpson platnation in Laurens. In 1876-1879, there are letters to William requesting political favors and outlining political deals, among them a letter from Wade Hampton, and to state Democratic Party activities. Similar letters appear during Simpson's tenure as chief justice of the S.C. Supreme Court. After William's death, there are letters from his son Ernest from a sanitorium in Battle Creek, Mich., where he was trying to improve his health. Most letters, 1900-1942, relate to John W. Simpson's banking career or to Mabel Fleming Simpson's interest in the history of the Dean, Fleming, Simpson, Wade, and other families. Other items include a few writings by family members, who were particularly intent on defending old southern ways; legal notes; pictures of family members, including a strip of photographs of a baby with a nurse and a homemade calendar for 1899 with photographs of children; a copy of Tri-Weekly Guardian, an 1863 news sheet; and a copy of a history of the Gregg/McGowan South Carolina Brigade (1866).

• Oversize Papers (XOP-3344/1-8 in Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-3344/1-8)
• Photographs (PF-3344/1-6)