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 Margaret Swann Letters #5600-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Roger Harris in September 2014 (Acc. 102092).

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: Amanda Loeb, December 2014

Encoded by: Amanda Loeb, December 2014

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.

• Railroad travel--United States--History--19th century.
• Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877).
• Smallpox--Vaccination--History--19th century.
• Swann, Margaret, 1837-1905.
• Swann, Thomas Thompson.
• Teachers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Teachers--Virginia--History--19th century.
• Warrenton (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Women--Education--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Women--Education--Virginia--History--19th century.
• Women--Virginia--Economic condition.

Margaret Swann (1837-1905) was a teacher in Warrenton, N.C. and in Virginia. Her father, Thomas Thompson Swann, was a professor at the University of Virginia, and her brother, John Swann, died in the Civil War. Her husband, Andrew Gordon, was headmaster of a private school, Locust Dale Academy, near Orange, Orange County, Va. Margaret Swann's grandfather was a direct descendent of William Swann, who established the Swann's Point settlement near the James River in Surry County, Va., in the 17th century.

The collection consists of two letters written by Margaret Swann to her father, Thomas Thompson Swann. In the letter dated 21 January 1863, Swann discussed the running of a girl's school in Warrenton, N.C., traveling by train, the Jones family, vaccinations, fear of small pox outbreaks, and music as entertainment. In the letter dated 10 February 1868, Swann responded to her father's invitation and offer of money, and discussed reports of destitution and unsafe conditions south of Virginia, the dismal political state, winter travels, staying with relatives, and finding work as a teacher in Virginia.