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 Annie Blackwell Thorne Papers #4521, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Thomas W. Thorne Jr., of New Orleans, La., in September 1988 (Acc. 88107), November 1998 (Acc. 98233), and June 2012 (Acc. 101603).

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: Roslyn Holdzkom, October 1988; Linda Sellars, June 1999

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, November 2009

Updated by: Julie Seifert in November 2012 because of addition

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.

• Alston family.
• Carney family.
• Families--Louisiana.
• Families--North Carolina.
• Halifax County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Halifax County (N.C.)--History.
• Halifax County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Harris family.
• Harriss, Thomas Whitmell, 1810-1890.
• Justices of the peace--Louisiana--History--19th century.
• Littleton Female College.
• Louisiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Louisiana--Social life and customs.
• North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts--Students.
• North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Saint Martin Parish (La.)--History--19th century.
• Slave bills of sale--Southern States.
• Thorne family.
• Thorne, Annie Blackwell, 1878-
• Thorne, John Davis, 1834-1900.
• Thorne, Tempe Williams, 1874-
• Tobacco--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Trinity College (Durham, N.C.)--Students.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Religious life.
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Warren County (N.C.)--Economic conditions.
• Warren County (N.C.)--History.
• Warren County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Women--North Carolina--Economic conditions.
• Women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Materials in this collection were collected by Annie Blackwell Thorne (born 1878), probably in cooperation with her sister Tempe Williams Thorne (born 1874). The intertwining of the families represented in these papers is well documented in the genealogical materials found in Series 4.

The activities of members of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Thorne, and related families largely took place in and around Warren and Halifax counties, N.C. Three Thorne family members entered into family ventures in Saint Martin Parish, La., in the 1840s. Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) and his brother John Davis Thorne (1834-1900) owned property on Bayou Teche at Grand Pointe. Their older brother, William H. Thorne, had property further north on Bayou Portage. These ventures were abandoned shortly after the Civil War, and the brothers returned to Warren and Halifax counties.

Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) married Mollie Thorne. They lived in Littleton, N.C., with their children: Nena Thorne, Tempe Williams Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne, Silas O. Thorne, Samuel Thomas Thorne II, and Thomas Whitmell Thorne. Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921) worked for the Panacea Water Company.

Silas O. Thorne attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C. It appears that he started there in 1893 or 1894 and left in 1897 or 1898. After leaving college, he worked for the General Fire Extinguisher Company in Atlanta, Ga. and later New Orleans, La.

Samuel Thomas Thorne II also attended Trinity and graduated in 1908 or 1909. He later worked at the General Fire Extinguisher Company in Charlotte, N.C.

Nena Thorne graduated from Littleton Women's College in 1900 and became a Latin teacher. She married A.S. Busey. Later in life she moved to West Palm Beach, Fla.

In 1906, Thomas Whitmell Thorne entered North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. He later lived in Atlanta, Ga., and New Orleans, La.

Annie Blackwell Thorne graduated from Littleton Female College in 1894 and studied French. She and her sister Tempe Williams Thorne lived most of their lives in Littleton, N.C.

Papers collected or created by Annie Blackwell Thorne (born 1878) include correspondence, legal and financial documents, genealogical papers, photographs, and other materials of the Alston, Harriss, Kearny, Thorne, and related families, chiefly of Warren and Halifax counties, N.C. Also included is Thorne family material largely from Saint Martin Parish, La. Correspondence pertains chiefly to personal matters, but also deals with business affairs. Included are two letters, 1831, from Thomas Whitmell Harriss (1810-1890) describing his religious conversion while he was a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; a few letters relating to the Civil War in Virginia and Louisiana; and letters, 1890s, to Annie's sister, Tempe Williams Thorne (born 1874), from family members and friends. Financial documents include slave bills of sale and materials concerning tobacco sales in the 1850s. Legal materials, many in French, include items, 1866-1869, relating to cases handled by John Davis Thorne (1834-1900), justice of the peace in Saint Martin Parish, La.

The Addition of 2012 consists primarily of correspondence between members of the Thorne family of Littleton, N.C., including Samuel Thomas Thorne (1827-1921), Mollie Thorne, Silas O. Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne, Tempe Williams Thorne, Thomas Whitmell Thorne, Samuel Thomas Thorne II, and Nena Thorne. There are also some letters to and from other family members and friends. The majority of letters were exchanged with the children while they were away at college and date primarily from 1895 to 1915, although there are some earlier materials. Letters discuss the family members' daily lives and concerns, including financial matters, tuition bills, and social activities, such as travel to Virginia and a football game in Chapel Hill, N.C. Silas O. Thorne and Samuel Thomas Thorne II both attended Trinity College in Durham, N.C., and Thomas Whitmell Thorne attended the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Raleigh, N.C. Nena Thorne, Annie Blackwell Thorne and Tempe Williams Thorne all attended Littleton Female College in Littleton, N.C. There are also some letters sent in the early 1960s to Tempe Williams Thorne and Annie Blackwell Thorne while they were living in Littleton, N.C. Some of these letters are from family members but the later materials for the most part are bills, pamphlets and advertisements. Other materials include school essays; diplomas from Littleton Female College; a notebook; printed materials, including Trinity College and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts early twentieth-century ephemera; and photographs of Anna Bryan and an unidentified female wearing a mortar board.

• P-4521/1-6
• SF-P-4521/5
• OP-4521/1-4