Timeline extended for launch of Wilson Library facilities work.

Collection Number: 01437

Collection Title: Walton Family Papers, 1804-1910

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items)
Abstract Members of the Walton family included William Walton (fl. 1811- 1855), who emigrated from South Carolina to western Alabama circa 1820. As of 1836, Walton and his wife, Justina (fl. 1836-1866) were living at Strawberry Hill Plantation near Forkland, Greene County, Ala., where they chiefly planted cotton. Their daughter, Justina, married James Daniel Webb (1818-1863) around 1853. Other family members occasionally lived in Eutaw, Ala. The collection is chiefly family correspondence and financial and legal Papers, 1850s to 1870s, relating to Walton family members. Included are many letters exchanged between staff officer James Daniel Webb of the 5th Alabama Regiment, May 1861-Mary 1862, serving in Florida and Virginia, and as lieutenant colonel with the 51st Alabama Regiment in Tennessee, November 1862-July 1863, and his wife Justina S. (Walton) Webb. Financial papers include an account book, 1834-1835, about buying goods and selling cotton through commission merchants at Mobile, Ala., by way of the Tombigbee River, and later items that reflect Justina L. Walton's management of the family finances, including running Stawberry Hill, after her husband's death around 1855. There are, however, few items relating directly to plantation management or to the more than 100 slaves the Walton's owned. Other items include maps, circa 1820s, and legal papers related to land purchases in western Alabama; accounts for building a house, 1804; and an 1868 almanac with brief annotations.
Creator Walton (Family : Greene County, Ala.)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Walton Family Papers #1437, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is 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
Received from Mr. and Mrs. P. Henry Pitts of Greensboro, Ala., in 1948.
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.
Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Erik D. France, April 1991

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, December 2009

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Related Collections

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Members of the Walton family, including William Walton (fl. 1811-1843) and John G. Walton (fl. 1811-1844), emigrated from South Carolina to Alabama around 1820. William Walton and his wife Justina L. (Jessie) Walton (fl. 1836-1866) had at least two children, Justina S. (Jessie) (fl. 1836-1910) and Louisa W. (Lou) (fl. 1836-1880). As of 1836, they were living at Strawberry Hill Plantation near Forkland, Greene County, Ala. Members of the family also lived at Eutaw, Greensboro, and Kirkpatricks Landing, Ala.

Upon her husband's death, Justina L. Walton assumed responsibility for her family's financial affairs. The estate she inherited included the family cotton plantation of approximately 1000 acres and 100 slaves located in Township 20, Range 2 East (see "Assesment [sic] of the property of Justina L. Walton made June 30th '55 ... upon the affidavit of J. D. Webb, agent," Volume 1, James Lusk Alcorn Papers, Southern Historical Collection).

About 1853, Justina S. Walton married James Daniel Webb (1818-1863), who appears to have moved to Alabama from North Carolina sometime in the 1840s. Together they had at least two children, Minnie (fl. 1861-1897) and James E. In May 1861, James Daniel Webb joined the 5th Alabama Regiment and travelled with it to camps and in the field in Florida and Virginia. While on the regimental staff, at least part of the time as assistant quartermaster, he served with several Confederate Army officers, including generals Robert Emmet Rodes (1829-1864) and Richard Stoddert Ewell (1817-1872), and lieutenant colonels Allen Cadwallader Jones (b. 1811) of Greene County, Ala., and John Tyler Morgan (1824-1907) of Selma, Ala. In May 1862, Webb was appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 51st Alabama Regiment ("Partisan Rangers"); John Tyler Morgan was appointed colonel. The 51st Alabama operated in Tennessee. Webb was mortally wounded in a skirmish near Elk River, Tenn., on 2 July 1863. Subsequently, Justina S. Walton Webb managed her financial and personal affairs at Kirkpatricks Landing and Forkland, Ala., from 1866 until her death around 1910.

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection consists chiefly of 19th-century personal correspondence and financial and legal papers of the Walton and Webb families. There are also miscellaneous loose writings and six maps, circa 1820s, of land in western Alabama.

Although William Walton and his wife Justina L. Walton owned and operated a cotton plantation in Greene County, Ala., there are few items directly related to the running of the plantation or to the approximately 100 slaves who lived and worked there. Financial and legal Papers, however, include a number of plantation-related receipts from cotton merchants, including R. Moore & Company, Cotton Factors, of Mobile, Ala. Information in many of the items, including an 1834-1835 account book, indicates that goods were regularly shipped between Mobile and points up and down the Tombigbee River and its tributaries.

Personal letters in this collection include correspondence between Justina S. Walton Webb at Greensboro, Hale County, Ala., and James Daniel Webb in the Confederate Army. Her letters chiefly discuss family and personal matters. Serving as a staff officer (quartermaster) with the 5th Alabama Regiment from May 1861 to May 1862, Webb wrote mostly from camp and field locations in Florida and Virginia. Subsequently, while serving as lieutenant colonel of the 51st Alabama Regiment ("Partisan Rangers") from July 1862 until he was wounded on 2 July 1863, he wrote from locations in Alabama and Tennessee. His letters mostly discuss camp life, personal and family matters, weather, the major movements of his regiment, and his fellow officers. Other letters chiefly relate to personal and family concerns of members of the Walton and Webb families.

Other items include a small 1804 volume containing accounts for building a house; a McLean's Family Almanac for 1868, with brief annotations by Justina L. Walton; questions derived from reading a naturalist book; a culinary thesaurus; a list of compatible flower decorations; a thesaurus of medicines; a school-age composition by Justina L. Walton entitled "On Romping"; and a silhouette of an unknown man.

Back to Top

Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1828-1901 and undated.

265 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. 1828-1860.

49 items.

Letters to and from members of the Walton family, chiefly concerning personal and family matters. Correspondents included William Walton; Justina L. (Jessie) Walton; Louisa W. (Lou) Walton; and Justina S. (Jessie) Walton. Beginning about the time he married Justina Walton (circa 1853), James Daniel Webb began corresponding with Walton family members. Many of the letters for this period mention social life and customs at various Alabama locations, including the Strawberry Hill Plantation, Forkland, Eutaw, Greensboro, and Mobile.

There are also two letters from Margaret Smith at Greenville, S.C., to her cousin Jesse L. Walton, which mention personal and family news, cotton crops, illnesses, and church reforms; and letters, dated 1853, from Justina S. Walton Webb and James Daniel Webb at New York and Saratoga, N.Y., to Justina L. Walton at Greensboro, Ala., about their honeymoon trip to the North.

Folder 1

1828, 1836, 1841, 1843

Folder 2

1848-1852

Folder 3

1853-1856

Folder 4

1857-1860

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. 1861-1863.

148 items.

Letters from the Civil War period are chiefly between Justina S. Walton Webb at Greensboro, Ala., and James Daniel Webb in the Confederate Army. Serving as a staff officer (quartermaster) with the 5th Alabama Regiment from May 1861 to May 1862, Webb wrote mostly from camp and field locations near Pensacola, Fla. (May 1861) and Fairfax and Prince William counties, Va. Subsequently, while serving as lieutenant colonel of the 51st Alabama ("Partisan Rangers") Regiment from mid-1862 until he was wounded on 2 July 1863, he wrote mostly from locations in Tennessee, including near Murfreesboro, near Shelbyville, and at Old Fosterville. His letters mostly discuss camp life, the movements of his regiment, personal and family matters, weather, his fellow officers, and religion. Justina's letters discuss mostly family and personal matters.

Folder 5

January-July 1861

Folder 6

August-December 1861

Folder 7

January-May 1862

Folder 8

July-December 1862

Folder 9

1863

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.3. 1866-1901.

44 items.

Letters chiefly to and from Justina S. Walton Webb at Greensboro and Strawberry Hill Plantation, Ala.. There are also scattered letters to and from other relatives. These letters mostly concern family and personal matters. Correspondents include Louisa Walton, Minnie Webb, James E. Webb, Jessie Creswell, and Mary L. Creswell. In a letter, dated 23 March 1897, Emma Boardman[?] at Hangchow, China, wrote to Minnie Webb at Greenboro, Ala., mostly about the weather and her missionary work in China.

Folder 10

1866-1869

Folder 11

1872-1874

Folder 12

1875-1880, 1897, 1901

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.4. Undated.

24 items.

Scattered notes and letter fragments relating to members of the Walton and Webb families.

Folder 13

Undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers, 1811-1910 and undated.

236 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly financial and legal papers of members of the Walton and Webb families. There are scattered early papers relating to John G. Walton, William Walton, James M. Walton, and Alfred Young Walton, chiefly about land purchases and business matters in Charleston, S.C., Pensacola, Fla., New Orleans, La., and Mobile and St. Stephens, Ala. The bulk of these papers relate to Justina L. Walton and Justina S. Walton Webb.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. 1811-1865.

139 items.

Chiefly financial papers of Justina L. Walton at Forkland, Kirkpatricks Landing, and Eutaw, Ala., including accounts and business correspondence with James Crawford at Mobile, Ala.

There are also scattered business and legal papers relating to William Walton, John Walton, William Walton and Company, James M. Walton, and Alfred Young Walton. Some of the items are: a writ of intent, dated 15 June 1811, for the payment of $5800 by William Walton and Company at Charleston, S.C.; a document, 1823, relating to a 640-acre tract of land granted to William Walton in 1819 by the governor of Pensacola; a document, dated 10 June 1826, relating to the purchase of land by James M. Walton of Greene County, Ala., at St. Stephens, Ala.; and an indenture, dated 22 September 1829, between Alfred Young Walton and Cannan Pistole.

There is one Confederate army document, circa 1861, authorizing the allocation of $20,000 to James Daniel Webb, acting assistant quartermaster for the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment in Virginia, for dispensation.

Folder 14

1811-1830

Folder 15

1832-1839

Folder 16

1840-1849

Folder 17

1850-1851

Folder 18

1852-1853, 1855-1860

Folder 19

1861-1865

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. 1866-1910.

82 items.

Chiefly financial papers of Justina S. Walton Webb

Folder 20

1866-1876

Folder 21

1871-1879

Folder 22

1887-1889, 1903, 1910

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.3. Undated.

15 items.

Scattered financial and legal papers relating mostly to members of the Walton family, including a list of silverware bought and a document concerning a tract of land.

Folder 23

Undated

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Volumes.

11 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Volumes as described below:

Folder 24

Account book, 1804 (9 p.)

Accounts for building a house.
Folder 25

Account book, 1834-1835 (304 p.)

Accounts for shipping. Includes lists of goods ordered and delivered to persons living along the banks of the Tombigbee, Little Tombigbee, and Black Warrior rivers in Alabama, delivered by the ship Ophelia or another vessel. Many places are named, including Fairfield, Derden's Landing, Chickasaw Bluff, Woods Bluff, Jones Bluff, Kirkpatricks Landing, Bartons Bluff, Demopolis, St. Stephens, Ivanhoe, and Mobile. A few Civil War era newspaper clippings are pasted in.

Folder 25a

Enclosures

Two loose sheets and newspaper clippings.
Folder 26

McLean's Family Almanac, 1868 (28 p.)

Includes handwritten annotations on some of the monthly calendars. "J. L. Walton" on front cover.
Folder 26a

Enclosure, December 1866 to March 1868 (5 p.)

Scattered diary entries, author unknown.
Folder 27

Culinary thesaurus, undated (12 p.)

Definitions of foods and cooking techniques.
Folder 28

Naturalist questions, undated (27 p.)

List of questions, based on reading a book (title not specified), dealing with subjects such as the characteristics of spiders, sloths, snails, and birds.

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Maps and Miscellaneous Loose Papers, 1820s and undated.

13 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.1. Miscellaneous Loose Papers.

7 items.

Undated "Patterns that will answer for other Flowers," a list of compatible flower decorations; a thesaurus of medicines entitled "Technical Names of Medicines", giving Latin names followed by American forms; a conduct sheet for four Webb children, with blank columns for "conduct" (good/bad),"temper" (good/bad), and "punished" (with "whipped" crossed out); a script for a scene from the New Testament (Mark xvi); "On Romping," a school-age composition by Justina L. Walton, explaining why little children should not romp, run, or climb trees; a silhouette of an unknown man; and drawings of a circular design.

Folder 29

Miscellaneous loose papers

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.2. Maps.

6 items.

Maps, circa 1820s, of land in western Alabama. There are five plat maps, with names on some tracts, of the following areas: Townships 19-20, Range 3 (dated 24 February 1820); Part of Township 19, Range 3 East; Part of Township 19, Range 2 East; Township 20, Range 1 East; and Township 20, Range 2 East (land mostly west of Black Warrior River, including tracts owned by John G. Walton. There is an undated map of a larger area, embracing land west of the Tombigbee and Little Tombigbee rivers to the Mississippi state line, and including Demopolis and Chickasaw Bluff.

Folder 30

Maps

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-1437/1

Oversize land plats

Back to Top

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Back to Top