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Collection Number: 01257

Collection Title: Whitfield Family Papers, 1796-1918 (bulk 1830-1899)

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.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 158 items)
Abstract Whitfield family members chiefly lived in Lenoir and Wayne counties, N.C., as did members of the related Wooten family. Nathan Bryan Whitfield (1835-1914), planter, state and local official, Confederate colonel, and president of Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company, was the most prominent family member. Other family members included Nathan Whitfield's wife, Elizabeth Green Cobb Whitfield, and his parents Sarah Elizabeth Wooten and James Bryan Whitfield (1809-1841). The bulk of these papers is family correspondence, including many letters from relatives who settled in Wayne County, N.C., Monroe County, Miss., Demopolis, Ala., Tallahassee, Fla., and other locations. Also included are miscellaneous business papers; student lecture notes at the University of North Carolina, 1847-1848; a Confederate soldier's brief memorandum book, 1864; estate accounts; a speech by N. B. Whitfield to the North Carolina State Grange, 1908; a general merchandise daybook, 1827-1832; depositions taken in a disputed election in Greene County, N.C., 1840; and other items.
Creator Whitfield (Family : Lenoir County, N.C.)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Whitfield Family Papers, #1257, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from June Whitfield and Hattie Whitfield of Kinston, N.C., January 1947.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
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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Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Among the members of the Whitfield and Wooten families of Lenoir and Wayne counties, N.C., the most prominent was Nathan Bryan Whitfield (1835-1914), planter, state and local official, Confederate colonel, and president of Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company. Other family members include Nathan Whitfield's parents, Sarah Elizabeth Wooten Whitfield and James Bryan Whitfield (1809-1941); his wife, Elizabeth Green Cobb Whitfield; their daughters, Sally Whitfield Miller (1866-1928), Hattie Whitfield, and June Whitfield; and his ancestors Allen Wooten (1779-1810) and Allen Whitfield Wooten (born 1808).

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes family correspondence, business and personal letters, deeds, notes, and other agreements, chiefly 1830s through 1890s, of the Whitfield and Wooten families of Lenoir, N.C., and relatives in Wayne County, N.C. The papers are chiefly those of Allen Wooten, Allen Whitfield Wooten, James Bryan Whitfield, Nathan Bryan Whitfield, Sally Whitfield Miller, and June Whitfield. The bulk of these papers is family correspondence, including many letters from relatives who settled in Wayne County, N.C.; Monroe County, Miss.; Demopolis, Ala.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and other locations. Also included are miscellaneous business papers; student lecture notes at the University of North Carolina, 1847-1848; a Confederate soldier's brief memorandum book, 1864; estate accounts; a speech by Nathan Bryan Whitfield to the North Carolina State Grange, 1908; a general merchandise daybook, 1827-1832; depositions taken in a disputed election in Greene County, N.C., 1840; and other items.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Whitfield Family Papers, 1796-1918 (bulk 1830-1899) and undated.

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