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Collection Number: 01625

Collection Title: Henry Horace Williams Papers, 1835-1948

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.


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Size 5.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2000 items)
Abstract Henry Horace Williams (1858-1940) was professor of philosophy and theology at the University of North Carolina from 1890 to 1940. Papers of Henry Horace Williams include personal and professional correspondence; drafts of writings by Williams; and papers of the Williams estate. There are several notebooks kept by Williams during his student days at Yale and Harvard universities. Most of the correspondence is between Williams and former students, including novelist Thomas Wolfe, playwright Paul Green, United States Circuit Judge John J. Parker, United States Senator Josiah William Bailey, and historian and educator Albert Coates. The papers of the Williams estate include correspondence of Francis Bradshaw, executor of the estate. Also included in the collection are some papers of Williams's wife, Bertha Colton Williams.
Creator Williams, Henry Horace, 1858-1940.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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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 Henry Horace Williams Papers #1625, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Use copy of audio recording available on compact disc (CD-1625/1).
Acquisitions Information
Received as transfers from various offices on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and from the Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill, N.C., 1949-1979.
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: Nicholas Graham, April 1998

Encoded by: Jackie Dean, December 1998

Revisions: Finding aid updated in February 2005 by Linda Sellars and in July 2021 and November 2021 by Dawne Howard Lucas

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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

Henry Horace Williams (1858-1940) was born in Gates County, N.C., and educated in the public schools of that area. He attended college at the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1883, when he was awarded the first earned advanced degree (a Master of Arts) in the college's history. Williams did graduate work at Yale Divinity School and at Harvard.

Williams was Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina from 1890 until 1940. He was Kenan professor, 1921-1935, and professor emeritus, 1936-1940. He chaired the Philosophy Department from 1890 until 1935. Williams was popular in the classroom and on campus, due to his Socratic manner of presentation and the scope of his materials, beyond Kant to Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel then being translated. These and his stands on issues were sometimes controversial.

Williams was the author of four books: Evolution of Logic (1925), Modern Logic (1927), The Education of Horace Williams (1936), and "Toward a Philosophy of Life," published posthumously under the title, Origin of Belief (William Beidler, editor, 1978).

In 1891, Williams married Bertha Colton of Middletown, Conn. She died in 1922. In 1927, Williams adopted Miriam Young Bonner.

See also: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Papers of Henry Horace Williams and the Williams estate include correspondence, legal and financial materials, notebooks, and typescripts. Much of the correspondence in the collection is between Williams and his former students, including a long letter from novelist Thomas Wolfe, a few letters from playwright Paul Green, and letters from United States Circuit Court Judge John J. Parker, United States Senator Josiah William Bailey, and historian and educator Albert Coates. There are several notebooks from Williams's days as a graduate student at Yale Divinity School and Harvard University. Typed copies of many speeches and essays remain, as well as a large part of the manuscript of Williams's book, Modern Logic. The records of the Williams estate include a large number of land deeds and mortgages, bills from Williams's creditors, and correspondence of Francis Bradshaw, executor of the estate.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1888-1948.

About 900 items.

Arrangement: chronological. Undated items are alphabetical by author.

Correspondence to and from Horace Williams, beginning with his days as a student at Yale and Harvard Universities and continuing through his long tenure as a professor at the University of North Carolina. There are some items from after Williams's death, dealing primarily with Robert W. Winston's biography of Williams and the activities of the Horace Williams Society.

Much of the correspondence in this series consists of letters to Williams from his former students. These include a long letter from Thomas Wolfe in 1921, several letters from Paul Green, and frequent letters from United States Circuit Judge John J. Parker and United States Senator Josiah William Bailey. Almost all of the letters in this series written by Horace Williams are addressed to either Ralph Harper or Sidney Robins--both former students with whom he corresponded frequently. There is occasional correspondence with university administrators, including letters from Presidents Harry Woodburn Chase and Frank Porter Graham.

Included in the earlier correspondence are several letters from Bertha Colton, Williams's wife, written to him before they were married.

Some time periods are better represented than others--there are clusters of letters around certain events, including many letters of congratulation following Williams's initial acceptance of a teaching position at University of North Carolina in 1890 and then his appointment to a Kenan Professorship in 1920. There are many letters discussing and/or requesting Williams's book, The Education of Horace Williams, published in 1936.

Folder 1

1888-1899

Folder 2

1900-1906

Folder 3

1907-1909

Folder 4

1910-1911

Folder 5

1912-1914

Folder 6

1915

Folder 7

1916-1917

Folder 8

1918-1919

Folder 9

1920

Folder 10

1921

Separated Folder SEP-1625/1

Letter, Thomas Wolfe to Horace Williams, circa September 1921

Restriction to Access: The original item is not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options.

Folder 11

1922

Folder 12

1923

Folder 13

1924

Folder 14

1925

Folder 15

1926-1927

Folder 16

1928-1929

Folder 17

1930-1931

Folder 18

1932

Folder 19-20

Folder 19

Folder 20

1933

Folder 21

1934-1935

Folder 22-23

Folder 22

Folder 23

1936-1937

Folder 24

1938-1939

Folder 25-26

Folder 25

Folder 26

1940

Folder 27

1941-1948

Folder 28-29

Folder 28

Folder 29

Undated

Folder 30

Cards

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings, 1887-1940.

About 120 items.

Notes, essays, speeches, and writings by Horace Williams. There are several hardbound notebooks containing notes from Williams's classes on philosophy and theology at Yale and Harvard. Most of the notes made by Williams are undated, often handwritten on a single sheet of paper. It is difficult to tell whether these were made in preparation for lectures or on other occasions. There is one folder of notes and lists of what presumably are exam questions. Most of the typed manuscript of Williams's book, Modern Logic, is found in this series. In addition to the notes and notebooks are ten typed essays or speeches written by Williams. Many of these are also undated and unlabeled.

Folder 31

"The Collapse of Science," 4 typed pages

"The Third Problem of Logic," 15 typed pages

"Thinking," 16 typed pages

"The Absolute," 10 typed pages

"Notes for Graduate Students," 7 typed pages

"Philosophy 10: 21 September 1928," 12 typed pages

"The Logic of Morality," 4 typed pages

"To the Senior Class, Chapel, 3 June 1927," 7 typed pages

Folder 32

"The 17 Types of Judgment," "A Study in Logic," 47 typed pages, 6 page outline

Folder 33

"Die Idee des Erkennens," 72 typed pages

Folder 34

"Der Mechanismus," 53 typed pages

Folder 35

Volume 1. Notes on Hebrews and other subjects

Folder 36

Volume 2. On New Testament Theology, under Russell

Folder 37

Volume 3. Common Place Book: definitions, quotations, comments. Pictures of statues are pasted on pages.

Folder 38

Volume 4. Elementary French language study notes

Folder 39

Volume 5. Notes on New Testament, Paul, etc. New Haven, 1887-88

Folder 40-41

Folder 40

Folder 41

Volumes 6-7. "Hegel's Religious Philosophie," a reproduction by H. H. Williams, Harvard, 1889

Folder 42

Volume 8. "A Thesis in Biblical Theology," H. H. Williams, 1888

Folder 43

Volume 9. Lecture notes on Brahmanism, German philosophers, and other subjects

Folder 44

Volume 10. Philosophy lecture notes

Folder 45

Volume 11. Lecture notes on theology, philosophy

Folder 46

Volume 12. Lecture notes, Fishe on Christian Doctrine

Folder 47

Volume 13. Notes on Bible, textual criticism, Hexateuch

Folder 48

Volume 14. Notes on philosophy

Folder 49

Volume 15. Notes on Kant, philosophy, theology, ethics

Folder 50

Volume 16. Notes on the church and doctrinal theology

Folder 51

Volume 17. Notes on Kant, etc.

Folder 52

Volume 18. Dr. Day's lectures, 1886. Bible text and church matters

Folder 53

Volume 19. Notebook, Philosophy 3

Folder 54

Volume 20. Notes on Bible, politics, economics, dogma, etc.

Folder 55

Volume 21. Journal containing names of persons ordering "The Evolution of Logic"

Folder 56

Typed pages 10-198 of Modern Logic

Folder 57

Notebook (unnumbered loose-leaf pages). Notes on persons and topics, arranged in alphabetical order

Folder 58

Class notes, exam questions

Folder 59

Unidentified manuscripts and fragments; notes and miscellany, unsorted

Folder 60

Miscellaneous writings

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Legal and Financial Materials, 1889-1938.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence, receipts, and legal documents. All of the correspondence concerns Williams's legal or financial affairs. Many letters are from Williams's creditors requesting payments or from business partners detailing potential transactions. There are many letters from George Winston, president of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State University), with whom Williams often conducted business. There are some details of livestock purchases and sales, but very little material regarding Williams's extensive land transactions.

Folder 61

1889-1910

Folder 62

1911-1920

Folder 63

1925-1938

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Estate of Horace Williams, 1835-1944.

About 500 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Upon Horace Williams's death in 1940, Francis Bradshaw was named executor of the Williams estate. This series contains the correspondence and legal and financial materials maintained by Bradshaw during the settlement of the estate, which was reached in 1944.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.1. Correspondence, 1893-1944.

About 200 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

The majority of the correspondence is between Francis Bradshaw and Horace Williams's friends, tenants, and creditors. There are some personal reminiscences in letters that were written immediately after Williams's death, but most of the correspondence is in regard to the settlement of the Williams estate. Many of the letters are attached to bills or copies of contracts made by Horace Williams. A few of the letters and documents concern plans by the estate to repair and restore the Horace Williams house. There are a few letters by and about Robert Winston who was in the process of gathering material for a biography of Horace Williams ( Horace Williams: Gadfly of Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina Press, 1942)). In addition to the Bradshaw correspondence, there are a few letters written to Horace Williams between 1893 and 1940 dealing almost entirely with financial and insurance concerns.

Folder 64

Horace Williams Correspondence, 1893-1940

Folder 65

Estate Correspondence: 1940

Folder 66-67

Folder 66

Folder 67

Estate Correspondence: 1941

Folder 68

Estate Correspondence: 1942

Folder 69

Estate Correspondence: 1943-1944

Folder 70

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.2. Legal and Financial Materials, 1835-1940.

About 400 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Legal documents, including the final account of the estate of Horace Williams, property inventories, the probate of Williams's will, deeds, and adoption papers for Miriam Young Bonner (adopted by Williams in 1927). The property inventories include lists of real estate, furniture, livestock, and books owned by Williams at the time of his death. Williams's extensive land dealings are well documented by a large number of deeds and mortgages ranging from 1835 to 1940, when he donated a large tract of land to the University of North Carolina. There are a few blueprints and hand-drawn maps of land Williams was considering buying. There are also blueprints for the Horace Williams house.

Folder 71

Final Account of the Estate of Horace Williams

Folder 72

Probate of Will, 31 December 1940

Folder 73

Property inventories

Folder 74

Inventory of books in the Williams estate

Folder 75

Adoption papers for Miriam Young Bonner

Folder 76

Deeds and Mortgages: 1835-1888

Folder 77

Deeds and Mortgages: 1890-1899

Folder 78

Deeds and Mortgages: 1900-1904

Folder 79

Deeds and Mortgages: 1905-1909

Folder 80

Deeds and Mortgages: 1910-1919

Folder 81

Deeds and Mortgages: 1922-1940

Folder 82

Blueprints and maps

Oversize Paper OP-1625/1-2

OP-1625/1

OP-1625/2

Blueprints and maps

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Bertha Colton Williams Materials, 1861-1887.

14 items.

Items belonging to Bertha Colton of Middletown, Conn., before she was married to Horace Williams. There is some correspondence, primarily letters of recommendation commending Colton's talents as a teacher of drawing and painting. There are two items in the series written by Henry M. Colton, possibly Bertha Colton's father. The first is a single handwritten sheet entitled "Facts about my brother Horace's death," the second is an account book containing Henry and Lucy Colton's financial transactions from 1861 to 1876. Also included are Bertha Colton's autograph book and a sketch book filled with pencil sketches.

Folder 83

Correspondence

Folder 84

Letters of recommendation

Folder 85

Volume 22: 1861-1876. Account book containing account of Henry M. Colton with Middletown Bank and personal, household, school, and other accounts of Lucy T. Colton

Folder 86

Volume 23: 1872-1879. Autograph album, Bertha Colton

Folder 87

Volume 24: Undated. Pencil sketches by Bertha Colton

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Clippings, 1918-1940.

About 100 items.

Newspaper clippings about Horace Williams. Primarily coverage of Williams's speeches and sermons, but some general articles about his teaching, farming, and former students are included. The earlier clippings appear to have come from a scrapbook kept by Williams.

Folder 88

1915-1919

Folder 89

1925-1940

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 7. Pictures, 1888-1946.

34 items.
Image P-1625/1

Photograph of Horace Williams at Yale Divinity School

Image P-1625/2-3

P-1625/2

P-1625/3

Two photographs of young women, possibly Bertha Colton and Lucy Colton

Image P-1625/4

Photograph of Horace Williams on the University of North Carolina campus, 1916

Image P-1625/5-13

P-1625/5

P-1625/6

P-1625/7

P-1625/8

P-1625/9

P-1625/10

P-1625/11

P-1625/12

P-1625/13

Photographs of Horace Williams house

Image P-1625/14-32

P-1625/14

P-1625/15

P-1625/16

P-1625/17

P-1625/18

P-1625/19

P-1625/20

P-1625/21

P-1625/22

P-1625/23

P-1625/24

P-1625/25

P-1625/26

P-1625/27

P-1625/28

P-1625/29

P-1625/30

P-1625/31

P-1625/32

Photographs of Horace Williams at home

Image P-1625/33

Photograph of Fredericka Camp, age 2-1/2 years

Oversize Image OP-P-1625/1

Photograph of Horace Williams seated in a rocking chair, 1946

Photographer: Sam Hood

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 8. Interview, 23 March 1940.

1 item.

Copy on three acetate discs (78 rpm) of an interview, conducted 23 March 1940, with Henry Horace Williams at his home. Other voices heard on the recording are those of Francis F. Bradshaw, Fred Weaver, and Katherine King. According to a note from Jane Ross Hammer, the interview references the discovery of a cheating ring on the University of North Carolina campus.

The interview was apparently originally recorded on one acetate disc at 33-1/3 rpm and copied onto these three acetate discs. The location of the original recording is unknown. These discs are not in good condition and are difficult to hear, so a use copy, containing all of the material from the three discs, was produced on one compact disc.

Audiodisc D-1625/1-3

D-1625/1

D-1625/2

D-1625/3

Interview with Henry Horace Williams, 23 March 1940

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