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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 under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992. Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.
Size | 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,330 items) |
Abstract | Edmonia Cabell Wilkins was a genealogist. Members of her family included Edmonia's greatgrandfather, planter William Wyche Wilkins (1768-1840); William's twin brother, planter and lawyer John Limbrey Wilkins (1768-1850); and William's son, planter and lawyer Edmund Wilkins (1796-1867) The family lived chiefly in Greensville and Brunswick counties, Va., and Northampton County, N.C. The collection includes personal and business correspondence, financial and legal papers, genealogical materials, and other papers of several generations of the Wilkins family. Most of the letters are financial in nature. Financial and legal materials, 1782-1909, include bills and receipts concerning property, plantation affairs, and investments in several Virginia and North Carolina railroads; a few documents relating to the purchase and upkeep of slaves; lawyers' accounts and trial dockets from Halifax and Northampton counties, N.C.; and other legal and business papers. Plantation papers relate chiefly to the Belmont and Meadows plantations in Northampton County. Also included are account books for a shoemaker, a blacksmith, and the Gaston Hotel in Gaston, N.C. Other papers include notebooks of law students at the Litchfield Law Academy, Litchfield, Conn., ca. 1817-1819, and of a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, 1851-1860. About half the collection consists of items relating to the genealogical activities of Edmonia C. Wilkins, 1920-1949. There is little information on the Civil War or sectional tensions of the time. |
Creator | Wilkins, Edmonia Cabell, 1865-1949. |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English |
Processed by: Scott Philyaw, July 1992
Encoded by: Mara Dabrishus, September 2004
Revised by: Dawne Howard Lucas, February 2021
This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.
Back to TopThe 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.
Edmonia Cabell Wilkins (1865-1948), genealogist, was the daughter of physician Edmund Webb Wilkins (1830-1899). Other Wilkins family members include Edmund Webb Wilkins's grandfather, lawyer/planter William Wyche Wilkins (1768-1840), a native of Brunswick (later Greensville) County, Va., who moved to nearby Northampton County, N.C., around 1814; his grandfather's twin brother, lawyer/planter John Limbrey Wilkins (1768-1850) of Brunswick County, Va.; and William Wyche Wilkins's children, including lawyer/planter Edmund Wilkins (1796-1867) of Northampton County; John Limbrey Wilkins (1801-1843); William Webb Wilkins (1803-1858); and Rebecca A. Wilkins (1806-1842), wife of Alexander Brodnax (d. 1832).
The Wilkins family owned several plantations in the Roanoke River valley of North Carolina and Virginia. They also owned a significant number of slaves. As Whigs, they were active in the promotion of internal improvements, especially railroads to link the town of Gaston with Petersburg, Va., and Raleigh, N.C. Three members of the family--William Wyche Wilkins, John Limbrey Wilkins, and Edmund Wilkins--attended Litchfield Law Academy in Connecticut.
Back to TopThe collection contains personal and business correspondence, 1786-1949, of several generations of the Wilkins family of Greensville County, Va., Brunswick County, Va., and Northampton County, N.C. Most of the letters are financial in nature. Financial and legal materials, 1782-1909, include bills and receipts concerning property, plantation affairs, and railroad investments in several Virginia and North Carolina railroads; a few documents relating to the purchase and upkeep of slaves; lawyers' accounts and trial dockets from Halifax County, N.C., and Northampton County, N.C.; and other legal and business papers. Also included are account books for a shoemaker, a blacksmith, and the Gaston Hotel.
Other papers include notebooks of law students at Litchfield, Conn., ca. 1817-1819, and a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, 1851-1860. About half of the collection consists of items relating to the genealogy activities of Edmonia C. Wilkins, 1920-1949. There is little information on the Civil War or sectional tensions of the time.
Back to TopArrangement: mostly chronological.
Chiefly business correspondence and business papers of several generations of the Wilkins family of Greensville and Brunswick counties, Va., and Northampton County, N.C., with scattered family letters.
Most of the early letters relate to William Wyche Wilkins and his twin brother John Limbrey Wilkins. After 1820, they relate increasingly to William W. Wilkins's son, Edmund Wilkins. Some letters, 1857-1861, have been bound together to form volume 1. Note that these letters, which deal largely with Edmund Wilkins's plantation affairs, are not in strict chronological order. With the exception of a few letters about family matters, correspondence in this series relates to such issues as plantation management; trade with merchants in Petersburg, Va., and other states; railroad investments; and other business matters. There are only three items from the Civil War years, and none of these relate directly to the war.
Folder 1 |
1786-1839 |
Folder 2 |
1831-1839
|
Folder 3 |
1840-1849 |
Folder 4 |
1850 |
Folder 5-7
Folder 5Folder 6Folder 7 |
1851 |
Folder 8 |
1852-1859 |
Folder 9 |
1857-1861Volume 1, Edmund Wilkins letterbook (formerly volume 8) |
Reel M-2364/1 |
Volume 1, Edmund Wilkins letterbook, 1857-1861Microfilm copy should be used instead of the original, which is very fragile. |
Folder 10 |
1858-1864 |
Folder 11 |
Undated letters before 1865 |
The few letters before 1920 deal chiefly with routine family matters. The bulk of the letters are dated 1920 to 1949 and are addressed to Edmonia C. Wilkins from Eric Norfleet and E. W. Lewis; they deal chiefly with Edmonia's investments in second mortgages. Some later family correspondence is also included.
Folder 12 |
1880-1900 |
Folder 13 |
1920-1949 |
Folder 14 |
Undated after 1864 |
Chiefly bills and receipts concerning property; plantation affairs; investments in several Virginia and North Carolina railroads; documents relating to the purchase, hire, and maintenance of slaves; lawyers' accounts and trial dockets from Halifax and Northampton counties, N.C.; and other legal and business papers. Also included are account books for a shoemaker, a blacksmith, and the Gaston Hotel.
Chiefly bills and receipts concerning property, plantation affairs, railroad investments in several Virginia and North Carolina railroads, with a few items relating to the purchase, hire, and maintenance of slaves. Also included are scattered receipts, 1805-1835, from racing seasons at the Belfield Jockey and Racing Club. Most are written on the backs of playing cards.
Folder 15 |
1782-1810 |
Folder 16 |
1811-1829 |
Folder 17 |
1830-1834 |
Folder 18 |
1835-1839 |
Folder 19 |
1840-1949 |
Folder 20 |
1850-1865 |
Folder 21 |
Undated before 1866 |
Chiefly land records, deed abstracts, and records of the burial expenses of Nicholas E. Davis (d. 1874).
Folder 22 |
1874-1909 and undated after 1865 |
Arrangement: chronological by latest date.
Folder 23 |
Volume 2, 1811-1916, 180 pp.Account book of William Wyche Wilkins in Greensville County, Va., and Northampton County, N.C. (formerly volume 20) |
Folder 24 |
Volume 3, 1824-1826, 160 pp.Account book, owner unknown (formerly volume 22) |
Folder 25 |
Volume 4, 1824-1827, 258 pp.Shoemaker's account book, owner unknown (formerly volume 2) |
Folder 26 |
Volumes 5-9, 1830-1837, 127 pp. totalTrial dockets kept by Edmund Wilkins for Northampton and Halifax counties, N.C. See also volumes 14-15 (formerly volume 24) |
Folder 27-28
Folder 27Folder 28 |
Volume 10-11, 1837-1840, 40 pp. totalRecord books with brief entries relating to the operation of rail and stage lines and passenger accommodations in Gaston, N.C. Companies mentioned include the Petersburg and Greensville Railroad Company, the Petersburg Railroad Company, and the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company |
Oversize Volume SV-2364/12 |
Volume S-12, 1837-1840, 163 pp.Gaston Hotel account book |
Folder 30 |
Volume 13, 1824-1841, ca. 110 pp. (pages 64-110 missing)Book belonging to Edmund Wilkins, including lists of books in Wilkins's library, inventories of slaves, and an inventory of William Wilkins's estate (formerly volume 23) |
Folder 31 |
Volume 14-15, 1838-1841, 98 pp. totalTrial dockets kept by Edmund Wilkins for Northampton and Halifax counties, N.C. See also volumes 5-9 (formerly volumes 24 and 25) |
Folder 32 |
Volume 16, 1790-1849, 183 pp.Account book of John Limbrey Wilkins of Brunswick County, Va. (formerly volume 1) |
Oversize Volume SV-2364/17 |
Volume S-17, 1850-1853, 103 pp.Account book, owner unknown, (formerly volume 6) |
Folder 34 |
Volume 18. 1853-1865. 1-3 pp.Belmont and Meadows plantation accounts, (formerly volume 7) |
Folder 35 |
Volume 19, 1836-1870, 53 pp.Entries in two different hands, owner(s) unknown, 1836-1842 entries are financial accounts; entries from the 1860s through 1870 list notes due |
Correspondence, notes, and other materials of Edmonia C. Wilkins concerning the genealogy of the Wilkins and related families.
Correspondence of Edmonia C. Wilkins with family members and others concerning the genealogy of the Wilkins and related families.
Folder 36 |
1925-1933 |
Folder 37 |
1934-1935 |
Folder 38 |
1936 |
Folder 39 |
1937 |
Folder 40 |
1938 |
Folder 41 |
1939 |
Folder 42 |
1940 |
Folder 43-45
Folder 43Folder 44Folder 45 |
1941 |
Folder 46 |
1942 |
Folder 47 |
1943-1944 |
Folder 48 |
1945 |
Folder 49 |
1946 |
Folder 50 |
1947 |
Folder 51 |
1948 |
Folder 52 |
Undated |
Notes collected by Edmonia C. Wilkins on the genealogy of the Wilkins and related families.
Folder 53-56
Folder 53Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
General notes |
Folder 57 |
Notes from Lucy P. Williamson |
Folder 58 |
Notes on the Wilkins, Douglas, and Wyche families |
Folder 59 |
Notes on the Wilkins, Douglas, Wyche, and Judkins families |
Folder 60 |
Notes on the Wilkins, Lamkin, Davis, Garland, Flood, Edmunds, and Wright families |
Folder 61 |
Notes on the Wilkins, Douglas, Jones, Flood, Wyche, and Poythress families |
Folder 62 |
Notes on the Williams, Douglas, and Wyche families |
Folder 63-64
Folder 63Folder 64 |
Notes on the Fletcher and Robinson families |
Folder 65 |
Notes on the Raines family |
Folder 66-67
Folder 66Folder 67 |
Clippings |
Notebooks of law students at Litchfield, Conn., ca. 1817-1819; Edmund Wilkins's medical notebook, ca. 1851-1860; and miscellaneous papers, including an undated script for a Masonic ceremony, a prayer in German, a map of Gaston, N.C., several recipes, and a manuscript copy of a fairy tale called "The Little Grey Mouse."
Folder 68-69
Folder 68Folder 69 |
Volume 20-21, ca. 1817-1819, ca. 110 pp. totalNotebooks of law students at Litchfield, Conn., (formerly volumes 13 and 19) |
Folder 70 |
Volume 22, ca. 1851-1860, 122 pp.Edmund Wilkins's medical notebook probably kept while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania (formerly Volume 4) |
Folder 71 |
Miscellaneous papers |
Items separated include oversize volumes V-2364/S-12 and V-2364/S-17.
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