Tag Archives: Chapel Hill

4 May 1863: ” [Commencement] came off without much excitement, eight graduates; the number in peace time was between eighty & ninety.”

Item description:  Letter, May 4, 1863 from John Steele Henderson to his mother.  Henderson describes the significant loss of UNC’s student body due to the war.  While he shares his experience speaking at Commencement, Henderson express more concern with securing a pair of shoes. … Continue reading

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19 April 1863: “…I dont suppose the Jenkin’s being Presbyterians, will dance.”

Item Description: Letter, dated 19 April, 1863, from John Steele Henderson to his mother, Mary Henderson.  He discusses family members, including the death of a cousin, and the recent visit of a band to Salisbury. From folder 33 in the … Continue reading

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3 March 1863: “Reach Chapel Hill, N. C., sick and tired but find family well.”

Item description: Entry, dated 3 March 1863, from the diary of Alexander Davis Betts, D.D. This very brief diary entry mentions Betts’ return to his home in Chapel Hill, N.C. The diary was later published as, Experience of a Confederate Chaplain, … Continue reading

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18 January 1863: “I made twelve garments last week and worked sixty-two button holes and sewed on as many buttons. Can you equal that?”

Item description: Letter, 18 January 1863, from Bettie Maney Kimberly, Chapel Hill, N.C., to her sister, Annie Maney Schon, Atlanta, Ga. Item citation: From the John Kimberly Papers #398, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel … Continue reading

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22 December 1862: “Mr. H. was absent from the final examination without permission. His general deportment has been good.”

Item description: Report card, dated 22 December 1862, for John Steele Henderson, a student at the University of North Carolina. More about John Steele Henderson: John Steele Henderson (1846-1916) was born in North Carolina, the son of Archibald and Mary Henderson. … Continue reading

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7 November 1862: “we seem to be threatened with something like a famine here. If our farmers have any thing to sell, they will not part with it at present…”

Item description:  Letter, 7 November 1862, from William Horn Battle to his son, Kemp Plummer Battle. Not long after learning about the death of his son Junius in a military hospital in Maryland, Judge Battle writes to his son Kemp … Continue reading

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28 August 1862: “Very soon after I left last January nearly all the students left and went to war; some were called out by the draft some were taken by the Conscription law and some went voluntarily, So nearly all left…”

Item description: In this letter of 28 August 1862, Preston H. Sessoms writes from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., to his sister Bettie. Sessoms tells his sister that only 50 students are enrolled, and board is expensive. … Continue reading

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15 July 1862: “…We have been compelled by the pressure of our enemies to give up more of our mother state to their brutal army.”

Item description: Letter, 15 July 1862, from Robert W. Parker of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry to his wife, Rebecca Louise Fitzhugh Walker Parker, at home in Bedford County, Va. Parker wrote of his company’s retreat from Culpeper to Rapidan Station, … Continue reading

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5 June 1862: “Commencement Ball Announcement, Complimentary to The Graduating Class”

Item description: A commencement ball invitation from 5 June 1862. As the war progressed the student body at the University of North Carolina began to change drastically. By the fall of 1861, only 91 students remained at the University after many … Continue reading

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31 May 1862: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by any white person, may walk on forbidden ground…”

Item description: At the 31 May 1862 meeting of the Philanthropic Society, a committee recommended passage of the following law: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by … Continue reading

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