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Collection Number: 00863-z

Collection Title: William Bagley Letter Books, 1840-1850

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.


Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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Size 2 items
Abstract William Bagley was a white college student who attended the University of North Carolina in the 1840s. The collection consists of two volumes containing handwritten copies Bagley made of letters he sent to family and friends, chiefly while he was a student at the University of North Carolina, 1843-1845, and when he related local news from Plymouth and Williamston, N.C., 1845-1850. Also included is a transcription of an acrostic poem composed by George Moses Horton, a Black poet who was enslaved by the Horton family of Chatham County, N.C.
Creator Bagley, William, fl. 1842-1850.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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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 William Bagley Letter Books #863-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Gift, 1944.
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: Staff, 1992

Encoded by: Peter Hymas, June 2005

Conscious Editing Work by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020. Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical note, scope and content note, and container list.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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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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William Bagley was a white college student who attended the University of North Carolina in the 1840s.

George Moses Horton, a Black poet, was born into slavery in Northampton County, North Carolina, around 1798. He was originally enslaved to William Horton, later inherited by William's son, James Horton, and eventually bequeathed to William's grandson, Hall Horton. In his youth, George Moses Horton was moved to Chatham County, North Carolina, to work as a farm hand. Here he taught himself how to read and began to compose his own poetry.

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The collection consists of two volumes containing handwritten copies William Bagley made of letters he sent to family and friends, chiefly while he was a student at the University of North Carolina, 1843-1845, and when he related local news from Plymouth, N.C., and Williamston, N.C., 1845-1850. Also included is a transcription of an acrostic poem composed by George Moses Horton, a Black poet who was enslaved by the Horton family of Chatham County, N.C.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Letter Books, 1840-1850.

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