Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#39
JOHN LANCASTER BAILEY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: John Lancaster Bailey was a resident of Pasquotank
County, N.C., then Hillsborough, and, finally,
Asheville, N.C. He was a superior court judge, served
in the state legislature, 1827-1830, and was a
delegate to the state convention of 1835. Bailey
married Priscilla Brownrigg of Endenton, N.C., in
1821. Their daughter was Sarah Jane Bailey Cain
(1828-1927), wife of William Cain (d. 1855) of Orange
County. Among their grandchildren were Elizabeth B.
Cain (1850-1929), who married John Steele Henderson in
1874, and William Cain (1847-1930), engineer and
professor of mathematics at the University of North
Carolina.
Family correspondence and miscellaneous papers of
Bailey, his wife Priscilla Brownrigg Bailey, and other
family members. Papers concerning Bailey's public
interests and career are sparse. The correspondence
among family members and the letters received by them
from numerous relatives and friends provide
descriptions of the activities and interests of many
planter families in Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan,
Orange, and Buncombe counties, N.C.; in southeastern
Virginia; and around Columbus and Aberdeen, Miss.
There are also letters from family and friends in
Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina. Letters from
civilians in Federal-occupied eastern North Carolina
are included as are letters from William Cain serving
as drillmaster in Confederate army camps at age 13.
Postwar letters include those from William while
surveying railroad lines in North and South Carolina.
Among the families represented in the collection are
the Bailey, Brownrigg, Brown, Sawyer, Scott, Cross,
Granberry, Johnson, and Dillard in the coastal area;
Cain, Ruffin, and Caldwell in Orange and Burke
counties, N.C.; and Brownrigg and Sparkman in
Mississippi. Also included are deeds of gift, 1840s
and 1850s bills of sale for slaves, drawings, Sarah
Cain's scrapbooks and reminiscences, and a detailed
map of Hillsborough, N.C., ca. 1839 and related items.
Online Catalog Terms:
Aberdeen (Miss.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Bailey family.
Bailey, John Lancaster, 1795-1877.
Bailey, Priscilla Brownrigg.
Brown family.
Brownrigg family.
Buncombe County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Burke County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Cain, Elizabeth B., 1850-1929.
Cain family.
Cain, Sarah Jane Bailey, 1828-1927.
Cain, Wm. (William), 1847-1930.
Caldwell family.
Chowan County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Columbus (Miss.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
Confederate States of America. Army--Participation, Children.
Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
Cross family.
Dillard family.
Family--Mississippi--Social life and customs--19th century.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
Granberry family.
Hillsborough (N.C.)--History--19th century.
Johnson family.
North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Orange County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Pasquotank County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Perquimans County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Plantation life--North Carolina.
Railroads--North Carolina.
Railroads--South Carolina.
Ruffin family.
Sawyer family.
Scott family.
Slave bills of sale--North Carolina.
Sparkman family.
Women--Southern States--Social life and customs.
Size: About 1,000 items (2.0 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Mrs. Lyman Cotten and Mary F.
Henderson of Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1935-1938 and
1965, in March 1973 from the Archibald Henderson
estate, and in August 1973 from Mrs. Alfred G.
Engstrom of Chapel Hill.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This inventory is built on an inventory
compiled by Brooke Allan in 1969 and Carolyn
Wallace in 1973. Items from the original
accessions are described on pages 5-9, those
from the 1973 Archibald Henderson addition are
described on pages 10-14, and those from the
Engstrom addition are described on page 15.
The 1973 Henderson items have been merged into
materials from the original accession and
items from the 1973 Engstrom addition are in
folder 19.
Related Collections: Brownrigg Family Papers (#2226); William
Cain Books (#124); Archibald Henderson Papers
(#3650); John Steele Henderson Papers (#327).
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
FOLDER LIST
Folder 1 1785; 1806-1820
2 1821-1825
3 1827-1829
4 1830-1833
5 1834-1836
6 1837-1839
7 1840-1849
8 1850-1855
9 1856-1857
10 1858-1859
11 1860
12 1861
13 1862-1863
14 1864
15 1865
1866
16 January-April
17 May-December
18 1867
19 1868
20 1869
21 1870
1871
22 January-March
23 April-December
1872
24 January-August
25 September-December
1873
26 January-May
27 June-December
28 Undated and fragments
29 Miscellaneous: Map of Hillsborough and
related materials
30 Miscellaneous: Cain family drawings
31 Miscellaneous: Clippings
32 Volume 1
33 Volume 2
34 Volume 3
35 Volume 4
36 Volume 5
37 Volume 6
SHELF LIST
Box 1 1785-1865 (folders 1-15)
Box 2 1866-1873 and undated (folders 16-28)
Miscellaneous (folders 29-31)
Box 3 Volumes 1-6 (folders 32-37)
Items separated:
Volume S-5