Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4811-z
LEMUEL BANNISTER PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Lemuel Bannister was president of the Green Swamp
Company, a lumber business based in Wilmington and
Bolton, N.C.
Twenty-seven letters from Lemuel Bannister to his
fiancee, Frankie (Frances?) Kenyon of Cleveland, Ohio,
written between June and November 1868, immediately
after Bannister moved to Wilmington, N.C., to become
president of the Green Swamp Company. Some letters
describe Bannister's impressions of southern culture,
his African American employees, the Green Swamp, and
the state legislature of North Carolina. Those dated
24 and 28 June are particularly interesting for
Bannister's impressions of North Carolina and the
South. Most of the letters express his great love and
longing for his fiancee. Letters, November 1868, are
full of preparations for their wedding in Fulton,
N.Y., near the end of the month. Also included is a
small photograph in a copper frame, presumably of
Lemuel Bannister.
Online Catalog Terms:
Afro-Americans--North Carolina--Employment--History--19th
century.
Afro-Americans--North Carolina--Social life and customs
--19th century.
Bannister, Lemuel.
Bolton (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Cleveland (Ohio)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Green Swamp (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Green Swamp Company.
Kenyon, Frankie.
Love-letters--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Lumber trade--North Carolina--History--19th century.
North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Reconstruction--North Carolina.
Wilmington (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Size: 27 items.
Provenance: Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum, Dealer in Rare
Manuscripts and Archives, of Watchung, N.J. in
April 1996 (Acc. 96068).
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: Item separated: P-4811/1.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.