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Collection Number: 02780

Collection Title: Brumby and Smith Family Papers, 1833-1929

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.


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Size 20 items
Abstract The collection includes miscellaneous items of Laura Margaret Cole (Mrs. James R.) Smith (b. 1806) of South Carolina; her daughter, Laura Smith Brumby (fl. 1866- 1885); and her son-in-law, James R. Brumby (b. 1846). Included are a diary, 1833-1834, of Laura Margaret Cole Smith, with entries discussing courting, death and dying, and the nullification crisis of 1832, and her reminiscences, written as epsitolary fiction, recounting her childhood and daily life. Also included is a diary, 1884-1885, of Laura Brumby, describing a wagon trip from Thomasville, Ga., to Clearwater and Tampa, Fla.; and reminiscences, written in 1929, of James R. Brumby, a native of Holmes and Yazoo counties, Miss., Confederate soldier who served with the 7th Georgia Cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, and chair manufacturer of Marietta, Ga., in which he detailed family history, including his experiences during the Civil War and Brumby family activities in the furniture business.
Creator Brumby (Family : Simpson, Sarah Catherine Brumby, 1840-1915)

Smith (Family : Smith, Laura Margaret Cole, 1806-1883)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. 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 Brumby and Smith Family Papers #2780, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, Series A.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Laura D. Hoppe of Atlanta, Ga., in 1944 and 1951.
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: Rebecca Hollingsworth, October 1991

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes miscellaneous items of Laura Margaret Cole (Mrs. James R.) Smith (b. 1806) of South Carolina; her daughter, Laura Smith Brumby (fl. 1866- 1885); and her son-in-law, James R. Brumby (b. 1846). Included are a diary, 1833-1834, of Laura Margaret Cole Smith, with entries discussing courting, death and dying, and the nullification crisis of 1832, and her reminiscences, written as epsitolary fiction, recounting her childhood and daily life. Also included is a diary, 1884-1885, of Laura Brumby, describing a wagon trip from Thomasville, Ga., to Clearwater and Tampa, Fla.; and reminiscences, written in 1929, of James R. Brumby, a native of Holmes and Yazoo counties, Miss., Confederate soldier who served with the 7th Georgia Cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, and chair manufacturer of Marietta, Ga., in which he detailed family history, including his experiences during the Civil War and Brumby family activities in the furniture business.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Laura Margaret Cole Smith Papers, circa 1833-1834 and undated.

15 items.

Reminiscences and a diary, 1833-1834, of Laura Margaret Cole (Mrs. James M.) Smith as a young woman in the South Carolina low country between Charleston and Savannah, Ga. The volume of reminiscences (46 pp.) is written as epistolary fiction and features Laura's remembrances of her childhood at "Selvalla" with her older sister Sarah Evelina (called "Clara" in the epistles), her oldest brother James Jefferson ("Frederick"), and her brother Richard ("Edward"). The small diary (23 pp.) is also written in the form of letters and contains entries for the years 1833 and 1834 relating to single life, courting, death and dying, and the nullification crisis.

Also included are three fragments, parts of which appear in the diary or the reminiscences; enclosures from Laura's diary, including a cure for headache; and two small volumes of poems (one 40 pp., the other 44 pp.), presumably written by Laura.

Typed transcriptions of the diary and the reminiscences are available. Also included in the typed transcriptions are one of the fragments and a letter enclosed in the diary, neither of which appears in the diary itself or in the reminiscences.

Folder 1

Reminiscences

Folder 2

Diary, 1833-1834, and enclosures

Folder 3

Fragments

Folder 4

Poems

Folder 5

Typed transcription of reminiscences and diary

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. James R. Brumby Family Papers, 1884-1885, 1929.

2 items.

Writings by James R. and Laura Smith Brumby, including Laura Brumby's diary, 1884-1885, and an autobiographical sketch by James, 1929. The diary of Laura Smith Brumby (106 pp.) describes the journey of the Brumby family from Thomasville, Ga., to Clearwater, Fla., and includes references to the family's eating habits, church attendance, and land inquiries in the Tampa Bay area. James R. Brumby's 1929 autobiographical sketch (11 pp., typed) was "written at the request of my children" with the intention of setting forth his account of the history of the Brumby Chair Company of Marietta, Ga. In it, he identified many family members, related their various moves and business ventures, gave an account of his Civil War experiences with the 7th Georgia Cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, and detailed the activities of the Brumby family in the chair manufacturing business.

Typed transcriptions are available.

Folder 6

Laura Smith Brumby diary

Folder 7

Laura Smith Brumby diary, typed transcription

Folder 8

James R. Brumby autobiography (and typed transcription)

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