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Collection Number: 00329

Collection Title: John Caldwell Papers, 1766-1917

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 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1500 items)
Abstract John Caldwell was a merchant of Morganton, N.C. The collection contains business papers, chiefly 1810-1850, and business and family correspondence of John Caldwell. Family correspondence includes letters and reports, 1833-1839, from his son, Tod Robinson Caldwell (later governor of North Carolina), at school in Hillsborough, N.C., and at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Business papers consist of notes; accounts; deeds; bills of sale, including some slave bills of sale; legal papers; and other items, many relating to the Bank of Cape Fear, the Branch Bank of Virginia, and the United States Bank. Volumes, 1799-1825, are daybooks and ledgers of Caldwell's general merchandise business.
Creator Caldwell, John, 1779-1857.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 John Caldwell Papers #329, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Amy Henderson of Worry, N.C., before 1952.
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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Ellen Strong, March 1964

Encoded by: Mara Dabrishus, October 2004

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, November 2020

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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 Related Collections

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

John Caldwell emigrated from Ireland to Morganton, N.C., in 1800 where he started a mercantile business. His son, Ted R. Caldwell (1818-1874), served as lieutenant governor (1868-1870) and governor (1871-1874) of North Carolina.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The papers of Morganton, N.C., merchant John Caldwell contain business papers, chiefly 1810-1850, and business and family correspondence. Family correspondence includes letters and reports, 1833-1839, from his son, Tod Robinson Caldwell (later governor of North Carolina), at school in Hillsborough, N.C., and as a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Business papers consist of notes; accounts; deeds; bills of sale, including some slave bills of sale; legal papers; and other items, many relating to the Bank of Cape Fear, the Branch Bank of Virginia, and the United States Bank. Volumes, 1799-1825, are daybooks and ledgers of Caldwell's general merchandise business.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence and Business Papers, 1766-1917 and undated.

About 1500 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondents include Elisha Mitchell, Tod Robinson Caldwell, Kemp Plummer Battle, Allran Poteet, Robert Caldwell, Israel Pickens, J. W. Wright, and Isaac T. Avery. There are many items relating to banks and banking. Among the materials are:

1766 Indenture
1809 Slave bill of sale
1810 Land grant (photocopy)
1811 Will of merchant Robert Caldwell
1812 Small expense account book
1812-1816 Some materials discussing life in Petersburg, Va.
1816 Israel Pickens to John Caldwell discussing land and other business
1822 Price of bees wax and tallow
1824 Slave bill of sale
1833 Letter from Allran Poteet, author of Geographical Speller
1835-1848 Tod Robinson Caldwell letters
1908 Kemp Plummer Battle ... on points about the Caldwells as I know
1917 Amy Henderson letters

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1 Correspondence

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2 Business papers

Folder 19

1766-1799

Folder 20

1802-1812

Folder 21

1813-1817

Folder 22

1818-1820

Folder 23

1821

Folder 24

1822

Folder 25

1823

Folder 26

1824

Folder 27

1825

Folder 28

1826

Folder 29

1827

Folder 30

1828

Folder 31

1829-1831

Folder 32

1832

Folder 33

1833

Folder 34

1834

Folder 35

1835

Folder 36

1836

Folder 37

1837-1938

Folder 38

1839-1841

Folder 39

1842-1844

Folder 40

1845-1846

Folder 41

1847-1848

Folder 42

1849-1851

Folder 43

1852-1854

Folder 44

1855-1856

Folder 45

1857

Folder 46

1858

Folder 47

1859

Folder 48

1860

Folder 49

1861-1869

Folder 50

1872-1906

Folder 51-53

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Undated

Folder 54

Clippings, 1845

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes and Clippings, 1799-1845.

5 items.

Folder 55

Merchandise ledger, 1799-1802

Oversize Volume SV-329/2

Merchandise ledger, 1814-1818

Oversize Volume SV-329/3

Merchandise daybook, 1815-1817

Oversize Volume SV-329/4

Merchandise daybook, 18 June 1817-25 January 1820

Oversize Volume SV-329/5

Merchandise daybook, 19 November 1822-12 March 1825

Folder 56-59

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folders not used

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Oversize volume (SV-329/2-5).

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