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Collection Number: 04278

Collection Title: Carolina Central Railway Company Records, 1873-1883.

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.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 550 items)
Abstract In 1873, the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherfordton Railroad was reorganized as the Carolina Central Railway Company. In 1875, the company completed a line to Shelby, N.C. The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal material, and other records, of the railroad and its officials in Wilmington, N.C., and New York, N.Y., particularly Charles H. Roberts (born 1821), president. Principally consisting of intra-company correspondence, the records chiefly relate to railroad management, financial matters, and bond sales.
Creator Carolina Central Railway Company.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
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 Carolina Central Railway Company Records, #4278, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Purchased from Terry Alford of Springfield, Va., July 1981.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
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: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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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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In 1873, the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherfordton Railroad was reorganized as the Carolina Central Railway Company. In 1875, the company completed a line to Shelby, N.C. The company was placed into receivership in 1877, with Henry Decker as administrator, and was later reorganized as the Carolina Central Railroad Company, 1880.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal material, and other records, of the Carolina Central Railway Company and its officials in Wilmington, N.C., and New York, N.Y., particularly Charles H. Roberts (born 1821), president. Chiefly consisting of intra-company correspondence, the records primarily relate to railroad management, financial matters, and bond sales. Other topics include policy decisions, progress of line construction, land title and land acquisition matters, court cases, political and appointment battles, the state of business along the line, and the affairs of other railroads in the state, particularly the North Carolina Railroad. Principal correspondents include Edward Matthews and Watson Matthews. There is also a list of company stockholders and scattered statements, balance sheets, reports, estimates, receipts, and bond notices.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1873-1881 and undated.

About 470 items.

Chiefly letters and telegrams, 1874-1875, to Dr. Charles H. Roberts, president of the Carolina Central Railway Company, Wilmington, North Carolina, with some communications from other officials of the line. Principal correspondents are Edward Matthews, attorney, bond-broker, and financial agent of the company, and Edward's brother Watson Matthews, secretary and treasurer of the company. Some additional letters appear from local agents, attorneys, and other persons with an interest in the company. The correspondence generally relates to financial matters of the railroad, management and operations, the sale of company bonds, and placement and coverage of its drafts and financial paper in the New York and overseas markets. Other topics include policy decisions, progress of line construction, land title and land acquisition matters, court cases, political and appointment battles, the state of business along the line, and the affairs of other railroads in the state, particularly the North Carolina Railroad.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1873

Folder 2-10

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

1874

Folder 11-20

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

1875

Folder 21-22

Folder 21

Folder 22

1877-1878

Folder 23-25

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

1879

Folder 26

1880

Folder 27

1881

Folder 28-34

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Financial and Legal Material, 1873-1883.

About 80 items.

Chiefly scattered statements, balance sheets, reports, and estimates, 1873 and 1881. There are also a few receipts and bond notices, and one receipt for the Naugatuck Railroad Company, 1883.

Folder 35-39

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Statements of expense and earnings, 1878-1881

Folder 41-48

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Balance sheets, 1873-1879

Folder 49

Monthly reports, 1875-1876

Folder 50

Abstracts of estimates, 1874

Folder 51

Contracts, 1874

Folder 52-54

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

Miscellaneous, 1873-1883

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Other Material, 1874 and undated.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Photograph (P-4278/Folder 1).

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