Restrictions to Access

This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

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 William Richardson Davie Papers, #1793, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the North Carolina Historical Society, prior to 1940.

Additional materials received from Preston Davie, 1950; the Masonic Lodge of Hillsboro, N.C.; John W. Clark; Archibald Henderson; and transferred from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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.

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.

• Cherokee Indians--Missions.
• Crockett family.
• Davie family.
• Davie, William Richardson, 1756-1820.
• Greene, Nathanael, 1742-1786.
• Indians of North America--Missions.
• North Carolina--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1775-1865.
• Presbyterians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Richardson, William, fl. 1758.
• South Carolina--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Personal narratives.

William Richardson Davie (1756-1820) was a lawyer, state legislator, Revolutionary officer, member of the United States Constitutional Convention, Federalist governor of North Carolina, and peace commissioner to France, and was influential in the founding of the University of North Carolina. He moved from Halifax County, N.C., to Lancaster District, S.C., in 1805.

The collection, in part, photostatic and typed transcript copies, includes letters to, from, and about William Richardson Davie and his family. Many items are related to military matters, some mention politics and a boundary controversy with South Carolina. Two long narratives pertain to Davie's Revolutionary War experiences as a cavalry officer in North and South Carolina and as commissary general to Nathanael Greene. The narratives discuss Augustine Prevost's expedition against Charleston, S.C.; the Battle of Stono; the battle at Ramsours; the post at Rocky-mount attacked; the battle of the Hanging-Rock; Horatio Gates's defeat; Thomas Sumter's surprise and defeat; the Battle of Wahab's Plantation; action at Charlotte, N.C.; and the Battle of Guilford.Other papers, of scattered dates, relate to Davie's varied activities and to his family and the related Crockett family, with only a few items later than 1805. Also present is a copy of a report of William Richardson, Presbyterian minister, on his mission to the Cherokee Indians, 1758.