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 John Emory Douthit Letters #5485-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Elizabeth L. Fagan of Denton, Tex., in December 2010 (Acc. 101389).

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.

• Confederate States of America. Army--Hospitals.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Medical care.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Surgeons--Correspondence.
• Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 21st.
• Courtship--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Douthit, John Emory, 1836-1885.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Goldsboro (N.C.)--History.
• Love-letters--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Statesville (N.C.)--History.
• Tarboro (N.C.)--History.
• Washington (N.C.)--History.
• Wilson (N.C.)--History.

John Emory Douthit was a doctor and surgeon with the 21st North Carolina Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He was born in Clemmonsville, N.C., and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1858. In 1860, while stationed at Wilson, N.C., Douthit met Medora ("Dora") Crenshaw, and the two wed in 1863. After the war, Douthit opened a general goods store in Statesville, N.C. Douthit later moved to Kingsville, Mo.

The collection consists primarily of letters from James Emory Douthit to his wife Dora Crenshaw Douthit. Letters, 1860-1863, were written while James Emory Douthit was serving as a surgeon and Dora Crenshaw was attending school in Wilson, N.C., and discuss their courtship and marriage. Most of the letters, 1864-1865, document his work in Wilson, Goldsboro, Washington, and Tarboro, N.C., with some in September and October 1864 describing conditions in Washington, N.C. Some letters also discuss opening a store in 1866 in Statesville, N.C. There are also a letter, 24 March 1865, from James Emory Douthit's sister Mattie to Dora Crenshaw Douthit and other items.