Inventory of the F. H. Elmore Papers, 1833-1936
Collection Number 814
Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
- Contact Information:
- Manuscripts Department
- CB#3926, Wilson Library
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
- Phone: 919/962-1345
- Fax: 919/962-3594
- Email: mss@email.unc.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary
- Repository
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
- Creator
- Elmore, F. H. (Franklin Harper), 1799-1850.
- Title
- F. H. Elmore Papers, 1833-1936
- Call Number
- 814
- Language of Materials
- Materials in English
- Extent
-
- Items: About 130
- Linear Feet: 0.5
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Administrative Information
- Alternate Form of Material
- All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J, and as part of the Southern women and their families in the 19th century, Series A.
- Acquisitions Information
- Received from Franklin H. Elmore and Thomas H. Elmore of Jacksonville, Florida, in 1939; Franklin H. Elmore Junior, of Washington, D.C., in October 1946; Franklin H. Elmore in June 1948; the Arnold Appleton Papers, Southern Historical Collection, in March 1957; and the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, in January 1965.
- Processing Information
- Processed by: Brooke Allan, January 1965; Shonra Newman, August 1990
- Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the F. H. Elmore Papers #814, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Copyright Notice
- Retained by authors of items in these papers or their descendants as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Autobiographies--South Carolina.
- Banks and banking--South Carolina--History--19th century.
- Charleston (S.C.)--History--19th century.
- Columbia (S.C.)--History--19th century.
- Cotton trade--South Carolina.
- Elmore family.
- Elmore, F. H. (Franklin Harper), 1799-1850.
- Elmore, Harriet Chesnut Taylor, fl. 1819-1865.
- Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
- Marshall family.
- Martin family.
- Nesbitt family.
- Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)--South Carolina.
- South Carolina--Politics and government--1775-1865.
- State Bank of South Carolina.
- Taylor family.
- Taylor, Sally Cantey Elmore, 1829-1919.
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate.
- Washington (D.C.)--History.
- Women--Diaries--South Carolina.
- Women--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
Biographical/Historical Note
Franklin Harper Elmore (1799-1850) was born in Laurens, South Carolina, the son of John Archer Elmore (1762-1834) and his first wife, Mary Anne Saxon (born 1770). John A. Elmore moved from Virginia to South Carolina and later to Alabama. Franklin H. Elmore graduated from South Carolina College in 1819, studied law in Columbia, South Carolina, and was admitted to the bar there in 1821. He was solicitor of the southern circuit, 1822-1836; member of the United States House of Representatives, 1836-1839; and president of the State Bank of South Carolina, 1839-1850. He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1850 to succeed John C. Calhoun, but served only from 11 April 1850 until his death in Washington, 28 May 1850.
Elmore was also interested in southern manufacturing. He was trustee of Nesbitt Manufacturing Company and was also involved with the King's Mountain Iron Works, both of which employed slave labor.
Elmore married Harriet Chesnut Taylor in 1827. They had twelve children:
John Taylor Elmore (1828-1830);
Sally Canty Elmore (born 1829), married Thomas Taylor;
Harriet Chesnut Elmore (1830-1835?);
Mary Singleton Elmore (1831-1840);
Ellen Sophia Elmore (born 1833);
Cornelia Caroline Elmore (born 1835), married Brevard Davidson;
Franklin Harper Elmore (born 1836), married Mary Goodwin;
Harriet Chesnut Elmore (born 1837);
Grace Stark Elmore (1839-1912);
Mary Susan Elmore (born 1841);
Albert Rhett Elmore (born 1843), married Alexina Taylor;
Rosa Ann Elmore (born 1846), married Mr. Hayne.
Back to TopCollection Overview
This collection includes a small amount of original correspondence: family letters, correspondence from friends and associates relating to Elmore's political activities, and letters relating to both his activities as president of the State Bank of South Carolina and his involvement in cotton marketing in England. There also are newspaper clippings about Franklin Harper Elmore; memoirs and reminiscences of Mrs. Thomas Taylor (Sally Canty Elmore), documenting the family life of the Elmores as well as the political life of Franklin Elmore; genealogical information on the Elmore and related families; and copies of Elmore documents held by the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina.
Back to TopArrangement of Collection
-
Series 1. Original Items of Franklin H. Elmore and Family
Series 2. Clippings about Franklin H. Elmore
Series 3. Taylor Family Reminiscences
Series 4. Genealogical Papers
Series 5. Copies from South Caroliniana Library
Items Separated
-
OP-814/1-5
P-814/1-2
Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Original Items of Franklin H. Elmore and Family, 1843-1850 and undated.
23 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal and business correspondence and other items of Franklin Harper Elmore. Included is a letter, dated 1 June 1843, from
Hugh Swinton Legaré about a successful application made by Elmore (possibly for appointment of a son to West Point) and his
own appointment as secretary of state. Also included is a letter, dated 9 May 1844, from Dixon H. Lewis to Elmore (or some
other member of the family) about the political situation, the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, and the
views of John C. Calhoun and his friends.
In 1848 there are seven letters to Elmore from Collman & Stoltrefaht, cotton merchants of Liverpool, England, about marketing
cotton. Also included is a five page leaflet entitled Report of the Bank, in Relation to Committing the Government of the Bank to Six Persons with Salaries, F.H. Elmore, president, dated 5 December 1848.
In 1849 and 1850, there are several letters to Franklin Harper Elmore Junior, who was away at school, about his clothes and
family activities, from his sister, Sally Canty Elmore, his mother, and his father. Also in 1849, there are three letters
from James L. Petigru about a controversy in the South Carolina legislature over Elmore's management of the bank. There is
a copy of an 1850 letter from Elmore to Governor Whitmarsh B. Seabrook about Elmore's appointment to the United States Senate,
as well as other correspondence on the subject. Also included in 1850 is a brief letter from Andrew Pickens Butler to Elmore
about political conditions and the southern group in Congress.
In 1862, there is a letter to Captain R.C. Morgan from Maxcy Gregg, asking for help for William Taylor, who wanted to move
the body of his brother, who was killed at Cold Harbor or at least to visit his grave. In 1865, there is a letter to Harriet
Chesnut Taylor Elmore from Caldwell, Blakely, & Co., asking her to pay at least a portion of her debt to them. Also included
in this series is an undated engraving of Franklin H. Elmore.
Folder
11843-1865
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2. Clippings, 1833-1897 and undated.
About 15 items.
Newspaper clippings regarding the life, work, and death of Franklin Harper Elmore.
Folder
21833-1897
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3. Taylor Family Reminiscences, 1908-1914.
4 items.
Records, reminiscences, and memoirs of Sally Canty Elmore Taylor, who was the daughter of Franklin H. Elmore and wife of Thomas
Taylor, and "Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy," by Lawrence W. Taylor.
Included are both the original handwritten manuscript and a typed transcription of "Records of the Taylor Family and Reminiscences of My Own Life," by Sally Canty Elmore Taylor, circa 1908 (5 typed pages). Mrs. Taylor was descended through her mother from the Taylor family
and married a Taylor cousin. A second, untitled and undated manuscript, also present in both the original handwritten version
and typed transcription and presumably also by Mrs. Taylor, continues the family record and also describes life in Washington
during the time her father was a member of Congress (15 typed pages). References are made to Angelica Singleton, John Van
Buren, and Dixon H. Lewis.
Also included is a typed version of a much larger (196 pages) memoir written in 1908-1910 by Sally Canty Elmore Taylor. It
also contains Elmore family history. It also includes a description of Sally's life in Washington, D.C., 1835-1840, and a
description of her time spent in Charleston, South Carolina, and the South Carolina upcountry in the summers, 1840-1850. She
married in 1856 and thereafter lived in Columbia or just outside it. Also included are copies of letters Sally wrote from
Washington, D.C., in 1848. Included in 1849 are a tribute to Captain James Stuart, Mexican War hero, and a description of
the dinner given in his honor in Charleston. There are also recollections of the Civil War and of Reconstruction in South
Carolina.
Finally, there is a typescript entitled, "Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy," written by Lawrence W. Taylor in 1914 for the M.C. Butler Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (8 pages). Taylor
was a captain and served in Company K of the "Bonham Guards," Third Regiment of South Carolina State Troops, which was composed of young men who enlisted late in the war. He described
his experiences at Grahamville, at James Island, and on the march to Fayetteville and Raleigh and back to Columbia in Hardee's
Corps. References are made to Wade Hampton and Iredell Jones.
Folder
3"Records of the Taylor Family and Reminiscences of My Own Life" by Sally Canty Elmore Taylor circa 1908
Folder
4Untitled and undated further records of the Taylor family and Sally Canty Elmore Taylor
Folder
5"Memoir of Mrs. Sally Elmore Taylor, written by herself, 1908-1910, and presented by her to her nephew, B. F. Taylor," pages 1-77
Folder
6Memoir, pages 78-196 and index
Folder
7"Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy"
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4. Genealogical Papers, 1931-1936 and undated.
About 15 items.
Genealogical material, including copies of letters about the history of the Elmores written in 1936. Also included is a biographical
sketch of Albert Rhett Elmore, son of Franklin H. Elmore, and one of William Augustus Elmore, half brother of Franklin H.
Elmore. There is data on the Taylor family of South Carolina, which was related to the Elmore family. There are also notes
referring to the Nesbitt, Martin, and Marshall families. Also included is a letter from Richard L. Irving to Grace Elmore,
enclosing a copy of the 1746 will of Thomas Elmore of New Kent County, Virginia. There is a photocopy of a newspaper clipping
on John Archer Elmore and his descendants.
Folder
81931-1936 and undated
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5. Copies from South Caroliniana Library, 1819-1877 and undated.
About 75 items.
Photocopies of items in the Franklin Harper Elmore Papers at the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina.
These are almost entirely family letters of Franklin Harper Elmore, his wife Harriet Chesnut Taylor Elmore, and their numerous
children. Many of the letters were written to Ellen S. Elmore, one of the older daughters, by her parents and siblings. Many
letters were written by Harriet to Franklin when she was at home with the children and he was elsewhere. The letters were
written primarily from Charleston and Columbia, with some written by Franklin Elmore from Washington, D.C. In addition to
the family letters, the series includes several non-family items as noted below.
In 1819, Harriet wrote to her mother Sarah Taylor. In 1826 and 1827, Franklin Elmore corresponded with Harriet Taylor and
her father John Taylor about Elmore's engagement to Harriet. Included in 1829 is a poem that Franklin copied for Harriet.
In a letter dated 22 April 1838, Chasteen Scott of Kentucky inquired about a family connection. In a letter dated 19 February
1843 from Fort Hill, John C. Calhoun wrote to Elmore telling him he was enclosing a letter of introduction to the president.
In a letter dated 4 April 1850, from the Charleston Hotel, P. Calhoun wrote asking for permission to call. The remainder of
the items between 1838 and 1853 are family letters. After Elmore's death in May 1850, there are letters from Harriet to Ellen
and the other children.
In 1860 there are letters to Ellen S. Elmore from her mother, Harriet Elmore. In 1861 and 1862, Albert Elmore wrote two letters
from South Carolina army camps. Several letters were written in 1865 and 1866 by family and friends. In a letter dated 28
November 1877, J.B. Gordon wrote from Washington, D.C., to Grace Elmore, thanking the women of Columbia for their tribute
to him and a silver salver.
Folder
91819-1829
Folder
101838-1847
Folder
111848
Folder
121849-1853
Folder
131860-1877 and undated
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