Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#248
JAMES EVANS PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: James Evans, farmer, merchant, and county
commissioner of Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C. He married
Martha Henrietta Knight of Hamburg, S.C., in 1839.
Personal and business correspondence, financial
and legal papers, and other items, chiefly 1837-1870, of Evans
and his wife, children, and other relatives. Included are items
relating to Evans's life as a farmer before the Civil War and a
merchant after the war, and a few manuscript copies of articles
Evans wrote for the Fayetteville News. Many letters relate to
the status of blacks before and after the Civil War. Also
included are letters that James Evans, Jr., wrote during the
Civil War while serving with the N.C. Light Artillery at Fort
Fisher, N.C., and other locations, in which he described camp
life and military actions; a series of account books and ledgers
relating to the Evanses' agricultural and merchandise businesses;
financial records, 1870s, of the Cape Fear River steamer Little
Sam; Cumberland County school records, 1849-1862; records, 1850s-
1860s, of taxable property in Locke's Creek District, Cumberland
County; and a diary of James Evans, written on a series of loose
sheets, chiefly concerning the weather, planting, the progress of
crops, and family activities.
Online African Americans--North Carolina--Social life and
Catalog customs--19th century.
Terms: Confederate States of America. Army--Military
life.
Confederate States of America. Army. N.C. Light
Artillery.
Diaries--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Evans, Henrietta Knight.
Evans, James, d. 1869.
Evans, James, Jr., b. 1841
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--
19th century.
Farmers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Fayetteville (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Fayetteville News (Newspaper : Fayetteville,
N.C.).
Freedmen--North Carolina.
Fort Fisher (N.C.).
Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
River steamers--North Carolina--History--19th
century.
Schools--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Slavery--North Carolina.
Size: About 3,500 items (2.0 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Henrietta Evans Kent of Greensboro,
N.C., in 1935. Withdrawn by descendants of James Evans in 1971,
and redeposited in June 1991 (Acc. 91068).
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright
law.
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
James Evans was a son of Josiah Evans of
Cumberland County, N.C. He married Martha Henrietta Knight in
1839; they had eleven children, including sons James Jr., Josiah,
and Oliver, and daughters Larry, Cecilia, Sue Douglas, and
Henrietta.
Before the Civil War, Evans was a farmer. After
the war, he went into business with James Evans, Jr., running a
general store. In the last years of his life, Evans wrote many
essays and articles for the Fayetteville News. He died in 1869.
James Evans, Jr., was born in 1841. During the
Civil War, he served in the 13th Battalion, N.C. Light Artillery,
writing many letters home about military actions and camp life in
such places as Fort Fisher, Greenville, and Washington, N.C.
After the war, he ran a general store with his father for a time
and later became the captain of the steamship Little Sam.
Oliver Evans, younger brother of James, Jr., was
the father of Henrietta Evans Kent.
Collection Overview
Personal and business correspondence, financial
and legal papers, and other items, chiefly 1837-1870, of Evans
and his wife, children, and other relatives. Included are items
relating to Evans's life as a farmer before the Civil War and a
merchant after the war, and a few manuscript copies of articles
Evans wrote for the Fayetteville News. Many letters relate to
the status of blacks before and after the Civil War. Also
included are letters that James Evans, Jr., wrote during the
Civil War while serving with the N.C. Light Artillery at Fort
Fisher, N.C., and other locations, in which he described camp
life and military actions; a series of account books and ledgers
relating to the Evanses' agricultural and merchandise businesses;
financial records, 1870s, of the Cape Fear River steamer Little
Sam; Cumberland County school records, 1849-1862; records, 1850s-
1860s, of taxable property in Locke's Creek District, Cumberland
County; and a diary of James Evans, written on a series of loose
sheets, chiefly concerning the weather, planting, the progress of
crops, and family activities.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence.
Series 2. Financial and Legal Items.
Subseries 2.1. Loose Papers.
Subseries 2.2. Volumes.
Series 3. Writings.
Series 4. Other Papers.
Series 5. Printed material.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
About 570 items. 1826-1927 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Mostly letters written by or addressed to James
Evans, his wife, his children, or other relatives. Family
letters document everyday concerns. They include letters, 1834-
1838, from James's brother, Joseph W. Evans, while he was a
student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill,
writing about his intention to reduce his living expenses; from
Evans's mother-in-law, Elizabeth Knight of Hamburg, S.C.,
describing her poor health and discussing her plans to come for a
visit; and from his son James Evans, Jr., mostly written while he
was in the Confederate Army, describing camp life and conditions
in places such as Fort Fisher, Greenville, Washington, and
Goldsboro, N.C., and also mentioning Ship Point and Yorktown.
Most letters by Evans are addressed to his son
James, Jr., or to his brothers John and Dickson. Also included
are many contemporary handwritten copies of letters by James
Evans, apparently produced by Evans himself; many of these are
addressed to his sister and his niece. In addition, there are a
few letters, 1926-1927, to Evans's granddaughter Henrietta Evans
Kent of Fayetteville, mostly from her cousin DeLancey Evans of
Warrenton, Va. All of these letters primarily concern family
matters.
Folder 1 1831-1837
2 1838-1839
3 1840-1842
4 1843-1846
5 1847-1849
6 1850-1853
7 1855-1857
8 1858-1859
9 1860
10 1861
11 1862
12 1863
13 1864
14 1865
15 1866
16 1867
17 1868
18 1869
19 1870, 1879
20 1880, 1925-1927
21-26 Undated
Series 2. Financial and Legal Items
Subseries 2.1. Loose Papers
About 2600 items. 1836-1926 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Promissory notes, bills, receipts, orders,
accounts, indentures, and other financial and legal materials of
James Evans and his son James Evans, Jr., pertaining to their
affairs in agriculture before the Civil War and in merchandising
after the war. Also included are many items concerning Evans's
duties as administrator of the estate of his brother John,
beginning in 1855; as trustee for his nephew Jonathan Evans, Jr.,
beginning in 1842; and as guardian of J.K. Daley, 1851-1860.
There are also items documenting the elder Evans's
responsibility, as a Cumberland County official, for recording
the list of taxable property in the Locke's Creek District,
chiefly in the 1850s and 1860s, and James Evans, Jr.'s activities
as captain of the river steamer Little Sam in the 1870s.
Folder 27 1829-1839
28 1840-1842
29 1843-1844
30 1845-1846
31 1847
32 1848
33 1849
34 1850
35 1851
36 1852
37 1853
38 1854
39 1855
40 January-June 1856
41 July-December 1856
42 1857
43 1858
44 1859
45 1860
46 1861
47 1862
48 1863
49 1864
50 1865
51 January-April 1866
52 May-August 1866
53 September-December 1866
54 1867
55 1868
56 1869
57 January-August 1870
58 September 1870-1873
59 1880-1887, 1921-1926
60-62 Undated
Subseries 2.2. Volumes
9 items. 1823-1877.
Account books and bank books, mostly recording
James Evans's expenses.
Folder 63 Volume S-1 Ledger, 1823-1866, general
merchandise.
64 Volume 2 Household accounts, 1842-
1849.
65 Volume 3 Household accounts, 1850-
1858.
66 Volume 4 Household accounts, 1858-
1867.
67 Volume 5 Evans's account book with
Bank of Cape Fear, Fayetteville, N.C.,
1843-1854.
Volume 6 Bank book, as above, 1854-
1861.
68 Volume 7 Bank book, as above, 1861-
1863.
Volume 8 Account book, 1868, general
merchandise.
69 Volume 9 Sales book, 1876-1877,
Oliver Evans's store, later used as
scrapbook with clippings pasted in.
Series 3. Writings
About 230 items. 1829-1877 and undated.
Handwritten drafts of articles for the
Fayetteville News; original poetry by James Evans and others,
including several acrostics; a composition book; and a diary,
1850-1869, of James Evans. The diary entries are written on
loose sheets. Early entries are sporadic and often written on
the back of accounts. Entries mostly concern the weather and the
planting and progress of crops, with a few references to day-to-
day family activities. Many of the articles and essays by James
Evans are dated 1868 and signed "Sexagenarian." These articles
are chiefly political commentary and reminiscences about Evans's
early life, particularly his school days. There are also many
items concerning the death of Evans's six-year-old daughter
Henrietta in 1848. Also included are a few essays of James
Evans, Jr., and his sister Sue Douglas Evans.
Folder 70 Diary, 1850-1864
71 Diary, 1864-1869
72 Composition book, 1829
73-74 Essays and articles, 1848-1869 and
undated
75 Poetry, 1834-1877 and undated
Series 4. Other Papers
About 40 items. 1849-1867 and undated.
Folder 76 School records, 1849-1862.
Mostly records of Cumberland County school
committees, consisting mainly of attendance reports and lists of
school-aged children in the district. Also included are two
grade reports of James Evans's daughters Larry and Cecilia.
77 Miscellaneous items, 1845-1867 and
undated.
Guest lists for parties, weddings, and picnics;
sketches; genealogical notes; and other items.
Series 5. Printed Material
About 70 items. 1859-1885 and undated.
Folder 78 Loose clippings, 1859-1885 and undated.
Newspaper clippings, including articles, poetry,
illustrations and cartoons.
79 Scrapbook.
Clippings from the 1880s pasted onto pages of an
1885 report of the U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture.
80 Other printed material, 1860-1880 and
undated.
Mostly advertising circulars. Also included are
religious tracts, political materials, an 1880 map of the United
States, business cards, and Confederate money.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1. 1831-1927 and undated (folders 1-26)
Series 2.1. 1829-1847 (folders 27-31)
Box 2 Series 2.1. 1848-1864 (folders 32-49)
Box 3 Series 2.1. 1865-1926 and undated (folders 50-62)
Series 2.2. Volume S-1 - Volume 3 (folders 63-65)
Box 4 Series 2.2. Volume 4 - Volume 9 (folders 66-69)
Series 3. Writings (folders 70-75)
Series 4. Other Papers (folders 76-77)
Series 5. Printed Material (folders 78-80)
Items separated:
Volume 248/S-1