Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4258
THADDEUS S. FERREE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Primarily life histories, folkways, legends, and
other items written and collected by workers of the
Federal Writers' Project of North Carolina, 1938-1941,
with accompanying administrative material, including
instructions to writers. Most of the life histories
are variants of items in the Federal Writers' Project
Papers (#3709) in the Southern Historical Collection,
but ten do not appear in that collection. The
folkways and legends are chiefly stories concerning
North Carolina in the colonial, Revolutionary, and
Civil War periods. A number of essays relate to
Raleigh, N.C. T. S. Ferree collected this material in
the course of his work as a research editor with the
Federal Writers' Project in Raleigh, N.C.
Online Catalog Terms:
Federal Writers' Project.
Ferree, Thaddeus S., ca. 1881-ca. 1972.
Folklore--North Carolina.
Legends--North Carolina.
New Deal, 1933-1939--North Carolina.
North Carolina--Biography.
Oral history.
Raleigh (N.C.)--History.
Size: About 420 items (1.5 linear feet).
Access: No restrictions.
Provenance: Received from Thaddeus S. Ferree, Jr., Raleigh,
N.C., in January 1981.
Related Collections: Federal Writers' Project Papers (#3709).
Microfilm of folklore material from the
North Carolina Department of Archives and
History (Film 398 F293f of the Microforms
Collection, Davis Library).
Copyright: Writings of Federal Writers' Project employees are in
the public domain.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Writings
Series 2. Federal Writers' Project
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Thaddeus S. Ferree was born about 1881, possibly in Randolph
County, N.C. He was licensed as an attorney in the fall of 1905
and set up his practice in Greensboro, N.C. Sometime before
1918, T. S. Ferree was married. He and his wife Lelia L. Ferree
had at least one child, Thaddeus, Jr. About 1918, Lelia became
ill, and the Ferrees moved to the country in Randolph County.
T. S. Ferree taught school there for the next fourteen years.
The Ferree family moved to Raleigh, N.C., around 1932. They
lived first at 609 Fayetteville Road, and Ferree probably worked
as a salesman. By 1933, they had moved to 915 New Bern Avenue,
Raleigh, and Ferree was employed as a salesman by Carolina Pines,
Inc. In 1934, the Ferrees settled at 310 W. Hargett Street, and
Ferree possibly began to practice law again. During 1935, Ferree
worked intermittently for the Wake County Emergency Relief
Administration Service.
By 1938, T. S. Ferree had begun to work in Raleigh for the
Federal Writers' Project. From 1 October 1939 to 7 April 1941,
he worked continuously for the Federal Writers' Project as a
research editor, apparently supervising the work of several
others. Ferree was also employed occasionally as a private
researcher, probably in genealogy, during this time. He was
discharged from the Federal Writers' Project on 7 April 1941
("removal required by law after 18 months of continuous
employment.")
After 1941, T. S. Ferree resumed his law practice. He died in
Raleigh, around 1972, at the age of 91.
(Additional biographical information is available in the control
file of these papers.)
Collection Overview
The T. S. Ferree Papers consist of records from the North
Carolina Federal Writers' Project produced between 1935 and 1941,
with most materials dating from between 1938 and 1941. Included
in the collection are life histories; folkways and legends;
essays on North Carolina's history, culture, and geography; and
some administrative materials, primarily writers' guides and
manuals.
Items have been divided into two series. Series I, Writings
is divided into three subseries: life histories, folkways
and legends, and other writings. "Other writings" (Subseries IC)
is further divided into writings relating to the American Guide
Series: North Carolina Guide and How They Began; writings about
Raleigh, N.C.; writings about the rest of North Carolina; and
drafts of two longer pamphlets--N. C. Browder's "The Co-op That
Failed" and T. P. Matthews's "Secrets of a Dixieland Trapper."
Writings included in Series I were composed by many workers of
the Federal Writers' Project in North Carolina, including Mary A.
Hicks, Gertrude Gunter, W. O. Saunders, Travis Jordan, Claude
Dunnagan, Edwin Massengill, Frances L. Harriss, and others. T.
S. Ferree seems to have written only on the educational
institutions of Raleigh and on epitaphs. However, his work as a
research editor is evident in items throughout Series I.
Series II is composed of administrative materials of the
Federal Writers' Project. It is also divided into three
subseries: correspondence, writers' manuals and instructions to
workers, and miscellaneous items. These administrative materials
reflect the framework within which the writings in Series I were
composed.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Writings
1937-1941. About 372 items.
Subseries IA. Life Histories
About 35 items.
Life histories written from interviews by Federal Writers'
Project workers. All subjects are from North Carolina.
Arrangement is alphabetical by last name of interviewer. Many of
the life histories written by W. O. Saunders are accompanied by
carbon copies of letters to W. T. Couch and, occasionally, by a
manuscript note to George L. Andrews. All of these letters were
written in 1939.
The citations to life histories below identify the
interviewer, title of life history, name of person interviewed,
occupation of person interviewed, and residence of person
interviewed. Those life histories preceded by an asterisk are
variant forms of life histories in the Federal Writers' Project
Papers (#3709).
Folder 1. *Abner, John H. "A Quiz Kit? A Casket?" Samuel B.
Barnwell, casket finisher and interior
decorator, Gastonia, N.C.
Houston, Russell. "I Live a Full Life." John
Plummer, doctor of medicine, Raleigh, N.C.
*Jordan, Travis.
"Bill Saunders, Landowner." Bahama, N.C.
*"Hazel Wicker." Housewife (?),
Durham, N.C.
*"John Lincoln." Insurance
salesman, Durham, N.C.
Folder 2. *"Life in Erwin Village." Several subjects
living in a cotton mill village, West Durham,
N.C.
*"Martha Hinton--A Good Woman." Former owner
of a boarding house, Durham, N.C.
"Millie Markham's Story." Ex-slave in Durham,
N.C.
*"Pearl Phillips." Occupation undeterminable,
Durham, N.C.
*King, R. O. "Mrs. Nancy Gill's Lodging House."
Raleigh, N.C.
Folder 3. Kluttz, Samuel. "Teach 'er off, Charlie."
Charlie Jackson, tobacco farmer, Smithfield, N.C.
(two variant copies)
Martin, Thurmand D. "Born to Be a Hero." Nick
Stewart, World War I veteran, Danbury, N.C.
Matthews, T. Pat.
"Hubert Harris." Ex-slave, Raleigh, N.C.
"Jacop Thomas." Ex-slave, Raleigh, N.C.
"Lafayette Miles." Son of an ex-slave,
Raleigh, N.C.
"Walter Boone." Son of an ex-slave,
Raleigh, N.C.
Folder 4. *Overton, Frank. L. "Hold, Hell! I've Got to Have
the Money Now." Horatio S. Seymour, tenant
farmer, Camden, N.C.
*Rogerson, Anna Belle W. "A Late Education."
E. C. Shue, minister, Robersonville, N.C.
*Saunders, W. O.
"Business is a Pleasure." George A. Twiddy,
Merchant, Elizabeth City, N.C.
*"Hopes It Will Be Twins." Wilma Alexander
(pseud.), housewife, Elizabeth City, N.C.
*"I Didn't Raise My Children to Want Meet."
Georgia Rice, housekeeper, Elizabeth City,
N.C.
Folder 5. *"Just Stays Home an' Minds His Own Business."
John H. Bunch, saw-mill hand, Elizabeth City,
N.C.
"Some Things That Never Change." S. S. Nixon,
fisherman, Stumpy Point, N.C.
*"A Taskmaster in the Vineyard of the Lord."
Rev. Carey Miles Cartwright, minister,
Elizabeth City, N.C.
*"When a Good Coffin Cost Only $4.50." G.
Riley Swindell, carpenter, Elizabeth
City, N.C.
*"Where Toime Is Kind." Morris Beasley,
houseboat occupant, Collington Island,
N.C.
Folder 6. No title. Tom Burnett, scavenger, Elizabeth
City, N.C.
*No title. Arthur Graham Harris, doctor of
medicine, Fairfield, N.C.
*No title. Isaac (Big Ike) O'Neal, retired
merchant and former seaman, Ocracoke, N.C.
(two variant copies)
Folder 7. *No title. Joe Singleton, barber, Elizabeth
City, N.C.
*No title. John W. Twiford, ex-moonshiner,
East Lake, N.C.
*Vaughn, William L. "Joseph Mandell." John A.
Mayo, attorney, Washington, N.C.
No author. "Mary Anngady (Princess Quango
Hennadonah Perceriah)." Ex-slave, married to an
Abyssinian prince captured by P. T. Barnum.
Raleigh, N.C.
Subseries IB. Folkways and Legends
About 161 items.
Stories collected by Federal Writers' Project workers, dealing
primarily with North Carolina history of the colonial,
Revolutionary, and Civil War periods. Some of these stories have
been published, an example being "Woman Trouble" by Travis
Jordan, (in Bundle of Troubles, Federal Writers' Project, 1943).
Authors whose stories appear in this subseries include Mary A.
Hicks, T. Pat Matthews, Travis Jordan, W. O. Saunders, N. H.
Bartlett, Furman Bisher, Frances L. Harriss, Edwin Massengill,
Claude Dunnagan, John H. Abner, Ethel M. Cottingham, James Larkin
Pearson, Christine Taylor, Cassie Gant, Sue Orice, Adyleen
Merrick, Esther Searle Pinnix, and many others. These folkways
and legends are arranged alphabetically by title or first line of
text.
Folder 8 Abner Droole's treasure (Furman Bisher)
Adam's vigil (Mrs. Francis Bruguire)
An African queen (no name)
An apology to Seth Sothel (Robert Mitchell)
Barn dance figures
Betsy Dowdy's ride
Betsy Powell, the witch
9 Blowing bush
The bone buyer
A brave Whig woman
The broken arrow head
The broken leg band
Buried treasure
10 A certain care for the shakes in the early
nineteenth century
The cherry trees
Chopping and log rolling parties
A chunk of fire
Tarelton's romance (Colonel Tarleton's romance)
A colonial romance
A colored woman's story
11 Cornwallis' barrel of gold
Cotton growing in slavery times
The crack of doom
Dan Tucker's philosophy
Daniel Boone's romance
Law tales for laymen and wayside tales from
Carolina by Joseph Lacy Seawell
Death of General Steel
12 The devil at the spring
Dr. Polly
Dr. Polly Creech
Dyeing sixty years ago
Eel Olive, the prankster
Escape
13 The fall of the Cherokee Nation foretold
The fatal chew [tobacco]
The fatal fortune
The federal greenback
Fire hunting
First houses in North Carolina wilds
Footwashing
The Fort Hamby raiders
A Fort Watauga romance
Fortune telling and marriage
14 The friendship of an Indian
A genius and his neighbors
Get away from the crowd
Getting married used to be a serious matter
The ghost of Harriet
The ghost of Rockford Road
Ghosts of Abbott's Creek
Glowing rock (an eternal beacon)
Gold Hill tragedy
Gravy and reconstruction
15 The hanging
The hanging in Bethabara
Harrison-Beasley kidnapping case
Hauling "harrican" liquor in a hearse
An heroic Whig nurse
The hog-skin Indian
The home guard and deserters
Home remedies in nineteenth-century North
Carolina
16 Hot peppers
House of plenty and house of want
How the Gahar Indians came to use salt
New Bern area history
Indian woods
Initials on a tree
I's a coon-hunting nigger
I've seen hard times before
17 Joanna's crossroads
Kiwaw and Kiovana (a legend of the heart-leaf)
Kimesville Lake
The Lafayette snuff box
Lazy Jack and his calf skin (from Journal of
American Folklore)
The legend of Mad Sheep Mountain
The legend of the hatter as poet
The letalones
18 Looms and weaving
The lot bowl
The lotus
The loyalty of the Scots
The mad woman who routed a troop of Union
soldiers
Mary Slocumb's gourd
The marrying house
Mike, the wizard
19 A Mother-Hubbard sermon
The muster oak
Negro worship (annual revivals, camp meeting, the
"ring-sings")
New luster added to name of Hewes
New Year's customs
Night funerals
Night's adventure [about Irishman's adventures]
North Carolina camp meeting anecdotes of the late
nineteenth century
North Carolina genius
North Carolina robins
20 Oconee, the half-breed
Old Bud's ghost
Old home remedies
The Old Horn Inn
An old Methodist camp meeting
An old spring
An old story
Old tavern days in Oxford
Old times
Origin of Croatan Indians
Origin of Lake Mattamuskeet
Orton on Cape Fear
21 A pane of glass
Perry, the fisherman
The pioneer and his trades
The pirate
The precious article
A public hanging
The red flannel petticoat
The redemption of Howling Wolf
Rogue's harbor
The royal governor and the princess
22 Said the governor of North Carolina--"It's
a long time between drinks"
Saint Peter, the grasshopper (new version)
Scarboro mill
Sectional differences in language usage
The short cut
A slacker's wife
Slave marriage
Slavery in North Carolina
A slavery-time witch
23 The soap maker
Some unusual dishes
The spirit of the Dismal [Swamp]
Stephen Ham, the ditcher
Stories on a rock
The story of a sword
There was laughter in those days
Those horse and buggy days
24 "To win you must follow me"
A tobacco anecdote
Tobacco comments [farmers in general]
The tombs of three governors on the Trent River
A Tuscarora tale
Two in a bed
Uses for the flour sack
The wailing hill
We-Quo-Whom [Falls of the Neuse]
25 When eggs were six cents a dozen
When mails were slow
When men first flew
William Young runs a race
Wills of the early 1800s
The wishing well
26 Woman trouble
Yankee borders
Yaupon tea and taters
The yellow dog as "seen" by the transient bard
[labor strikers]
Subseries IC. Other Writings
About 176 items.
Essays composed by Federal Writers' Project workers, dealing
with the history, culture, and geography of North Carolina.
"The Co-op That Failed" by Nat C. Browder. Three versions are
included.
Folder 27. Browder, "Co-op," version 1
28. Browder, "Co-op," version 2
29. Browder, "Co-op," version 3
"Secrets of a Dixieland Trapper" by Thaddeus Pat Matthews.
Typescript.
Folder 30. Matthews, "Secrets"
Materials relating to the American Guide Series: North Carolina
Guide (Chapel Hill, 1939) and How They Began: the Story of North
Carolina County, Town, and Other Place Names (New York, 1941).
Folder 31. Tours
32. Folklore and folk customs essay
33. Essays on cities
34. Notebooks on cities
35. County information
Writings about Raleigh, North Carolina. Included are essays by
T. S. Ferree and others on the Capitol building, Capitol
(Union) Square, educational institutions. the Andrew Johnson
House, art, the common seal, manufacturing, Memorial
Auditorium, Nash Square, Pullen Park, the State School for the
Blind and Deaf, and the William White House. T. S. Ferree
wrote many of the essays on educational institutions; other
writers include many of those listed as authors of "Folkways
and Legends" (Subseries IB).
Folder 36-38. Capitol buildings
39. Capitol (Union) Square
40. Educational institutions: A-P
41. Educational institutions: Q-Z
42. Educational institutions: Notes on public and
private schools
43-44. Educational institutions: Miscellaneous
45. Andrew Johnson House
46-47. Essays
48. Miscellaneous items
Other Writings about North Carolina. Essays by Ferree and
others dealing with North Carolina as a whole or with particular
areas of the state other than Raleigh. Subjects include
churches, epitaphs, Indians, minerals, regulators, and
miscellaneous essays on government and history. Many of the
essays on epitaphs were composed by T. S. Ferree; many of the
authors of other essays are listed in the description of
Subseries IB.
Folder 49. Churches
50. Epitaphs
51-52. Native Americans
53. Minerals
54. Regulator "Movement"
55. Miscellaneous subjects
Series II. Federal Writers' Project Administrative Materials
1935-1941. About 47 items.
Subseries IIA. Correspondence, 1936-1940
5 items.
Correspondence relates primarily to projects being worked on,
or special projects being developed, such as a celebration of the
150th anniversary of the Constitution and Community Activity
Week. None of the letters is from or to T. S. Ferree, and none
directly involves him. Arrangement is chronological. Further
correspondence (letters from W. O. Saunders to W. T. Couch) can
be found attached to items in Subseries IA, Life Histories.
Folder 56.
Subseries IIB. Writers' Manuals and Instructions to Workers
18 items.
Manuals and instructions describe the appropriate structure
for the topics to be included in the projects assigned to
workers. Included are a copy of the "American Guide Manual,"
October 1935; supplementary instructions to the "American Guide
Manual," issued in 1935 and 1936; specific instructions
pertaining to tours, city guides, folklore from ex-slaves, life
histories, and tall tales; and writers' manuals.
Folder 57. "American Guide Manual"
58. Supplementary Instructions to the "American
Guide Manual"
59-60. Instructions on Specific Topics
61. Writers' Manuals
Subseries IIC. Miscellaneous Items
24 items.
Miscellaneous materials are divided into two categories:
miscellaneous administrative items, including T. S. Ferree's work
cards, a "List of Stories (folklore)," and a "Summary of
Organization, Purposes, Achievements, and Plans" of the North
Carolina Federal Writers' Project; and miscellaneous jokes and
poems.
Folder 62. Miscellaneous Administrative Material
63. Miscellaneous Jokes and Poems
SHELF LIST
Box 1. Subseries IA (Folders 1-7)
Subseries IB (Folders 8-26)
Subseries IC (Folders 27-50)
Box 2. Subseries IC (Folders 51-55)
Subseries IIA (Folder 56)
Subseries IIB (Folders 57-61)
Subseries IIC (Folders 62-63)