Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4604
GALYEAN AND MUNCHUS FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: The Galyean and Munchus families of Surry County,
N.C., including James Munchus (d. ca. 1850), and James
C. Galyean (d. ca. 1890). There are also a few items
relating to James's wife Elizabeth; to Samuel Galyean,
who appears to have been James's father, 1840s; and to
Ephriam Galyean, who may have been James and
Elizabeth's son, 1880s.
Family letters, financial and legal materials, and
other papers relating to the Munchus and Galyean
families. Letters are mostly from relatives, who were
either travelling on business or settled in Alabama or
Georgia. Letters show relatives selling brandy in
Georgia in 1842. Two letters, 1855 and 1860, urge
James Munchus to move west. The 1860 letter also
mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E.
Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and
Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there
is an unsigned note that laments the writer's having
lost his slaves and investments during the Civil War
and bad luck working with freedmen after the war. An
undated letter, probably from the 1870s, is from a
homesick acquaintance of James C. Galyean in Winston,
N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in
town. The greater portion of the collection consists
of indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and
other financial and legal materials relating to both
families. In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying
land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans; these are the
only materials linking the two families. Also
included are four small notebooks, two of which
contain extensive printed discussions of the efficacy
of various patent medicines.
Online Catalog Terms:
Brandy--History--19th century.
Family--Alabama--Social life and customs--19th century.
Family--Georgia--Social life and customs--19th century.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
Freedmen--North Carolina.
Galyean, James C., d. ca. 1890.
Galyean family.
Migration, Internal--Southern States--History--19th century.
Munchus, James, d. ca. 1850.
Munchus family.
Patent medicines--History--19th century.
Real property--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Rural-urban migration--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Slavery--North Carolina.
Surry County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Taliaferro, Hardin E., 1811-1875.
Size: About 140 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Dennis Bowlin of Dobson, N.C., in
January 1992.
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers
Series 3. Other Papers
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
The Galyean and Munchus families appear to have lived in the
Haystack section of Surry County, N.C., in what is now called
Stewarts Creek, an area bordered by the towns of Franklin, Mount
Airy, and Dobson.
Not much information can be gleaned about either family from
the materials in this collection. It appears that both were
farming families, involved in buying and selling land; planting
and harvesting crops, chiefly cotton and corn; and routine
activities, like raising children, supervising the work of
slaves, paying taxes, and suing and being sued by their
neighbors. It also appears that both families were involved in
making brandy, which they sold or used in payment of debts.
Most of the Munchus family material involves James Munchus
(also spelled Munkus, Munker, Muncus, Munkess) and dates from the
1810s through the 1840s; there is no Munchus family material
after 1850. Most of the Galyean family material relates to James
C. Galyean (also spelled Gallyean, Galion, Galyen) and begins
around 1841. There are also a few items relating to James's wife
Elizabeth; in the 1840s, to Samuel Galyean, who appears to have
been James's father; and, in the 1880s, to Ephriam Galyean, who
may have been James and Elizabeth's son.
The collection contains a few family letters, most of which
were from Munchus or Galyean family relatives, who were either
travelling on business or settled in Alabama or Georgia. There
are two letters, 1855 and 1860, from J. K. Munchus in Alabama to
James Munchus in which James was urged to move west and to
remember the importance of educating his children. The 1860
letter also mentions humorist and local color writer Hardin E.
Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee and Alabama in
the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an unsigned note
that laments the writer's having lost his slaves and investments
during the Civil War. An undated letter, probably from the
1870s, is from a homesick Mary Teague in Winston, N.C., to
Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in town, but saying
that her companions, who seem also to be from Surry County, were
unalterably opposed to returning home.
The greater portion of the collection consists of indentures,
bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and other financial and legal
materials relating to both families. In 1844 and 1847, there are
deeds conveying land from the Munchuses to the Galyeans. These
are the only materials in the collection that link the two
families. Also included are a recipe for horse liniment, two
advertisements, and four small notebooks, two of which contain
extensive printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent
medicines.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1842-1880 and undated. 12 items.
Chiefly family letters, most of which are from Munchus or
Galyean family relatives, who were either travelling on business
or settled in Alabama or Georgia.
On 25 November 1842, J. K. Munchus wrote from Columbus, Ga.,
where he was having good luck selling brandy. In a 12 December
1842 letter from Henry Lawless in the Anderson District, S.C., to
his cousin James Munchus, Lawless inquired about the feasibility
of selling cotton yarn in Surry County. There are two letters,
1855 and 1860, from J. K. Munchus, who had apparently settled in
Russell City, Ala., to James Munchus in which James was urged to
move west and to remember the importance of educating his
children. The 1860 letter also mentions humorist and local color
writer Hardin E. Taliaferro, who left Surry County for Tennessee
and Alabama in the late 1850s. Also in the 1860s, there is an
unsigned note that laments the writer's having lost his slaves
and investments during the Civil War. An undated letter,
probably from the 1870s, is from a homesick Mary Teague in
Winston, N.C., to Galyean, complaining about her loneliness in
town, but saying that her companions, who seem also to be from
Surry County, were unalterably opposed to returning home.
Folder 1
Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers
1793-1890s and undated. About 120 items.
Arrangement: roughly sorted by decade.
Chiefly indentures, bills, receipts, plats, summonses, and
other financial and legal materials relating to both families.
In 1844 and 1847, there are deeds conveying land from the
Munchuses to the Galyeans. These are the only materials in the
collection that link the two families. A 17 September 1852
receipt shows that James Galyean paid off a debt in brandy.
There is a document, dated 28 October 1887, by which James
Galyean, who was "... becoming feeble ... in consequence of old
age and ... desirous of providing ... support and maintenance for
himself and wife Elizabeth," deeded land and other property to
Albert Hodges in exchange for caretaking. James Galyean
apparently died in the early 1890s; there are two summonses, both
dated 1892, calling Elizabeth Galyean and three members of the
Hodges family to appear in court regarding a suit brought by G.
S. Atkins on behalf of James Galyean's estate.
Folder 2 1793-1839
3 1840s
4 1850s
5 1860s
6 1870s
7 1880s
8 1890s and undated
Series 3. Other Papers
7 items.
An undated recipe for horse liniment; an undated handbill for
R. R. Crawford's Hardware Store in Winston, N.C.; an undated
deposit envelope with advertising for the First National Bank of
Mount Airy, N.C.; and four small notebooks that seem to have
belonged to James C. Galyean. The notebooks, probably from the
1850s through the 1880s, contain few entries, most of which are
indecipherable. Two of the notebooks, however, contain extensive
printed discussions of the efficacy of various patent medicines.
Folder 9
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)