Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

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 Marcellin Gillis Papers, #3288, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

All or part of this collection is available on microfilm.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

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.

• Agriculture--France--History--19th century.
• Bull Run, 1st Battle of, Va., 1861.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Families--Mississippi--Social life and customs.
• France--Economic conditions.
• France--Social conditions.
• French--Louisiana--History--19th century.
• Gillis, Carolina Emily Griffin, b. 1835.
• Gillis, Marcellin, b. 1824.
• Griffin family.
• Liddell family.
• Louisiana--Commerce--History--19th century.
• Merchants--Louisiana--History--19th century.
• New Orleans (La.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Ship Island (Miss.)
• Slavery--Louisiana.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.
• Viticulture--France--History--19th century.
• Washington and Lee University--Students--History--19th century.

Marcellin Gillis emigrated from France in 1843 and became a cotton factor in New Orleans, La., and a landowner in Catahoula Parish, La. He married Carolina Emily Griffin, of Wilkinson County, Miss., in 1854.

The collection is primarily Marcellin Gillis's correspondence, 1850-1890, with his relatives in France and with his wife, relating to economic, agricultural, and social conditions in France, particularly viticulture, 1846-1896; family news, including reports from members of the Griffin and Liddell families of Mississippi; Gillis's Confederate Army career, including his participation in the First Battle of Bull Run and his imprisonment at Ship Island, Miss.; wartime conditions in New Orleans, especially for French citizens; schooling of his son at Washington and Lee University, 1872-1874; and other matters. Earlier papers include personal correspondence from both the Gillis and Griffin families. Some legal and business papers and bills of sale for slaves are also included. Some of the materials are partly or entirely in French.