Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#435
ROBERT D. GILMER PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Represented are members of the Branner, Atkins, and
Gilmer families, including merchant and educator Joseph
A. Branner of western North Carolina and Tennessee; his
wife, Mary Josephine "Mollie" Love Branner; their
daughters, Love Branner Gilmer and Ella Branner Atkins;
Love's husband, Robert D. Gilmer (1859-1925), lawyer and
legislator of Waynesville, N.C.; opera singer Josephine
Gilmer, daughter of Love Branner Gilmer and Robert D.
Gilmer; and Ella's husband, James Atkins, Jr.
(1850-1923), president of the Asheville (N.C.) Female
College and later of Emory and Henry College in
Virginia.
Correspondence and other materials primarily concern
Joseph A. Branner's mercantile business in western North
Carolina and Tennessee; the Branner Institute in Mossy
Creek, Tenn.; the Asheville Female College; the "Love
Speculation Lands," for which Robert D. Gilmer was
trustee; Gilmer's legal and political careers; and
Josephine Gilmer's musical career and trip to Milan,
Italy. After Love Branner Gilmer acquired the Suyeta
Park Hotel in Waynesville in 1916, there is
correspondence about the hotel and restaurant business.
The financial and legal papers mirror the concentration
on these subjects, especially the school and the Love
Estate lands.
Online Asheville Female College (N.C.).
Catalog Atkins, Ella Branner.
Terms: Atkins family.
Atkins, James, 1850-1923.
Branner family.
Branner Institute (Mossy Creek, Tenn.).
Branner, Joseph A.
Branner, Mary Josephine.
Estates (Law)--North Carolina--History.
Gilmer family.
Gilmer, Josephine.
Gilmer, Love Branner.
Gilmer, Robert D., 1859-1925.
Hotelkeepers--North Carolina.
Hotels, taverns, etc.--North Carolina--History.
Lawyers--North Carolina--History.
Love family.
Merchants--North Carolina--History.
Merchants--Tennessee--History.
Milan (Italy)--Description and travel.
North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Real estate investment--North Carolina--History.
Schools--Tennessee--History--19th century.
Waynesville (N.C.)--History.
Women--Education (Higher)--North Carolina.
Women in business--North Carolina.
Women singers--United States--History--20th century.
Women's colleges--North Carolina--History.
Size: About 2,700 items (3.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Gift of Mrs. Love Gilmer before 1940.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Related Collection: James Atkins, Jr., Papers (#32).
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Financial and Legal Materials
Series 3. Other Papers
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Joseph A. Branner was a merchant and educator of western North
Carolina and Tennessee. He was a merchant in Mossy Creek, Tenn.,
in the early 1870s. In 1876, with the help of Reverend H. P.
Myers, he founded the Branner Institute in Mossy Creek. About
1880, he moved to Asheville, N.C., and operated the Asheville
Female College with James Atkins, Jr. Branner married Mary
Josephine "Mollie" Love Branner (d. 1914), and with her had two
daughters, Love Branner and Ella M. Branner. Love Branner married
Robert D. Gilmer. Ella M. Branner married James Atkins, Jr.
James Atkins, Jr., (1850-1923) was born in Knoxville, Tenn., the
son of a Methodist preacher. He became a Methodist minister and
served in Morristown and Mossy Creek, Tenn. In 1879, he became
president of the Asheville Female College in Asheville, N.C. In
1889, he moved to Virginia to become president of Emory and Henry
College. He married Ella M. Branner in 1876 and together they had
four children, including Love Branner Atkins. After the death of
Ella M. Branner Atkins, James married Eva Rhodes.
Robert D. Gilmer (1859-1925) was the son of Samuel L. Gilmer and
Matilda C. Moore of Mount Airy, N.C. His mother was the
granddaughter of Jesse Franklin, governor of North Carolina and a
United States senator. Gilmer attended Emory and Henry College in
Virginia, 1879-1881, and the Dick and Dillards Law School in
Greensboro, N.C., from which he was graduated in 1882. He was a
member of the North Carolina state legislature, 1890 and 1892, and
attorney general in 1898 and 1904. He was also the author of The
Trial of the Sparrow for Killing Cock Robin (1898). He married
Love Branner in 1884. The Gilmers had two children: Joseph
"Branner" Gilmer (d. 1919) and Josephine Gilmer. In the 1910s and
1920s, Love Branner Gilmer owned and operated the Suyeta Park Hotel
in Waynesville, N.C.
Josephine Gilmer, daughter of Robert D. Gilmer and Love Branner
Gilmer, was educated at Peace Institute and Saint Mary's School in
Raleigh, N.C. She studied in New York under Madame Ziegler of the
Metropolitan Opera House for three years, and then travelled with
her mother to Italy, 1912-1913, where Josephine studied voice in
Milan under Emilio Metellio. Upon her return to the United States,
Josephine performed several concerts as a prima donna soprano. She
later married Jordan P. Chase.
Collection Overview
The collection is divided into three series. Series 1.
Correspondence includes family and business letters that detail the
lives and careers of members of the Atkins, Branner, and Gilmer
families. The bulk of the collection is contained in Series 2.
Financial and Legal Material, and relates primarily to the
business, legal, and educational careers of family members,
especially Robert D. Gilmer's work as trustee of the Love
Speculation Lands. Series 3. Other Papers includes calling and
greeting cards, printed material, clippings, etc.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1823-1926; 1933. About 800 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
The early part of the correspondence, 1796-1878, is primarily
related to Joseph A. Branner and his mercantile business and school
at Mossy Creek, Tenn. A few very early letters establish the
relationship between the Love and Branner family. James R. Love,
whose estate was handled by Robert D. Gilmer, was Mary Josephine
Love Branner's cousin. There are a few letters about Love and
Branner family business relationships. For the most part, however,
the letters concern the mercantile business and Branner Institute.
Correspondence, 1879-1891, primarily concerns the Asheville
Female College, Asheville, N.C. Included is correspondence
exchanged with with the United States Department of the Interior
about arrangements to have Cherokee girls educated at the school;
letters from parents; corres- pondence regarding furnishing the
school with books and other supplies; and scattered letters from or
about students. In 1887, there is a great deal of correspondence
between Allen L. Melton, superintendent of the College, and others
about constructing a new building on the grounds. The school was
closed permanently in 1901.
Also included is material concerning Joseph A. Branner's other
business interests in Mossy Creek, including his real estate
investments, relationship with his lawyer, George P. Yoe, and
lumber sales. Other topics include Ella Atkins's role in the
Women's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church; James Atkins's
decision to move to Emory and Henry College in 1889; and the
marriage of Love Branner to Robert Gilmer.
In the later years, 1892-1906, the focus of the correspondence
shifts to the career of Robert D. Gilmer. A small portion of the
letters concern his legal business in Waynesville, N.C. More of
the material is related to his campaign for attorney general and
includes letters from W. T. Crawford (1856-1913), F. M. Simmons
(1854-1940), and Charles D. McIver (1860-1906); letters of support
from fellow attorneys; information about campaign travel;
congratulations on success; and a small amount of attorney general
business. There are also letters detailing his work as a trustee
for the heirs of James R. Love and the "Love Speculation lands."
Topics include protecting the interests of the heirs, surveying the
land, settling suits, and selling off portions of the estate.
Towards the end of the period, the focus shifts to the Gilmer
family women. There are many letters from Love Branner Gilmer and
Josephine Gilmer during their trip to Italy in 1912-1913, which
include descriptions of their travel experiences and especially of
Milan. There is also general correspondence between the women in
the family and their friends about family and social news. After
Love Branner Gilmer acquired the Suyeta Park Hotel in 1916, there
is correspondence about the hotel and restaurant business.
Folder 1 1823-1859
2 1860-1869
3 1870-1879
4 1880
5 1881
6 1882
7 1883
8 1884-1886
1887
9 January-April
10 May-August
11 September-December
12 1888-1889
13 1890-1891
14 1892-1899
1900
15 January
16 February-June
17 July-August
18 September-October
19 November-December
20 1901-1902
21 1903-1904
22 1905-1906
23 1907-1912
24 1913
25 1914-1915
26 1916-1921
27 1922
28 1923-1926; 1933
29 Undated
30 Fragments
Series 2. Financial and Legal Papers
1796-1924. About 1,300 items.
Arrangement: roughly chronological by decade.
Most of the financial and legal papers pertain to Joseph A.
Branner's business; the Holston Academy, a school at which James
Atkins briefly served, Branner Institute, and Asheville Female
College; and to real estate speculation related to the Love Estate.
The material includes bills, receipts, deeds, wills, indentures,
certificates of investment in the various schools, insurance
policies for school buildings, payrolls of the schools, plats, and
survey records. There is also some financial and legal material of
the families, including bills, receipts, and personal legal papers.
In the last few years, there are a great number of canceled checks.
There are also four volumes containing accounts, expense lists, and
notes.
Folder 31 1796-1849
32 1850-1859
33 1860-1869
34-36 1870-1879
37-44 1880-1889
45-52 1890-1899
53-56 1900-1909
57 1910-1919
58 1920-1922
59-60 1923-1924
61 Undated
62 Pass book, 1870-1873, of J. A. Branner
63 Branner Institute provisions accounts, 1876
64-65 Bill Book, 1876-1884, of J. A. Branner and
enclosures
66 Notes, undated, of J. A. Branner
Series 3. Other Papers
About 578 items.
Arrangement: by type of material.
Other papers include cards and invitations; miscellaneous
printed materials and clippings; handwritten notes and fragments;
and miscellaneous volumes. The printed material includes
advertisements, brochures for hotels and restaurants, programs, and
a speech on Robert E. Lee by Samuel A. Ashe. The notes and
fragments include school materials, recipes, lists, and notes on a
meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Mossy Creek, Tenn., in
1875 or 1876. Miscellaneous volumes include two opera house
programs and one libretto. Photographs are of various family
members.
Folder 67 Cards and invitations
68-70 Printed materials
71-75 Clippings
76-77 Notes
78 Fragments
79 Miscellaneous
80 "L'Amore Rei Tre Re," 1908
81 Grand Opera House Program, undated
82 "Faust"--Libretto from the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York City, undated
P-435/1-15 Family photographs
SHELF LIST
Series 1. Correspondence
Box 1 1823 - January 1900 (folders 1-15)
Box 2 February 1900 - 1926; 1933 (folders 16-30)
Series 2. Financial and legal materials
Box 3 1796 - 1880-1889 (folders 31-39)
Box 4 1880-1889 to 1890-1899 (folders 40-48)
Box 5 1890-1899 to 1922 (folders 49-58)
Box 6 1923-1924 and undated; volumes (folders 59-66)
Series 3. Other papers (folders 67-70)
Box 7 Series 3. Other papers (folders 71-82)
Items separated:
P-435/1-15 Family photographs
OP-435/1 Map of Chestnut Park Tract, Waynesville, N.C.