This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Size | 25 items |
Abstract | Jane Gurley (Active 1830-1841), a white woman living in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., received letters from Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner), an enslaved person formerly of Windsor but living at that time in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tenn., and from Nancy C. Walton in La Grange, Tenn., and Rebecca Haywood in Louisburg, N.C., both of whom were white cousins of Gurley. The letters of Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner) contain news of and seek information about her community of enslaved family and friends both in Brownsville and Windsor. Letters from Walton, Haywood, and others concern family and friends, church, and community affairs. |
Creator | Gurley, Jane, Active 1830-1841. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, February 1996
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, December 2009
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Conscious Editing Work by: Nancy Kaiser, July 2020. Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical note, scope and content note, and container list.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Back to TopThe 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.
Jane Gurley (Active 1830-1841) was a white woman living in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C. She had a son named William Peterson, and cousins Ann (Nancy) C. Walton in La Grange, Tenn., and Rebecca Haywood in Louisburg, N.C., all of whom were white.
Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner) was an enslaved woman who lived first in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., and later in Brownsville, Haywood County, N.C. In 1830, she wrote that she and the family were living with Doctor Jones. In 1836, she wrote "I fall to that part of Mr. Turner's estate," which likely accounts for her name change.
Back to TopJane Gurley (Active 1830-1841), a white woman living in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., received letters from Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner), an enslaved person formerly of Windsor but living at that time in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tenn., and from Nancy C. Walton in La Grange, Tenn., and Rebecca Haywood in Louisburg, N.C., both of whom were white cousins of Gurley. The letters of Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner) contain news of and seek information about her community of enslaved family and friends both in Brownsville and Windsor. Letters from Walton, Haywood, and others concern family and friends, church, and community affairs.
Back to TopFolder 1 |
1830-1838Letters of Matilda Gurley (later Matilda Turner) are dated 9 September 1830 and 9 September 1836. |
Folder 2 |
1839-1841 and undated |