Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#310-z
WILLIAM HARGROVE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: William Hargrove, son of planter John Hargrove,
and his children John Hargrove and Elizabeth R.
Hargrove, all of whom lived and farmed in Granville
(now Vance) County, N.C. The Hargroves were related
to the Sturdivant, Smith, and Hanks families.
Papers and an account book of members of the
Hargrove family, especially William, John, and
Elizabeth R. Hargrove. The papers include
correspondence with friends and relatives concerning
the War of 1812; John Hargrove's travels in Tennessee,
Mississippi, and Kentucky in 1839; the everyday life
of friends and relatives in Hancock County, Ga.,
Arkansas, and Tennessee; the 1848 move of a family
from North Carolina to Arkansas; and other matters.
There are also a few financial and legal documents.
The account book, 1801-ca. 1850, lists purchases and
sales for William Hargrove's plantation in Granville
County, N.C., and also includes slave lists, stud
records for livestock and horses, records of
agricultural expenses, and notes on planting and
harvests, as well as some genealogical information on
the Hargrove family. Typed transcriptions of all
items in the collection, including the account book,
are included.
Online Catalog Terms:
Agriculture--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Arkansas--Description and travel--19th century.
Granville County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Hancock County (Ga.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Hanks family.
Hargrove, Elizabeth R., b. 1818.
Hargrove family.
Hargrove, John, d. 1793.
Hargrove, John, b. 1815.
Hargrove, William, b. 1776.
Horse breeders--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Kentucky--Description and travel--19th century.
Livestock--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Migration, Internal--Southern States--History--19th century.
Mississippi--Economic conditions--19th century.
Plantation life--North Carolina.
Plantation owners--North Carolina.
Slave records--North Carolina.
Slaveholders--North Carolina.
Smith family.
Sturdivant family.
Tennessee--Politics and government--19th century.
United States--History--War of 1812.
Vance County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Size: 21 items.
Provenance: Received from Mrs. J. Walter Williamson of
Wilmington, N.C., in 1938.
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: Burwell Family Papers (#112).
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 and Other Loose Papers
Series 2. Account Book
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
William Hargrove, the son of planter John Hargrove (d.1793)
and his wife Amy, was born in Granville Co., N.C., in 1776. He
remained in that county, farming around Lynesville (present day
Townsville) and Williamsboro, both now part of Vance County. In
1798, he married Holly Dodson (1778-1806) with whom he had four
daughters, including Polly Ann Hargrove (b. 1801) and Nancy J.
Hargrove (b. 1803). His wife died in 1806, and, in 1807, he
married Susan Sturdivant of Dinwiddie County, Va. William and
Susan had at least seven children, including William Turner (b.
1808), Hester (b. 1813), John (b. 1815), Elizabeth R. (b. 1818),
Susan (b. 1820) and Robert S. (b. 1823).
William Hargrove's son John travelled in the western states on
business for his father, visiting Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Mississippi. He eventually returned to Granville County to farm
on his father's estate and served as an aid-de-camp to Governor
Charles Manly in 1849. John Hargrove had at least two children,
Emma and Mollie, who attended the Salem Female Academy. The
Hargroves were related to several other Granville County families
that are mentioned frequently in the papers, especially the
Sturdivant, Smith, and Hanks families. Members of these
families, along with some of the Hargroves, emigrated to
Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi in the 1830s and 1840s.
Collection Overview
This collection consists of papers and an account book of the
Hargrove family of Granville (now Vance) County, N.C., in
particular those of William Hargrove, his son John Hargrove, and
his daughter Elizabeth R. Hargrove. The papers consist of
correspondence of members of the Hargrove family with friends and
relatives, with a few financial and legal documents. The account
book, 1801-ca. 1850, lists purchases and sales for William
Hargrove's plantation in Granville County, N.C., and includes
slave lists, stud records for livestock and horses, records of
agricultural expenses, and notes on planting and harvests, as
well as some genealogical information on the Hargrove family.
There are typed transcriptions of all items in the collection,
including the account book.
The arrangement is as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence and Other Loose Papers (19
items).
Series 2. Account Book (2 items).
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence and Other Loose Papers
1790-1930. 19 items.
Arrangement: chronological (typed transcriptions are
interfiled with originals).
Correspondence of members of the Hargrove family of Granville
(now Vance) County, N.C., along with a few other papers. The
correspondence begins in 1800 with a letter to Susan Sturdivant
of Dinwiddie County, Va., from a friend in Georgia describing
social life in Hancock County, including a Masonic ball, family
matters, and everyday life. A letter dated 29 Dec 1814 to
William Hargrove from "Camp Peach Orchard" gives an
acquaintance's impressions of the horrors of the War of 1812,
including the high mortality of soldiers due to disease, the poor
conditions in camp, and secessionist sentiments. In 1839, there
are several letters to William Hargrove from his son, John
Hargrove, written during the latter's journey west on business,
which discuss coal mines in Kentucky and general living
conditions in that state, agricultural and financial conditions
in Mississippi, and Polk's election to the governorship of
Tennessee, as well as his father's business concerns and some
social matters.
In the 1840s and 1850s, correspondence continued between
family members, mostly concerning family news, deaths, and
illnesses. One letter, dated 1848, describes one family's move
to Arkansas through Tennessee, mentioning the difficulties of the
trip, and the terrain, local customs, housing, and typical food
of Arkansas. There are two letters about the education of John
Hargrove's children in North Carolina; a letter dated 1890 to
John Hargrove from Robert A. Martin of Petersburg, Va., asking
his impressions of the general character of one Patrick Edgar, an
Irishman, and giving his own unfavorable opinion of that "big
tramp and crank"; and an undated letter informing his sister of
the death of John Hargrove.
Other papers include the will of John Hargrove, the father of
William Hargrove, 1790; a certificate appointing John Hargrove,
son of William Hargrove, as aid-de-camp to Governor Charles Manly
in 1849; three receipts, 1873-1874, for the tuition and board of
Emma and Mollie Hargrove at the Salem Female Academy; and a 1930
newspaper clipping from the Sunday Star News of Wilmington, N.C.,
describing the history of Williamsboro, N.C.
Folder 1
Series 2. Account Book
1801-ca. 1850. 2 items.
Account book belonging to William Hargrove of Granville (now
Vance) County, N.C. This volume, which has loose sheets of paper
and other sets of bound pages inserted into it, contains birth
records for William Hargrove's slaves; stud records for his
horses and cattle; lists of household and plantation expenses;
blacksmith and store accounts; tax records; planting and harvest
notes; and some genealogical information on the Hargrove family.
Folder 2 Original
3 Typed transcription