Back to TopDescriptive Summary
- Repository
-
Southern Historical Collection
- Creator
-
Hedrick, Benjamin Sherwood, 1827-1886.
- Title
- Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick Papers, 1843-1890
- Call Number
- 325
- Language of Materials
- Materials in
English
- Extent
-
- Items: 1,100
- Linear Feet: 2.0
Abstract
Biographical abstract: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick was born near Salisbury, Davidson County, N.C. After graduation from UNC
in 1851, he worked for the Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Mass., 1851-1853. In 1854, he became professor of analytical and
agricultural chemistry at UNC. On 11 October 1856, he was dismissed from the faculty for having expressed his antislavery
views. Beginning in 1861, he worked as examiner in the Chemical Department of the U.S. Patent Office, remaining with that
agency until his death in 1886. Hedrick married Mary Ellen Thompson of Orange County, N.C., in 1852. They had 8 children.
Scope and content abstract: Early items are chiefly Hedrick and Sherwood family letters from Davidson County while Hedrick
was a student at UNC and employee at the Nautical Almanac. Among letters, 1851-1858, are several from UNC President David
L. Swain and professors Charles Phillips and Elisha Mitchell. Beginning around 1854, there is correspondence with agricultural
and other scientists. After the dismissal from UNC, there are many letters of support or condemnation; letters relating to
potential jobs; and letters of recommendation, including one from Horace Greeley, 2 December 1856. There is also considerable
correspondence, 1857-1869, with Hinton Rowan Helper, a North Carolina writer who published The Impending Crisis of the South in 1857, and correspondence, 1856-1862, with Henry Harrisse, historian of early American history and exploration, who wrote
to Hedrick chiefly on political and literary issues. Most 1861-1863 letters are to Hedrick from his brother John A. Hedrick,
a Unionist and abolitionist who was a United States Treasury Department customs collector in Beaufort, N.C., during the Civil
War. John wrote about life in occupied Beaufort, North Carolina politics, war news, and actions of northern soldiers, black
recruits, and southern Unionists. Materials 1861-1886 chiefly relate to Hedrick's Patent Office work. There are also many
family letters during this period. Also included are a few writings, clippings, financial materials, and photographs.
Back to TopAdministrative Information
- Restrictions to Access
- No restrictions.
- Acquisitions Information
- Received from Nancy Hedrick Beamer Dill of Ghent, N.Y., in December 1984; from Nancy West of Charlotte, N.C., in August 1986
(Acc. 96127); and Nancy Hedrick Beamer Dill in September 1994 (Acc. 94132).
- Processing Information
- Processed by: Carolyn Wallace, William Auman, Roslyn Holdzkom, 1969, 1985, 1996
- Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2004
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick Papers #325, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright
law.
Back to TopOnline Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Abolitionists--North Carolina.
- Agricultural chemistry--History--19th century.
- Antislavery movements--North Carolina.
- Beaufort (N.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
- College teachers--Dismissal of--North Carolina--History--19th century.
- College teachers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
- College teachers--Political activities--History--19th century.
- Davidson County (N.C.)--Socil life and customs.
- Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
- Freedom of speech--North Carolina--History--19th century.
- Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
- Harisse, Henry, 1829-1910.
- Hedrick, Benjamin Sherwood, 1827-1886.
- Hedrick family.
- Hedrick, John A.
- Hedrick, Mary Ellen Thompson.
- Helper, Hinton Rowan, 1829-1909.
- Mitchell, Elisha, 1793-1857.
- North Carolina--Politics and government--19th century.
- North Carolina--Politics and government--1861-1865.
- Phillips, Charles, 1822-1889.
- Sherwood family.
- Slavery--United States.
- Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868.
- University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Faculty--History--19th century.
- University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Social life and customs.
- United States Naval Observatory. Nautical Almanac Office--Officials and employees--History--19th century.
- United States. Patent Office--Officials and employees--History--19th century.
Back to TopRelated Collections
See also Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick Papers at the Rare Book, Manuscripts, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Back to TopBiographical Note
Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick was born on 13 February 1827 near Salisbury in western Davidson County, N.C., the son of Elizabeth
Sherwood and John Leonard Hedrick, a farmer and bricklayer of comfortable means. The family was descended from German immigrants
who had settled in the Piedmont section of North Carolina in the 1700s.
After attending local schools, Hedrick received college preparation at Rankin's (or Lexington) Classical School, an academy
directed by the Reverend Jesse Rankin near Lexington. In 1848, he entered the University of North Carolina as a sophomore.
At UNC, he distinguished himself particularly in mathematics, and, upon his graduation in 1851, he was awarded "first honor in the senior class." President David L. Swain recommended Hedrick to former governor William A. Graham, then Secretary of the Navy, for a clerkship
in the office of the Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Mass. While in Cambridge, Hedrick also took advanced instruction at Harvard
College under such prominent scientists as Eben N. Horsford, Benjamin Pierce, and Louis Agassiz.
Hedrick was offered a professorship of mathematics at Davidson College in 1852, but he declined it deciding to wait for a
position at UNC. In January 1854, the University appointed him to the chair of analytical and agricultural chemistry.
In Chapel Hill, Hedrick acquired a certain notoriety because of his antislavery views, although he initially made no attempt
to disseminate his opinions on the issue. In August 1856, however, he was asked at the polls whether he would vote for the
Republican presidential candidate, John C. Frémont, in the national election. Hedrick replied that he would do so if a Republican
ticket was formed in North Carolina. The next month, a short article entitled "Frémont in the South" appeared in the North Carolina Standard, a leading Democratic newspaper published in Raleigh. The article recommended that those with "black Republican opinions" at schools and seminaries in the state be driven out, apparently suggesting that Hedrick be dismissed.
Against much advice, Hedrick published a defense in the Standard, explaining his opposition to slavery and likening his beliefs to those of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Subsequently,
the University faculty passed resolutions denouncing Hedrick's political views, and, on 11 October 1856, the executive committee
of the board of trustees formally approved the faculty's action, which, in reality, constituted a dismissal.
Newspapers throughout the state were generally unsympathetic to Hedrick's case. On 21 October, while he was attending an educational
convention in Salisbury, an unsuccessful attempt was made to tar and feather him. Hedrick soon headed north, where he remained
except for visits south in January 1857 and in 1865.
For a time, Hedrick lived in New York, where he was employed as a chemist and then as a clerk in the mayor's office. He also
lectured and taught at such institutions as Cooper Union. After his services in the mayor's office were terminated in 1860,
he was successful in finding a job with the newly elected Republican government in Washington, D.C. Beginning in 1861, he
was successively appointed assistant examiner, examiner, and chief examiner in the Chemical Department of the United States
Patent Office, remaining with that agency until his death on 2 September 1886.
During his tenure at the Patent Office, Hedrick was also active in several other areas. Beginning in 1865, he worked to secure
a speedy restoration of North Carolina to the Union. It appears that he was well acquainted with both President Andrew Johnson
and North Carolina Governor Jonathan Worth. In April 1865, Hedrick petitioned the President for permission to visit North
Carolina. Afterwards, H. M. Pierce appointed him an agent of the American Union Commission to ascertain the condition of refugees
and the poor in the South, with particular emphasis on the schools in the region. In 1867, Hedrick was nominated as a delegate
to the North Carolina constitutional convention, but was defeated in the election. From 1872 to 1876, he was professor of
chemistry and toxicology at the University of Georgetown.
Hedrick married Mary Ellen Thompson, daughter of William Thompson, on 3 June 1852 in Orange County, N.C. They had four daughters
and four sons, one of whom, Charles J., became a patent lawyer in Washington, D.C.
[Based on the note by Sharon E. Knapp in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, William S. Powell, ed., Volume 3, 1988.]
Back to TopCollection Overview
Materials chielfy relate to Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick. Early items are chiefly Hedrick and Sherwood family letters from Davidson County, N.C., while Hedrick was a student at the University of North Carolina and employee at the Nautical Almanac. Among letters, 1851-1858, are several from UNC President David L. Swain and professors Charles Phillips and Elisha Mitchell.
Beginning around 1854, there is correspondence with agricultural and other scientists. After the dismissal from UNC, there are many letters of support or condemnation; letters relating to potential jobs; and letters of recommendation,
including one from Horace Greeley, 2 December 1856. There is also considerable correspondence, 1857-1869, with Hinton Rowan Helper, a North Carolina writer who published The Impending Crisis of the South in 1857, and correspondence, 1856-1862, with Henry Harrisse, historian of early American history and exploration, who wrote to Hedrick chiefly on political and literary issues. Most
1861-1863 letters are to Hedrick from his brother John A. Hedrick, a Unionist and abolitionist who was a United States Treasury Department customs collector in Beaufort, N.C., during the Civil War. John wrote about life in occupied Beaufort, North Carolina politics, war news, and actions of northern soldiers, black recruits, and southern Unionists. Materials 1861-1886 chiefly relate to Hedrick's United States Patent Office work. There are also many family letters during this period. Also included are a few writings, clippings, financial materials,
and photographs.
Back to TopArrangement of Collection
1. Correspondence and Related Items
2. Other Materials
Back to TopItems Separated
Separated items include photographs (P-325).
Back to TopDetailed Description of the Collection
1. Correspondence and Related Materials, 1843-1900 and undated.
About 975 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Early items are chiefly family letters, mostly from North Carolina. Some are between Mary Ellen Thompson (Hedrick) in Orange
County, N.C., and her sister Jane Clegg of Chatham County, N.C., and other relatives; these letters appear sporadically throughout
the collection. Most of the early letters, however, are from Hedrick's father, John Leonard Hedrick, and his brothers, sisters,
and Sherwood relatives in Davidson County, N.C., and elsewhere. Many of these letters were written to Hedrick while he was
a student at the University of North Carolina, 1847-1851, or working at the Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Mass., 1851-1853.
Letters between Hedrick and his future wife begin in 1851.
Among the family letters are several, 1851-1864, from Hedrick's grandfather, Benjamin Sherwood (b. 1793), in Marion County,
Iowa. In these letters, Sherwood not only discussed farming and family affairs, but politics and his own antislavery sentiments.
In an 1853 letter to Mary Ellen Hedrick, Sherwood assessed her husband's character: "I have recognized him as knowing some things--as not knowing other things, and as being ... unable to distinguish between
subjects that he did know and those that he did not know."
Letters in 1852 include a few relating to Hedrick's declining a teaching job at Davidson College. Among the letters, 1851-1858,
are several from UNC President David L. Swain and professors Charles Phillips and Elisha Mitchell. Two letters of note in
this period are a collegial note from Elisha Mitchell to Hedrick, 31 December 1855, and a letter from Calvin H. Wiley to Swain,
22 July 1856, describing an upcoming convention of teachers and friends of general education in North Carolina. During Hedrick's
time at UNC, there are several letters from parents about sons who were students at the University. In 1854, several letters
discuss Hedrick's plans to build a house in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Beginning in the 1850s, there are many letters to Hedrick from W. C. Kerr, a friend from Chapel Hill student days, who was
also a scientist in Cambridge when Hedrick was at the Nautical Almanac. Letters from Kerr continue after he moved to Davidson
College in 1858. Many of Kerr's letters relate to scientific issues. Beginning around 1854, there are also letters from others
dealing with scientific investigations, particularly analyses of earths and other substances.
On 18 October 1856, there is a copy of the order from Governor Charles Manly, president of the board of trustees, notifying
Hedrick of the executive committee's action to remove him. After this, there are several letters congratulating Hedrick for
taking a stand and others, like one dated 22 October from a Raleigh colleague: "I presume you will see the propriety of my discontinuing the connection, which has heretofore existed between us ... owing
to the state of public feeling in regard to the step you have taken on the subject of Politics." On 20 August, Hedrick's uncle, M. S. Sherwood, who was politically active himself, advised Hedrick against speaking his mind:
"When I get to be a Minister or a teacher in a high Literary Institution, I shall most assuredly feel it my duty to lay aside
the character of a politician." On 26 December, Hedrick's father wrote to Mary Ellen, saying that Hedrick should not return to North Carolina.
After his dismissal, Hedrick had, in fact, left town quickly. Letters show that, by 21 October, he was staying with his brother
Adam in Salisbury, N.C., where he may have been attending a conference. Hedrick lived in nearly a dozen cities in the 18 months
following his departure from Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, Mary Ellen remained in Chapel Hill until around April 1857. During this
time, there is much correspondence between Hedrick and his wife, who, in December 1856, wrote to a friend about her reluctance
to leave Chapel Hill even though her husband "has been most shamefully treated here. ... He thought he lived in a free country, but ... he was very much mistaken. They
say he was dismissed because he wrote a political article, but that is only an excuse." To Hedrick, Mary Ellen wrote of her trials in Chapel Hill society, where she was apparently well treated, but often pitied
(11 November 1856).
Following Hedrick's departure, there many letters relating to potential jobs and several letters of recommendation, including
one from Horace Greeley, 2 December 1856, and another, 7 February 1857, in which David L. Swain, Charles Phillips, and Elisha
Mitchell attested to Hedrick's teaching excellence. In 1859, there are also letters from Charles Manly discussing the legality
of the dismissal. After Mary Ellen left Chapel Hill, the Hedricks kept in touch with certain friends there, especially Charles
Phillips, who wrote of Elisha Mitchell's death on 3 August 1857 and David Swain's death on 1 October 1858.
Correspondence between Hedrick and Hinton Rowan Helper, a North Carolina writer who published The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It in 1857, begins on 27 October 1856 and continues sporadically through 1869. Included is a letter, 5 May 1859, asking Hedrick
for permission to include his name on the dedication page of the new edition of Helper's book. There are also many letters,
December 1856 through March 1862, from Henry Harrisse, a professor of French at UNC, who also lost his teaching post due to
a controversy. Harrisse, a French native, bibliographer, historian, and author of books, pamphlets, and articles about early
American history and exploration, wrote to Hedrick chiefly on political matters and literature.
Most 1861-1863 letters are to Hedrick from his brother John A. Hedrick in Beaufort, N.C. John, a Unionist and abolitionist,
had left Davidson College to continue his education at Cooper Union in New York shortly after Hedrick left North Carolina.
During the Civil War, John worked for the United States Treasury Department as a customs collector in Beaufort, which was
in Union hands from spring 1862 until the end of the war. In his letters, John wrote about life in occupied Beaufort, North
Carolina politics, war news, and the behavior of northern soldiers, black recruits, and southern Unionists.
Beginning in 1861 and continuing through 1886, there are many letters relating to Hedrick's Patent Office work. Included are
simple requests for information and detailed letters from lawyers and inventors about particular patent cases. Also during
this period, there are many letters from relatives in North Carolina to Hedrick and Mary Ellen in Washington and from Mary
Ellen to relatives and friends.
In 1873, there are a few letters from son John A. Hedrick traveling in Europe. On 11 March 1876, there is a letter on Patent
Office stationery from Hedrick to Georgetown University tendering his resignation as professor of chemistry and toxicology
in the medical faculty. Letters after Hedrick's death are chiefly to Mary Ellen from her children. On 15 January 1891, there
is a letter of son Charles J. Hedrick submitting a biographical note on his father to the National Cyclopœdia of American Biography.
Undated letters are chiefly family letters, a few clearly from the Chapel Hill area. Many are drafts of outgoing letters,
mostly in Mary Ellen's hand.
Folder
1
1843-1849
Folder
2
1850
Folder
3
1851
Folder
4
1852
Folder
5
1853
Folder
6-7
1854
Folder
8-9
1855
Folder
10-15
1856
 |
Digital version: Letter from Benjamin S. Hedrick to H. R. Helper, 27 October 1856 |
Folder
16-18
1857
Folder
19-20
1858
Folder
21-22
1859
Folder
23
1860
Folder
24
1861
Folder
25-26
1862
Folder
27-28
1863
Folder
29
1864-1868
Folder
30
1869-1874
Folder
31
1875
Folder
32
1876-1879
Folder
33
1880
Folder
34
1884-1891
Folder
35
1900
Folder
36
Undated
Back to Top
2. Other Materials, 1850s-1900 and undated.
About 90 items.
Folder
40
Writings: a few miscellaneous writings by Benjamin Hedrick, many of them fragments. Included is a handwritten fragment and
complete newspaper version of his defense against being called a Black Republican, 1 October 1856. Also included is a draft
description of a device Mary Ellen Hedrick claimed to have invented to hold hot stove covers and irons, 1868. (About 10 items)
Folder
41
Clippings: chiefly newspaper clippings, many from the 1860s, collected by Hedrick on various subjects. Some relate to Hinton
Rowan Helper; others relate to the Republican Party or to scientific matters. (About 30 items)
Folder
42
Financial Materials: a few bills and receipts, chiefly 1850s-1860s, for miscellaneous goods and services purchased by Hedrick
or his wife. (About 15 items)
Folder
43-44
Miscellaneous: Trade and calling cards; a few advertisements for books and other items; and some scientific writings of others.
(About 30 items)
Folder
P-325/Folder 1
Sketch of Benjamin Hedrick; printed cards with images of Civil War-era heroes; and two cyanotypes: Central High School, Washington,
D.C., 1900, and Cousin Laura Hedrick, Cousin Bessie, Fanny McNeilly, Julia Ramsey, Rosa Bernhardt, probably in Salisbury,
N.C.
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