Manuscripts Department
           Library of the University of North Carolina
                         at Chapel Hill

                 SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

                             #4449-z
                 J. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY RECORDS
                            Inventory

Abstract:      Letters to J. Williams and Company, a
           merchandising firm dealing in agricultural and other
           products in Fayetteville, N.C., from J. Rowland and
           Company, wholesale distributor, of Wilmington, North
           Carolina.  The letters pertain to business
           transactions between the two companies and include
           references to shipping on the Cape Fear River. 
           Apparently, J. Rowland and Company was the principal
           supplier of J. Williams and Company.  Some of the
           letters also serve as invoices.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Fayetteville (N.C.)--Commerce--History--19th century.
   J. Rowland and Company (Wilmington, N.C.).
   J. Williams and Company (Fayetteville, N.C.).
   Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
   Shipping--Cape Fear River (N.C.)--History--19th century.
   Wilmington (N.C.)--Commerce--History--19th century.

Size:  About 40 items (2 folders).

Provenance:  Purchased from Oinonen Book Auctions of Sunderland,
             Mass., in May 1986.

Access:  No restrictions.

Copyright:  Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
            their descendants, as stipulated by United States
            copyright law.

Table of Contents:
            Historical Note
            Description

                         HISTORICAL NOTE

  J. Williams and Company was a merchandizing company operating
in Fayetteville, N.C., and dealing in a wide variety of
agricultural products and dry goods.  Among other ventures, it
supplied window glass for the University of North Carolina.

  J. Rowland and Company of Wilmington, North Carolina,
functioned as a wholesale distributor to J. Williams and Company
and other merchants along the Cape Fear River, ca. 1820.  It is
likely that the company also sold goods at retail in the
Wilmington area.

                           DESCRIPTION

  Letters from J. Rowland and Company to J. Williams and Company,
chiefly to acknowledge receipt of goods.  Merchandise described
includes tobacco, sugar, cotton, and such other items as
harnesses and window glass.  References are made to the boats
used to ship goods up the Cape Fear River and to their ports of
call.

     Folder    1       1820
               2       1821, 1823