Inventory of the Thomas Williamson Jones Letters, 1808-1836

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Biographical Note

Physician Thomas Williamson Jones was born on 25 June 1789, the son of John Jones, Jr. (1764-1845) and Lucy Binns Cargill Jones of Level Grove, Brunswick County. He attended the University of North Carolina, 1808-1810, receiving his A.B. in 1810. He then studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Jones's younger brother, John Cargill Jones, attended schools in Virginia and the grammar school in Chapel Hill, N.C., run by the University of North Carolina. He was a student at the University of North Carolina, 1813-1814. Thomas Williamson Jones's sister, Lucy C. Jones, attended a school in Warrenton, N.C., taught by a Mr. and Mrs. Faulkener. Thomas Williamson Jones married Mary Armistead Goode (Polly) on 14 February 1814. The couple lived at Totaro in Brunswick County. Their oldest son, Samuel Goode Jones (1815-1886), attended Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., 1833-1837. Thomas Williamson Jones died in 1824.

Collection Overview

The collection includes letters, chiefly to Thomas Williamson Jones, physician of Brunswick County, Va., from his sister, Lucy C. Jones, at school in Warrenton, N.C.; his brother, John Cargill Jones, at schools in Virginia and Chapel Hill, N.C., and at the University of North Carolina, 1812-1814, concerning life at the University, including student riots in 1814; his mother, Lucy Binns Cargill Jones, and aunt in Virginia; and other students at the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania, 1820-1824. Two letters, 1830s, were written by Jones's son, Samuel Goode Jones, from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., to his mother, Mary Armistead Jones, then a widow.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Letters include:

1808-1809	Schoolgirl letters from Lucy C. Jones, a student at Warrenton, N.C., and letters from John Cargill Jones at Ebenezer Academy and possibly another school in Virginia, one of which, 12 October 1809, mentions that John's teacher, Mr. Johnston, was coming to Chapel Hill, probably to teach in the grammar school.
1808-1810	Letters from Lucy Binns Cargill Jones and from S. H. Mason, Thomas Williamson Jones's aunt.
4 June 1809	Letter from A. M. Gatlen, a former friend at the University of North Carolina, then in New Bern, N.C.
19 March 1810	Letter from Elias Hawes, Chapel Hill, N.C., physician, with a friendly warning to Jones against the habit of swearing.
26 May 1810	Letter from John A. Ramsay, a student from Moore County, N.C., at home because of suspension.
12 August 1810	Letter from Mark Alexander, student from Boydton, Va.
1812-1813	Letters from John Cargill Jones at the grammar school in Chapel Hill and then as a University of North Carolina freshman.
31 March 1814	Letter from Abner Stith telling of student riots and John Cargill Jones's suspension.
April-May 1815	Letters from John Cargill Jones and from Abner Clopton telling of John's joining the senior academy class rather than the freshman University class when he returned to school and giving news of Chapel Hill.
20 April 1820	Letter from D. Wilkins in Chapel Hill, studying French and history privately, commenting on the Unviersity of its faculty and students.
3 March 1823 and 10 April 1824	Letters from Frederick William Harrison from Chapel Hill telling of his student activities and of dissention between the Dialectic Society and the Philanthropic Society over commencement honors.
8 June 1823	Letter from A. A. Worsham, medical student in Philadelphia who was working at the alms house.
11 December 1833 and 1 April 1836	Letters from Samuel Goode Jones to Mary Armistead Jones from school in Williamstown, Mass.