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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 FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,050 items) |
| Abstract | The Jones family of Oak Grove near Bethania, Stokes County (now Forsyth County), N.C., included Beverly Jones, a physician and planter; his wife Julia Amelia Conrad Jones; and their ten children: Abraham G. (Abram), James B. (1846-1911), Alexander C., Robert H., Erastus B., Virginia, Ella, Julia, Kate, and Lucien. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence of Beverly Jones, his wife Julia Amelia Conrad Jones, and their children. Letters circulated among Jones family members and members of the Conrad, Hauser, Lash, Lemly, and Wilson families of North Carolina and Henry County, Va. Topics include household and women's affairs and education; religious activities of Moravians, Disciples of Christ, Mormons, and Christian Scientists, especially of Disciples ministers Virgil Wilson and James B. Jones; and medical practice and medical study by Abram G. Jones, a medical student at the University of Virginia and the University of New York. His 1867 thesis on abortion is included. Civil War materials include letters of soldiers in North Carolina and Virginia; letters from civilians commenting on recruiting problems and desertion in the Confederate Army; a diary, 1863, of James B. Jones as a lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Battalion Sharpshooters serving in North Carolina and Virginia; and a diary, 1864, of Abram G. Jones, describing camp life during the siege of Petersburg. Reconstruction era material includes information on relations with freedmen and Abram G. Jones's medical day book listing physician visits and charges. Later papers are primarily those of the unmarried Jones daughters, Julia, Ella, and Kate. Among the volumes are Julia Amelia Conrad Jones's diaries, Beverly Jones's medical accounts, recipe books, and farm records. |
| Creator | Jones family. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The 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.
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Biographical Information
Beverly Jones, physician and planter, son of Gabriel de Remi Jones and Mary Bryant Jones of Martinsville, Va., was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He practiced first in Germantown, N.C., and later in Bethania, N.C. Jones built Oak Grove in Bethania after his marriage (ca. 1843) to Julia Amelia Conrad, daughter of Phillipina Lash and her second husband, Abram Conrad. The couple had ten children: Abraham G. (Abram), physician and druggist in Walnut Grove, N.C.; James B. (1846-1911), a minister of the Disciples of Christ and president of William Woods College in Missouri; Alexander C.; Robert H., a dentist; Erastus B., a lawyer in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Virginia, who married a Mr. Sullivan; Ella, Julia, Kate, and Lucien, all unmarried, who remained at Oak Grove, where Lucien ran the farming operations.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of papers, especially correspondence of Beverly Jones, physician and planter at Oak Grove near Bethania, Stokes County, N.C. (now Forsyth County, N.C.); his wife Julia Amelia Conrad Jones; and their children. Letters circulated among Jones family members and members of the Conrad, Hauser, Lash, Lemly, and Wilson families of North Carolina and Henry County, Va. Topics include household and women's affairs and education; religious activities of Moravians, Disciples of Christ, Mormons, and Christian Scientists, especially of Disciples ministers Virgil Wilson and James B. Jones; and medical practice and medical study by Abram G. Jones, a medical student at the University of Virginia and the University of New York. His 1867 thesis on abortion is included. Civil War materials include letters of soldiers in North Carolina and Virginia; letters from civilians commenting on recruiting problems and desertion in the Confederate Army; a diary, 1863, of James B. Jones as a lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Battalion Sharpshooters, serving in North Carolina and Virginia; and a diary, 1864, of Abram G. Jones, describing camp life during the siege of Petersburg. Reconstruction era material includes information on relations with freemen and Abram G. Jones's medical day book listing physician visits and charges. Later papers are primarily those of the unmarried Jones daughters, Julia Jones, Ella Jones, and Kate Jones. Among the volumes are Julia Amelia Conrad Jones's diaries, Beverly Jones's medical accounts, and farm records.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence and Related Items, 1804-1932 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly correspondence of members of the Jones family among themselves and their friends and relatives. The earliest items are a group of papers written in German script. Among these is a letter, in fragments, by Christiana Swan Van Vleck to Phillipina Conrad. Until the 1840s, the majority of the letters are from various members of the Conrad and Hauser families. Among them are Julia Amelia Conrad Jones's letters to her parents from school in Salem, N.C.
Beginning in the 1840s, various Jones family members were the primary correspondents. In 1844, there are letters from Dr. Jones and Julia while they lived in Philadelphia. Topics include the births of the Jones's many children; education of nieces and nephews; discussions about conversions to the Disciples of Christ; and news of illnesses, deaths, and plantation business.
During the Civil War, letters include discussions about conscription laws, scarcity of materials, high prices, deserters, and related topics. Two of Beverly Jones's sons, Abram G. Jones and James B. Jones, joined the Confederate Army, and there are letters from them to their parents about the war and conditions in the army. Another son, Alexander C. Jones, attended Hillsborough Military Academy and wrote about school, military service, and desertion during the last weeks of the war. On 13 May 1865, Reuban E. Wilson, a former prisoner of war wrote to the Joneses that he hoped all southerners would take the Oath of Allegiance and work with northern Democrats to check some of the wild schemes of the Republicans. In summer 1865, Wilson was arrested and charged with murdering Unionist citizens in North Carolina.
During Reconstruction, the Joneses and their friends and relatives began renewing education efforts, going into new businesses, and moving West. A few of the Joneses's friends joined the Mormon Church, and there are letters discussing the Mormon faith and moving to Utah. Some of letters, such as the one written by James B. Jones to his sister, Ella, have a decidedly melancholy tone. In his 22 December 1871, James reflected upon his childhood at "Oak Grove."
The remainder of the series contains letters from the younger Joneses--Kate, Julia, and Erastus--from their various schools. There is some correspondence about business matters, especially the estates of Henry Wilson and Henrietta Wilson. The financial losses of William Lash during the panic in the late 1870s are also discussed. Other topics include the starting of Robert H. Jones's dental practice, church matters, James B. Jones's move from the University of Kentucky to William Woods College in Missouri, drilling and camp life for soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and family history.
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Series 2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923.
Arrangement: chronological.
Day book, ledgers, account books, deeds, bonds, trust agreements, and related items. The majority of the series are volumes relating to Beverly Jones's medical practice.
| Folder 33 |
Loose materials, 1801-1898 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 33 |
| Folder 34 |
Beverly Jones account books, 1837-1868 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 34Volume S-1: 1837-1868. About 524 pp. Beverly Jones's accounts with patients. Names and amounts due and settled transferred to this book from a more detailed day book. Contains index. Volume S-2: 1838-1858. Beverly Jones's accounting of cash and notes for medical service. Index in front of volume. Volume S-3: 1838-1852. About 456 pp., not including index. Day book in the form of a ledger containing a full chronological record under each individual account. These figures were later transferred to Volume S-1. |
| Folder 35 |
Volume 4: Gabriel de Remi Jones account book, 1841-1846; 1848-1851 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 35Account book of Gabriel de Remi Jones, executor of the estate of Benjamin Jones Sr. |
| Folder 36 |
Volume 5: Gabriel R. Jones memo book, 1843-1853 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 36Accounts relating to his father's estate; also contains miscellaneous accounts, 1847-1853. |
| Folder 37 |
Volume 6: Julia Amelia Conrad Jones petty cash account book, 1844-1846 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 37Records of items purchased; also contains word studies and definitions. |
| Folder 38 |
Volume 7: Ledger, 1849-1874 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 38Accounts of local blacksmith; accounts for general merchandise and produce, 1852-1859; and Julia Amelia Conrad Jones's accounts with domestic help and general merchandise and produce supplied to the help, 1870-1874. |
| Folder 39 |
Volume 8: Julia Amelia Conrad Jones account book, 1855-1873 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 39Accounts with women for sewing, spinning, drying fruit, etc., and supplies received by the women. |
| Folder 40 |
Volume 9: W. Laurence memo book, 1856 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 40Record of receipts on judgments from Beverly Jones. |
| Folder 41 |
Volume 10: Beverly Jones day book, 1856-1860 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 41Chronological record of Oak Grove receipts, expenditures, and notes relating to purchases, labor hired, etc., for 1856-1857. For 1856-1860, there are accounts, primarily medical, for individuals, each kept chronologically |
| Folder 42 |
Volume 11: Beverly Jones and R. A. Hauser cash book, 1858-1860 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 42273 pp. Record of cash received on accounts (names and amounts only) arising from Jones and Hauser medical practice; also record of notes and accounts not liquidated. |
| Folder 43 |
Volume 12: Beverly Jones day book, 1860-1881 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 43519 pp. Contains individual accounts for medical service, produce, meat, labor, etc., with each account kept chronologically and showing the nature of the items (diagnosis, drugs used, etc.). In the back of the book, no date, is written a farm-labor agreement between Jones and two share-croppers. |
| Folder 44 |
Volumes S-13, S-13A, S-14, S-15 #02884, Series: "2. Financial and Legal Materials, 1801-1923." Folder 44Volume S-13: Day book, 1861-1868; 1883-1888; 1901-1908. 470 pp. Contains individual accounts for medical services, produce, farm items, labor and miscellaneous items. The early accounts are of Beverly Jones. Accounts, 1901-1908, are the farm records of Lucien G. Jones. Volume S-13A is the index to volume S-13. Volume S-14: Lashe slave and land assessments, 1863. 14 pp. The book lists slaves of J. G. Lashe and T. B. Lashe, giving their names, ages, and value; also similar lists for other slaveholders in Richmond district, Forsyth County, N.C. Also included are lists of non-slaveholders owning land in the Richmond district, giving their names, acres, value and lots. Volume S-15: Lambda Phi Gamma record book, 1923. 272 pp. Contains only the membership lists of the three chapters at Trinity College, University of North Carolina, and Presbyterian College (a total of 16 members). This organization was founded by J. Ray Shute and M. J. Carver at Trinity College, Durham, N.C., for the purpose of strengthening the bonds of friendship between the members of the musical groups of the schools and the promotion of music and the musical life of the schools. |
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Series 3. Diaries and Recipe Books, 1837-1907.
Diaries and recipe books, primarily of Julia Amelia Conrad Jones, but also a pocket diary of James B. Jones (1846-1911) during his service in North Carolina and Virginia with Company A, 1st North Carolina Battalion Sharpshooters; six volumes of the diary of William Alexander Hauser; a diary, 1864, of Abram G. Jones, describing camp life during the siege of Petersburg; and Abram G. Jones's diary and medical day book, 1870-1871, describing travel and physician visits and charges.
Julia Amelia Conrad Jones, wife of Dr. Beverly Jones, kept an account of her daily life and work--sewing, preserving, illnesses, preaching, her husband's health. She also discussed her father, relatives, and neighbors. Entries are irregular, with entries for each year except 1863, 1866, and 1868. The diary contains from six to sixteen pages per year. The first section is mostly her meditations on the question of marriage. The remaining volumes are a record of her household activities after marriage.
William Alexander Hauser was the half-brother of Julia Amelia Conrad Jones. He was a successful business man, who lived most of his life in Louisville, Ky. These volumes were written in his old age, as he was apparently born about 1816. The entries indicate that he spent the winters in Florida and summers near Asheville, N.C. These volumes also contain cash accounts and memoranda.
Processed by: SHC Staff, 1955-20066
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, April 2006
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
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