Inventory of the Kenan Family Papers, 1748-1996

Collection Number 4225


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

Collection Information


Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Creator
Kenan family.
Title
Kenan Family Papers, 1748-1996
Call Number
4225
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
Items: About 1,400
Linear Feet: 2.5
Abstract
Kenan family, chiefly of Duplin County, N.C., and Dallas County, Ala., and the related Graham family of Duplin County.
The collection includes correspondence among various members of the Kenan and Graham families, relating to activities of relatives in North Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, and other southern states. Letters document the political, domestic, and economic interests of well-to-do Southerners between 1810 and 1900. In their letters, the Kenans and Grahams discussed contemporary concerns, such as slavery and plantation life; the activities of Confederate congressman Owen Rand Kenan (1804-1887); educational opportunities for young men and women; religion; agricultural problems in the old and new South; turn-of-the-century experiences of young scholars and other members of the Kenan family; and the role of William R. Kenan, Jr. (1872-1965), in publicizing the discovery of calcium carbide. In addition to the letters, there are financial and legal papers that pertain to the political, business, and military activities of various Kenans and Grahams. Also included are account books, bills and receipts, printed material, and miscellaneous papers illustrating the wide-ranging interests of members of these two families: Thomas S. Kenan's Civil War service in the 43rd N.C. Regiment; medicine; the University of North Carolina, especially in the 1890s; women's work; the Democratic Party; and the restoration of Liberty Hall, the Kenan homestead in Kenansville, Duplin County, N.C. Also included are a few recipe books; a brief travel diary from trips to Canada in 1895 and 1897; and photographs of various family members and their acquaintances, including Graham Kenan (1883-1920) and friends during their undergraduate days at the University of North Carolina, ca. 1904. Union Carbide materials include two letterpress books documenting the early history of the Union Carbide Company and its predecessor companies and "Union Carbide Corporation: A Brief Look at Historical Highlights" (1991) by M. A. Hill, which traces the formation of the company and the growth of chemicals and plastics production and technical facilities in the United States. The Addition of 2007 contains correspondence, notes, and clippings, 1806-1947, pertaining to the Kenan family, chiefly to Chauncey Graham and Stephen Graham, and to Mary Lilly Kenan Flagler Bingham. The Addition of February 2008 includes a likeness of James Kenan (1740-1810).

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Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access
This collection has restrictions to access. Please see details below or contact the Manuscripts Department for more information.
Usage Restrictions
Use of video tape (folder 58) may require production of a viewing copy.
Location of Originals
Typescripts of photocopies of original materials, which are privately held, were loaned for microfilming in August 1980. The microfilm copy constitutes Series 6.
Alternate Form of Material
Typescripts of photocopies of original materials, which are privately held, were loaned for microfilming in August 1980. The microfilm copy constitutes Series 6.
Microfilm copies of volumes 17 and 18 are available. Other parts of this collection are available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries, Series A, part 8 (reels 24-27).
Reel 1: Series 6
Reel 2: Volume 17-Volume 18
Acquisitions Information
Received from Thomas S. Kenan III; transferred from the Thomas Kenan Papers, the Thomas Stephen Kenan Papers, and the William Rand Kenan, Jr., Papers; received from Frank H. Kenan of Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1991; received from Max Hill of Carmel, Ind., in 2001. Videotapes received from Wyndham Robertson in June 1996 (Acc. 96093). Received from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust via Tom S. Kenan III in January 2004 (Acc. 99693). Received from Leonora R. Beggs in July 2007 (Acc. 100718). Digital image of James Kenan received from Charles Ingram in February 2008 (Acc. 100861).
Processing Information
Processed by: Staff, 1980-2004
Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, July 2004
Revisions: Finding aid updated in May 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.
Updated in July 2007 by Margaret Dickson.
Updated in February 2008 by Noah Huffman.
This inventory was built on an inventory compiled by J. Hesson, assisted by K. Lanning and T. West in September 1980.
Note that some materials are typescripts of photocopies of original materials in private hands.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Kenan Family Papers #4225, 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.
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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Agriculture--Southern States--History.
Alabama--Social life and customs.
Bingham family.
Bingham, Mary Lily Kenan, 1867-1917.
Canada--Description and travel.
Confederate States of America. Army--North Carolina Regiment, 43rd.
Confederate States of America. Congress--Officials and employees.
Democratic Party (U.S.).
Duplin County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Education--Southern States--History.
Family--Alabama--Social life and customs.
Family--Maryland--Social life and customs.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
Graham family.
Historic buildings--Conservation and restoration--North Carolina.
Kenan family.
Kenan, Graham, 1883-1920.
Kenan, James, 1740-1810.
Kenan, Owen Rand, 1804-1887.
Kenan, William Rand, 1872-1965.
Legislators--Confederate States of America--Correspondence.
Liberty Hall (Duplin County, N.C.).
Maryland--Social life and customs.
Medicine--Practice--Southern States--History.
Slavery--Southern States.
Southern Sates--Religion--19th century.
Union Carbide Corporation.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--History.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Photographs.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Social life and customs.
Women--Education--Southern States--History.
Women--Southern States--Social conditions.
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Biographical Note

The Kenan and Graham families have been prominent in North Carolina since the early days of the area's settlement. Thomas Kenan (d. 1766) moved to the colony in the 1730s and established himself in Duplin County. Thomas's oldest son, James (1740-1810), fought in the Revolution and was the progenitor of most of the Kenans who figure in these papers. For a likeness of James Kenan see the Addition of February 2008.

Thomas Kenan (1771-1843), James's first son, married Mary Rand (1781-1856) and was the father of Owen Rand Kenan (1804-1887), a noted Confederate congressman. Owen and his sister Mary Rand Kenan (1823-1855) married into the Graham family. Most of the Kenans of Owen's generation moved in 1833 to Dallas County, Ala., leaving Owen Rand Kenan behind to manage the family's holdings in North Carolina. Owen's descendants include James Graham Kenan, a public official in Duplin County; William Rand Kenan, Sr., prominent citizen of Wilmington, N.C., and trustee of the University of North Carolina; William Rand Kenan, Jr., chemist, prosperous businessman, and philanthropist; Owen Hill Kenan, a physician; and Mary Lily Kenan, who married, first, Henry Morrison Flagler and, second, Robert Worth Bingham, U.S. ambassador to Great Britain.

Sarah Rebecca Graham (1817-1871) married Owen Kenan in 1836, and her brother, Chauncey William Graham (1819-1866), married Owen's sister Mary in 1846. John Graham emigrated to America in 1718 and settled in the North. One of John's grandsons, Chauncey, moved to the Murfreesboro, N.C., area in 1788, and Chauncey's son, Stephen, father of Sarah and Chauncey Williams Graham, settled near Kenansville. Stephen and his progeny became large landowners in Duplin County.

Note that the chart below lists only family members who figure significantly in these papers.

Chauncey Graham, Jr. - Sarah Mervin
1. Chauncey Graham (1763?)
2. Stephen Graham (1766-1836) - Ann William (d. 1860)
(1) Mary Eliza Graham (1824-1853)
(2) Stephen Graham (1822-1899)
(3) Sarah Rebecca Graham (1817-1871) SEE BELOW
(4) Chauncey Williams Graham (1819-1866) - Mary Rand (1823-1855)
3. Mary Graham
4. Sarah Graham (b. 1784?)
5. Eliza Graham Tull
James Kenan (1710-1810) - Sarah Love (1747-1819)
1. Thomas Kenan (1771-1843 - Mary Rand (1781-1856)
(1) Owen Rand Kenan (1804-1887) SEE BELOW
(2) Mary Rand Kenan (1823-1855) - Chauncey Williams Graham (1819-1866)
(3) James Kenan (1808-1874)
Owen Rand Kenan (1804-1887) - Sarah Rebecca Graham (1817-1871)
1. James Graham Kenan (1839-1912) - Annie Howard Hill (1832-1852?)
(1) Owen Hill Kenan (ca. 1872-1963)
(2) Emily Howard Kenan (ca. 1872-1963)
2. Thomas Stephen Kenan (1838-1911) - Sallie Dortch (d. 1916)
3. Annie Dickson Kenan (1843-1906)
4. William Rand Kenan (1845-1903) - Mary Hargrave (b. 1842)
(1) Sarah Graham Kenan (1876-1968) - Graham Kenan (1883-1920)
(2) William Rand Kenan, Jr. (1872-1965) - Alice Mary Pomrey (d. 1947)
(3) Mary Lilly Kenan (1867-1917) - Henry Morrison Flagler - Robert Bingham
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Collection Overview

An important part of the Kenan family papers consists of letters among various members of the Kenan and Graham families. This correspondence relates to activities of relatives in North Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, and other southern states. It concerns the political, domestic, and economic interests of well-to-do southerners between 1810 and 1900. In their letters, the Kenans and Grahams discussed contemporary concerns, such as slavery; educational opportunities for young men and women; religion; agricultural problems; turn-of-the-century experiences of young scholars and other members of the Kenan family; and the role of William R. Kenan, Jr., in publicizing the discovery of calcium carbide.

In addition to the letters, there are financial and legal papers that pertain to the political, business, and military activities of various Kenans and Grahams. Also included are diaries, account books, printed materials, pictures, and miscellaneous papers that illustrate the wide-ranging interests of members of these two families--in medicine; the University of North Carolina and other institutions; travel in the United States and Canada; women's work; the Democratic Party; and the restoration of Liberty Hall, the Kenan homestead in Duplin County, N.C. Union Carbide materials include two letterpress books documenting the early history of the Union Carbide Company and its predecessor companies and "Union Carbide Corporation: A Brief Look at Historical Highlights" (1991) by M. A. Hill, which traces the formation of the company and the growth of chemicals and plastics production and technical facilities in the United States. There is also a reel of microfilm containing typed transcriptions of public records relating to Kenan family members. The Addition of 2007 contains correspondence, notes, and clippings, 1806-1947, pertaining to the Kenan family, chiefly to Chauncey Graham and Stephen Graham, and to Mary Lilly Kenan Flagler Bingham. The Addition of 2008 includes a likeness of James Kenan (1740-1810).

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Arrangement of Collection

1. Correspondence
2. Financial Material
3. Legal Material
4. Printed Material
5. Other Material
6. Microfilm
7. Volumes
8. Pictures
Additions
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Items Separated

Items separated include oversize papers (OP-4225/1-18); microfilm (M-4225/1-3); pictures (P-4225(F)/1; P-4225/1-57); oversize pictures (OP-P-4225/1); photograph album (PA-4225/1); oversize volumes (V-4225/S-17,18); videotapes (VT-4225/1-2); Data Compact Disc (DCD-4225/1)


Detailed Description of the Collection

1. Correspondence, 1780-1979 and undated.

About 350 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Largely family correspondence of Graham and Kenan family members. Letters among members of the Graham family are chiefly from the 1810s through the 1860s, while correspondence of the Kenans is scattered throughout these years and constitutes the bulk of the later material.
Early letters describe the family life and education of the Kenans and the Grahams. Included are references to slave riots and rebellions, various political events, religious matters, and the agricultural pursuits of Kenan family members. Letters from the 1860s through the 1880s relate to the role Owen Rand Kenan played in the Confederate government, comment of experiences of the Kenans in the Civil War--as soldiers, prisoners of war, and observers--and contain additional information about the Kenans' farm and business pursuits.
Correspondence of the 1890s consists mainly of letters to and from Owen Hill Kenan, a physician. During the 1930s and early 1940s, letters document William R. Kenan, Jr.'s interest in clarifying the historical record of how he and others discovered calcium carbide at Chapel Hill. Other correspondence consists business letters, greeting cards, and other letters relating to Owen Hill Kenan.
Folder 1
1780; 1809-1819
Folder 2
1820-1827
Folder 3
1831-1835
Folder 4
1836-1837
Folder 5
1838-1842
Folder 6
1843
Folder 7
1844-1849
Folder 8
1850-1852
Folder 9
1853-1855
Folder 10
1856-1860
Folder 11
1861-1863
Folder 12
1864
Folder 13
1865-1867; 1872
Folder 14
1873
Folder 15
1874-1878
Folder 16
1890-1893
Folder 17-18
1894
Folder 19
1895
Folder 20
1896
Folder 21
1897-1919
Folder 22
1926-1932
Folder 23
1938-1944
Folder 24
1968-1979 and undated

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2. Financial Material, 1760-1939 and undated.

About 500 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Mostly bills, receipts, account records, and promissory notes of the Kenans and the Grahams. Antebellum items include legal and medical receipts, receipts for sales of slaves and other slave papers, and papers collected by Owen Rand Kenan and Stephen Graham as administrators of various estates. Civil War materials consist primarily of receipts and bills of Thomas S. Kenan, colonel of the 43rd North Carolina Regiment. Later papers are lumber receipts from Kenan enterprises, tax and insurance receipts and papers, and other personal and family finance items.
Folder 25
1760; 1792-1833
Folder 26
1842-1849
Folder 27
1850-1859
Folder 28
1860-1861
Folder 29
1862-1870
Folder 30
1872-1879
Folder 31
1880-1889
Folder 32
1890-1896
Folder 33
1897-1905
Folder 34
1912-1939 and undated

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3. Legal Material, 1755-1914.

About 135 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Deeds, surveys, wills, estate papers, agreements, indentures, contracts, warrants, and other legal papers of Graham and Kenan family members. Early papers include land grants to and from various Kenans; copies of wills of Thomas, Elizabeth, James, and Sarah Kenan and of Sally Graham; and items relating to Graham and Kenan professional concerns, slaves, lands, and domestic affairs. Material from the 1850s and 1860s includes papers of Owen Rand Kenan and Thomas Stephen Kenan relating to business and professional concerns, land, participation in the Civil War, and other matters. Later papers pertain to James Graham Kenan's lumber interests and his activities as sheriff of Duplin County. There are also papers relating to insurance policies and to various other undertakings of the Kenans. See also Series 6.
Folder 35
1755-1767; 1790-1819
Folder 36
1820-1839
Folder 37
1843-1859
Folder 38
1860-1863
Folder 39
1864-1883
Folder 40
1885-1892
Folder 41
1894-1914

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4. Printed Material, 1833-1974 and undated.

About 65 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly newspaper articles, many about Kenan family members; political and agricultural society broadsides; and pamphlets. Among the early items are lodge bylaws, slave patrol regulations, campaign literature, and miscellaneous government publications. Duplin County and Kenan family history and the restoration and opening as a historic site of Liberty Hall, the Kenan family home in Kenansville, are major topics of the later material. See also Series 6.
Folder 42
1833-1872
Folder 43
1877-1888
Folder 44
1893-1896
Folder 45
1897-1900
Folder 46
1937-1968
Folder 47
1971-1974
Folder 48
Undated

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5. Other Material, 1789-1996 and undated.

About 220 items.
Folder 49
Miscellaneous lists, 1853-1968
A list of slave births; voting returns, presumably from Duplin County; two morning reports of Company, 43rd North Carolina Regiment; and various other lists.
Folder 50
Certificates, 1865 and undated
Membership certificates, military appointments, and other items.
Folder 51
Lyrics, poems, word games, 1928-1919 and undated
Various songs, poems, and instructions for writing in code.
Folder 52
Recipes and household hints, 1810-1899
Handwritten and printed recipes and household hints collected by the Kenans.
Folder 53
Class notes, medical papers, 1893-1899
Folder 54
Owen Hill Kenan materials, 1890s
Calling cards, advertisements, excursion passes, and other items from Owen Hill Kenan's time in Baltimore.
Folder 55
Tests and examinations, 1890-1899
College tests in chemistry, medicine, arithmetic, grammar, and geography.
Folder 56
Writings, 1880s and undated
A speech, perhaps by Thomas Stephen Kenan, to the Confederate veterans of Duplin County, and two other speeches.
Folder 57-58
Genealogical materials, 1789-1996 and undated
Notes, sketches, essays, and other papers relating to the Graham, Kenan, Howard, and other families. Also included are two copies of a video tape of Frank Kenan's 1996 funeral, shot by WTVD in Durham, N.C. (VT-4225/1-2; broadcast video cassettes).
Folder 59
Miscellaneous notes, 1894-1896 and undated

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6. Microfilm, 1748-1966.

1 item.
Reel M-4225/1
Materials relating to members of the Kenan family of Duplin County, N.C.
Typescripts of photocopies of original materials, which are privately held, were loaned for microfilming in August 1980.
Part I: Deeds, ca. 1744-1966, 466 pp. Kenan family members as grantors. Includes index.
Part II: Deeds, ca. 1749-1940, 244 pp. Kenan family members as grantors. Includes index.
Part III: Miscellaneous Kenan family papers, 1790-1896, 27 pp. These include letters, commissions, and a land grant involving various members of the Kenan family. Only two letters, 26 September 1831 and 20 September 1833, are not available in Series 1.
Part IV: Kenan family Duplin County court records, 1815-1927, 28 pp. Includes two indexes, one to abstracts of Duplin County records included in these typed transcripts and the other to Duplin County records in the office of the Duplin County Clerk of the Court.
Part V: Wills, 1762-1920, 85 pp. Kenan family members wills. Includes index.
Part VI: Kenan family members in The Colonial and State Records of North Carolina and other historical works, ca. 1748-1926, 385 pp. Includes index.
Part VII: Marriage records, 1788-1901, 3 pp. List of Kenan family brides and grooms.
Part VIII: "The Kenans of Duplin County, North Carolina," undated, 5 pp. Biographical sketches of early Kenans in Duplin County, including Thomas Kenan, who immigrated from Great Britain, and his sons and grandsons.

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7. Volumes, 1859-1939.

16 items.
Folder 61
Volume 1: Account book, 1859-1881, 94 pp.
Account book, owner unknown, but various members of the Kenan family are mentioned in entries (formerly volume 3).
Folder 62
Volume 2: Account book/medical notebook, 1864-1866 and 1866-1891, 320 pp.
Account book and medical notebook of Chauncey William Graham. Entries 1866-1891 relate to Graham's estate (formerly volume 4).
Folder 63
Volume 3: Notebook, 1869?, 60 pp.
Notebook of Annie E. Hill Kenan, containing chiefly religious remarks (formerly volume 1).
Folder 64
Volume 4: Notebook, 1855-1875, 92 pp.
College and legal notebook of Thomas C. Kenan (formerly volume 2).
Folder 65
Volume 5: Journal, 1895, 1897, 40 pp.
Brief journal of trips made by Annie Kenan to Canada in 1895 and 1897.
Folder 66
Volume 6: Notebook, 1890s, 6 pp.
Notebook, probably of Annie Dickson Kenan, containing addresses (formerly volume 8).
Volumes 7-10: Notebooks, 1890s, about 20 pp.
Notebooks, probably of Owen Hill Kenan, while at school in the 1890s (formerly volumes 9-12).
Folder 67
Volume 11: Notebook, 1904-1905, 74 pp.
College notebook of Graham Kenan (formerly volume 14).
Folder 68
Volume 12: Recipe book, 1837-1890s, 143 pp.
Recipe book of Annie Kenan with miscellaneous other entries, including a few accounts of Owen R. Kenan (formerly volume 6).
Folder 69
Volume 13: Recipe book, undated, 48 pp.
Recipe book, owner unknown (formerly volume 7).
Folder 70
Volume 14: Analysis of Republican Party politics, 1902, 384 pp.
Analysis of Republican Party politics, published by the Democratic Congressional Committee (formerly volume 13).
Folder 71
Volume 15: Souvenir handbook, 1907, about 50 pp.
D. Hill's souvenir handbook of the 1907 United Confederate Veterans' reunion.
Folder 72
Volume 16: "Discovery and Identification of Calcium Carbide in the United States" by William R. Kenan, Jr., 1939, 27 pp.

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8. Pictures, 1890s-1955 and undated.

62 items.
Image P-4225(F)/1
Framed portrait of Sarah Graham Kenan
Image P-4225/2
Jessie Hargrave Kenan?, 1890s
Image P-4225/3
Sarah Graham Kenan, ca. 1955
Image P-4225/4
Martha, the cook at Liberty Hall, 1880s?
Image P-4225/5
Jefferson Davis, 1880s?
Image P-4225/6
"The Kenansville Beauties," 1894?
Image P-4225/7
Anne Huntington Richards, 1931
Image P-4225/8
Julia LaBau Richards, 1931
Image P-4225/9
"S. M. Alfonso XIII Deauville" (postcard), 1922
Image P-4225/10
"W. G. Sutton, Adjutant of D.S.," undated
Image P-4225/11
"Mrs. Thos. B. Pierce Residence" (postcard), undated
Image P-4225/12
Kenan family coat of arms, undated
Image P-4225/13
H. M. Flagler, 1906
Image P-4225/14
Josephus Daniels and Addie Daniels, undated
"We send fond feelings from the Embassy fireside."
Image P-4225/15
"Mary Monk, Mrs. Kenan's maid," undated
Image P-4225/16
Unidentified girl and nurse, undated
Image P-4225/17-57
Graham Kenan and others, 1900s
Photographs of Graham Kenan and others taken when Kenan was an undergraduate (A.B. 1904) at the University of North Carolina. Many of the photographs are of Kenan and his friends at the Mount Pisgah Forest retreat belonging to Professor Schenck of the University. There are a few photographs of campus buildings.
Image OP-P-4225/1
Composite photograph of Confederate congressmen from North Carolina.
Photograph Album PA-4225/1
Album containing 16 undated photographs and tintypes of unidentified children, 1890s?

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Additions.

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Addition of May 2001 (Acc. 98961), 1991.
1 item.
Folder 73
"Union Carbide Corporation: A Brief Look at Historical Highlights" by M. A. Hill (1991)
Traces the background leading to the formation of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation and the subsequent growth of chemicals and plastics production and technical facilities in the United States. A list of products and a bibliography are included. Photocopy of typescript, 13 pp.
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Addition of January 2004 (Acc. 99693), 1896-1899.
2 items.
Volume 17 available on microfilm reel M-4225/2 and Volume 18 available on microfilm reel M-4225/3.
Two letterpress books documenting the early history of the Union Carbide Company and its predecessor companies.
Oversize Volume V-4225/S-17
Volume 17: Letterpress book, 1896-1898
Includes letters of William Smith Horry, a leading figure in the carbide industry, describing management of a carbide plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and his attempts to invent and patent a carbide oven..
Oversize Volume V-4225/S-18
Volume 18: Letterpress book, 1896-1899
Letters of William Rand Kenan, Jr., to the Chicago home office while he managed a carbide plant in Appleton, Wis., and/or Sault St. Marie, Mich.
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Addition of July 2007, 1806-1945.
About 30 items.
Correspondence, notes, and clippings, 1806-1947, pertaining to the Kenan family, chiefly to Chauncey Graham and Stephen Graham, and to Mary Lilly Kenan Flagler Bingham. Folder 74 contains a copy of Stephen Graham's last will and testament.
Folder 74-75
Correspondence and other materials
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Addition of February 2008 (Acc. 100861).
1 item.
Digital image (JPEG) of James Kenan (1740-1810). The original likeness is housed in the Masonic Lodge of Greensboro, N.C.

James Kenan (1740-1810)

Data Compact Disc DCD-4225/1
Likeness of James Kenan (1740-1810)

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