Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#401
PENDLETON KING PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Author; scholar; first secretary in the American
Legation at Constantinople, 1886-1890; U.S. consul at
Aachen, Germany, 1906-1913. Native of Guilford
County, N.C.
Correspondence between King and his brother Robert
Ruffin King, a Greensboro, N.C., lawyer, concerning
investments and family news; letters from European
book dealers; personal bills and receipts from
European travel, 1906-1913; essays on various topics;
memorandum books, 1894-1904; 13 notebooks of reading
lists in various fields; an account book, 1860-1880,
of W. F. Linville and John King, merchants of Guilford
County; and other items.
Online Catalog Terms:
Books and reading--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Booksellers and bookselling--Europe--History.
Europe--Description and travel--1800-1918.
Guilford County (N.C.)--Commerce--History--19th century.
King, John, fl. 1860-1880.
King, Pendleton, 1844-1913.
King, Robert Ruffin, fl. 1890s.
Linville, W. F., fl. 1860-1880.
Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
North Carolina--Commerce--History--19th century.
United States--Diplomatic and consular service--Germany.
Size: About 780 items (3.0 linear feet) (includes addition of
Feburary 1995).
Provenance: Received from Robert Ruffin King of Greensboro,
N.C., in the 1920s and from Patsy White Cotten of
Chapel Hill, N.C. in February 1995 (Acc. 95021).
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:
Biographical Note
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Loose Papers
Series 2. Volumes
Addition of February 1995
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Pendleton King, educator, scholar, and diplomat, was born at
Kings Crossroads near Stokesdale in Guilford County, N.C., to
John and Lydia Ann Bowman King. King attended Oak Ridge Academy
and New Garden Boarding School (now Guilford College) before
entering Haverford College from which he was graduated in 1869.
He taught at both Oak Ridge and New Garden, serving as principal
teacher in the Boys School of the latter institution, 1870-1871.
King returned to Haverford for the A.M. degree in 1872 and then
joined the faculty of Louisiana University, Baton Rouge, where he
taught English and natural history for three years.
After a year in Philadelphia, King spent three years in
Europe, traveling and studying at the University of Berlin and in
Paris. While abroad, he married Helen Ninde of Fort Wayne, Ind.
The couple had two children, Helen and Rush Ninde.
Upon returning to the United States, King was active in the
Democratic Party. In 1884, G. P. Putnam and Sons published his
Life and Public Service of Grover Cleveland, a campaign biography
that so impressed the Cleveland that he appointed King first
secretary in the American Legation at Constantinople. He served
in Turkey from March 1886 to June 1890. On several occasions, he
was active in protecting the rights of American Jews in
Palestine.
In June 1894, King was appointed chief of the Bureau of
Indexes and Archives of the Department of State, a post he held
until December 1905, when he was commissioned as consul at Aix la
Chapelle, Germany. He served in that position until his death at
Giessen, Germany, of heart failure following surgery for
gallstones. He was buried at Fort Wayne.
King was a bibliophile and his collection of 7,000 books,
which he willed to the Greensboro Carnegie Library, was acquired
by the library of the University of North Carolina in 1921-1922.
[Based on note in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography,
volume 3, 1988.]
DESCRIPTION
Series 1. Loose Papers
1906-1913. About 250 items.
Included is scattered correspondence, 1906-1913, between King
and his brother Robert Ruffin King about investments and routine
family matters and between King and various European book
dealers. Also included are a few writings on various subjects.
Bills and receipts relate to King's travels in Germany and
elsewhere and include records of hotel stays, book purchases, and
other expenses.
Folder 1 Correspondence
2-12 Writings
13-16 Bills and receipts
Series 2. Volumes
1860-1913. 31 items.
Folder 17 Volume 1: 1860-1880. Account book of the firm of
W. F. Linville & John King, including accounts,
November 1860-February 1864, with individuals for
sundries; accounts, 1865-1880, of the partners
with each other and with the firm; and listings of
the firm's accounts with creditors.
Memorandum books of Pendleton King containing
almost daily entries documenting the number of
hours he spent on office work, reading, and
writing letters. There is also occasion mention
of visits King made and visitors he received.
Folder 18 Volume 2: 1894
Folder 19 Volume 3: 1895
Folder 20 Volume 4: 1896
Folder 21 Volume 5: 1897
Folder 22 Volume 6: 1898
Folder 23 Volume 7: 1899
Folder 24 Volume 8: 1900
Folder 25 Volume 9: 1901
Folder 26 Volume 10: 1902
Folder 27 Volume 11: 1903
Folder 28 Volume 12: 1904
Folder 29 Volume 13: 1906-1913 (includes personal
expenses)
Folder 30 Volume 14: 1912
Folder 31 Volume 15: 1913
Notebooks containing bibliographies in several
general fields, some labeled "How and What to
Read" or "Lists for Future Reading."
Folders 32-44 Volumes 16-28
Folder 45 Volume 29: Notebook containing book list for
"History of the United States," 1897.
Folder 46 Volume 30: Binder containing typescripts of poems
and short, meditative essays.
Folder 47 Volume 31: Portfolio containing a book manuscript
on selecting library materials.
Addition of February 1995 (Acc. 95021)
Size: About 500 items (1.0 linear feet).
Dates: 1876-1920s.
Provenance: Received from Patsy White Cotten of Chapel Hill,
N.C.
Access: No restrictions.
Description: Materials 1876-1879 are largely courtship letters
between Pendleton King and Helen Ninde of Fort
Wayne, Ind. Much of this courtship took place
while one or both of them were traveling in
Europe. Items in 1880 and 1881 are chiefly
letters about routine matters between Pendleton
and Helen after their marriage. The few items
dated from 1885 through the 1890s relate to
business deals involving Pendleton and his brother
John King of Greensboro. In the 1910s-1920s,
there are a few postcards on routine matters of
Pendleton's son Rush Ninde King.
Online Catalog Terms:
Courtship--History--19th century.
Love-letters--History--19th century.
Shelf List
Box 1 Series 1. Loose Papers (folders 1-14)
Box 2 Series 1. Loose Papers (folders 15-16)
Series 2. Volumes 1-8 (folders 17-24)
Box 3 Series 2. Volumes 9-25 (folders 25-41)
Box 4 Series 2. Volumes 26-31 (folders 42-47)
Addition of February 1995
Box 5 1876-February 1879 (folders 48-54)
Box 6 March 1879-1920s (folders 55-63)