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Collection Number: 03641

Collection Title: Drury Lacy Papers, 1823-1965 (bulk 1823-1903)

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 Duplication Policy section for more information.


Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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Size 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1700 items)
Abstract Drury Lacy of Prince Edward County, Va., studied at the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; was minister at Presbyterian churches in New Bern, N.C., 1834-1837, and Raleigh, N.C., 1837-1855; served as president of Davidson College, 1855-1860; lived in Warrenton, N.C., 1861-1862; and served as chaplain at Confederate military hospitals at Raleigh and Wilson, N.C., 1862-1865. During 1866-1878, he taught at Peace Institute, where his wife was Lady Principal. He married first Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846), and second, in 1849, Mary Ritchie Rice, both of Virginia. Also represented in the collection is Lacy's oldest daughter, Bessie (1832-1900). In 1853, she married Thomas Webber Dewey (1827-1875) and moved to Charlotte, N.C., where he was a banker. The papers consist chiefly of family and personal correspondence of Drury Lacy, Presbyterian minister, educator, and army chaplain; and of his daughter, Bessie Dewey, leader in social and cultural activities in Charlotte, N.C.; and of other members of the Lacy family and the Dewey family. Included are letters from relatives and friends in Prince Edward County, Va., Raleigh, N.C., New Bern, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., and other North Carolina towns; letters written at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Presbyterian General Assembly at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1839 and 1842; Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., 1845-1848, 1851; a boys' school at Hillsborough, N.C., 1847-1848; and Davidson College. There are also Civil War letters from civilians in Raleigh, N.C., Warrenton, N.C., and Richmond, Va.; Confederate soldier letters from North Carolina and Virginia; and Confederate chaplains' letters written at Richmond, Va., Petersburg, Va., and Wilson, N.C. Letters of the Reconstruction period are chiefly about life in Raleigh, N.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Also included are letters, 1872-1878, from Peace Institute in Raleigh, N.C. Letters of the 1880s and 1890s are mostly from Charlotte, N.C., Morganton, N.C., and Lincolnton, N.C., and include observations on the Presbyterian General Assembly in Charlotte, 1897. Correspondence, spanning nearly 80 years, concerns daily home life and social life; Presbyterian Church matters; education of children; and comments on reading, national issues, and local events. Papers of the 1950s and 1960s belonged to Elisabeth Chambers Holt and address Charlotte, N.C., banking history and her ownership of the Lacy and Dewey family papers. Also included are miscellaneous papers consisting of receipts, songs and poems, essays, orations, compositions, and obituary clippings. Volumes include sermons, notes, and lectures of Drury Lacy; records of literary organizations and musical organizations in Charlotte, N.C.; and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey.
Creator Lacy, Drury, 1802-1884.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Drury Lacy Papers #3641, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Elisabeth Lacy (Chambers) Holt of Charlotte, N.C., in June 1963, October 1963, and October 1964; received from Mrs. Lenoir Chambers in April 1971.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Staff, 1992

Encoded by: Peter Hymas, February 2005

Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the encoding of this finding aid.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse 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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Drury Lacy, son of Drury and Anne (Smith) Lacy, Prince Edward County, Va., studied at the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at New Bern, N.C., 1834-1837, and of the Raleigh Presbyterian Church, 1837-1855; served as president of Davidson College, 1855-1860; as home missionary, Orange Presbytery, living at Warrenton, Va., 1861-1862; and as chaplain at Confederate military hospitals at Raleigh, N.C., and Wilson, N.C., 1862-1865. Three sons served in the Confederate army. During 1866-1878, Drury Lacy served as supply pastor for churches in Orange Presbytery and taught at Peace Institute, where his wife was Lady Principal. He married first Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846), and, in 1849, Mary Ritchie Rice, both of Virginia.

Drury Lacy's oldest daughter Bessie (1832-1900) attended Miss Taylor's school in Raleigh and Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., and continued her education in the home of her cousin, Dr. Moses Drury Hoge, in Richmond, Va. In 1853, she married Thomas Webber Dewey (1827-1875) and went to Charlotte, N.C., where he was a banker. She was organist at the First Presbyterian Church, taught classes, was librarian of the Public Library of the Charlotte Library Association from its inception in 1891, and was the inspiration for the Saturday Morning Literary Club.

Drucy Lacy's other children included James Horace Lacy (1835-1852); Drury Lacy, Jr. (1839-1869); William Sterling Lacy (1842-1899); Presbyterian minister Singleton Wilson Lacy (1845-1862); and, with his second wife, Agnes Lacy (b. 1852); Benjamin Rice Lacy (b. 1854); and John Holt Lacy (b. 1856).

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The papers consist chiefly of family and personal correspondence of Drury Lacy, Presbyterian minister, educator, and army chaplain; and of his daughter, Bessie Dewey, leader in social and cultural activities in Charlotte, N.C.; and of other members of the Lacy family and the Dewey family. Included are letters from relatives and friends in Prince Edward County, Va., Raleigh, N.C., New Bern, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., and other North Carolina towns; letters written at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; Presbyterian General Assembly at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1839 and 1842; Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C., 1845-1848, 1851; a boys' school at Hillsborough, N.C., 1847-1848; and Davidson College. There are also Civil War letters from civilians in Raleigh, N.C., Warrenton, N.C., and Richmond, Va.; Confederate soldier letters from North Carolina and Virginia; and Confederate chaplains' letters written at Richmond, Va., Petersburg, Va., and Wilson, N.C. Letters of the Reconstruction period are chiefly about life in Raleigh, N.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Also included are letters, 1872-1878, from Peace Institute in Raleigh, N.C. Letters of the 1880s and 1890s are mostly from Charlotte, N.C., Morganton, N.C., and Lincolnton, N.C., and include observations on the Presbyterian General Assembly in Charlotte, 1897. Correspondence, spanning nearly 80 years, concerns daily home life and social life; Presbyterian Church matters; education of children; and comments on reading, national issues, and local events. Papers of the 1950s and 1960s belonged to Elisabeth Chambers Holt and address Charlotte, N.C., banking history and her ownership of the Lacy and Dewey family papers. Also included are miscellaneous papers consisting of receipts, songs and poems, essays, orations, compositions, and obituary clippings. Volumes include sermons, notes, and lectures of Drury Lacy; records of literary organizations and musical organizations in Charlotte, N.C.; and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1823-1965 and undated.

About 1600 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 1

1823

Folder 2

1834

Folder 3

1835

Folder 4

1836

Folder 5

1837-1838

Folder 6

1839-1844

Folder 7

1845

Folder 8

1846

Folder 9

1847

Folder 10

1848

Folder 11

1849-1852

Digital version: Letter from J. Horace Lacy to Aunt Kate, 11 September 1852

Documenting the American South

Folder 12A-12C

181853

Folder 13A-13D

1854

Folder 14

1855-1859

Folder 15A-15B

1860-1863

Folder 16-17

Folder 16

Folder 17

1864-1865

Folder 18A-18D

1866

Folder 18E

1867

Folder 19

1868-1869

Folder 20A

1870-1871

Folder 20B

1872-1873

Folder 21

1874

Folder 22

1875

Folder 23

1876-1878

Folder 24A

1879-1884

Folder 24B

1885-1890

Folder 24C

1891-1903

Folder 24D

1918, 1952, 1963-1965

Folder 25-27F

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Miscellaneous Papers, 1840s-1909 and undated.

About 80 items.
Folder 28

Miscellaneous papers, undated

Includes receipts, prescriptions, drafts of letters to newspaper editors, a sermon by a ten-year-old child (William Sterling Lacy), a few club papers and teaching notes of Bessie Dewey, and the floor-plan of Thomas W. Dewey's residence in Charlotte, N.C.

Folder 29

Songs and poems, undated

Includes manuscripts, broadsides, and clippings.

Folder 30

Essays and orations: Thomas W. Dewey, 1840s and undated

Folder 31

Correspondence: Thomas W. Dewey, 1851-1852 and undated

Includes correspondence with women prior to his engagement to Bessie Lacy.

Folder 32

Compositions: James Horace Lacy, 1851-1852 and undated

Digital version: Class Composition of J. Horace Lacy, [January 1851]: "Prejudice Against Composition Writing"

Documenting the American South

Folder 33

Miscellaneous writings: Drury Lacy, undated

Includes "Random Thoughts," pages 187-228, consisting of Christian meditations, notes on lectures and sermons, part of his "Life of My Son Horace," and reminiscences of experiences of giving public toasts.

Folder 34

Clippings: obituary and memorial tributes, 1875, 1890s-1909, and undated

Miscellaneous clippings of the Chambers family, 1890s-1909; letters of the 1780s-1790s of Drury Lacy (1758-1815), published and clipped from Presbyterian Watchman (undated); and a sermon of Drury Lacy, 1801, reprinted 1875.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Volumes, 1826-1896 and undated.

18 items.

Arrangement: roughly chronological.

Folder 35

Volume 1, undated

Manuscript music with lyrics; also poems without music, probably the book of Williana Wilkinson (1806-1846) when she was a young girl.

Folder 36

Volume 2, 1826 and undated

Commonplace book containing mostly poems, probably belonging to Williana Wilkinson.

Folder 37

Volume 3, 1840

Pocket-sized volume containing mounted newspaper clippings of William Henry Harrison songs and poems published during the presidential campaign of 1840.

Folder 38

Volume 4, undated

A portfolio containing about 70 manuscripts of sermons and lectures of the Reverend Drury Lacy.

Folder 39

Volume 5, 1844-1845

Album of Bessie Lacy in which her family and friends have written poems and messages for her.

Folder 40

Volume 6, [1845-1848?]

Notes and writings, probably of Bessie Lacy, concerning the time she was enrolled at the Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C.

Folder 41

Volume 7, 1852, 1855-1870

Commonplace book of Bessie Lacy, containing mostly poems but also prose paragraphs and miscellany. Other members of the family may also have written in it.

Folder 42

Volume 8, 1858-1859, 1861-1862

Constitution and minutes of Charlotte Presbyterian Ladies Tract and secretary and treasurer's records of Soldiers Aid Society.

Folder 43

Volume 9, October 1864-March 1865

Minutes of the Social Reading Club, Charlotte, N.C., kept by Bessie Dewey, secretary. The reading club was a group of young men and women who met several times a month to read together.

Folder 44

Volume 10, December 1878-June 1881

Minutes of the Gounod Musical Club, of which Bessie Dewey was secretary. The group produced The Pirates of Penzance in 1881.

Folder 45

Volume 11, February 1881-April 1881

Bessie Dewey's record of anthems, hymns, and sermon texts of all the weekly services at the Presbyterian Church, Sundays and Wednesdays.

Folder 46

Volume 12, January 1872-March 1873

Detailed minutes of the Rip Van Winkle Reading Club, Charlotte, N.C., of which Bessie Dewey was secretary.

Folder 47

Volume 13, November 1893-June 1897

Minutes of the Mecklenburg Historical Society, Charlotte, N.C., 37 pages.

Folder 48

Volume 14, 1891-1896 and undated

Teaching notes and poems from various sources.

Folder 49

Volume 15, 1895-1896 and undated

Approximately 65 pages of teaching notes and quotations.

Folder 50

Volume 16, [1890s?]

Teaching materials of Bessie Dewey: Questions in English literature and history, and Greek and Latin mythology (pages 1-64); curriculum in music at the Charlotte Institute for young ladies and some notes and questions for teaching (pages 266-282)

Folder 51

Volume 17, [1890s?]

Teaching material of Bessie Dewey: questions on Hamlet.

Folder 52

Volume 18, [1890s?]

Teaching notes of Bessie Dewey.

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