Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#1558
LANGDON, YOUNG, AND MEARES FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Family papers, chiefly 1830-1860, of related
Wilmington, N.C., families. The collection includes
letters, 1821-1838, from William Belvidere Meares
(1787-1841) to his brother-in-law James Alves of
Henderson, Ky., about interests in slaves and a
plantation and about community affairs in Wilmington;
and letters, 1847-1859, from Paul H. Langdon and
Samuel Langdon, U.S. Army officers, and Richard F.
Langdon, a U.S. Navy officer, to their mother in
Wilmington and to each other, written from Fort
Laramie, Wyo., Stockton and Mare Island, Calif., and
other places in the West about travels to these
places and conditions there. Also included is a
letter, 1858, to Richard F. Langdon from David G.
Farragut (1801-1870), concerning Richard Langdon's
service in several positions at Mare Island Naval
Yard while Farragut was commandant there. A few
financial items relating to members of the Halsey
family are also included. Volumes are a Wilmington
shipper's account book, 1808, and a Wilmington
merchant's account book, 1811-1813, both later used
as scrapbooks; a record of sermons preached,
1837-1856, at St. James Episcopal Church, Wilmington;
and a diary, 1859-1860, 1862, 1867, of Armand De
Rossett Young as a youth on Lyrias Plantation near
Wilmington, chiefly concerned with studying and
hunting.
On-line Alves, James, fl. 1821-1838.
Catalog Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
Terms: Diaries.
Education--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870.
Fort Laramie (Wyo.)--Description--19th century.
Halsey family.
Hunting--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Langdon, Paul, b. 1826.
Langdon, Richard F., b. 1828.
Langdon, Samuel, fl. 1847-1859.
Langdon family.
Lyrias Plantation (N.C.).
Mare Island (Calif.)--Description--1848-1869.
Meares, William Belvidere, 1787-1841.
Meares family.
Merchants--North Carolina--History--19th century.
North Carolina--Commerce--History--19th century.
North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Plantations--North Carolina.
Scrapbooks.
Shipping.
Online Slavery--North Carolina.
Catalog United States. Army--Officers--History--19th
century.
Terms: United States. Navy--Officers--History--19th century.
West (U.S.)--Description and travel--1848-1869.
Wilmington (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th
century.
Young, Armand De Rossett, fl. 1859-1867.
Young family.
Size: 78 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Mary Meares of Wilmington, N.C., in
November 1948, September 1950, November 1950, and
June 1954.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Related Collection: Richard F. Langdon Papers (# 412).
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William Belvidere Meares (1787-1841) of Sampson County and
Wilmington, N.C., was married to Catherine Davis, whose older
sister Maria Davis was married to James Alves of Henderson, Ky.
Meares and Alves had a number of business interests together,
particularly in horse breeding, slaves, and a plantation. Thomas
Davis Meares (1848-1927), a grandson of William B. Meares, was a
courier for Confederate General Wade Hampton during the Civil
War. He married Jane L. Young in 1871.
Samuel Langdon came to Wilmington, N.C., from New England in
the early 1800s and married Mary Jane Halsey. Their sons Paul
(b. 1826) and Samuel (fl. 1847-1859), both U.S. Army officers,
and Richard (b. 1828), a U.S. Navy officer, all traveled to
California in the 1850s and wrote letters home about their
travels in the West and their business interests. At one point
both Paul and Richard were at Mare Island Navy Yard in
California, where Richard was secretary to the commandant,
Commodore David G. Farragut (1801-1870).
Armand D. Young, Sr., of Lyrias Plantation, N.C., was
evidently the brother-in-law of Paul, Samuel, and Richard
Langdon. He was probably the father of Armand De Rossett Young
(fl. 1859-1867), who kept a diary in his youth at Lyrias
Plantation. As noted above, Jane L. Young, daughter of Armand D.
Young, Sr., married Thomas Davis Meares in 1871.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
Subseries 1.1. Meares Family
1821-1838, 1877. 11 items.
Mostly letters from William Belvidere Meares (1787-1841),
Wilmington and Sampson County, N.C., to his brother-in-law James
Alves, with whom he had some cooperative business interests. The
letters relate to horse breeding, plantation management,
settlement of estates, the hiring out of slaves, and other
financial matters; they also give news of family, friends, and
social activities in North Carolina. Also included are two
letters, 1877, to Thomas Davis Meares (1848-1927), the grandson
of William B. Meares; one letter is from Charles Phillips, an old
teacher of T.D. Meares, and the other from George D. Shadburne of
San Francisco, concerning the 1876 presidential election.
Folder 1
Subseries 1.2. Langdon Family
1829-1863 and undated. 32 items.
Mostly letters from Paul H. Langdon and his brothers Richard
and Samuel to their mother Mary Jane Halsey Langdon in Wilmington
and to each other. Letters from Paul include descriptions of
barracks life at Fort Monroe, Va., Detroit, Mich., and Jefferson
Barracks, Mo.; there are also descriptions of his travels across
the country and of his life and business interests at Fort
Laramie, Wyo., as well as family news and discussions of his
plans for the future. Letters from Richard include descriptions
of Acapulco and California, particularly the area around San
Francisco and the Navy Yard at Mare's Island.
Also included are a letter, 1863, to "Ellen," probably Ellen
Halsey; a letter, 1858, to Richard F. Langdon from David G.
Farragut, consisting of a testimonial to the excellent service of
R. F. Langdon in the several positions held by him while Farragut
was at Mare Island Naval Yard; and a letter, undated, to Richard
F. Langdon from Virginia Farragut, concerning mostly news of
mutual friends.
Folder 2 1829-1852
3 1853-1863 and undated
Subseries 1.3. Young Family
1860-1871. 4 items.
Letters to Jane L. Young on the occasion of her marriage to
Thomas Davis Meares in 1871 and to Armand De Rossett Young of
Lyrias Plantation, including one letter to each from Griffith
John McRee (1819-1872), who was a friend of the family.
Folder 4
Series 2. Other Papers
Subseries 2.1. Langdon, Halsey and Young Families
1820-1871. 21 items.
Accounts, bills of sale and other items pertaining to
members of the Langdon and Halsey families, particularly Samuel
Langdon and his wife Mary Jane Halsey Langdon, and some papers
pertaining to Armand D. Young.
Folder 5
Subseries 2.2. Miscellaneous Items
6 items.
Mostly poems, unattributed to any member of the three
families. Also included is a surveyor's plat map of land in
Bladen County, N.C.
Folder 6
Series 3. Volumes
4 volumes.
Subseries 3.1. Oversize Volume
1 volume. 1811-1813.
A merchant's account book or parts of more than one,
1811-1813, with pictures, newspaper clippings, etc. pasted over a
few of the sheets.
Folder 7 Volume S-1. Merchant's account book/scrapbook.
Subseries 3.2. Other Volumes
3 volumes. 1837-1867.
The diary of Armand De Rossett Young (fl. 1859-1867) and
volumes not clearly attributed to any member of the three
families. The diary, 1859-1860, 1862, 1867, chiefly concerns
Young's studies and hunting at Lyrias Plantation near Wilmington,
N.C. Other volumes include a record, 1837-1856, of texts of
sermons preached at St. James's Episcopal Church in Wilmington,
N.C., showing who preached on what dates and citing the Bible
passages on which the sermons were based, and a scrapbook
containing clippings, poems, essays, articles, pictures, recipes,
etc. pasted in a shipper's account book. The shipper's accounts,
1808, consist of receipts and other records of cargoes, chiefly
rum and lumber, to be shipped from Wilmington (25 pp).
Folder 8 Volume 2. Armand D. Young diary.
9 Volume 3. Record of sermons.
10 Volume 4. Scrapbook/shipper's accounts.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)
Items Separated
Volume S-1