Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4028
LEIGH AND WINSLOW FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Leigh and Winslow family members included planters
James Leigh (1781-1854) and his son, Edward Augustus
Leigh (1825-1901) of Land's End plantation, Perquimans
County, N.C., and Julian Emmitt Winslow (1897-1975),
great grandson of James Leigh, an oil jobber and
fertilizer manufacturer. Julian Emmitt Winslow was
also a flight instructor during World War I and served
in the North Carolina Senate in 1949, 1951, 1959,
1961, and 1965.
The collection includes letters to Edward Augustus
Leigh and other family members, 1877-1938, chiefly
discussing routine business, financial, and personal
matters. There are also receipts and account books,
1752-1902, relating to the purchase of agricultural
and other items and to farm maintenance, including a
few mentioning slaves and several pertaining to the
confinement of Edward's brother, James Leigh, Jr., in
an insane asylum, 1855-1856. Biographical and probate
records, 1767-1976, are largely wills and estate
papers, many of them relating to James Leigh's estate,
and other items of genealogical interest. Julian
Emmitt Winslow papers include Winslow's correspondence
during his 1959 and 1961 North Carolina State Senate
terms. Also included is some personal correspondence
and material about his World War I military service.
There are also many photographs and postcards dating
from around World War I. These include pictures of
aircraft and pilots, plane crashes, a flood, and
aerial views of various locations, including Houston
and Galveston, Tex.
Online Catalog Terms:
Aerial photography--History--World War, 1914-1918.
Air pilots, Military--United States--World War, 1914-1918.
Airplanes, Military--United States--Photographs.
Estates (Law)--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
Flight training--United States--History--World War, 1914-1918.
Galveston (Tex.)--Aerial photographs.
Houston (Tex.)--Aerial photographs.
Insane--Commitment and detention--United States--History--19th
century.
Land's End (Perquimans County, N.C.).
Legislators--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Leigh, Edward Augustus, 1825-1901.
Leigh family.
Leigh, James, 1781-1854.
North Carolina. General Assembly. Senate--History--20th
century.
North Carolina--Politics and government--20th century.
Perquimans County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
Plantations--North Carolina--Perquimans County.
Slavery--North Carolina.
Soldiers--United States--Correspondence--History--World War,
1914-1918.
United States. Army. Air Corps--Military life--History--World
War, 1914-1918.
Winslow family.
Winslow, Julian Emmitt, 1897-1975.
World War, 1914-1918--United States--Photographs.
Size: About 900 items (1.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Lucille Winslow (Mrs. Julian Emmitt)
of Hertford, N.C., in July 1978.
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. Correspondence
Series 2. Financial and Related Records
Series 3. Biographical and Probate Records
Series 4. Julian Emmitt Winslow Papers
Series 5. Pictures
Shelf List
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Gilbert Leigh (1729-1792) was a carpenter in Chowan and
Perquimans Counties, N.C. His son, James Leigh (1781-1854) owned
a plantation in Perquimans County, where he also served as a
deputy sheriff, officer in the militia, and representative to the
House of Commons. He eventually became one of the wealthiest men
in the county.
In 1802, James Leigh married Mary Barclift, who died in 1823.
In 1825, he married Susan Banks. He died in 1854, survived by
six of his twelve children, including Edward Augustus Leigh
(1825-1901), who inherited the family plantation. At the time of
his father's death, Edward Augustus Leigh also was named guardian
of his brother James Leigh, Jr., whom he placed in an insane
asylum in Pennsylvania. In 1860, Edward Augustus Leigh's tax
payments provided about 3% of Perquimans County's revenue. He
lost much of his wealth following the Civil War.
Edward Augustus Leigh married Margaret Stevenson Jacocks in
1846; she died in 1850. In 1857, he married her half-sister,
Grizzell Emily Jacocks (1838-1903). One of his children, Martha
(Mattie) Gordon Leigh (b. 1868), married Charles Cook Winslow
(1861-1909).
Among Martha Gordon Leigh and Charles Cook Winslow's six
children was Julian Emmitt Winslow (1897-1975), an oil jobber and
manufacturer of liquid fertilizers. He also was a flight
instructor in the Army Air Corps during World War I. From 1932
to 1946, he served as sheriff of Perquimans County. An active
member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the State
Senate in 1949, 1951, 1959, 1961, and 1965. From 1953 to 1957,
he was a member of the State Highway Commission.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1877-1938. About 10 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters to Edward Augustus Leigh, 1877-1882; Grizzell Emily
Jacocks Leigh, 1875-1903; and Mattie Winslow, 1913-1938, chiefly
discussing routine business, financial, and personal matters.
Included is letter to Mattie Winslow describing the Confederate
Army service of relatives.
Folder 1
Series 2. Financial and Related Records
1752-1903. About 180 items.
Arrangement: by document type and chronological.
Receipts for agricultural and other items including property
maintenance, agricultural products, horses, clothing and related
items, personal items such as tooth brushes and umbrellas, farm
equipment and tools, and slaves; bills of sale; and related
financial records from the 1850s, 1870s, and 1890s through 1903.
Included are several books, a few indentures, a court order from
the 1700s, and miscellaneous financial records from the 1830s.
Folder 4 contains receipts relating to James Leigh, Jr.'s
confinement in an insane asylum, 1855-1856. Information
concerning slaves can be found in folders 3, 5, 11, 12, and 13.
Loose papers
Folder 2 Financial records, 1752-1788
3 Financial records, 1836-1855
4 Vouchers against James Leigh, 1855-1856
5 Financial and related records, 1856
6 Financial and related records, 1857-1861
7 Leigh family financial records, 1867-1886
8 Financial and related records, 1896-1903
9 Receipts for house rent, 1901
10 Receipts for house rent, 1902
Bound items
11 Account book, 1834-1837
12 Ledger of James Leigh's accounts, 1840s (Volume
4028/S-1)
13 F. E. and C. J. Winslow commercial account book,
1847-1864 (Volume 4028/S-2)
14 Account book, 1895-1898
Series 3. Biographical and Probate Records
1767-1976 and undated. About 25 items.
Arrangement: by document type and chronological.
Wills, estate accounts, family histories, and related
material. The majority of the material concerns the estate of
James Leigh (1781-1854). Also included are estate accounts of
Jonathan Phelps, 1767, and Jesse Copeland, 1782; a memorial to
Margaret Leigh (d. 1850); a land plat recorded in 1830; and a
certificate signed by the governor of Indiana in 1846.
Folder 15 Probate accounts, 1767-1782
16 Probate accounts, 1816-1903
17 Probate material relating to estate of James
Leigh, 1854
18 Account book of sale of James Leigh's estate, 1854
19 Leigh family biographical records
20 Leigh family history
Series 4. Julian Emmitt Winslow Papers
1918-1961 and undated. About 600 items.
Arrangement: by document type and chronological.
Correspondence of Julian Emmitt Winslow during his terms in
the North Carolina State Senate in 1959 and 1961. 1959 material
is organized by subject; 1961 material is arranged
chronologically. Also included is personal correspondence, 1918-
1921; material concerning his military service during World War
I; and material concerning a trip he took to Cuba in 1959. A
Cuban newspaper (in Spanish), dated 1 January 1959, describing
the overthrow of the Batista government and Fidel Castro's
assuming power is filed in folder 43.
Personal correspondence and related materials
Folder 21-23 Correspondence, 1918-1961
24 Military service, 1918-1919
25 Newspaper clippings
Political correspondence and related materials
26 Highway Commission--Oregon Inlet Ferry
petitions, 1955
27 Speech notes
State Senate correspondence and related
material
1959
28 Appropriations
29-31 Bills
32 Courts
33 Currituck County
34 Crown tax
35 Dog track bill
36 Firemen's pension fund
37 Invitations, etc.
37 Minimum wage law
39 Nurses and welfare
40 Spruill, Joe (parole)
41-43 State employees/teachers
44-48 Wildlife Committee
49-51 Miscellaneous
52-55 1961
Series 5. Pictures
1918? and undated. About 125 items.
Photographs and postcards, mostly of World War I era aircraft
and pilots. Includes photos of plane crashes, photos of a flood,
and aerial photos of various locations, including Houston and
Galveston, Tex., during this period. Also included is a
photograph of an unidentified house, which may be the Leigh farm
house.
P-4028/Folders 1-4 World War I photographs
P-4028/Folder 5 Unidentified house
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1. Correspondence (folder 1)
Series 2. Financial and Related Records (folders 2-14)
Series 3. Biographical and Probate Records (folders 15-17)
Box 2 Series 3. Biographical and Probate Records (folders 18-20)
Series 4. Julian Emmitt Winslow Papers (folders 21-39)
Box 3 Series 4. Julian Emmitt Winslow Papers (folders 40-60)
Items separated:
Volume 4028/S-1 and volume 4028/S-2
P-4028/Folders 1-5