Chiefly personal correspondence and related materials of members of the Mangum family. Also included are items of the related Dickson, Abbott, Holliday, Overman, and other families.

The earliest material, beginning in 1777, consists of deeds and indentures relating to land in Orange (now Durham) County, N.C. There is a copy of lawyer Willie Person Mangum's statement, 1823 or 1824, about his knowledge of debt and controversy between Herman Royster and Duncan Cameron, which had become part of a dispute between Cameron and William Montgomery, rival candidates for state senate. In 1824, there is a letter from William McMurray to the postmaster general about the location of post offices and estate and legal papers relating to Willie Person Mangum. In 1834, there is a letter from Charity Cain Mangum to her sister, Mary Cain Sutherland, in which she complained about the terms of her father's will. In 1837-1840, there are other legal papers relating to Sutherland and Cain family members.

From 1841 to 1846, there are letters from Willie Person Mangum in Washington, D.C., to his wife, daughters, and others about his activities and opinions. In 1841, there is a short note from Henry Clay about Mangum's not needing to attend a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 1844, there is a letter from Mangum to James Watson Webb of the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer giving Whig Party positions on the tariff, the treaty with Texas, and Henry Clay's chances for success. In 1845, there are photocopies of letters (originals at Yale University) from Willie Person Mangum to Francis O. Bacon about the United States Senate's pending investigation of fraud and the testimony to be given by Bacon.

In 1848, there is a letter from Willie Person Mangum to John Strother Pendleton of Virginia denying a rumor that Mangum was supporting Cass and Butler rather than the Whig presidential ticket and expressing zeal for the Taylor and Fillmore ticket. In 1849, there is a photographic copy of a letter from Abraham Lincoln to Willie Person Mangum about an appointment Lincoln wanted (location of original unknown).

Papers relating to A. W. Mangum, son of Willie Person Mangum's cousin, Ellison Goodloe Mangum, begin in 1851 with letters A. W. wrote to his father and others from Randolph-Macon College in Boydton, Va. These letters document Mangum's college life and also activities of the Mangum family members to whom he wrote. In 1852, there is a letter from A. W.'s brother Addison Mangum (b. 1822) of Orange County, N.C., son of E. G. Mangum, about his recent visit to Washington, D.C., and commenting on political issues. In 1853 and 1854, Nathan Hunt Daniel Wilson, a Methodist minister in Greensboro, N.C., is mentioned in A. W. Mangum's letters. Wilson's son, N. H. D. Wilson, Jr., later married A. W. Mangum's daughter Mary Elizabeth. In 1854, the elder Wilson's account as treasurer of the North Carolina Methodist Conference Education Society appears. A. W. Mangum was graduated from Randolph-Macon in 1854, and in 1854 and 1855, there are letters to him from college friends.

By 1857, A. W. Mangum was preaching the Methodist circuit in western North Carolina, and letters, 1857-1860, from him to family members reflect his opinions on local politics and document his activities. In 1858, there are letters from Chapel Hill and other locations where he was preaching, and also letters to and from A. W. Mangum about his receiving and rejecting an offer to teach at the Spartanburg Female Seminary in South Carolina.

In 1861, Mangum's friend Garland Hanes, who was a lawyer in Virginia, wrote about his desire for immediate secession. Letters show that Mangum, who was preaching in Salisbury, N.C., became active ministering to Confederate soldiers, traveling to Virginia shortly after the fall of Fort Sumter to start his tenure as chaplain. In 1862, he was back in Salisbury, from which he wrote describing conditions in the prison there, where United States soldiers were held as prisoners of war. In 1863, Mangum was apparently no longer a chaplain, but was preaching in Goldsboro, from which he wrote to family members about conditions there. In 1864, he returned to Salisbury from which he documented the fear of Sherman's approach (although he does not mention Sherman's Raid). Also in 1864, there is a letter from Addison Mangum in Salisbury to his wife about his activities, and, in 1865, to her about preparations of the Salisbury-Charlotte area against the enemy's approach.

In 1866, Mangum began writing to friends and others gathering information for a sketch of life at Salisbury Prison. In 1868, there is a deed of trust from Greensboro College to Mangum's friend N. H. D. Wilson to secure the debts owned by the College. In 1875, there are materials relating to A. W. Mangum's distribution of the estate of E. G. Mangum. In that year, there are also letters from Kemp P. Battle relating to conditions at the University of North Carolina, where Mangum had become professor of moral philosophy, history, and English literature. In the late 1870s and 1880s, there are a few items relating to the continuing financial problems at Greensboro Female College. In the late 1880s, there are items relating to the Victoria Institute, also called the Philosophical Society of Great Britain), which A. W. Mangum was asked to join. Also in the late 1880s, there are letters to and from Overman and Wilson relatives. In 1890, there are letters of sympathy on the death of A. W. Mangum.

In 1894, there are many courtship letters to Ariana Holliday Dickson Mangum's grandfather, Brigadier General Tracy Campbell Dickson, from his soon-to-be wife, Belle. Dickson, then a lieutenant, was stationed at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Mass.

In 1904, there are letters of sympathy on the death of Ernest Preston Mangum. During the 1900s, there are also letters to and from Charles Staples Mangum and his wife, Laura Rollins Payne Mangum. Most of these letters document routine travel and family affairs. A few in the early 1910s are from Laura's brother Billy, who was serving in some capacity with the Isthmian Canal Commission. These letters are also about routine family affairs. There is also a letter in 1912 apparently from Benjamin Abbott Dickson, Ariana Holliday Dickson Mangum's father, also with the Isthmian Canal Commission to his mother. In 1914, there are letters of sympathy on the death of Laura Jane Overman Mangum. In 1917, there are many letters that discuss military life in general from John Overman Dysart with the American Expeditionary Forces to Charles Staples Mangum, Jr., in Chapel Hill.

In the 1910s and 1920s, there are scattered letters from Mangum relatives, including from A. W. Mangum, Jr., who wrote from Bellingham, Wa., about an anti-Hindu riot. During these years, there are also scattered and routine letters from Josephus Daniels, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, June Spencer Love, and other friends of the family. Many letters relate to Charles Staples Mangum, Jr.'s academic progress at the University of North Carolina. Others to his father deal with routine University affairs.

Letters of Charles Staples Mangum and Charles Staples Mangum, Jr., taper off in the early 1930s, although there are still some from Charles Staples Mangum, Jr., to his mother as late as 1944. By 1937, most of the letters relate to Ariana Holliday Dickson Mangum (called Docie or Doc), then Ariana Holliday Dickson, who lived chiefly with her mother at Shooter's Hill near Richmond, Va. Many of these letters were written to Ariana at various schools by her father, Benjamin Abbott Dickson. Letters between Ariana and her father and other relatives continue through the 1940s. During World War II, many of these letters between Ariana and her father trace his army activities, and in August 1945, there is a letter enclosing a record of Benjamin Abbott Dickson's military career. In the early 1940s, there are also letters to Ariana from sisters Ann Lee Saunders and Jane Quinn Saunders, young women of her own age who lived at neighboring Tuckahoe Point Farm.

Letters from William (Bill) Goodson Mangum to Ariana Holliday Dickson begin in 1949. While Ariana continued to receive letters from family, especially her father, and friend, by 1952, letters from Bill far exceed those from others by 1952. There are also some letters from Ariana to Bill. These letters chiefly document Bill and Ariana's activities, he beginning his career in painting and she completing her degree at Penn State, and their desire to be together. The volume of letters decreases greatly after their marriage in 1953.

Beginning in 1954, letters are chiefly to and from Bill and Ariana at various locations from family and friends. Many letters are from Benjamin Abbott Dickson at Cold Creek Farm in Paoli, Pa. Most letters discuss routine family and social affairs, but some relate to Bill's continuing his education at the University of North Carolina (M.A., 1959), to his increasing success in exhibiting his art work, and to his teaching career in the late 1950s at Western Carolina College in Cullowhee, N.C., and, beginning in the early 1960s, at Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C. Other letters reflect Ariana's growing interest in family history. Bill and Ariana traveled frequently, both together and separately, during this period, and there are many postcards that document their journeys. Beginning around 1971, there are many letters from Benjamin Abbott Dickson, who had moved to Devon, Pa., that were meant to be distributed to various lists of recipients. These letters document Dickson's activities and thinking on a wide range of subjects. In 1973, there are many postcards from Ariana in Europe. Also in 1973, William Preston Mangum II was at Randolph-Macon Academy and began writing letters home about his life there.

CLOSED until 1 January 2025.

Family materials, many of which relate to William Preston Mangum II.

CLOSED until 1 January 2025.

Family materials, some of which relate to William Preston Mangum II.

Arrangement: by type.

CLOSED until screened and processed.

Miscellaneous family materials, including photographs of Mangum locations in Durham, N.C.

CLOSED until screened and processed.

Miscellaneous family materials.