Inventory of the Polk and Yeatman Family Papers, 1773-1915

Collection Number 606

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Polk family.
Yeatman family

Title

Polk and Yeatman Family Papers, 1773-1915

Call Number

606

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: 2,650

Linear Feet: 5.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Alternate Form of Material

All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Trezevant P. and Jennie Yeatman before 1940.

Processing Information

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, July 1991

Encoded by: Mara Dabrishus, September 2004

Some of this inventory is based on information from previous inventories written by SHC staff.

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.

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

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Polk and Yeatman Family Papers #606, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Bell, John, 1797-1869.

Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Family--Tennessee--Social life and customs.

Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845.

Lawyers--Tennessee--History.

Livestock--Tennessee--History.

Nashville (Tenn.)--Social life and customs.

Plantation life--North Carolina.

Plantation life--Tennessee.

Plantations--Tennessee.

Polk family.

Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849.

Polk, Lucius Junius, 1802-1870.

Polk, William, 1758-1834.

Presidents--United States--Election--1860.

Raleigh (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

Real property--North Carolina--History--19th century.

Real property--Tennessee--History--19th century.

Slavery--North Carolina.

Slavery--Tennessee.

Tax administration and procedure--United States--History--19th century.

Tennessee--Politics and government--To 1865.

Tennessee--Social life and customs.

United States--Officials and employees--North Carolina--History--19th century.

United States--Politics and government--1845-1861.

United States. Internal Revenue Service--History--19th century.

Whig Party (Tenn.).

Yeatman family.

Yeatman, Henry Clay, d. 1910.

Related Collections

Lucius Junius Polk Papers (#2341);
George Washington Polk Papers (#2976);
Polk, Brown, and Ewell Family Papers (#605);
Leonidas Polk Papers (#2965).
See also Polk Family Paprs at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

William Polk (1758-1834) was a member of a prominent Mecklenburg County, N.C., family and a Revolutionary War officer. He moved to Raleigh, where he became a bank president, holder of extensive lands (at one point owning over 100,000 acres in Tennessee), trustee of the University of North Carolina, and civic leader. His first wife was Grizelda Gilchrist, with whom he had two sons, Thomas G. and William J., who was the father of Confederate Brigadier General Lucius Eugene Polk (1833-1892). William Polk later married Sarah Hawkins, with whom he had twelve children, among whom were Leonidas (1806-1864); Mary, who married George E. Badger; Susan, who married Kenneth Rayner; and Lucius Junius, who married first Mary Ann Estin (niece of Mrs. Andrew Jackson), and later Ann Pope.

Lucius Junius Polk (1802-1870) was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1822. He then moved to Maury County, Tenn., where he became a planter. One of his sons was Will, who helped run the Maury County plantation and later ran a dry goods store. Will and other Polk family members were also involved in the trading and breeding of livestock. Lucius's son-in-law was Henry Clay Yeatman (d. 1910), Nashville lawyer and Confederate colonel. Yeatman was the son of Jane Erwin Yeatman Bell and the step-son of John Bell, United States senator and presidential candidate.

Collection Overview

The collection includes personal and business papers of three generations of the Polk and Yeatman family of North Carolina and Tennessee. Materials through the 1830s are chiefly letters and legal papers of William Polk of Raleigh, N.C., dealing with his widespread land speculation in North Carolina and Tennessee and his position as federal internal revenue supervisor for North Carolina. There are also, particularly in the 1820s, items relating to the treatment of slaves on North Carolina plantations. Papers from the 1830s through the 1890s relate mainly to the Maury County, Tenn., cotton plantations of Lucius Junius Polk and Will Polk, including some items about the treatment of slaves; to Henry Clay Yeatman's law practice; and, particularly 1840-1861, to the political and personal life of John Bell. Later materials relate to various enterprises in which Polk family members were involved, including a dry goods store and livestock firms. There is much family correspondence, especially after 1861, and scattered business and personal items of members of the related Hawkins, Devereux, and Rayner families.

Most bills and receipts, as well as account ledger sheets, relating to family members appear in Series 2. Miscellaneous Materials include a small number of clippings and a tintype, ca. 1910s, of an unidentified woman.

Volumes include ledgers and letter copy books of William Polk, 1797-1834; notebooks and accounts of Lucius Junius Polk, 1821-1872; and letterpress copies of Henry Clay Yeatman's letters, 1818-1876.

Arrangement of Collection

1. Correspondence and Other Papers
1.1. 1773-1833
1.2. 1834-1861
1.3. 1862-1915
1.4. Undated (probably after 1861)
2. Bills and Receipts
2.1. 1780-1833
2.2. 1834-1861
2.3. 1862-1903
3. Miscellaneous Materials
4. Volumes
4.1 1797-1861
4.2 1866-1890

Items Separated

P-606/1(SP) in series 3 and Volumes S-13; S-17; S-18; S-23 in series 4.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Digital version: Grey's Memoria Technica, Excerpt from Lucius J. Polk's Notebook, 12 August 1821

Digital version: "College Rules," Poem by Lucius J. Polk, [1821]