Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4838
DIX R. SARSFIELD LETTERS
Inventory
Abstract: Dix R. Sarsfield was a student at the University
of North Carolina, 1923-1927. He later worked as an
editor for the Associated Press in Charlotte, N.C.
Correspondence, 1923-1984, of Dix R. Sarsfield,
transcripts of Sarsfield’s letters, and transcripts of
other family correspondence, 1846-1993. Most of the
letters are personal correspondence written during the
years 1923 and 1924, when Sarsfield was an
undergraduate student at the University of North
Carolina in Chapel Hill. Several letters span the
years after his graduation and are written about
family events. There are also transcripts of all of
the letters as well as of some letters, 1846-1943, the
originals of which are not in the collection.
Online Catalog Terms:
Family—North Carolina—Social life and customs—20th century.
Sarsfield, Dix R.
University of North Carolina (1793-1962)—Students—
Social life and customs—20th century.
Size: About 200 items (0.5 linear feet).
Date Span: 1846-1993 (bulk 1923-1926).
Provenance: Received from Jane Sarsfield Shoaf of Edenton,
N.C. on 21 October 1996. (Acc. 96141).
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Dix R. Sarsfield was a student at the University of North
Carolina in Chapel Hill from 1923 to 1927. His family ran a
boarding house in Asheville, N.C. Sarsfield later became an
Associated Press editor stationed in Charlotte, N.C.
Collection Overview
This collection is comprised of letters written to Dix R.
Sarsfield and other members of his family. Most of the letters
date from 1923 to 1926 and were written to Sarsfield when he was
a student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
The remaining letters, written at various dates between 1932 and
1984, discuss major family events. There are also transcripts of
most of the letters as recorded by the donor, Jane Sarsfield
Shoaf, along with transcripts of related letters, 1846-1993,
which are not in the collection.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Transcripts
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1923-1984. About 100 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters written to Dix R. Sarsfield and members of his family
between 1923 and 1984. Most of these letters were written to
Sarsfield between 1923 and 1926 and concern his life at the
University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and his family’s life
in Asheville. Most of the letters are written by his mother,
Mary Clark Selman Sarsfield, and his cousin, Effie Gertrude
Pilley Taylor Stabler Smith George Smith, who was a student at
the time in Greensboro at the Woman’s Colege of the University of
North Carolina. The remaining letters span the years 1932 to
1984. They are written to either Dix Sarsfield or to other
members of his family and relate family events such as births and
deaths in the family.
Folder 1 1923
2 1924-1926
3 1932-1984
Series 2. Transcripts
1846-1993. About 100 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Transcripts of letters in Series 1 and other letters. These
transcriptions were made by the donor, Jane Sarsfield Shoaf, in
1996. This series also includes a “guide to people in this
document” which lists most of the major figures who wrote the
letters and tells of their family connections. Also, in italics
at the beginning and end of many of the letters are notes listing
the writer and recipient and date of the letter as well as
explanatory notes about references made in the letter to specific
people or events. All but three of the letters are transcribed
here. The missing documents are a letter from 17 November 1923,
a birthday card from 21 July 1934, and a letter from 30 January
1947.
In addition there are several transcribed letters which are
not found in the Series 1:
· 28 November 1933 to Reid Monfort from David Barbee;
· 30 January 1947 to Dix Sarsfield from his mother;
· 10 September 1954 to Jane and Cliff Shoaf from their mother;
· 13 August 1956 to Dix Sarsfield from his daughter Jane;
· 16 July 1963 to Jane Sarsfield from Dix Sarsfield;
· 23 October 1993 to George Bertchaell from Louis Blount;
· 25 June 1912 a memoir by W. D. Burtchel;
· 20 November 1846 to Martha Williams from Washington Ives;
· 7 July 1847 to Martha Williams from Edward Rutledge.
Folder 4 1846-1993