Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#652
DAVID SCHENCK PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Lawyer of Lincoln and Greensboro, N.C.; Superior
Court judge of the Ninth Judicial District of North
Carolina, 1874-1882; general counsel of the Richmond
and Danville Railroad; and president of the Guilford
Battleground Co.
Diaries, 1849-1901, and scrapbooks, 1883-1884 and
1888-1901, of David Schenck. The diaries give an
extensive picture of Schenck's professional,
political, and intellectual activities; family and
religious life; and civic and social surroundings.
They cover his youth and education; legal career;
membership in the secession convention; public opinion
and everyday life in North Carolina during the Civil
War, when Schenck was associated with civilian war
efforts; social conditions and activities of the
Democratic Party in Lincoln County, N.C., during
Reconstruction, including Klan activity; Schenck's
term as Superior Court judge; and his later life in
Greensboro, where he was involved in all phases of
public life and concerned with education, race
relations, and labor questions, and an active author
and collector of state history. Occasional memoranda
books overlap and supplement these diaries. Also
included are records and minutes of the Guilford
Battleground Co., 1887-1894 and 1911-1917.
Online Catalog Terms:
Democratic Party (N.C.)--History--19th century.
Diaries--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Greensboro (N.C.)--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Guilford Battleground Co.--Records and correspondence.
Guilford Court House, Battle of, 1781.
Judges--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Ku-Klux Klan (1866-1869)--North Carolina.
Lawyers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Lincoln County (N.C.)--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Lincoln County (N.C.)--Social conditions--19th century.
North Carolina--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Battlefields.
North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Civilian
relief.
North Carolina--Politics and government--19th century.
North Carolina--Social conditions--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Practice of law--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Railroads--Virginia--History--19th century.
Reconstruction--North Carolina.
Richmond and Danville Railroad--History.
Schenck, David, 1835-1902.
Size: 19 items (4.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Paul W. Schenck of Greensboro, N.C.,
in February 1949.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was processed with support
from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Personal Writings
Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co.
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
David Schenck (1835-1902), son of a doctor and apothecary of
Lincolnton, N.C., attended Judge Fearson's Law School in
Rockford, N.C., and received his law license in 1856. He was
elected solicitor for Gaston County and set up a practice in
Dallas, N.C., before marrying Sallie Wilfong Ramseur in 1859 and
moving back to Lincolnton in 1860.
Schenck was a member of the North Carolina Secession and an
active participant in determining the conduct of the war.
Exempted from army duty because of ill health, he held briefly a
position in the Army Commissary Department at Raleigh. He then
returned to Lincoln County, where he held the post of receiver
under the Sequestration Act for the remainder of the war. In
1866, Schenck applied for a pardon and resumed his law practice.
From 1866 to 1882, while he remained in Lincolnton practicing
law, Schenck became involved for political reasons with the Ku-
Klux Klan and continued, as he had done since 1858, his public
support of national and state candidates of the Democratic Party.
In 1874, he was elected Superior Court judge of the Ninth
Judicial District of North Carolina and traveled on the court
circuits in both Eastern and Western North Carolina, holding this
position until 1882 when he went to Greensboro as general counsel
for the Richmond and Danville Railroad. He was defeated in his
campaign to be chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The last twenty years of Schenck's life were spent in
Greensboro, N.C., where he continued his law practice and became
a prominent leader in civic activities. He was alderman, city
commissioner, and founder and president of the Guilford
Battleground Co. In 1895, his job with the railroad was
terminated and, after this time, ill-health forced him to retire
from law practice.
Collection Overview
The diaries begin when David Schenck was fifteen years old
recording his childhood days in Lincolnton; his public life as
lawyer, judge, and general counsel for the Richmond and Danville
Railroad; and his family life. Comments, judgments, and opinions
upon the events he documents reflect Schenck's strong religious
convictions, which are also recorded from time to time throughout
the diary. Court cases, personalties in the legal profession,
and political interests are among the subjects discussed in
regard to Schenck's public life. There is a great deal of
material about the Civil War: activities of the North Carolina
Secession Convention, the economic situation, the military
situation, notations of desertion, union sentiment, destitution
of among blacks, and other problems relating to the conduct of
war. There is also discussion of political and economic aspects
of the Reconstruction period. Included are references to
national politics, a few references to international affairs, and
accounts of civic activities in connection with the Guilford
Battleground Co.
The diaries also record Schenck's home life; effects of war
upon his personal economic and professional status; activities of
his children--their education, social life, and careers; and
family holiday celebrations, trips taken, visits from and to
friends and relatives. The last volume reflects increasing worry
about ill health and its effect upon the financial situation of
the family.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Personal Writings
Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Personal Writings
1849-1901. 16 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Diaries, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous papers of David
Schenck.
Folder 1 Red Cross certificates of Rebecca Schenck; letter
to David Schenck from Graham Daves, 16 May 1891,
about research on North Carolina soldiers in the
Continental Line; and typescript copy of a
pamphlet, Personal Sketches of Distinguished
Delegates of the State Convention 1861-2, by
delegate David Schenck.
Folder 2 Volume 1: 1 September 1849-25 May 1852, 375 pp.
Diary.
Folder 3 Volume 2: 26 May 1852-October 1853, 466 pp.
Diary.
Folder 4 Volume 3: November 1853-December 1863, 561 pp.
Diary.
Folder 5 Volume 4: 1861-January 1864, 365 pp. Diary and
notes.
Folder 6 Volume 5: 19 January 1864-9 March 1868, 142 pp.
Diary.
Folder 7 Volume 6: 24 March 1868-22 October 1872, 217 pp.
Diary.
Folder 8 Volume 7: 2 November 1872-14 May 1882, 740 pp.
Diary.
Folder 9 Volume 8: 13 August 1877-5 June 1880, 145 pp.
Jottings on the Circuits.
Folder 10 Volume 9: 8 September 1880-16 March 1881, 118 pp.
Jottings on the Circuits.
Folder 11 Volume 10: 28 May 1882-22 February 1887, 382 pp.
Diary.
Folder 12 Volume 11: 5 March 1887-3 January 1890, 384 pp.
Diary.
Folder 13 Volume 12: 11 January 1890-25 August 1901, 400
pp. Diary.
Folder 14 Volume 13: 1883-1884, 98 pp. Scrapbook with
clippings about the Bible and Presbyterian church
affairs.
Series 3. Guilford Battleground Co.
1887-1917. 6 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Folder 15 Volume 14: 1888-1894, 94 pp. Records of relics
belonging to the Guilford Battleground Co.
Folder 16 Volume 15: 1887-1900, 300 pp. Minutes of the
directors of the Guilford Battleground Co., lists
of stockholders, and clippings about meetings of
directors and stockholders.
Folder 17 Volume 16: 1911-1917, 300 pp. Minutes of
meetings of the directors of the Guilford
Battleground Co.
Folder 18 Volume 17: 1888-1893, 250 pp. Scrapbook with
clippings about the Guilford Battleground Co.
Folder 19 Volume 18: 1893-1897, 300 pp. Scrapbook with
clippings about the Guilford Battleground Co.
Folder 20 Volume 19: 1898-1901, 150 pp. Scrapbook with
clippings about the Guilford Battleground Co.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1. Personal Writings (folders 1-4)
Box 2 Series 1. Personal Writings (folders 5-7)
Box 3 Series 1. Personal Writings (folders 8-10)
Box 4 Series 1. Personal Writings (folders 11-12)
Box 5 Series 1. Personal Writings (folders 13-15)
Box 6 Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co. (folders 16-17)
Box 7 Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co. (folder 18)
Box 8 Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co. (folder 19)
Box 9 Series 2. Guilford Battleground Co. (folder 20)