Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

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

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Polly Mira Avery Summey Papers, #4083-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Brandon Hodges of Rome, Ga., 1976

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Atlantic States--Description and travel.
• Family--Southern States--Social life and customs.
• Georgia--Social life and customs.
• Hendersonville (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Mississippi--Social life and customs.
• New York (N.Y.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Southern States--Description and travel.
• Spann, Delia Annie, d. 1910.
• Summey, Polly Mira Avery, 1779-1857.
• Tennessee--Social life and customs.
• Texas--Social life and customs.
• United States--Description and travel.
• Women--Southern States--Social life and customs.

Polly Mira Avery (1779-1857) of Hendersonville, N.C., was the daughter of Waightstill and Leah Avery. She was married to Caleb Poor in 1796. After their divorce in 1813, Polly married Jacob Summey, 1823, with whom she had a daughter Leah Caroline. Leah Caroline married a Mr. Spann and had two daughters, Delia Annie (died 1910) and Elzira Carolina.

The collection includes scattered personal letters written and received by Polly Mira Avery Summey and her granddaughter, Delia Annie Spann, in New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas, concerning news of family and friends, community events, crops, weather, and personal experiences. Included are letters describing Delia's travels from the South to New York in 1852 and from North Carolina to Mississippi in 1853.