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Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
Size | 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 100 items) |
Abstract | George Coffin Taylor was born in Charleston, S.C., in 1877. He was a gentleman farmer, lawyer, and Shakespeare scholar. He served for 27 years on the faculty of the English Department at the University of North Carolina until retiring in 1949 to Columbia, S.C. Coffin died in 1961. The collection consists of scattered items, chiefly 1808-1867, unrelated or in small groups, documenting horse racing and horse breeding, slavery, the Civil War, and family and social life. Most items relate to South Carolina, though some concern North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, and Massachusetts. Many of the horse racing and horse breeding papers, especially 1808-1834, are photostats. Slave records include a letter, 1823, concerning a mortgage on a slave child from the George Taylor estate; a letter, 1847, regarding slave sales in Montgomery, Ala.; and a letter, 1864, expressing interest in hiring out slaves to work on a railroad. Civil War materials include letters, 1861, from John H. Slaughter with Confederate Army forces in Bath County, Va., and Pocahontas County, W. Va., describing camp life, marches, and soldiers' health. In addition there are miscellaneous letters, 1861-1865, that describe similar conditions, as well as military activities; soldiers' morale; Confederate bonds and debts; cotton; medical care for soldiers; and other matters. Postwar materials include a July 1865 plea from an ex-slave in Liberty, Va., to be brought home and a report, 1866, of the murder of a black man allegedly by two white men. Family and social life materials are found throughout the collection and include miscellaneous family letters describing finances, health, vacations, sightseeing, school life, and estate settlement. There are several letters, 1839-1840, from Anna Motte Lindsay of Huntsville, Ala., a widow, to her brother, Jacob Rhett Motte, a United States Army surgeon, some about the status of a slave she brought with her to Boston. All of the materials were collected by George Coffin Taylor, except for a letter, 1943, from James A. Hoyt Jr. to Taylor, enclosing photostats of correspondence, 1879-1880, concerning the presidential election of 1876, and Taylor's typescript manuscript, circa 1950, of the posthumously published "So This Is Education." |
Creator | Taylor, George Coffin, 1877- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff, March 1951
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, August 2005
Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, October 2009
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.
Back to TopThe 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.
George Coffin Taylor was born in Charleston, S.C., in 1877. He was a gentleman farmer, lawyer, and Shakespeare scholar. He served for twenty-seven years on the faculty of the English Department at the University of North Carolina until retiring in 1949 to Columbia, S.C. Coffin died in 1961.
Back to TopThe collection consists of scattered items, chiefly 1808-1867, unrelated or in small groups, documenting horse racing and horse breeding, slavery, the Civil War, and family and social life. Most items relate to South Carolina, though some concern North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, and Massachusetts. Many of the horse racing and horse breeding papers, especially 1808-1834, are photostats. Slave records include a letter, 1823, concerning a mortgage on a slave child from the George Taylor estate; a letter, 1847, regarding slave sales in Montgomery, Ala.; and a letter, 1864, expressing interest in hiring out slaves to work on a railroad. Civil War materials include letters, 1861, from John H. Slaughter with Confederate Army forces in Bath County, Va., and Pocahontas County, W. Va., describing camp life, marches, and soldiers' health. In addition there are miscellaneous letters, 1861-1865, that describe similar conditions, as well as military activities; soldier's morale; Confederate bonds and debts; cotton; medical care for soldiers; a Fort Delaware prisoner's conversion to Christianity and intent to join the Campbellites; a Guilford, N.C., man's decision to serve his country by "preaching down sin"; military prison in Charleston, S.C.; and the call for 16-year-old boys and men over 60 to military service. Postwar materials include a July 1865 plea from an ex-slave in Liberty, Va., to be brought home and a report, 1866, of the murder of a black man allegedly by two white men. Family and social life materials are found throughout the collection and include miscellaneous family letters describing finances, health, vacations, sightseeing, school life, and estate settlement. There are several letters, 1839-1840, from Anna Motte Lindsay "A. L.," a widow, to her brother, Jacob Rhett Motte, a United States Army surgeon. Lindsay, of Huntsville, Ala., wrote from Boston, Mass., where she was staying with another brother. Among many problems, Lindsay reported trouble concerning the status of a slave she brought with her to Boston.
All of the materials were collected by George Coffin Taylor, except for a letter, 1943, from James A. Hoyt Jr. to Taylor, enclosing photostats of correspondence, 1879-1880, concerning the proposed withdrawal of the Samuel Jones Tilden electoral ticket in the presidential election of 1876, and Taylor's typescript manuscript, circa 1950, of the posthumously published "So This Is Education."
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Folder 1 |
1808-1835 |
Folder 2 |
1839-1840 |
Folder 3 |
1847-1857 |
Folder 4 |
1861-1863 |
Folder 5 |
1864-1870, 1879-1880, 1891, 1943 |
Folder 6 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 1, Chapters 1-2 |
Folder 7 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 1, Chapters 3-4 |
Folder 8 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 1, Chapters 5-6 |
Folder 9 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 1, Chapters 7-8 |
Folder 10 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 2, Part 1 |
Folder 11 |
"So This Is Education," (circa 1950) Volume 2, Part 2 |